Criticism of Widespread Summons, Intimidation and Detention of Teachers in Iran
The Secretary-General of Iran’s Teachers Organization announced on Tuesday, May 10, that the wave of summons, intimidation and detention of educators has become more widespread.
Tahereh Naghavi described the promises made by Islamic Republic officials regarding teachers’ demands as “hollow and impractical” in an interview with Imtedad, a news and analysis website.
The Secretary-General of Iran’s Teachers Organization says the regime, as always, is trying to prevent gatherings through intimidation, threats, summons and detention of protesters.
Tahereh Naghavi, noting that continuation of this security approach increases the number of protesters, described threats to teachers with dismissal from education as “pouring gasoline on the fire of discontent.”
Yosef Nouri, Minister of Education, threatened on May 6 that “based on Article 23 of the Law on Administrative Violations, the violations committee can dismiss teachers who participate in these gatherings.”
The new wave of summons and detention of educators, which began a few days before Teachers’ Day in Iran, continues.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network also reported on Monday, May 19, the detention of Farhad Mirzaei, a member of the Supreme Council of Teachers’ Labor Activists, in the city of Islamabad.
This is while Mohammad Habibi, spokesperson for the Professional Association of Iranian Teachers, has been imprisoned since May 1, and Nasser Shah Karmi, Ali Akbar Baghani, Jafar Ebrahimi, Rasoul Badaghi, Eskandar Lotfi and Masoud Nikkhah are also among the teachers who remain in detention.
The Coordination Council of Teachers’ Labor Unions in Iran warned three days ago in a statement that if detained teachers are not released in the coming days, a nationwide protest gathering will be held on Thursday, May 22.
The Human Rights Watch organization also called on Thursday, May 15 in a statement for the immediate and unconditional release of detained teachers in peaceful demonstrations.
The organization announced the number of detained teachers as at least 38, but some sources have reported an increase in the number of detainees to 70.
Several political and civil activists in Iran also protested last week by issuing a statement against the detention of teachers’ labor activists in various cities.
Thousands of employed and retired teachers have held several nationwide gatherings in dozens of Iranian cities in recent months.
Their demands include full implementation of the teacher ranking plan, equalization of retirees’ salaries, cessation of security pressure on educators, and the release of imprisoned teachers. The teacher ranking bill was approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly last December, but teachers describe the approved bill as “patched together” and say the approved plan falls far short of their demands.
The economic crisis and rampant inflation in Iran in recent years have also led to protests by various sectors of society, including workers and retirees.
Source: Voice of America
