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Act now to free jailed Iranian union leader Reza Shahabi

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All too often obscured by the geo-politics of Iran’s relationship with the rest of the world, brave trade unionists in the Islamic Republic are being harassed, beaten, jailed and tortured.

Their crimes, usually described as treason or heresy, are no more than standing up for their fellow workers – many industrial disputes in Iran are just about getting the pay people have been promised. This month, global human rights organisation Amnesty International has declared one of them, Reza Shahabi, a prisoner of conscience, and demanded he receive immediate medical attention and be freed unconditionally.

The TUC is calling on the Iranian government to free Shahabi, a bus worker union leader, as part of a global Amnesty International ‘urgent action’. Unions are being encouraged to send protest letters to the Iranian Embassy in London or the government of Iran.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady wrote to the Iranian Ambassador in London last week, saying:

Reza's only crime has been to be a leader of a trade union, standing up for the rights of his colleagues at work, and to protest against the appalling treatment he and others have received in prison. In persecuting and imprisoning him in this way, your government is abrogating its obligations to freedom of association, allowing people to form and operate unions of their choice.

Reza Shahabi is treasurer and board member of a trade union covering bus drivers in the Iranian capital Tehran, the Syndicate of the Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTSBC.) The SWTSBC was formed before the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, but was banned shortly after the Islamic Revolution, along with large parts of the workers’ movement that helped end the Shah’s dictatorial regime.

It was re-established in 2004 to demand unpaid wages be reimbursed, and has been struggling against official repression ever since. The union has joined the International Transport Workers Federation, and has the backing of fellow ITF affiliate Unite the Union.

Reza was first arrested in 2010 by Ministry of Intelligence officials. After 19 months in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, Iran’s most notorious jail, he was convicted by a Revolutionary Court of ‘gathering and colluding against state security’ and ‘spreading propaganda against the system’.

He was sentenced to six years for his trade union activities. But as his wife Robabeh Rezaie said recently:

We should ask the judicial authorities how he has endangered the security of the country? Is it against national security to support the drivers who want to have bread and housing and practice the right to freely support their own established organisation? Reza Shahabi has committed no crime other than acting in support of workers’ rights. His place is not in the prison!

The Iranian regime of often described as a theocracy, governed by Islamic laws and ruled by Mullahs. But in reality, it is a kleptocracy, where rich Iranians hide their theft of wages, decent working conditions and political freedom under the cloak of religious fervour.

That’s why trade unionists are so often punished: not only do they threaten the wealth of the rulers of Iran, they also expose the regime for what it is, and show loyalty to their fellow workers through acts of solidarity, rather than paying homage to the state and the state religion.

During his seven years in jail, Shahabi has been beaten, tortured and denied appropriate medical treatment for the resulting injuries and ill-health. He has repeatedly joined hunger strikes against the vicious and demeaning prison regime, and has refused to give up his advocacy for union rights. He was released for medical treatment in 2014 after a global union solidarity campaign, but re-arrested for complaining about his prison experiences, and sentenced to a further year’s imprisonment in 2015 and, despite promises, the rest of his six year sentence was re-imposed.

Reza joined a further hunger strike in August. After the TUC had already written to the Iranian embassy in London, and with his medical condition worsening, he suspended his hunger strike in return for promises that the Iranian authorities would address his complaints. However, no one has much faith in these promises, and in any case, there is no valid reason for Reza’s imprisonment, so we continue to call for appropriate medical treatment and his unconditional release.

Recently, Bakers’ union General Secretary Ronnie Draper added his support in a letter to the Guardian. And global union leaders Sharan Burrow of the International Trade Union Confederation, Steve Cotton from the ITF, Fred Van Leeuwen of Education International, and Sue Longley of the IUF have appealed to ILO director general Guy Ryder to intervene with the Iranian government “in relation to the continued persecution of trade unionists and the systematic abuse of workers’ and trade union rights by the authorities of that country”.

Join the Amnesty International urgent action call now by adding your letter to those sent by the TUC General Secretary.

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