Free Republic

The mother of jailed Iranian labor activist Mansour Osanlou has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda he has been transferred to a prison ward for drug addicts and prisoners suffering from Hepatitis and AIDS. Osanlou's mother, Fatemeh Golqezi, said the conditions in the ward are dangerous to her son's health. She said Oslanou, who headed Tehran's municipal bus service union, is being held at Ward 5 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj, a suburb of Tehran. Golqezi said prison officials had explained Osanlou's transfer by saying he had planned to set fire to blankets in his cell to celebrate the Fire Festival. This...

Mansour Osanlou, the leader of Tehran's municipal bus service union, was reportedly assaulted by an inmate in an Iranian prison, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The trade unionist was not injured in the attack, which occurred at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, on February 22. Osanlou was arrested in July 2007 after being abducted on the street by security forces. He is serving a five-year prison term for what authorities say was acting against "national security." He had been detained several times between 2005-2007. Canadian-based labor activist Mehdi Kouhestaninejad told RFE/RL that Osanlou has been persecuted in prison by...

Unions in worldwide protests over detention of Iranian labour leaders 6 March 2008 Trade unionists and human rights activists in towns and cities across the world are today voicing their opposition to the continued imprisonment of Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi. The two Iranian trade union leaders, respectively representing Tehran bus workers and bakery workers, have been in prison for several months. Protesters are participating in an ITF campaign day, backed by the trade union movement and Amnesty International. Actions included: protests outside the Iranian embassy and the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, and the delivery of letters of...

Iranian union leader’s wife and sister arrested 6 September 2007 The wife and sister of the imprisoned Iranian bus union leader, Mansour Osanloo, were arrested in Tehran after they attempted to meet with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who was visiting Iran. Parvaneh Osanloo, the wife of the leader of the Tehran bus workers’ union, Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed, and his sister, visited the United Nations building in Tehran on Monday to meet with High Commissioner Louise Arbour. She was in Tehran to address the issue of detained students. Osanloo’s wife and sister planned to highlight the...

Iran Arrests Five Trade Unionists August 12, 2007 AFP The Peninsula Iranian security forces arrested five members of Tehran's bus drivers' union after they visited the home of their imprisoned chief, the men's lawyer said yesterday. Tehran and suburbs bus drivers' union chief Mansour Ossalou, who has pushed for stronger trade unions in Iran, has been detained in Tehran's Evin prison since July after being convicted of acting against national security. "Ebrahim Madadi, Yagoub Salimi, Davoud Razavi and Ghojari and Homayoun Jaberi went to Mansour Ossalou's house to meet his family, where they were arrested," said lawyer Parviz Khorshid, quoted...

Torture in Tehran May 20, 2006 National Review Online Michael Ledeen I am sorry to have to post this, a video of the leader of Tehran's bus drivers' organization (it is forbidden to call it a union) after a torture session in an Iranian prison. But it seems otherwise impossible to convince Western leaders that we are confronting a monstrous evil, that seeks to destroy or dominate us by all possible means. The sort of horror you see on this video is repeated every day, sometimes leading to execution, sometimes to further sadism. Secretary Rice: do you really believe...