Mansour Osanlou
Encyclopedia
Mansour Osanloo is a leading trade union
activist in Iran
where he has been imprisoned several times from 2005 to 2008. Osanloo is currently held in Evin Prison
, serving a five-year prison sentence. He is a founding member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
, an independent union that has been campaigning vigorously for workers’ rights.
(SWTSCB), the transport workers' trade union in Tehran
in Iran
. He is in custody as of July 12, 2007.
In December 2005 bus drivers in Tehran were refusing to take passengers' fares, as a protest called by both Osanloo and the SWTBC. This led to the arrest of several union activists on December 22, including Osanloo.
Tehran bus workers were due to strike on 28 January 2006 calling for his release and other demands. However early in the morning of that day hundreds of union activists were arrested.
The Scottish Socialist Party
tabled a motion calling for his release before the Scottish Parliament
. He was released on bail in July/August 2006 after being kept in solitary confinement for months.
According to eyewitness accounts, Osanloo was arrested for a second time on November 19, 2006 under very suspicious circumstances, along with Ebrahim Madadi, the vice-president of Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. Osanloo and Madadi were beaten by a group of armed militia and were taken away after shots were fired into the air. This seems to be another case where special police and state-sponsored undercover security named Ansar-e Hezbollah are used in arresting and silencing social and political activists.
In November 2006 he was released on bail of £164,000. He was sentenced to a five-year prison term in March 2007. However, he was allowed to travel to London, England for the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) conference and to Brussels, Belgium for a meeting with the International Trade Union Confederation
(ITUC) in June 2007.
He was arrested again in July 2007 and remains in the custody of Iranian authorities. According to 2007 reports by the ITF, Osanloo is in imminent risk of losing his eyesight due to injuries sustained from government security forces in May 2005 and exacerbated by a lack of proper medical care by the Iranian authorities while in custody.http://libcom.org/news/repression-continues-iran-20102007
In August 2010, he was sentenced to another one year in prison after conviction of a new charge of "spreading propaganda against the system."Imprisoned for Defending the Rights of Workers On 2 June 2011, Ossanlu’s wife stated that he had been granted a four-day medical leave for medical treatment.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
where he has been imprisoned several times from 2005 to 2008. Osanloo is currently held in Evin Prison
Evin Prison
Evin House of Detention is a prison in Iran, located in Evin, northwestern Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing, where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
, serving a five-year prison sentence. He is a founding member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is a trade union centered around the Greater Tehran region. It has a membership of over 17,000 labourers; most of whom work for the United Bus Company of Tehran . Initially established in 1968, its activity has been intermittent...
, an independent union that has been campaigning vigorously for workers’ rights.
Background
Osanloo is President of the Executive Committee of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus CompanySyndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is a trade union centered around the Greater Tehran region. It has a membership of over 17,000 labourers; most of whom work for the United Bus Company of Tehran . Initially established in 1968, its activity has been intermittent...
(SWTSCB), the transport workers' trade union in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. He is in custody as of July 12, 2007.
In December 2005 bus drivers in Tehran were refusing to take passengers' fares, as a protest called by both Osanloo and the SWTBC. This led to the arrest of several union activists on December 22, including Osanloo.
Tehran bus workers were due to strike on 28 January 2006 calling for his release and other demands. However early in the morning of that day hundreds of union activists were arrested.
The Scottish Socialist Party
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....
tabled a motion calling for his release before the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
. He was released on bail in July/August 2006 after being kept in solitary confinement for months.
According to eyewitness accounts, Osanloo was arrested for a second time on November 19, 2006 under very suspicious circumstances, along with Ebrahim Madadi, the vice-president of Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. Osanloo and Madadi were beaten by a group of armed militia and were taken away after shots were fired into the air. This seems to be another case where special police and state-sponsored undercover security named Ansar-e Hezbollah are used in arresting and silencing social and political activists.
In November 2006 he was released on bail of £164,000. He was sentenced to a five-year prison term in March 2007. However, he was allowed to travel to London, England for the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) conference and to Brussels, Belgium for a meeting with the International Trade Union Confederation
International Trade Union Confederation
The International Trade Union Confederation is the world's largest trade union federation. It was formed on November 1, 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour...
(ITUC) in June 2007.
He was arrested again in July 2007 and remains in the custody of Iranian authorities. According to 2007 reports by the ITF, Osanloo is in imminent risk of losing his eyesight due to injuries sustained from government security forces in May 2005 and exacerbated by a lack of proper medical care by the Iranian authorities while in custody.http://libcom.org/news/repression-continues-iran-20102007
In August 2010, he was sentenced to another one year in prison after conviction of a new charge of "spreading propaganda against the system."Imprisoned for Defending the Rights of Workers On 2 June 2011, Ossanlu’s wife stated that he had been granted a four-day medical leave for medical treatment.
See also
- Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)The Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the secret police and primary intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran...
- Bahareh HedayatBahareh HedayatBahareh Hedayat is an Iranian student activist and campaigner for women's rights. She was arrested on July 9, 2007. On August 9, 2007 she was released on bail. She was again arrested and released in 2008, and in 2010 was sentenced to nine and a half years' imprisonment for anti-state...
- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran
External links
- ITF campaign page
- Freedom will come - The Mansour Osanloo story
- Mansour Osanloo - A quand la liberté
- Mansour Osanloo - La Libertad Llegará
- 自由のために - マンスール・オサンルーの闘い
- Freedom will come - The Mansour Osanloo story (Arabic)
- Freedom will come - The Mansour Osanloo story (Persian)
- Labournet on the case
- Appeal for financial support
- Indymedia on his case
- Letter about 28 January arrests
- latest on dispute
- letter calling for his release after second arrest
- model letter calling for his release
- more from Labournet, with photo
- latest report on his detention
- Interview with Mansour Osanlou - YouTube video part 1
- Interview with Mansour Osanlou - YouTube video part 2
- Interview with Mansour Osanlou - YouTube video part 3