Abduction of Mansour Osanloo
Dear
President,
On behalf
of cgt FORCE OUVRIERE (France), we, with ITUC
(International Trade Union Confederation) and ITF
(International Transport workers Federation), strongly
condemn the abduction of Mansour Osanloo, the President
of the Sandikaye Kargarane
Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and
Suburbs Bus Company).
We have
been informed by ITUC that
Sandikaye
Kargarane Sherkate Vahed
President, Mansour Osanloo was abducted by unidentified
assailants as he was leaving a Vahed Company bus near
his home at around 7pm on 10 July. According ITUC,
witnesses on the bus stated that they beat him severely,
and continued to beat him as they took him away in a
metallic grey Peugeot to an undisclosed location. Mr.
Osanloo had apparently been followed all day by the
unmarked Peugeot car. Such vehicles are well known as
being associated with the Iranian Security Forces.
We understand that his family and his
union colleagues do not know the identity of the
assailants, but they believe that a direct order has
been issued by your Labour Minister, demanding the
immediate seizure of Mr Osanloo. We further understand
that Mr Osanloo’s wife and family members went to the
128th Branch Police Station in Narmak near their home.
The Deputy Information Officer at the police station
made unwarranted accusations, telling them that Mr
Osanloo was a spy who received money from abroad, but
the police would not acknowledge whether they had
arrested or abducted him.
We are now deeply concerned for the
safety of Mr. Osanloo. Given the past history of Mr.
Osanloo’s treatment by the security forces there is
strong reason to believe that they are indeed
responsible for this attack, which we believe is
directly linked to his trade union activities. As you
will recall, we have already had to protest to you about
this on several occasions, including two in November
2006. Then only a week ago, Ebrahim Madadi, Vice
President of the union was detained for a short period
by the police before being released following global
trade union protests.
By virtue
of its membership of the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) the Islamic Republic of Iran is
legally bound to respect its core principles including
the principle of the freedom of association. The
Ministry of Labour has repeatedly reassured the ITUC
(then-ICFTU) and the ITF that it is committed to
workers’ rights and dialogue with the international
trade union movement.
With ITUC and ITF, we therefore urge
your government to take every possible to step to ensure
the safety of Mr. Osanloo and do all in your power to
secure his immediate release, as well as identifying
those responsible.
Jean Claude Mailly
General Secretary
