An anniversary to deplore

Maggie Black, 22 February 2017 
Exactly a year ago, on 22 February 2016, Baquer Namazi returned home to Tehran in the expectation of being able to see Siamak, his oldest son. Siamak had been arrested in October 2015 while on a family visit from the US, and subsequently held incommunicado in the city’s notorious Evin prison. Baquer, an 80-year-old UNICEF retiree with an unblemished career as a humanitarian worker and champion of child protection, did not get to see his son. But he did see the inside of Evin prison. He was arrested himself and has been incarcerated there ever since.

In an effort to draw attention to Baquer’s plight, hundreds of his ex-UNICEF colleagues, now retired to their home countries, are commemorating the anniversary of his arrest by calling on the Iran authorities to #freebaquernow. Silver UNICEF surfers newly alighted on the shores of Facebook and Twitter will take their first steps in cyberspace to plead for the release of a frail, elderly, dignified, heart-worn and blameless individual who spent his career as a champion of humanitarian causes. 
UNICEF is a global organization, so many of these supporters barely knew Baquer. This is a simple gesture of solidarity. If it amounts to an act of criminal disloyalty to his country to work for an international organization dedicated to defending the rights and well-being of children, then thousands of Baquer Namazi’s co-UNICEF retirees are similarly compromised.  
The only plausible reason why both Namazis have been handed down sentences of ten years in jail for actions inimical to the Iranian state is that they are dual nationals. Some far-fetched conspiracy is imagined because they have not only Iranian, but US, citizenship. Siamak was well-known as a campaigner working to relieve the effects of the US sanctions regime on Iran, in particular to enable the import of medical supplies. He was active for Iran, not against Iran. 
Due to the ins and outs of Iranian affairs over many decades, the Namazi family – like many others – found it necessary at a particular time in the middle-distant past to remove themselves from their homeland, and pursue lives elsewhere. In the Namazis’ case, at their moment of stress, Baquer chose to take them to the US. That choice was a product of family history. 
Baquer Namazi’s father was a distinguished scholar. In 1947, when India became independent, he accepted the post of Professor of Arab and Persian Studies at Kolkata (then Calcutta) University. Baquer attended one of Calcutta’s best-known high schools, St Xavier’s College, and thus learned to speak immaculate English. He later studied for an MA at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee. 
Namazi’s life was, therefore, international and multi-lingual from his early teens. However, he remained devoted to his country and returned to work in the Iranian Civil Service following his graduation. 
He first came into contact with UNICEF at a conference in Tehran, when ‘planning for children’ was the latest thinking  in international social discourse, and in 1971 was recruited to UNICEF’s East Asia programme. After a few years he again returned to work in Iran. He rejoined UNICEF in 1984 after arriving in the US, initially at its New York headquarters and later serving in East Africa. He retired in 1997, at which time he was Country Representative in Egypt. 
It is difficult to see, since his entire career service outside Iran was with UNICEF, where, when and how Baquer Namazi could have undertaken any pro-US/anti-Iran subversive activity. All UN staff members are obliged to make a written, signed, and witnessed statement solemnly promising to exercise their duties in loyalty only to the United Nations, and ‘not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other source external to the Organization.’ Any breach of this strict code of non-political behaviour during the 13 years Baquer Namazi worked for UNICEF would have prompted instant dismissal. 
After his retirement Baquer Namazi could have turned his back permanently on his country of origin. But some years ago, he moved back to Tehran. There he became actively involved in a foundation set up to help Iranian NGOs develop better skills and capacities. He wanted to enable fledgling civil society groups to profit from the knowledge he had gained through working with UNICEF’s NGO partners around the world. He also collaborated with ex-UNICEF colleagues to develop joint NGO programmes for vulnerable women and children across the Middle East.
In the politically- and ideologically-charged world of today, it is the case that certain amateurish or suspect NGO initiatives can be confused with, or suborned by, less altruistically-driven types of activism. But long-serving UNICEF staff, well-versed in walking the humanitarian tight-rope above the political divide, are the least likely candidates for being inadvertently seduced into any kind of politically motivated NGO operation. The cause of children must always be pursued above and independently of any political or religious divide – a doctrine to which UNICEF staff and retirees, including Baquer Namazi, are wholly committed. 
A year is a very long time in which to sit in a cell, enjoying little contact with family or legal representative, and no contact with his co-prisoner, Siamak, and contemplate the injustice of his situation. Baquer Namazi celebrated his 80th birthday in that cell. Soon he will celebrate the first anniversary of his incarceration. 
At 80 years old, Baquer has the frailties of age, including a heart condition for which he recently had to be hospitalised. Worry, especially concerning his son, is taking its toll. His wife tries hard to avoid despair: her husband’s ten year sentence amounts to a death penalty. Their second son, Babak, cut off from his family in Dubai, has spoken out on broadcast media to publicize their plight. 
Recently, Babak Namazi described to the BBC what his father was enduring on grounds that remain entirely obscure: ‘For the first time my father who has always been a positive person, even during his confinement, always telling my Mom: “I’m strong, don’t worry, we will get through this.” And now I am hearing of his rapid mental and physical deterioration. What happens if my father dies in prison? Who will take responsibility?’ 
In the dying days of the Obama presidency, strenuous efforts were made via diplomatic channels – including those of the UN and UNICEF – to persuade the Iranian authorities to free their most elderly, frail, and palpably innocent dual nationality detainee. As the days counted down, all Baquer’s friends, family and UNICEF colleagues prayed that humanity and rationality would prevail. Now that this did not happen, can we realistically hope that the new administration will take up the Namazis’ cause, and that of similar detainees? 
On 22 February, hundreds of people from around the world – in Manila, Tokyo, India, Cairo, Germany, Edinburgh, Boston, New York, Ottawa, Los Angeles and many other locations – are showing their solidarity with Baquer Namazi. They hope for a moment when Iranian compassion at the highest level becomes sufficiently compelling to bring about his release. #freebaquernow.