Jamal Saberi is an Iranian activist who is currently in detention in Tokyo, Japan and under threat of deportation to Iran.
This is the Free Jamal! 2010 campaign.
We thank all of you who helped to save Jamal from the danger of being deported to Iran and getting him out of detention in Japan. However, we wanted to inform you that Jamal urgently needs financial support.
When the Free Jamal Campaign was first informed about Jamal’s situation we contacted friends and supporters and were able to send Jamal some funds. Due to his immigration status Jamal is not allowed to work in Japan -this means he needs regular monthly financial support for his living expenses and also to be able to take legal action to get asylum in Japan or a safe 3rd country.
Thus we are calling on you good people and progressive organisations who have helped us in the campaign so far to support Jamal financially.
You can send your donations to IFIR branches or donate via paypal to
Please specifiy in all cases that the donation is for Jamal Saberi. Please also drop us a quick line at freejamalcampaign@gmail.com to let us know that you have made a donation.
See Jamal's interview and video in the Japan Times by Simon Scott. Jamal is still fighting to be accepted as an asylum seeker in Japan after 20 years of living there. Read the interview here
After months of an international struggle we can finally declare that Jamal Saberi has been released form detention in Japan today!
The first phase of the Free Jamal! Campaign - to prevent the deportation of Jamal to the Islamic Republic of Iran and to get him released from the horrible detention centre - ends successfully. Now we are focussing on getting Jamal refugee status and permanent residency.
This success would not have been possible without your help! Jamal’s friends in Japan, the Railway Workers Union in Japan, organisations such as "Mission Free Iran" and thousands around the world who helped us in this campaign – you all share this victory and our success. Congratulations to all of you! We also thank our members and officers of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees worldwide and the Worker-Communist Party Abroad Organisation who stood repeatedly outside Japanese embassies and consulates in various countries and who were negotiating with Japanese officials.
We have always considered ourselves part of a global effort to free all refugees who are in detention and denied their rights by governments such as Japan. This success of freeing Jamal is the base from which we continue the advanced and extensive task to realise the rights of refugees everywhere.
International Federation of Iranian Refugees
4 August 2010
A big THANK YOU to everyone who faxed (or emailed) their protest to the Japanese Ministry over the last weekend!
I guess the Japanese government understands now that we won't go away unless they cancel Jamal's deportation order and until he is safe as a refugee!
Unfortunately 9 May was also the day that 5 Iranian political prisoners were executed by the Islamic regime of Iran in Tehran. This makes it even more urgent to save Jamal and others like him from deportation to Iran.
Our campaign continues - thank you for your support!
Farshad Hosseini had some extremely busy days before his mission in Japan for Jamal ended. On Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 April he had several high profile meetings in a push to move Jamal’s case forward. He met with the leader of the Social Democratic Party and an MP, union leaders, anti-war movement leaders, UNHCR Japan and Amnesty International Japan.
He met Ms Mizohu Fukushima, Minister of State and leader of the Social Democratic Party and Mr Hattori Ryoichi, MP. Farshad discussed Jamal’s case with Ms Fukushima and she said that she would follow it up with the Minitstry of Justice and the immigration authorities.
Farshad also met with the deputy secretary of the National Union of Workers in Japan, Nakajima Hiroshi
and Mr. Ken Takada, leader of the widely known anti-war movement in Japan, organisers of the largest anti-war protest in Japan. Both promised to help free Jamal.
Farshad went to see the Shinji Kuboresponsible for internal relations the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Japan.He talked to him in detail about Jamal’s situation and the inhumane treatment of the immigrantion authorities of Jamal. Farshad stressed that the UNHCR has been made aware of the violation of refugee conventions and international agreements by the immigration authorities. UNHCR has a duty to be sensitive aobut this issue and intervene immediately. UNHCR as an international observer organisation can and must advice the Japanese ministry of justice and the immigration authorities to recognise Jamal as a refugge and in case of refusal, UNHCR must find another way to transfer Jamal to to a another safe country and take urgent action. Mr Kubo said that UNHCR in Japan cannot take any action outside the framework of Japanese law as Japan accepts refugees and is in charge of issuing refugee status. However given the circumstances of Jamal UNHCR will try to advise the Japanese government regarding Jamal's specific case.
Farshad also met with the general director of Amnesty International in Japan, Mr Makoto Teranaka and the refugee secretary of Amnesty Ms Hiroka Shoji. Farshad talked to them in detail about Jamal's case and stated that he expects Amnesty as an organisation for Human Rights' laws to to act on behalf of Jamal and to put pressure on the Ministry of Justice and the immigration authorities so that they accept Jamal as a refugee. Mr Teranaka said that Amnesty is aware of Jamal's case and that he had also visited Jamal in detention. He said that Amnesty is trying for his asylum status but that they would need more information regarding similar cases in Iran where people have been prosecuted. By referring to these kind of cases, Amnesty could prove the Iranian government is prosecuting activists from abroad. Farshad is going to follow this up and send Amnesty Japan materials, but if anyone has information on this please get in touch with us and we will forward it. At the end of their meeting they had a good discussion on how to make the Free Jamal! campaign more effective.
Farshad had also numerous interviews with journalists from newspapers who interviewed him about Jamal’s situation and the human rights situation in Iran.
On Thursday evening Farshad was invited to speak at the activists and young supporters of the Free Workers' Union of Japan seminar. He spoke about the current revolution in Iran and the situation and developments since the revolution in 1979. After the seminar Farshad talked about Jamal's case. An open discussion followed in which ideas on how to extend the Free Jamal! campaign in Japan with the support of unions were discussed
Last but not least Farshad went to see Jamal again in detention. Here is Jamal's photo (taken secretly) from behind the glass screen that separates him from his visitors.
Farshad has now returned from his mission in Japan and is following up on the promised actions by the many people his has met there, so watch this space for more news from Japan.
Japan report 6 April 2010 Today was another busy and successful day for Farshad Hosseini on his mission in Japan. He met with representatives of the Japanese Railway Workers' union, International Workers Solidarity and the Refugee Support Network in Japan today.
Farshad met with Mr Tanaka Yasuhiro, the president of Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba), Mr Yamamoto, the secretary treasurer of International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba, Mr Seto and Mr Tazaki as well as Ms Sogame from the Refugee Support groups.Farshad Hosseini asked for support from the trade unions and organisations for Jamal as a symbol and representative of the opposition and revolution against the Islamic regime of Iran.
The TU representatives stated that they know Jamal and that he has been their link with Iran and the opposition there. They promised to use all their resources including international links to make sure that Jamal is supported.
This is a significant boost to the free Jamal campaign!
Farshad also met with Mrs Noriko Watanabe, Jamal's solicitior and discussed Jamal's case in detail and ways of supporting his case. Mrs Watanabe stated that the campaign to free Jamal has helped to temporarily stop the deportation of Jamal, but the Ministry of Immigration could speedily refuse Jamal’s case and deport him. She stated that the Immigration officials believe that the ‘supposed danger to Jamal is political propaganda’ and 'no danger awaits him'. She also stated that the most probable route is political for Jamal rather than legal, or it may be possible to facilitate to transfer him to another country.Mrs Watanabe has asked that all correspondance and support be copied to her directly to be added to his case as supporting documents.
Farshad has also tried to contact the Ministry of Immigration, they have refused to see him but have confirmed that they are aware of his case. Farshad is planning to see UNHCR and Amnesty International.
We gathered at 4 opposite the Japanese embassy. There is a big four lane road between us and the security staff of the embassy who kept his eyes on us all the time. A big road that brings plenty of people along to find out about Jamal. At first we stand quietly with our banner and placards. Then we started using the loudhailer; it is strong enough to get across the road and down the road, despite the traffic. As soon as we started to speak the security staff at the embassy moved into action and after a couple of minutes the police arrived. They had a brief conversation with the staff and left. I guess the police informed them about our freedom of speech, even with a loudhailer. The nice thing that happened once we started using the loudhailer was that many people stopped and listened to what we had to say about Jamal and his situation in Japan. A human rights lawyer from Japan talked to us and offered support. Others expressed their support as well. We chanted slogans like: Deportation to Iran is execution by Japan! which we had also painted onto the banner. We also chanted: Shame on Japan! One of us went in front of the embassy to distribute leaflets about Jamal and got rid of all of them. Some people already knew about Jamal’s case. All in all a handful of people with a strong loudhailer can make a huge difference! We hope that the Japanese embassy and the Japanese government realise that we are indeed making their treatment of Jamal and other refugees in Japan very public. Last week we went to the embassy for an appointment with embassy staff and this week we chose to stay outside to let the public know too what is happening. I think it was a good decision. To be continued…
The Human Rights; chair Abbas Mohammadi of CAW, the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada has written to the Japanese consul Mr Sasaki in Vancouver in support of Jamal. (Please click on the letter to open in a more readable format)
Bernard Trotereau on behalf of the Union of SUD Social and Health workers from the Doubs, France sent the following letter to the Japanese ambassador in Paris and to the Japanese consul in Strasboug in support of Jamal. They state that deporting Jamal to Iran would mean as a minimum imprisonment and torture and likely his execution. They demand Jamal's release and that his deportation order be cancelled. They also urge the Japanese government to grant him refugee status.
Syndicat SUD (solidaires-unitaires-démocratiques) santé-social du Doubs
Son Excellence Ambassadeur du Japon en France Ambassade du Japon 7, Avenue Hoche 75008 Paris
Besançon, le 31 mars 2010
Votre Excellence,
Jalal Ahmadzade-Nouei, alias Jamal Saberi, militant politique opposant au régime islamiqueen Iran a été arrêté par la police japonaise pour être expulsé vers l’Iran. Jamal Saberi a quitté l'Iran en 1990 et il est depuis 1992 membre du Parti Communiste-Ouvrier d'Iran, un virulent parti d'opposition à la République Islamique. A ce titre, JamalSaberi a participé à de nombreuses campagnes et écrit plusieurs articles en persan et en japonais pour défendre les droits humains en Iran et contre la République Islamique d'Iran. Il est inutile de développer longuement les risques auxquels devrait faire face Jamal Saberi, opposant connu de la République Islamique et militant du Parti Communiste-Ouvrier d’Iran, s’il était expulsé. Tous les rapports des organisations de défense des droits humains démontrent en effet que le gouvernement iranien continue de violer les droits humains les plus fondamentaux sans qu’il n’y ait le moindre signe d’amélioration. Ces abus systématiques incluent les assassinats extrajudiciaires et les exécutions sommaires, la généralisation de l’utilisation de la torture et d’autres traitements dégradants, les arrestations et détentions, l’absence de procès équitables, et de terribles conditions carcérales. Une expulsion de Jamal vers l’Iran signifierait au minimum son emprisonnement et des tortures, si ce n’est une condamnation à mort. Nous demandons donc aux autorités japonaises de libérer immédiatement Jamal Saberi, d’annuler l’ordre d’expulsion et de lui accorder l’asile politique. Nous vous remercions de bien vouloir transmettre notre demande aux autorités japonaises. Veuillez agréer, Votre Excellence, l'expression de nos respectueuses salutations
On Monday, 22 March, Suleiman Sigarchy from the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) Vancouver branch has had a meeting with the office of Don Davies, member of Parliament from the New Democratic Party to inform them about the situation of Jamal Saberi and urged them to support Jamal's release from detention. Watch this space for an update of action.
On March 26, Suleiman contacted the Members of Parliament in Canada on behalf of IFIR with a request to lobby the Japanese embassy in Ottawa about Jamal. Here is his letter:
To Member of Parliaments
House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
I am writing to all members of Canadian Parliaments on behalf of International Federation of Iranian Refugees-Vancouver Branch to ask for help to free Mr.Jamal Saberi (Jalal Amanzadeh Nouei).His life is in danger. Please respond immediately by contacting Japan Embassy in Ottawa. 255 Sussex Drive Ottawa, ON K1N 9E6 (613) 241-8541
And also ministry of Justice in Tokyo.
Ministry of Justice Homusho (Homusho) http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/index.html Address: 1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8977 Phone: +81-3-3580-4111 Fax: +81-3-3592-7393 e-mail: webmaster@moj.go.jp
As part of the global action day for Jamal Saberi on Wednesday 31 March 2010, there will be a protest opposite the Japanese embassy in London from 4-6pm by the Free Jamal! campaign.
Address: 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT closest tube: Green Park
Please support Jamal and join us. If you can't come, please call,fax or email the embassy on that day to add extra momentum to the campaign and please let us know about your messages to the Japanese embassy. The contact details for the Japanese embassy are: Tel: 020 74656500 (just say you wish to speak to someone about Jamal Saberi (Jalal Ahmadzade-Nouei) Fax: 02074919348 Email: info@jpembassy.org.uk
Mission Free Iran is staging another protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Washington DC (2520 Massachusetts Ave NW) on Sunday March 28st at 3pm to demand a halt to the deportation proceedings against Mr. Jamal Saberi, a vocal and long-time activist against the depredations of the Islamic Republic. Click here for more info
カナダ、トロント：No one is illegal（誰も不法滞在者なんかじゃない）キャンペーンのミーティングにおいて、Iraj RezaieとMohammad Kazemiがジャマル氏のケースについて説明しました。そして同キャンペーンの名において抗議文を在カナダ日本大使館に送付し、Mehrane Mahboubiが会談を求めて日本領事館にコンタクトを取りました。
Global Day of Action against the anti-refugee policies of the Japanese government 31 March 2010
The Free Jamal! campaign announces 31 March 2010 a Global Day of Action against Japanese anti-refugee policies to coincide with the end of UN Special Rapporteur Jorge Bustamante’s mission to observe the human rights situation of migrants in the country and his scheduled press conference on that day in Tokyo.
Free Jamal! calls on all members and supporters of the campaign to hold demonstrations in front of Japanese embassies and consulates on 31 March to express their strongest objection at the Japanese government’s treatment of refugees.
Free Jamal! supports the struggle and the demands of thousands who are detained in the prisons of the Japanese Immigration Authorities and are highlighting the treatment of Jamal Saberi - a well-known women, worker and human rights’ activist for the people of Iran - by the Japanese Ministry of justice as a clear example of the unjust behaviour by the Japanese government towards refugees.
Free Jamal! demands the immediate release of Jamal Saberi, the repeal of his deportation order and that Japan must grant him refugee status.
Special representative of the Free Jamal! campaign, Farshad Hosseini, will be present in Tokyo next week to support the Global Day of Action locally.
The Japanese government and its Ministry of Justice should be aware that the whole world is watching their misbehaviour towards refugees and migrants, including Jamal Saberi who has been at the frontline of defending refugee rights in Japan for 18 years.
On 31 March Japanese officials will recognise that intending to deport Jamal Saberi as well as any underhand dealings with the Islamic Republic of Iran will be exposed and will cost Japan dearly as a consequence. The Free Jamal! campaign with all its members and supporters are determined to free Jamal Saberi and to realise all demands.
Hambastegi - International Federation of Iranian Refugees
1. To get Jamal Saberi released from detention immediately
2. To stop his deportation order
3. To grant him refugee status
PROTEST
Online PETITION - sign it here Send your PROTEST LETTER from our online site directly to the Japanese Ministry of Justice and to the UNHCR in Japan - click here
