No.: 535/2011
Date: 22 March 2011

The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva,

Please circulate to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, and to the Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health. It is relevant to:

· Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
· The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
· Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
· The Independent Expert on Minority Issues

CC:
Mr. Dyke and Mrs. Harrison, Amnesty International, London
UNESCO and various news media

Dear sir/madam

UPDATE 2: Mrs Etiyye Metinpur: THE TRUTH IS THAT I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE REASON FOR AN AUTHORITY TO BE OBSTINATE TOWARDS THE CASE OF AN INDIVIDUAL

Please find enclosed Update 2 on the severe heart condition that Mr. Seid Metinpur is suffering now. He is a distinguished human rights defender of Southern Azerbaijan, who is now a prisoner of conscience arbitrarily deprived of his right to health and liberty by Iranian authorities. He is in an urgent need of medical attention.

Mr. Metinpur has now turned to the symbol of national consciousness of Southern Azerbaijan. His sufferings are pulsating the suffering of the 30 million Turkic nation in Southern Azerbaijan and his upbeat resolve to resist the arbitrary acts of the Iranian racism is aspiring the activists of the national movement of Southern Azerbaijan.

Since our Update 1 (Ref: 522/2010, Date: 8 February 2010) regarding his first heart attack, Mr. Metinpur has suffered such attacks twice. We were unable to report the second one and therefore this update is concerned with his third heart attack problems. The documents/information provided in this Update are*:

Table 1: This provides the translation of an interview given by Mrs. Etiyye Metinpur, wife of Mr. Seid Metinpur to radio Farda (the date of interview: 13 March 2011).
Table 2: This provides the translation of two new items reflecting the way Mr. Metinpur has turned to a focal point of Southern Azerbaijan.
Table 3: This reflects the international campaign for the release of Mr. Metinpur.

We would like to stress once again that in compiling this Communication, we have not consulted with Mr. Metinpur’s family or anyone else for that matter. It is necessary to mention this to manage the risk of reprisals by the Iranian authorities against him and his family.

Mr. Metinpur is a distinguished human rights defender, a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned arbitrarily and now deprived of his right to health. Evidently, Mrs. Metinpur has exhausted all the means to secure the treatment of her husband. We would like to remind you that you are the authority with an international mandate responsible able to secure Mr. Metinpur’s health. The justice for Mr. Metinpur and securing his health now rests in your hands.

We thank you in advance for your care.

Yours sincerely,
Boyuk Resuloglu
Chairperson of the Committee for the Defence of the Rights of World Azerbaijanis

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