	The B'nai Brith Canada Institute for International Affairs has a mandate to protest the abuse of human rights throughout the world and advocate on behalf of worldwide Jewish communities in distress. The Institute has a special focus on pro-Israel advocacy and education.
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There is no greater mitzvah than Redemption of Captives
Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Matanot Ani’im, Chapter 8, Article 10

Iran Update 30

March 8, 2001

Toronto, March 8, 2001…It has now been confirmed that Ramin Nematizadeh, one of the 10 Jewish captives, was released from jail in Shiraz earlier this week. Initial reports on the BBC and CNN had announced that he would be released before the Iranian New Year on March 21, 2001, but it appears that shortly before his prison term was due to end, he received a few days grace in honour of the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Adha. A judiciary official stated that the release was granted before the sentence was over due to time already served before the trial.

Nematizadeh originally received a four year sentence, the most "lenient" of all the judgements, but this was reduced to two years when an appeals tribunal allowed for sentences on three counts to be served concurrently rather than consecutively, and made provision for pre-trial detention to be counted towards the jail term.

Since Iranian law allows for parole when one third of the sentence has been completed, it is disappointing that Faramaz Kashi, who is serving a three year sentence, was not also released. Four other prisoners, whose sentences range from five to six years, should also have been eligible for parole. However, it should be remembered that parole is a priviledge, not a right, and there are many political factors that come into play in decisions of this kind, especially in such a high profile case that has attracted the attention of western governments and has been brought up in bilateral discussions with the Iranians for almost two years.

Future releases may well be dependant on Nematizadeh’s discretion on the specifics of the case - such as details of the interrogation the captives were subjected to - as well as on the "good behaviour" of the small Jewish community. The authorities thus have a very effective form of leverage with which to control any public criticism or overly autonomous actions by the community for years to come.

In addition, the prisoners themselves are in a double bind: parole is out of the question while an appeal is in progress, so the very attempt to press for retrial and exoneration has in fact delayed any possibility of release on these grounds. While the judiciary announced last month that the appeals of the captives had been rejected, an Iranian News Agency (IRNA) report of March 5, 2001 quoted a judiciary statement that the appeals “lodged by the other Jewish prisoners are now being reviewed in the General Prosecutor’s Office”. It was assumed that the official appeals process had ended, apart from an appeal directly to the President for executive clemency, but until this inconsistency has been clarified, no further releases can be expected.

It might now be most effective for the human rights community to press for early parole since appeals for clemency are unlikely to be successful and may, in fact, delay the release of the other captives who will, tragically, be spending their third Purim in captivity.

Index of Press Releases & Updates - 13 Iranian Jewish Captives

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