United Nations Human Rights Council1.General Assembly, A/HRC/14/19/Add.1, 7 May 2010 Ayatollah Boroujerdi is an advocate for democratic elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to information received, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter dated 29 April 2009 to the United Nations Secretary-General requesting that international experts hold a meeting on the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an effort to assist the Iranian people to hold an open referendum. On 5 May 2009 he was reportedly subjected to beatings. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.19_en.pdf |
2. General Assembly, A/HRC/14/26/Add.1, June 18, 2010 After that, he began a hunger strike. Since that day, he has been deprived of family visits, phone calls and communication with his lawyer. In view of his reported conditions of detention, including solitary confinement, the reported beatings he suffered from, and the denial of medical treatment, concern is expressed for Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi's physical and mental integrity. Further concerns are expressed that the reported beatings and denial of further family visits and access to legal counsel represent reprisals for addressing by letter the Secretary-General of the United Nations. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4c29b4bd2.pdf |
3. General Assembly, A/HRC/13/39/Add.1, February 25, 2010 Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi (See A/HRC/7/3/Add.1, paras. 87 and 105). Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in 2007. He has been reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment since his arrest and that denied adequate treatment for Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, asthma and a heart condition. He has been held in solitary confinement since 27 January 2009. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.39.Add.1_EFS.pdf |
4. A/HRC/8/4/Add.1, May 28, 2008 On 30 August 2007, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal together with the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, regarding Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, Iranian citizen, aged 49, According to the information received, Mr. Boroujerdi's trial was held on 10 June 2007 before the Special Court for the Clergy. He was denied legal counsel. It is unclear whether he was sentenced to death or whether his case is still under consideration. Allegedly the trial is related to Mr. Boroujerdi's religious views since he supports freedom of religion and the separation between religion and politics. Mr. Boroujerdi is currently detained in Evin prison, where, on top of the severe conditions of detention, he has been beaten and had cold water spilled on him while he was sleeping. Although he suffers from Parkinsons disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems, Mr. Boroujerdi had reportedly been denied permission to seek treatment at the prisons medical facility until he started a hunger strike on 22 July 2007. www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/8session/A.HRC.8.4.Add1.doc |
5. General Assembly - A/HRC/7/3/Add.1 - 19 February 2008 Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was arrested at his home. Since 28 September 2006, approximately 300 of his followers have also been arrested, including the Ayatollah???s 80- year- old mother and his six-month- old grandson. Tear- gas and electroshock weapons were used while the arrests were carried out. The majority of those arrested are believed to have been released, some of them on bail. Their personal belongings, confiscated upon arrest, including mobile phones, have not yet been returned. http://www.estadodederechocdh.uchile.cl/media/documentacion/archivos/78RELT.pdf |
Amnesty International1.General Assembly, A/HRC/14/19/Add.1, 7 May 2010 Ayatollah Boroujerdi is an advocate for democratic elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to information received, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter dated 29 April 2009 to the United Nations Secretary-General requesting that international experts hold a meeting on the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an effort to assist the Iranian people to hold an open referendum. On 5 May 2009 he was reportedly subjected to beatings. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.19_en.pdf |
2. General Assembly, A/HRC/14/26/Add.1, June 18, 2010 After that, he began a hunger strike. Since that day, he has been deprived of family visits, phone calls and communication with his lawyer. In view of his reported conditions of detention, including solitary confinement, the reported beatings he suffered from, and the denial of medical treatment, concern is expressed for Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi's physical and mental integrity. Further concerns are expressed that the reported beatings and denial of further family visits and access to legal counsel represent reprisals for addressing by letter the Secretary-General of the United Nations. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4c29b4bd2.pdf |
3. MDE 13/045/2009 - 14 May 2009 On 1 May, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting that international observers be sent to Iran in order to pave the way and to assist Iranian people in an open referendum on the system of government (see letter at http://help-for-borojerdi.org/un2.htm). Following this letter, Ayatollah Boroujerdi was beaten in prison on 5 May and in protest he began a hunger strike. The prison authorities reportedly told the Ayatollah's family that his telephone privileges of calling his family and lawyer were being suspended and that he was being punished for his latest statements about a referendum. There is no information available to Amnesty International as to his present condition with regard to his hunger strike. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on 13 August 2007. According to the judgement he will serve one year in a prison in Tehran and the remaining ten years in a prison in another part of the country. He has been repeatedly denied adequate treatment for his medical concerns including Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. Ayatollah Boroujerdi is reported to have been repeatedly tortured and ill-treated since his arrest. His family have appointed lawyers for him but, the Special Court for the Clergy (SCC) has refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary can make representations on his behalf. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/045/2009/en/bcb58564-2217-4c4f-a47f-47bf000fb279/mde130452009en.html |
4. MDE 13/135/2008 11 September 2008 On 2 September, his doctor wrote to Iran's judicial authorities informing them of his patient's urgent, multiple and complex medical conditions that require immediate medical care outside of the prison. The doctor submitted a diagnosis of Ayatollah Kazemeyni Boroujerdi's heart condition, which is causing chest pains, suggesting that important arteries may be blocked. The Ayatollah also suffers from a kidney condition that causes considerable pain and he has lost around 40kg whilst in detention. He is also in a very poor psychological state. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/135/2008/en/9ad4a0ee-80a8-11dd-8e5e-43ea85d15a69/mde131352008en.html |
5. MDE 13/114/2006, 29 September 2006 On 30 June 2006 the Ayatollah conducted a large religious ceremony at the Shahid Keshvari stadium in Tehran. On 30 July, the security forces reportedly arrested several of his family and followers at their homes. The security forces also reportedly tried to arrest the Ayatollah himself, but were prevented from doing so by his followers. On 3 August, the security forces reportedly tried to arrest the Ayatollah but were again repelled by his followers. They reportedly took up positions outside the house, where they have remained since. On 7 September, representatives of the Special Court for the Clergy visited the Ayatollah in his house and told him to appear before the Prosecutor for the Special Court for the Clergy, which he refused to do. Between 18 and 21 September, the Ayatollah sent appeals to Council of Europe Secretary General Javier Solana (which can be read in Persian at http://www.irancpi.net/pdf/kazemeiniBroujerdi-naderzahedi.pdf), the Pope and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In his letter to Javier Solana, the Ayatollah described his history of persecution and the recent events and said he feared he would be killed if he went to the Special Court for the Clergy as instructed. Around the same time, another of his followers, Ms Nourbaksh, was reportedly arrested and taken to an unknown place of detention, possibly Section 209 of Evin Prison. Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi reportedly advocates the separation of religion from the political basis of the state. Since 1994 he says he has been summoned repeatedly before the Special Court for the Clergy and has been detained in Towhid and Evin Prisons. He has reportedly developed heart and kidney problems as a result of torture. His father was a prominent cleric who refused to accept the principle of velayat-e faqih (rule of the [Islamic] jurisconsult, or of those who know Islamic law), on which the Islamic Republic of Iran is based. He died in 2002 and his grave in the Masjed-e Nour mosque in Tehran has reportedly been desecrated and the mosque taken over by the state. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/114/2006/en/49da6421-d3ea-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/mde131142006en.html |
United Nations Human Rights Watch1. June 4, 2008 Cleric Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi is in poor health and urgently requires specialist medical attention. In March and April 2008, authorities transferred Boroujerdi to the prison clinic on numerous occasions. According to sources familiar with his case, Boroujerdi's physical and mental health have continued to deteriorate, and the authorities have denied his repeated requests to access outside medical care. On October 8, 2006, authorities arrested Boroujerdi at his house in Tehran and transferred him to Evin 209. In July 2007, the Special Court for the Clergy convicted him on unknown charges in a closed court. Boroujerdi espouses an interpretation of Islam that calls for the separation of religion and politics. It appears likely that the authorities have targeted him for his critical views about the current form of the Iranian government. Throughout his detention, Boroujerdi has not had access to a lawyer or physician of his choice. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/05/iran19031.htm |
2. January 6, 2008 The authorities have targeted Islamic clerics who are critical of the government's policies. On October 8, 2006, authorities arrested Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi at his house in Tehran and transferred him to Evin 209. Boroujerdi espouses an interpretation of Islam that calls for the separation of religion and politics. On October 10, two days after police arrested Boroujerdi, the semi-official Kayhan newspaper ran an article entitled, "Propagating Islam with the Assistance of the BBC and CIA," accusing the cleric of working as an agent of foreign institutions. In June 2007 Boroujerdi appeared before the Special Clerical Court, but the authorities have not clarified the exact nature of his charges and his sentence. (Ayatollah Khomeini established the Special Clerical Courts in 1987 to try clerics accused of committing crimes. These courts are overseen directly by the Supreme Leader rather than the Judiciary; critics have claimed that is the government uses it to punish clerics it views as challenging the ruling order.) Boroujerdi is imprisoned in Section 209 of Evin Prison. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/01/06/you-can-detain-anyone-anything?print |
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)3 May 2010 Religious freedom is limited in Iran, which is largely Shiite Muslim but includes Sunni Muslim, Baha'i, Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian minorities. Shiite clerics who dissent from the ruling establishment are frequently harassed. The Special Court of the Clergy investigates religious figures for alleged crimes and has generally been used to persecute clerics who stray from the official interpretation of Islam. Ayatollah Seyd Hussain Kazemeini Boroujerdi, a cleric who believes in separation of religion and politics, is currently serving 11 years in prison for his beliefs and has been unable to obtain treatment for his multiple ailments. http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?page=search&docid=4c0ceaec28&skip=0&query=boroujerdi |
Americans in cross hairs of mosque-state struggle 7 July 2011 Iraq's elected leaders are moving toward clerical rule while in Iran a leading Shiite cleric, who advocates secular rule, suffers in prison. |
Barbara Lochbihler's letter (Member of the European Parliament) to Iranian authoritiesBrussels, 21st January 2010 Furthermore I would like to raise the case of Ayatollah Kazemini Boroujerdi who was arrested on 8 October 2006, prosecuted by the Special Court for Clergy, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Since 27 January 2009 Boroujerdi was moved to solitary confinement in Yazd Prison despite the fact that he suffers from serious health problems. I consider Ayatollah Boroujerdi as a prisoner of conscience as his detention is based solely on his beliefs about the freedom of religion and expression. Therefore I call on the judicial authorities in Iran to abolish the prosecution of clergies in a Special Court and order a review based on national and international fair trial standards of all cases in which clergy have been sentenced by these courts. I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience. http://help-for-borojerdi.org/eu-p.doc |
The European Union to the United NationsDeclaration, 25 May 2009The European Union further expresses its concern at the plight of the Iranian Shiite ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who has been imprisoned for his religious activities along with several of his followers. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition. http://europa-eu-un.com/articles/es/article_8750_es.htm |
European Parliament resolution on Iran14 November, 2006 Expresses, equally, its concern for the safety of Ayatollah Sayad Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been advocating for years the separation of religion from the political bases of the state and who has been rearrested with reportedly more then 400 of his followers; urgently calls for their release. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-0614&language=DE |
The letter of the Swedish ParliamentThe letter of the Swedish Parliament to UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, EU Human Rights Commission, International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty international 16 February, 2009 - Stockholm/Sweden We, the members of Swedish Parliament from Liberal Party (Folkpartiet Liberalerna), inform you that the liberal cleric Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi's life is in critical danger. This prisoner of conscience advocates the separation of religion from state and the establishment of peace and justice. We demand the authorities mentioned above send a team to Iran without delay to investigate and report on the condition of Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi. We also demand that these authorities appeal to the Islamic Republic of Iran to: 1. Abide by its obligations under the UN Charter of Human Rights; 2. Publicly announce the formal charges brought against him Ayatollah Boroujerdi; 3. Allow an internationally reputed lawyer to have access to him; 4. Provide conditions for his lawyer to investigate and have access to all documents in his dossier; and, 5. Provide international media access to him. http://help-for-borojerdi.org/swp.pdf |
U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom1. Annual Report, May 2009 A number of senior Shi'a religious leaders who have opposed various religious and/or political tenets and practices of the Iranian government have also been targets of state repression, including house arrest, detention without charge, trial without due process, torture, and other forms of ill treatment. In October 2006, Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi,a senior Shi'a cleric who advocates the separation of religion and state, and a number of his followers were arrested and imprisoned after clashes with riot police. http://www.uscirf.gov/images/AR2009/final%20ar2009%20with%20cover.pdf |
2. May 12, 2008 A number of senior Shi'a religious leaders who oppose the tenets or practices of the Iranian government have also been targets of state repression, says the report. A case in point is Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi, who opposes religious rule in Iran. http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2238&Itemid=58 |
3. February 21, 2008 Shi'a clerics who stray from the official theology have also been severely sanctioned. Ayatollah Montazeri, in spite of his impeccable revolutionary credentials, has been under house arrest in Qom since the late 1980s. Most recently, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, a Shi'a cleric who openly promotes the separation of religion and state and claims to represent traditional Islam, has been imprisoned, reportedly tortured, and tried without access to an attorney. In June 2007, he was sentenced to death by the Special Court for Clergy. http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2096&Itemid=1 |
U.S. Department of State1. April 8, 2011 authorities arrested six followers of imprisoned Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who called for separation of church and state, and on December 6, authorities reportedly detained Mohammad Mehman Navaz, a civil engineer and supporter of imprisoned Ayatollah Boroujerdi, in an unknown location after summoning Navaz to the special clerical court. At year's end there was no information about where the prisoners were held. Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi remained in Evin Prison despite appeals for his release on medical grounds. Human rights groups claimed he had been in solitary confinement without access to an independent lawyer since his 2006 arrest. Prior to Boroujerdi's arrest, the government had increased pressure on him for his belief that religion and the state should be separate. 2.November 17, 2010 The government carefully monitored the statements and views of senior Shi'a religious leaders. The Special Clerical Courts, established to investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics, which the supreme leader oversees directly, were not provided for in the constitution and operated outside the judiciary. In particular critics alleged that the clerical courts were used to prosecute certain clerics for expressing controversial political ideas and for participating in nonreligious activities, including journalism. Iranian Shiite Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, along with 17 of his followers, has been imprisoned for espousing religious views that are incongruent with the official religious views of the government. He is serving an 11-year prison term and is reportedly in poor health. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition. 3. February 25, 2009Boroujerdi has been arrested and imprisoned several times since 1992 and claimed he was tortured and threatened with execution. The government carefully monitored the statements and views of all religious leaders, including the country's senior Muslim religious leaders. It restricted the movement of several Muslim religious leaders who had been under house arrest for years and continued to detain at least one dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, during the year. The government pressured all ranking clerics to ensure their teachings conformed to (or at least did not contradict) government policy and positions. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/nea/119115.htm |
4. March 11, 2008 The government carefully monitored the statements and views of the country's senior Muslim religious leaders. It restricted the movement of several religious leaders who had been under house arrest for years, and continued to detain at least one dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, during the year. The government pressured all ranking clerics to ensure their teachings confirmed (or at least did not contradict) government policy and positions. During the year, there were at least three assassinations or assassination attempts against Shi'a clerics by unknown assailants in Khuzestan and Sistan va Baluchestan provinces. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100595.htm |
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)2 July 2007 The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) express their deep concern at the arbitrary detention and sentencing of Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi and a group of his followers in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to information received, Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi was tried before the Special Clerical Court, in which he was denied legal counsel, and sentenced to death on June 10, 2007. Indeed, the Special Clerical Court itself stands outside of the legal framework of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as it is not provided for by any legislation. Thus, Kazemeini Boroujerdi's imprisonment, trial, and sentencing, while all in contravention of international human rights law, also violate Iranian law. Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi espouses the belief that religion and politics should be separate, and thus calls into question the foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sentences pronounced against Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi and his followers are thus in violation of the freedom of opinion, making them prisoners of conscience. In addition to being denied any legal counsel and information about the charges brought against him, Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi has been denied any contact with his family, despite the fact that his mother reportedly fell ill and died during his imprisonment. At the same time, he is reportedly suffering from Parkinson's disease, and has been denied medical treatment. According to the information available, Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi, forced to defend himself before the Special Clerical Court, was too ill to stand upright and had trouble speaking clearly. After unfair and seemingly arbitrary proceedings, Kazemeini and a reported 17 others were sentenced to death. The date of their executions remains unknown. http://www.fidh.org/Arbitrary-death-sentences-against-prisoners-of |
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran1. 1st June 2008Imprisoned Clerics Life in Danger: (1 June 2008) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release Ayatollah Boroujerdi, an imprisoned cleric, so he may receive urgently needed specialist medical care, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Boroujerdi has been in prison since 2006, yet judicial authorities have released no information concerning his prosecution. According to Ayatollah Boroujerdi's associates, his health has deteriorated precipitously in prison. The Campaign said the Iranian officials are fully responsible for health and safety of Ayatollah Boroujerdi under Iranian and international law.Boroujerdi's death for lack of medical care would amount to an extra-judicial execution, the Campaign said. Associates of Ayatollah Boroujerdi told the Campaign that his heart and kidney conditions are grave but he has had no access to specialist care. He only receives painkillers for his diseases inside prison. In addition to his physical health, his psychological well-being has also deteriorated due to ill-treatment and lengthy solitary confinement episodes. He has lost 30 kilograms in prison, his associates said. The Campaign expressed its grave concern for the health and safety of all prisoners of conscience in Iran. During the past few weeks, two human rights defenders, Emad Baghi and Sadiq Kaboudvand, suffered heart attacks inside Evin prison. http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2008/06/boroujerdi-danger/ |
2. 5th September 2008 Release Imprisoned Ayatollah for Urgent Medical Care: 5 September 2008) Iranian authorities should immediately release Ayatollah Kazemini Boroujerdi to receive urgently needed medical care, theInternational Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. According to Ayatollah Boroujerdi's physician, his condition has considerably deteriorated in prison and requires specialist care. On 2 September 2008, Human Rights Activists in Iran released a letter by Ayatollah Boroujerdi's physician, Dr. Hesam Firoozi, addressed to the head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi. Dr. Firoozi reports that Ayatollah Boroujerdi is suffering from multiple health complications, including: heart and respiratory problems, kidney stone complications, as well as loss of 80 percent of his vision due to cataracts. Dr. Firoozi also reports that Ayatollah Boroujerdi has lost as much as 80 pounds during his imprisonment.As an independent physician, with no political leanings and agenda, and as my sacred duties as a physician devoted to the goal of saving the lives of humans, I urge your Excellency to order his transfer to a specialist medical facility outside the prison, to save his life, Dr. Firoozi wrote to the head of the Judiciary. TheCampaign considers him a prisoner of conscience and urges the Iranian Judiciary to immediately release him and end his persecution and prosecution. http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2008/09/release-imprisoned-ayatollah-for-urgent-medical-care/ |
The Center for Human Rights Defenders in Iran (CHRD)1. Dear fellow citizens, The illegal arrest of Ayatollah Kazemayni Boroujerdi and his supporters is a clear example of violation of human rights and the constitution. We at the Centre for the Defense of Human Rights condemn this act and demand the unconditional release of the Ayatollah and all those arrested along with him. 2. Dear fellow citizens, The arrest of Ayatollah Kazemayni Boroujerdi and his supporters is against the standards set in the penal code and relevant articles of the Iranian constitution. The news disseminated through the media points to the fact that the relevant legal procedures delineated in the penal code, including the requirement to summon the accused to the judicial authorities (and issuance of the arrest warrant only after this step has been taken) have not been adhered to. The legal provisions set to protect civil rights and the inviolable articles of the Covenant on Civil and Political and rights, which since Iran is a signatory of, form part of our legal system. Therefore, it is our hope that both during interrogation sessions and court proceedings these provisions are adhered to. We at the Centre for the Defense of Human Rights draw the attention of the Attorney General to the necessity of applying the laws, which he has established, to this particular case. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/October/middleeast_October359.xml§ion=middleeast&col= |
Kenneth R. Timmerman, Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize(CHRD)(He was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize by former Swedish deputy Prime Minister Per Ahlmark.) May 6, 2009 Jailed cleric Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Borujerdi contends the referendum is needed to allow young and old generations to choose their government independently. Some of these exchanges have been taped and sent via the Internet to the Persian language service of Voice of America and Radio Israel. In a separate letter, sent to Newsmax on Tuesday, Borujerdi called on the U.N. Security Council to help the Iranian people establish a democratic government in Iran and blamed violence in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan on the Iranian dictatorship. All of this turmoil is the result of not having an open referendum in Iran, he said. http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate?nodeid=342185 |
Prince Reza Pahlavi 1.letter to His Excellency Ban Ki-moon concerning December 17, 2010 Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeiny Boroujerdi, a holy man, a long time vocal advocate of the separation of church and state and an opponent of the current regime in Tehran, is in dire circumstances as a result of long term imprisonment and physical and psychological torture. Reports indicate enduring the torture has caused Ayatollah Boroujerdi to lose much of his sight to the point that he is no longer able to even recognize objects and people around him. http://www.rezapahlavi.org/details_article.php?english&article=479 2. Interview with Le Parisien December 29, 2009 In a world where communications and the Internet have dominated, my countrymen, of which three quarters are under 35 years, cannot accept a totalitarian regime that relies on religion. This does not mean that religion has no place in Iran's future. The separation of state and religion is in the interest of the latter; as well as a large part of the senior clerics in Iran have realized the necessity of this separation. The words of the late Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Boroujerdi, now in prison, or other dignitaries are in this direction. Through their experience during the past thirty years, they came to the conclusion that secularism is the right solution for Iran. I hope that other opposition leaders will soon reach the same conclusion and support the alternative that is widely claimed by the Iranian people. |
3. ZENIT March 31, 2010 This so-called Islamic regime is intensely anti-religious, judging is not only by their principles, but also because of their behavior. A majority of the clergy that were with this system at the beginning are already outside the system, many of them have been placed under house arrest, some of them died under house arrest. One of them, Ayatollah Boroujerdi is currently being kept in prison and tortured. |
Fox NewsOctober 08, 2006 A popular Shiite Muslim cleric who opposes mixing religion and politics was detained Sunday after his supporters clashed with police outside his home in the capital Tehran, news reports said. Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, receives hundreds of visitors at home every day asking for his blessing but he is not favored among Iran's hardline clerics under Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because he does not support politicizing Islam. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct08/0,4670,IranClericDetained,00.html |
The Wall Street Journal1. February 9, 2009 Iran in Orbit: The Obama administration wants to talk to the Iranians, and some reports suggest they have been talking for months. American negotiators should take every opportunity to call for respect for human rights -- on behalf of the labor leaders demanding that salaries be paid, women demanding equal rights, students asserting their freedom to criticize, and even dissident ayatollahs, such as Montazeri and Boroujedi, who have branded the regime as heretical. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would seem an ideal champion for these victims. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123414344863961949.html?mod=djemEditorialPage |
2. June 12, 2010 Meanwhile, Iranian human-rights organizations tirelessly report on the dreadful treatment of political prisoners, and Green movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi ceaselessly demand their release. In the past year, the Greens have rapidly expanded their movement, reaching out to workers' organizations, women's groups, ethnic and religious minorities, veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, and a plethora of brave clerics including the Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who continues to denounce the Islamic Republic from a cell in Evin prison where he's been confined since October 2006. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575292301347865326.html |
Europe NewsSeptember 26 2008Iran's jailed Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other religious leaders asking them to help secure his release. The ayatollah asked the pontiff to "...defend the divine credibility and spiritual sacredness" by asking the Iranian authorities to respect human rights. The letter was reportedly smuggled out of jail and distributed by the ayatollah's representative in Europe. It was also addressed to Israel's chief rabbi, the grand mufti of al-Azhar and the Saudi ulema of Dar al-Fatwa. Addressing the Muslim leaders, Kazemeini says that "Political Islam is erasing the word of God and his prophet, Mohammed", while he asks rabbis to "make the world hear the cry of the Muslims in Iran, in the name of the same God that (we) jointly worship."(...) http://europenews.dk/en/node/14452 |
Guardian Newspaper1. 3 May 2008The advent of new media created new opportunities for Iranian society and independent media outside the country to work together to inform Iranians and the world community of the plight of Iran. In 2006, I received a call from Iran from the followers of Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who has publicly preached the separation of religion from state since 1994. Despite his huge following among the religious community, he was unknown to secular Iranians and audiences abroad. At the time of the call, the ayatollah and his followers had been under a month-long siege. They wanted their story to be told. I was sent videos, secret recordings, sermons and pictures through the internet. Within a few days and after a bloody battle, the security forces arrested the ayatollah and many of his followers. He was tried without legal counsel and sentenced to death on June 10, 2007. He remains in prison. His videos can be seen on Youtube and a multitude of blogs carry his news. Yet his followers are desperate for his story to be told in newspapers and broadcast media. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/03/thrivingdespiterepression |
2. 17 October 2007 A man like Boroujerdi - like many Muslim traditionalists - is a libertarian. He wants his mosque and his flock without the state interfering with either. This makes him a theist who favours separation of mosque and state - ie, a Muslim secularist. He should be viewed as a Muslim equivalent of someone like Reverend Jim Wallis in the states. Secular humanists in Europe often cry that a person cannot be religious and committed to separation of religion and state; yet the US contains many such people, and increasingly, so does the Muslim world. In fact, it will be theist Muslim secularists who will help atheist and agnostic secular humanists exist safely among Muslims. So, the goal of the Muslim left (and people in the west who are sympathetic to its goal), is to scan the Muslim world and find all the committed Muslims who favoor liberal democracy over the illiberal version that Islamists peddle. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/muslimsecularismanditsallies |
Washington Post Foreign ServiceSeptember 24, 2008 Human rights defenders, trade unionists and female activists, as well as reform-minded clerics promoting the separation of religion from politics, such as Ayatollah Boroujerdi, have been jailed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092303429.html |
The Washington TimesJuly 14, 2008 Since 1979 under the Islamic Republic, more than 200 Bahais have been executed. This campaign of terror and intimidation is not limited to the so-called "non-recognized" religious minorities such as Bahais. Ayatollah Borujerdi - a Shi'ite cleric who preaches a traditional nonpolitical version of Shi'ism - has also joined that list. Last year, Ayatollah Borujerdi, dared to question the Islamic regime's interpretation of political Shi'ite Islam. He was arrested during a violent clash involving his followers and was later severely tortured along with his entire family and many of his followers. There are reports that his condition is worsening. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/14/irans-blood-drenched-mullahs/ |
Caspian WeeklyMarch 6, 2010 The Bahs believers are not alone in daring to be different. Take the case of Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeyni Borujerdi for example. He is the only courageous Ayatollah in Iran who has dared to publicly challenge the official interpretation of Shiite Islam by the Islamic regime and publicly call for a return to a system of government that separates religion and politics. He along with many of his followers was arrested in 2006. From his prison cell in Yazd, Ayatollah Borujerdi continues to issue statements and send letters to UN officials asking for help. According to Amnesty international, on May 1, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting that international observers be sent to Iran in order to pave the way and assist Iranian people in an open referendum on the system of government. http://www.caspianweekly.org/main-subjects/gg/middle-east/999-dare-to-be-different-.html |
The Jerusalem PostNov. 10, 2008 Religious intolerance is not new to the Islamic republic. Since the establishment of the republic in 1979, all of Iran's religious minorities have suffered varying degrees of pressure and persecution. Even Shi'ite groups are not immune from persecution if they do not adhere to the Khomeini's radical interpretations. One case in point is Ayatollah Kazemaini Borujerdiand. He was imprisoned and tortured together with many of his followers. His crime was to call for a non-political interpretation of Shi'ite Islam and for the separation of religion and state. A few days ago, he published an open letter to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dared him to agree to a free referendum under international supervision. http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=120042 |
Voice of America1. VOA, June18, 2007 His father was a prominent cleric who refused to accept the principle of velayat-e faqih (rule of the Islamic law), on which the Islamic Republic of Iran is based http://www1.voanews.com/persian/news/a-31-2007-06-18-voa12-61576037.html |
2. VOA, Roundtable with You April 17, 2007 Focused on non-political Islam, which in Iran is embodied by Ayatollah Boroujerdi Ayatollah Boroujerdi, an Iranian Muslim cleric who advocates the separation of religion and politics, has been incarcerated at Tehran's Evin prison since 2006. Guest Jahangir Salehi, a secularist, said Mr. Boroujerdi is in solitary confinement and is not allowed to meet with his attorney or with family members. Political analyst Alireza Nourizadeh said many clergymen in Iran have paid a heavy price for their opposition to Islam's role in the political affairs of state, adding that a number have even been executed for their convictions. Both Mr. Salehi and Mr. Nourizadeh said Ayatollah Boroujerdi has repeatedly warned authorities in Tehran of human rights violations as well as suppression of women, teachers, workers and students. Mr. Boroujerdi has called the behavior of Iran's ruling clergy excessive and he has said it will eventually turn the people against Islam. He says Islam is a religion of peace, and by definition cannot support terrorism or promote violence, both of which the Iranian regime embraces. http://www1.voanews.com/persian/news/a-31-2007-04-23-voa11-61618187.html |
3. VOA, NewsTalk October 27, 2008 Elahe Sharifpour Hicks (Human rights activist) and Ahmad Batebi (a spokesperson for the Consortium of Human Rights): Dissident cleric, Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi, has issued his last will and testament from his jail cell. NewsTalk guests indicated that he has asked international human rights advocacy groups to protest human rights violations in Iran. http://www1.voanews.com/persian/news/a-31-2008-11-06-voa18-62451982.html |
3. VOA January 29, 2009 The imprisoned Ayatollah wrote a letter from jail congratulating President Obama: I express my congratulations for your victory in the presidential election. I would like to ask you, as the herald of freedom, to get my complaint to be heard by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. I have been harassed for years only because I am confronting this regime. Your election caused embarrassment for those Iranian authorities who believed, and claimed, that a black man would, by no means, be elected as the President of the United States. Please help the Iranian nation to be rescued from this cruel regime. http://www1.voanews.com/persian/news/a-31-2009-01-29-voa33-63865717.html |
Pajamas MediaJune 21, 2010Leading ayatollahs are in open revolt against the Iranian regime. Even many Grand Ayatollahs yesterday the late Ayatollah Montazeri, today Ayatollahs Boroujerdi and Sane???i are vilified by the regime. The leaders of the opposition speak in the name of Islam. http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2010/06/21/the-failed-frontal-assault-of-fareed-zakaria/ |
MacleansDecember 1, 2008 Opposition to Iran's theocracy is diverse and extends beyond university campuses. The example of Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is a case in point. The cleric supports the separation of religion and government. Iranians, he said, are opposed to the politicization of religion and its exploitation by a group that has nothing to do with true Islam. Islam is the religion of tolerance, forbearance, and mercy, to the point where [the Koran] emphasized to us that there is no compulsion in religion. Boroujerdi, along with scores of his supporters, was arrested moments after making those remarks to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper in October 2006. He's been in jail since. While Iranian judicial authorities have released little or no information about Boroujerdi's condition, Iranian human rights groups say he is in poor health. He has reportedly been recently transferred to a prison in Yazd, far from his family. http://www2.macleans.ca/2008/12/01/the-cost-of-calling-for-the-separation-of-mosque-and-state-in-iran-even-if-youre-a-mullah/ |
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)An independent, nonpartisan membership organization - USA June 19, 2008 Those who continue to advocate for the separation of church and state say they face increasing hostility in the Ahmadinejad era. In late 2006, dissident cleric Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi accused Iranian authorities of targeting his supporters and waging a campaign to discredit his movement. The ayatollah told U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that "real Islam is free of political ornaments," and that the Iranian public was losing faith in God because of the government's lackluster economic policies. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070201131_2.html |
HUMAN EVENTSApril 23, 2007 Iranian Discontent May Well Bring Regime Change: Finally, there is the case of Kazemeini Boroorjerdi. He is a mullah also in prison in Tehran. His crime is advocating separation of mosque and state and peace with the West. He and several of his family members are in prison in Tehran. While he awaits his inevitable execution, his own mother has died under torture. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20363 |
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