Middle East
Publisher: Reuters
31 Dec 2014
U.S. calls for release of Americans in Iran, denies swap deal
The United States called on Tuesday for the release of U.S. citizens held in Iran, but denied a report that Washington had proposed a prisoner exchange for a former U.S. Marine. A lawyer for Amir Hekmati, an Iranian-American former Marine jailed in Tehran, was quoted in a report on Tuesday on Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency as saying that the United States had sought his release through a prisoner swap.
Publisher: Payvand
29 Dec 2014
Iranian opposition leader Mousavi responds to public attacks
The Kaleme website reports that he has repeatedly demanded the right to be put on trial where he could "tell the truth" but the authorities have refused. "I and (Zahra) Rahnavard have on several occasions since our house arrest expressed our readiness through the guards and officials to appear in an official and open court," he said.
Publisher: The Daily Beast
27 Dec 2014
A Daughter’s Plea Free My Father from Prison in Iran
My father, an Iranian blogger, is being psychologically tortured and imprisoned all for blogging about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At this very moment, my father, Mohammad Reza Pourshajari, also known as Siamak Meher, is being detained in Karaj Prison in Iran. He was arrested by security forces two months ago in Orumieh and was held in solitary confinement for 14 days by the Ministry of Intelligence. He was subjected to harsh investigation and psychological torture. His interrogators repeatedly threatened him with the death. Once transferred to Karaj Prison, he spent an additional 15 days in solitary confinement.
Publisher: payvand
27 Dec 2014
Female Prisoner of Conscience Transferred to Deplorable Gharchak Prison
Female prisoner of conscience Hakimeh Shokri was abruptly transferred from Evin Prison to the Gharchak Prison in Varamin on December 15, 2014. "I don't know why they treated her this way. Why did they transfer her to Gharchak Prison in Varamin in such haste where she wasn t even able to take her clothes, personal items, and money? She didn t even have enough money to call us and let us know about her transfer," said Zahra Shokri, Hakimeh Shokri's sister.
Publisher: Hrana
23 Dec 2014
22 Activists in Uremia were Tried
the trial of protestors against the situation of Uremia Lake was held in branch number one of the revolutionary court with chief judge Chabok, on Tuesday, December 16. Their allegation is announced as collusion against the national security and propaganda against the regime. Need to be mentioned, these people were arrested in a protest to lack of effective action from the government to prevent Uremia Lake from drying out.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
23 Dec 2014
Prison Sentence for Young Facebook User Increased from 15 to 20 Years
A Tehran Revolutionary Court has increased the sentence of a 21-year-old Facebook user from 15 to 20 years in prison for his postings on Facebook. The case was originally appealed in the hope that the severe 15-year sentence would be reduced. However, the appeals court remanded the case to the lower court because one of the charges, insulting the sacred, was not addressed in the original ruling.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
20 Dec 2014
Imprisoned Lawyer Denied Urgently Needed Medical Treatment
Despite the severely deteriorating health of imprisoned Iranian lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, the Tehran Prosecutor refuses to grant him permission to receive medical care outside the prison, due to the prominent lawyer s steadfastness about his beliefs, Soltani s daughter told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Maedeh Soltani told the Campaign that her father suffers from heart disease and fluctuations in blood pressure, and that requests for his transfer to a hospital have been denied for the past month.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
18 Dec 2014
Mahdieh Golroo Remains in Solitary Confinement Two Months After Arrest, Charges Unclear
Despite completion of interrogations for Mahdieh Golroo, a women s rights activist who was arrested on October 23, 2014, a day after she attended a gathering in Tehran to protest acid attacks on several women in Isfahan, her judicial case has not moved forward and her family remains uninformed of her charges, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Mahdieh Golroo has spent her entire detention period inside a solitary cell in the IRGC s Ward 2-A at Evin Prison.
Publisher: Hrana
12 Dec 2014
Hunger Strike at Uremia Prison Is Still Going On
Publisher: The Washington Post
11 Dec 2014
Detention taking ‘devastating toll’ on Post reporter locked up in Iran
Almost five months after Rezaian s still-unexplained arrest, family members say conditions in Iran s Evin prison are taking a fearsome toll on the 38-year-old Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post. But even worse than the physical discomforts, they say, are the psychological effects from near-total isolation and uncertainty over how long the ordeal will last. The uncertainty deepened further Sunday withIran s announcement that formal charges - still unspecified - have been filed
Publisher: Persian2English
9 Dec 2014
Prominent Iranian Student Leader Writes a New Letter from Prison
Is human rights political? Human rights is basically reclaiming rights from a higher authoritative power or temporarily removing the dysfunction of this power, whether this power be a dictatorship, democratic, or a rebel group. Human rights, whether it is obtaining [or reclaiming] rights or maintaining and preserving rights, needs to confront power. This confrontation can range from working with the authoritative power in order to induce principles and reach human rights solutions or engaging in a physical confrontation.
Publisher: Al Jazeera
8 Dec 2014
Iran charges Washington Post journalist
Iran has charged a Washington Post reporter who has been detained in the country for nearly five months, the paper said, citing sources familiar with the case. It said the nature of the charges levelled at Jason Rezaian, the newspaper's bureau chief in Tehran, were not immediately clear as he appeared in court on Saturday.
Publisher: Hrana
7 Dec 2014
Ali Tabarzadi arrested in Tehran
Publisher: IBTimes
7 Dec 2014
Iran’s Internet Repression Draws Yet Another Division Between Hardliners And Rouhani Supporters As Arrests Increase
Inmates at Ward 350 of Evin Prison in northwestern Tehran endure brutal conditions, regular beatings, sexual harassment, even torture. The Ward has become home to an increasing number of Iran's most prominent cyberactivists and intellectuals this past year, including Soheil Arabi, a 30-year-old man arrested in 2013 and charged with sabb al-nabbi, or "insulting the Prophet." Arabi's charge stems from a reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a Facebook post. He found out in November his government is going to kill him. The country's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence handed down by a lower court.
Publisher: Persian2English
5 Dec 2014
Women’s Rights Activist Held Captive by the IRGC for Protesting Against Recent Acid Attacks in Iran
Despite conflicting reports from Iranian security, judicial and military officials, the perpetrators of the recent acid attacks on women in Isfahan have not been arrested let alone identified. Instead, Mahdieh Golroo, who along with other [women s rights and] civil society activists had protested in front of the Iranian Parliament against the acid attacks, was arrested by Iranian authorities and thrown in prison on October 26th
Publisher: Huffington Post
4 Dec 2014
Iran Extends Detention Of Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian By Two Months
Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian will be held in Iran for two more months, the Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday. Rezaian, who was arrested in July along with his wife and two photojournalists, has been held for some four months without charge. The others were released soon after, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, was freed on bail after 60 days.
Publisher: HRANA
15 Nov 2014
5 civil Right Activists undecided at IRGC’s solitary confinements
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Based on the latest reports, "Arash Sadeghi", "Atena Daemi","Aso Rostami", "Ali Nouri" and "Omid Alishenas" have been arrested over the last couple of months in Tehran by IRGC s Intelligence Service. These 5 Civil Rights Activists are still in custody at solitary confinement at Ward 2-A of Evin Prison.
Publisher: HRANA
30 Oct 2014
Negar Haeri was beaten in the prison of Shahre Rey
Negar Haeri, political prisoner in prison of Shahre Rey (Qarchak, Varamin), was beaten. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Negar Haeri who has been detained since July this year and was transferred to the prison of Shahre Rey (Qarchak, Varamin), on Monday 27th October was beaten by the ordinary prisoners of this prison. One of her relatives told HRANA's reporter: "Ordinary and criminal prisoners of Qarchak prison has beaten Negar Haeri following direct orders by prison officials."
Publisher: The Guardian
25 Oct 2014
Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh detained at protest against acid attacks on women
Publisher: IranPressNews
16 Oct 2014
A political prisoner on the verge of exclusion of education
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Student activist Davar Hosseinivojdan, student of metallurgy at Esfahan University of Technology, who is serving his imprisonment sentence from 5th December 2011 in Evin prison ward 350, is indeed on the verge of expulsion. During his imprisonment, in violation of prison regulations he had no access to its Collegiate and did not even get the chance to attend the final exams, too. So that, by losing his permit years to finish his course, he is on verge of expulsion.
Publisher: NYTimes
11 Oct 2014
Iran’s Jailing of Activist Offers Hint of Liberty Under Rouhani
In a country that has virtually no tolerance for activism, Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, an Iranian-British national, provided a nearly textbook example of how to get arrested in Tehran, activists say. Yet if Ms. Ghavami, who began a hunger strike last week to protest her indefinite detention, was guilty of anything, activists say, it was a na ve enthusiasm that Iran was changing.
Publisher: VOA
6 Oct 2014
Iran and Prisoners of Conscience
Iran s Baha is are the most persecuted religious community in Iran, facing relentless government- sponsored harassment, discrimination, arrest and detention. There are an estimated one hundred Baha is in prison, jailed solely because of their religious beliefs. Muslims who diverge from the regime s interpretation of Islam are also persecuted. Human rights monitors report that Mohsen Amir-Aslani was executed in September after being found guilty of heresy for offering his own interpretation of the Koran.
Publisher: Aljazeera
6 Oct 2014
Iran releases arrested journalist on bail
Tehran has released on bail an Iranian journalist who was arrested more than two months ago, while her husband, a fellow reporter who was arrested at the same, remains in jail. Yeganeh Salehi, a foreign correspondent for the UAE's English-language newspaper the National, and Jason Rezaian, the Iran correspondent for the Washington Times newspaper, were arrested on July 22. On Monday, both newspapers quoted Salehi's brother-in-law as saying that she was freed on bail late last week.
Publisher: Gatestone Institute
3 Oct 2014
Iran’s Political Prisoner Cleansing
Iran continues to hide behind the world's focus on ISIS to accelerate political arrests, executions, "prison cleansing" and above all, its program to achieve nuclear capability. Iran seems to be counting on the reluctance of the United States to intervene in any serious way, in order to run its nuclear weapons program to completion.
Publisher: Amnesty
30 Sep 2014
Life of Prisoner of Conscious Mr Boroujerdi at Risk
Days before Iran's President Hassan Rohani addresses United Nations General Assembly, Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, the prominent dissident clergy was informed that he will be executed for "anti-government views" -- that is if Iran, by again withholding repeatedly-requested medical attention, does not passively execute him first. According to reliable sources inside Iran, "Ayatollah Boroujerdi's health condition is worse than ever, and prison docors have said that if the prisoner does not receive immediate medical attention, he will die within days or even hours...." The authorities have been refusing medical intervention.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
29 Sep 2014
Eighteen Nobel Laureates Call for Immediate Release of Iranian Physicist
Omid Kokabee s Health in Great Danger, Requires Immediate Medical Treatment. Kokabee, an Iranian physicist completing his PhD at the University of Texas, Austin, is serving a ten-year sentence since his arrest in Tehran in January 2011. During his prosecution, the prosecutors charged him with "communicating with a hostile government," and receiving "illegitimate funds" without any substantiating evidence.
Publisher: The Guardian
29 Sep 2014
Iran executes man for heresy
A 37-year-old man has been executed in Iran after being found guilty of heresy and insulting prophet Jonah, according to human rights activists. Mohsen Amir-Aslani was arrested nine years ago for his activities which the authorities deemed were heretical. He was engaged in psychotherapy but also led sessions reading and reciting the Qur an and providing his own interpretations of the Islamic holy book, his family said. Amir-Aslani was hanged last week for making "innovations in the religion" and "spreading corruption on earth", but human rights activists said he was a prisoner of conscience who was put to death because of his religious beliefs. He had interpreted Jonah s story in the Qur an as a symbolic tale.
Publisher: lalehsr
27 Sep 2014
A number of recently detained cyber activists identified amid continued crackdown
In the wake of the continued crackdown on Internet freedom, a number of activists who were arrested by the Revolutionary Guards for their activities on social media and messaging outlets have been identified. According to CHRR, Omid Moghadam, Kourosh Najdad, Habib Dehghani, Mehdi Ghanbari and Hadi Ghanbari are among 11 individuals active on Facebook and social networks recently detained in Fars province. There is no news on the situation of these activists who were arrested by IRGC forces.
Publisher: gatestone institute
25 Sep 2014
Iran Executing Iran’s Mandela, Dissident Hero Ayatollah Boroujerdi
Now that the world's headlines are dominated by ISIS, and while Iran's President Hassan Rouhani is at the UN, the Iran is using these distractions to step up its executions, its mass-arrests of minorities, and now its execution of Ayatollah Boroujerdi -- that is if Iran, by again withholding crucial medical attention, does not passively execute him first.
Publisher: Al Jazeera
25 Sep 2014
Family of detained UK citizen in Iran plea for her release
Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old United Kingdom-Iranian citizen, has been in prison in Tehran since June 29 after being arrested for trying to enter a stadium to view a men s volleyball game. Now her brother has come to New York in the hope of bringing her case to the attention of Iran s President Hassan Rouhani, in town for the United Nations General Assembly. Iman Ghavami, a 28-year-old genetic researcher, hopes to meet with Rouhani - although he knows that s unlikely - or, at least, to draw attention to his sister's plight.
Publisher: The Guardian
22 Sep 2014
Rouhani’s credibility under scrutiny at UN as Iran’s hardliners block reforms
But this year, Rouhani s second visit to New York has been marred by a series of failures at home that have exposed his declining credibility both in Iran and on the world stage. As he arrives in New York, Iran s judiciary, which operates independently of his government, has tightened its grip on civil rights advocates, human rights activists and opposition figures. At least three American nationals remain behind bars in Iran, including the Washington Post s Tehran correspondent, Jason Rezaian, who is being kept in Tehran s Evin prison nearly two months after being arrested. Rezaian s detention has exposed the limits of Rouhani s power and his reluctance to speak out in support of prisoners of conscience in the country, including nearly 40 journalists and bloggers.
Publisher: Hrana
22 Sep 2014
The latest list of Political prisoners at Ward 350 Evin Prison
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), after the mass transfer of prisoners from Ward 350 at Evin prison - the most renowned place in Iran to jail Political Prisoners - only 54 out of more than 200 Political and high security prisoners are now kept at this ward. Those removed from this ward was sent to other wards at Evin Prison or prisons in other cities, especially Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Publisher: HRANA
18 Sep 2014
Eighty-one days in solitary confinement without trial -Saba Azarpeyk
Saba Azarpeyk, a Reformist Journalist who was arrested 81 days ago, is still kept at solitary confinement with no clear vision of possible trail date. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in Iran, Saba Azarpeyk was arrested on Wednesday morning, May 28th, 2014 by security forces and was transferred to an undisclosed location. Despite the fact that she has been in solitary confinement for the past 81 days , her fate is still undecided and there is still no news of a possible trail date and explanation of charges.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
17 Sep 2014
As Rouhani Comes to NY, Domestic Repression in Iran Remains Unabated
Ahead of President Rouhani s visit to New York next week, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran released a video today, bringing into sharp focus the disconnect between Rouhani s rhetoric on domestic affairs and the reality on the ground. The record of the past year speaks for itself. The number of executions continues to distinguish Iran as the highest state executioner in the world on a per capita basis. Freedom of expression, assembly, and association remain highly restricted. Iran remains the second largest prison for journalists in the world. Gender policies aiming to exclude women from public life, particularly in higher education and employment, have increased. Hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars, many imprisoned following the disputed 2009 election. The Campaign urges diplomats, the international media, and experts who will meet Rouhani during his visit to express their serious concerns regarding Iran s continued abysmal human rights record.
Publisher: weekly standard
Author: Stephen Schwartz
16 Sep 2014
More arbitary Repression in Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains the worst global example of capricious interference by Muslim theocrats in the personal and spiritual lives of its citizens. On September 9, as reported by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), seven young Iranians went on trial. Their supposed crime? Producing a dance video of the Pharrell Williams s pop hit "Happy" and uploading it to YouTube.
Publisher: HRANA
15 Sep 2014
Mass arrests at Qezel Hesar after the rebellion footage published
in his interview with Fars News Agency reporter, Asghar Jahangiri , head of State Prison, Security and Corrective Measures Organisation of Iran mentioned that they have identified, pictured and published the pictures of the prisoners behind the recent riot at Qezel Hesar Prison .However, well informed sources claim that Intelligent and Security Unit of Qezel Hesar Prison initiated mass arrests at this prison to cover the riot incident and its after effects. Some of those arrested has no relation with the riot and have been arrested with no clear reason.
Publisher: Economist
14 Sep 2014
Jon Stewart and Iran: Highlighting the lot of journalists
Jon Stewart's movie Rosewater tells the story of Maziar Bahari, Iranina Candaian Journalist imprisoned in the aftermath of the 2009 disputed elections. The country's clerical rulers say the protests in the poll's aftermath were an attempt at sedition led by America and Israel. Hundreds of activists remain in jail.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
11 Sep 2014
More Than Two Months in Solitary Confinement for Protesting Exclusion of Women in Stadium
A young woman s detention in solitary confinement continues after her June 30, 2014 arrest, following her earlier arrest and release outside a Tehran sports stadium when she tried to attend a volleyball game. Ghoncheh Ghavami s lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaee, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that he is unaware of his client s charges despite the fact that Ghavami has been in solitary confinement at Evin Prison for more than two months and her temporary detention orders have been extended twice.
Publisher: HRANA
22 Aug 2014
A number of prisoners killed and wounded in a revolt in Qezel Hesar
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on 17th August, after a group of prisoners who were sentenced to death were transferred for execution, prisoners from unit 1 and unit 2 wards 2 and 3 of Qezel Hesar prison revolt and fought with prison guards and security forces. Security unit in the prison used firearms to control violence and prisoners protest, which led to the killing and wounding a number of prisoners.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
20 Aug 2014
Political Prisoners at Evin Transferred into Quarantine without Explanation
Twenty-seven political prisoners have been transferred from Evin Prison s Ward 350 to quarantine, where they are now being held in conditions tantamount to clear and serious ill treatment. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Atieh Taheri, the wife of Saeed Matinpour, who is an Azeri journalist and civil activist and one of the prisoners transferred into quarantine, reported that Matinpour believes the transfer will last for some time. In a brief phone conversation with his wife, Matinpour said no reason had been given for the sudden transfer of prisoners from this ward.
Publisher: NYTimes
7 Aug 2014
Jason Rezaian of Washington Post and Wife Still Held
Jason Rezaian knew he was being watched. A man on a motorcycle had been following him and his wife for weeks, his colleagues said. The tail was so blatant that Mr. Rezaian, The Washington Post correspondent in Tehran, had even managed to take a picture of the license plate. Like many foreign journalists accredited by the Iranian authorities, Mr. Rezaian had grown painfully accustomed to being under constant suspicion.
Publisher: IranPressNews
5 Aug 2014
Seven Cyber-Activist arrested in Mashhad
Although several days passed since these Cyber-Facebook Activists were arrested, there is no news about their conditions and their whereabouts is unknown regardless of their families' attempts to locate them. It must be said that "Hekmati" and "Chinisaz" are known for their previous blogging activities which criticized Iranian Government and have been arrested -after Ashoora - in 2009 after Presidential election events.
Publisher: NYTimes
1 Aug 2014
Rounding Up Journalists in Iran
For all the hints of a thaw in Iran s hard-line behavior since President Hassan Rouhani took office, the government s oppression of working journalists has continued unabated most recently with the egregious arrest of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post s correspondent in Tehran, and his wife and fellow journalist, Yeganeh Salehi. The two were taken for questioning on July 22 by security police who confiscated their laptops and other property, with Iranian justice officials later commenting darkly about being "vigilant towards all kinds of enemies activities." The couple has not been heard from since.
Publisher: The Guardian
31 Jul 2014
Six judges accused of leading role in Iranian crackdown on free speech
The six judges are accused of losing their judicial impartiality and overseeing miscarriages of justice in trials in which scores of journalists, lawyers, political activists and members of Iran's ethnic and religious minorities have been condemned to lengthy prison terms, lashes and even execution. Those accused are judges Abolghassem Salavati and Mohammad Moghiseh, former justices Yahya Pirabbasi and Hassan Zareh Dehnavi (known as judge Haddad), and appeal judges Hassan Babaee and Ahmad Zargar.
Publisher: NYTimes
24 Jul 2014
Washington Post Reporter Apparently Detained in Iran
The Washington Post s correspondent in Iran is believed to have been detained this week, the newspaper said Thursday. The correspondent, Jason Rezaian, was reported to have been taken into custody Tuesday evening along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also a journalist, and two other people, The Post s foreign editor, Douglas Jehl, said in a statement. "We are deeply troubled by this news," Mr. Jehl said, "and are concerned for the welfare of Jason, Yeganeh and two others said to have been detained with them."
Publisher: RFERL
20 Jul 2014
Iran’s Repressed Religious Minorities Using Internet To Practice Faith
ajzooban.org, a website dedicated to news and information about the Gonabadi dervishes in Iran, has been blocked more than 40 times since its launch in 2007. Iranian authorities have also arrested most of its founders. The website is an example of dozens of sites, social-media networks, and online communities that religious minorities in Iran depend on to make their voices heard, practice their faith, highlight abuses by the state, and reach out to potential followers.
Publisher: Independent
14 Jul 2014
Iran sentences 8 facebook activist to 128 years in prison for criticizing the government
An Iranian court handed jail sentences of eight to 21 years to eight Facebook page administrators, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday. The report said the defendants were convicted of plotting against national security, spreading propaganda against the ruling system and insulting officials. It did not identify the defendants or the Facebook pages.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
3 Jul 2014
Veteran Journalist Charged with Propaganda Against State
Shamsolvaezin wrote on his Facebook page: "I did not accept the charges. I said propaganda against someone needs to have both material and non-material elements, both of which I lack. I am a journalist and criticizing things within the framework of the law is a natural tool of my profession,". He added that the deed to his mother's home was submitted to the court as collateral for his bail.
Publisher: The Guardian
19 Jun 2014
Iranian film-maker jailed for five years for ‘collaborating with the BBC’
Prominent Iranian documentary film-maker and women's rights activist Mahnaz Mohammadi has been jailed for five years, charged with collaborating against the state with the BBC. Mohammadi's detention comes on the fifth anniversary of the bloody crackdown that followed the 2009 presidential election, when tens of thousands took to the streets to claim the election had been rigged. Hundreds were arrested, many of whom, including the main opposition leaders, remain in custody.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
14 Jun 2014
Journalist Put on Trial for Propaganda Against State
Publisher: Persian2English
12 Jun 2014
Execution of Gholamreza Khosravi means Iran’s authorities are still ready to execute prisoners of conscience
The execution of Gholamreza Khosravi showed that the Judicial and Intelligence Ministry authorities in Iran are still ready to execute prisoners of conscience. There is currently great concern for [approximately] 33 Sunni prisoners of conscience held in Rajai Shahr, Ghezel Hesar and Sanandaj prisons. Particularly, in the wake of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) s recent seizure of an Iraqi city, and the fear of support from the Sunni population for ISIS, the security organizations in Iran may use the execution of these inmates to instigate fear in Sunni-populated areas.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
2 Jun 2014
Political Prisoner Executed Despite Lack of Due Process
Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani had been sentenced to death following his arrest in 2008 on charges in connection with his alleged support for the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MEK). Khosravi s sister told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the family, who visited him the night before the execution, was unaware that his death sentence was to be imminently carried out.
Publisher: Amnesty International
2 Jun 2014
Silenced, Expelled, Imprisoned: Repression of Students and Academics in Iran
This report is based on research that Amnesty International conducted using a wide range of private and public sources. This included in-depth interviews with more than 50 individuals, both women and men, with direct knowledge of Iran's universities and system of higher education, including former students and academic teaching staff. Amnesty International has not been permitted to visit Iran for fact-finding and research on the country since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and thus was unable to investigate conditions at Iran's universities first hand.
Publisher: Persian2English
1 Jun 2014
Urgent Action: Iran’s Authorities Plan to Execute an Innocent Man on Death Row
They somehow converted a six-year prison sentence to a death sentence. What has he done to deserve this? Which of the authorities in Iran helped us through this injustice? None of them. We ve even gone to the Supreme Leader's [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] office. None of them have paid any attention to us. Authorities are playing games with us. They want to inflict psychological pressures on us. They want to create an atmosphere of chaos.
Publisher: mashable
29 May 2014
Iran Sentences 8 Facebook Users to Combined 123 Years in Jail
Publisher: The Guardian
29 May 2014
Journalist Saba Azarpeik arrested in Iran
Azarpeik has been arrested before, including in January 2013 when security officials raided at least four newspapers and arrested several journalists in advance of the presidential elections that gave Hassan Rouhani a victory. Azarpeik has been critical of the state's treatment of journalists and opposition figures and has repeatedly grilled officials and politicians in her interviews. She has been particularly under pressure for her comments and reports on her Facebook page. She particularly covered the case of the Iranian blogger, Sattar Beheshti, whose death in custody brought embarrassment for the authorities.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
29 May 2014
New Details Emerge on Coercion of “Happy” Youths During Detention
The morality police pressured the participants in the "Happy in Tehran" video during their detention to implicate Reyhaneh Taravati and Sassan Soleimani and file complaints against them, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has learned. "They threatened them with a gun. They put a gun to the head of one of the detainees and told him if they did not cooperate they would kill them and get rid of their bodies so that no one would find them."
Publisher: The Guardian
28 May 2014
Briton among eight jailed in Iran for web insults
Eight people, including an Iranian-born British woman, have been jailed in Iran on charges including blasphemy and insulting the country's supreme leader on Facebook. The opposition website Kaleme reported that two of the eight, identified as Roya Saberinejad Nobakht, 47, from Stockport, and Amir Golestani, each received 20 years in prison and the remaining six - Masoud Ghasemkhani, Fariborz Kardarfar, Seyed Masoud Seyed Talebi, Amin Akramipour, Mehdi Reyshahri and Naghmeh Shahisavandi Shirazi - between seven and 19 years.
Publisher: Huffington Post
21 May 2014
Young Iranians Arrested For Dancing In ‘Happy’ Pharrell Video
Sources report that seven to eight young Iranians have been arrested in Tehran, for the simple crime of being "Happy." Three men and three women danced unveiled to Pharrell Williams' smash hit in a video that was widely shared on social media, garnering over 30,000 views before it was taken down. Copies have been quickly re-uploaded as news of the arrest has broken, sparking the hashtag #FreeHappyIranians.
Publisher: WSJ
20 May 2014
Repression of Baha’i Minority in Iran
As Iran approaches the anniversary of Hasan Rouhani's presidential victory, the Islamic Republic's human-rights record, particularly its treatment of religious minorities, remains abysmal. This is especially true for the Baha'is, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority. As with the cases of jailed Christian pastors, such as Saeed Abedini and Farshid Fathi, the Tehran regime shows no signs of wanting to free the so-called Baha'i seven - Baha'i leaders jailed on spurious charges, from espionage to "spreading corruption on the earth"- nor of stopping the persecution of its Baha'i population, which numbers more than 300,000.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
15 May 2014
Lawyer for Kurdish Political Prisoners Put on Trial
A Kurdish human rights lawyer has been tried on charges of membership in an illegal political group and propaganda against the state for providing information on prison conditions to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Publisher: Rooz Online
13 May 2014
The Smell of Blood Was Everywhere
We all know that many men and women have been the victims of the excesses of the first decade of the life of the Islamic republic in the 1980s. They learned of the regime and its nature through the horrendous and frightful excesses and transgressions of people like Evin Prison s butcher Lajevardi and "brother Hamid." And despite the passage of two decades, these victims continue to suffer from the pain that was inflicted on them and their soul then. This pain manifests itself and even explodes with the slightest trigger. It oozes out pain and suffering, and in some cases throws itself on the walls of Ward 350 of Evin Prison today. This is the place where torture, beatings and violence of all forms rules. The perpetrators of this violence are the "brothers" and pseudo religious men who have not been quenched even after their thirty plus years of blood sucking.
Publisher: Hrana
5 May 2014
Three more Sunni preachers to be hanged in Iran
Three Sunni prisoners of conscience have been sentenced to death in Iran after being convicted of enmity against God through spreading propaganda against the regime . According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the men, Mohammad Kayvan Karimi, Amjad Salehi and Omid Payvand, who were active in preaching Sunni Islam, were informed of their death sentences through the lawyer assigned to their case.
Publisher: CNN
3 May 2014
In Iran, an actress faces prison
Publisher: The Guardian
29 Apr 2014
It is time Rouhani broke his silence on human rights abuses in Iran
Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, has been mute about the unprecedented use of force in Evin, even though his office met a number of prisoners' relatives. In fact, Rouhani has maintained a policy of not publicly addressing human rights issues, some of which have put people like Zibakalam at odds with the values they fought for at the establishment of the Islamic republic - which was supposed to be a freer and fairer country than that ruled over by the Shah.
Publisher: Reporters Without Borders
29 Apr 2014
Press freedom violations recounted in real time January 2014
Reporters Without Borders condemns the pro-reform newspaper Ebtekar's suspension by the Tehran prosecutor s office for media and culture on 26 April, two days after it reported that the head of the Iranian prison system, Golamhossien Esmaili, had been fired. Ebtekar editor Mohamad Ali Vakili said that "according to the letter from the prosecutor's office, the newspaper has been suspended under article 6 of the press law for publishing false information."
Publisher: Persian2English
28 Apr 2014
A Letter by Bahareh Hedayat from Evin in Response to the Recent Attack on Ward 350
During the past four years the phone lines have been cut off in Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons. During the past four years prisoners and their families have tried various ways through all possible legal channels to resolve the injustice, but to no avail. During the past four years frequent inspections have been performed on the prisoners with the purpose of seizing any form of communication from them. And, unfortunately, in the last inspection - that took place in Ward 350 of Evin - we witnessed that our brothers were not even spared from cowardly beatings.
Publisher: Persian2English
27 Apr 2014
Iranian Activist Reports on First Prison Visit Since Ward 350 Attack + Denial of Iranian Authorities
Some of the prisoners of conscience who Iranian security agents brutally attacked in Evin s Ward 350 were granted prison visits with their families on Monday. More than a hundred supporters including activists Narges Mohammadi, Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Nourizad, and Arash Sadeghi were reported to have accompanied the families. Following the prison visit Sadeghi published the text below on his Facebook profile. Sadeghi was released from prison in summer 2013 after global campaigns and pressures from human rights bodies and international authorities.
Publisher: WSJ
26 Apr 2014
Can a regime that brutalizes poltical dissidents be trusted?
Western governments have treated President Rouhani as the great moderate hope - an Iranian version of China's Deng Xiaoping. They forget that Mr. Rouhani has been a lifelong security apparatchik, having helped engineer the regime's bloody 1999 crackdown on Iran's student movement. His government also bans Twitter (except for public officials) and is setting modern records for the number of public executions. And unlike Deng, whom Mao purged, Mr. Rouhani has always been part of the regime's inner circle. Perhaps a regime, and a president, that can brutalize political dissidents as a matter of routine can prove reasonable at the nuclear negotiating table. We wouldn't count on it, and neither should the West.
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
25 Apr 2014
421 Activists Call on Rouhani to Investigate Prison Assault
Publisher: International Campaign for Human Rights
23 Apr 2014
Rouhani’s Silence on Brutal Prison Attack Unacceptable
The Campaign calls on President Hassan Rouhani to put an end to the denials, address one of the most appalling acts of violence against political prisoners in Iran since he took office in 2013, and stand by his stated commitment to defend citizen rights. "Mr. Rouhani s silence is unacceptable. What happened was against the laws that he is expected to enforce, but he has chosen to let such actions happen before his eyes," said Ghaemi.
Publisher: The Guardian
19 Apr 2014
Iranian guards use extreme violence against inmates, claims opposition
Iranian guards and intelligence officials have used unprecedented levels of violence against political inmates in one of the country's most notorious prisons, opposition leaders claimed on Friday. Kaleme, a news website close to an opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has reported that dozens of prisoners were injured, some taken to hospital and others transferred to solitary confinement following disturbances in Evin prison in Tehran on Thursday
Publisher: Amnesty International
18 Apr 2014
Evin prisoners at risk after report of riot
Reports of prison guards raiding Section 350 of Tehran s Evin Prison, where many political prisoners are held, have emerged raising fears about the safety of prisoners. The unrest appears to have resulted in prisoners sustaining injuries, including broken ribs. It has been reported that at least 32 individuals from Section 350 have been transferred to solitary confinement in Section 240 of the prison. According to media reports on the morning of 17 April Ministry of Intelligence officials, along with about 100 guards dressed in riot gear reportedly entered Section 350 of Evin Prison, possibly to conduct a search. It is not clear what happened next, but some sort of confrontation with prisoners opposing the raid appears to have ensued, and several prisoners seem to have been injured.
Publisher: NYTimes
12 Apr 2014
Iran Secretly Convicted Former Marine, Lawyer Says
Amir Hekmati, a former Marine incarcerated here in August 2011 and sentenced to death on espionage charges that were overturned, was secretly retried by a revolutionary court in December, convicted of "practical collaboration with the American government" and given a 10-year prison term, his new lawyer said this week.
Publisher: Iran Human Rights
29 Mar 2014
Hundreds of Lawyers Advocate on Behlaf of Imprisoned Dervish Lawyers
In two separate letters addressed to Head of the Iranian Judiciary Sadegh Larijani, hundreds of Iranian lawyers have asked him for his immediate review of the judicial violations in the cases of four imprisoned Dervish lawyers. According to Majzooban-e Noor website, in one of the letters, 177 lawyers asked Larijani to review Judge Salavati s conduct in the cases. "Issues such as the defendants' lack of access to a lawyer of their choosing, failure to make the cases available to all the lawyers involved to prepare their defense, failure to invite all lawyers representing the defendants to the trial sessions, and convening the court in the absence of all lawyers and a representative from the Prosecutor s Office, all of which, if confirmed, are clear violations of the Constitution and relevant laws."
Publisher: IranPressNews
27 Mar 2014
No information about a politcal prisoner since 2 weeks ago
There is no news about Shahin Dadkhah, the political prisoner of Evin prison since 2 weeks ago. Dr. Shahin Dadkhah, born on 1971, is a Middle East political analyst, which got his bachelor degree from Naples university-Italy, Master degree from Bikent university-Turkey and PhD from Madrid University-Spain in the major of international relations was a nuclear negotiator for the Rouhani team.
Publisher: CBS News
17 Mar 2014
The freed American hikers speak on their captivity in Iran
Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were walking up a ridge when armed soldiers appeared in the distance, and waved them over. "And then when we actually got to them, they pointed at the ground and said that we were in Iran," said Shourd. "And we had absolutely no idea that we were even anywhere near Iran. With all the lovely places in the world where they could go for a hike, Smith asked Shane Bauer, why they chose that one? "Well, we were living in the region," he replied. They seem to get that question a lot: they're now inescapably known as the Iran hikers. "In retrospect, I wish we hadn't hiked so far," said Shourd. "That's in hindsight." "On that day, you didn't think you were doing anything wrong?" asked Smith. "We didn't think we were taking a risk," she replied. "We thought we were taking a hike."
Publisher: The Guardian
13 Mar 2014
Ban Ki-moon rebukes Iranian president for human rights failings
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has sharply rebuked the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, for failing to improve human rights since taking office in August. Despite "commendable steps" under Rouhani, including the release of a limited number of high-profile political prisoners, violations had continued, Ban reports in a new report to the UN human rights council issued on Tuesday.
Publisher: Hrana
9 Mar 2014
A former student activist has been arrested
Publisher: Hrana
24 Feb 2014
The mass arrests of Turkish activists still going on
The massive wave of Turkish civil activists arrests, in the international mother tongue day is going on. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), some other Turkish activists who have gathered for international mother tongue day, in Mr. Fathi's house in Tehran-Akbar Abad, have been arrested by intelligence forces, on Friday February 21st.
Publisher: NYTimes
19 Feb 2014
Former Marine in Tehran Jail Retains a Top Iranian Lawyer
Amir Hekmati, a former Marine incarcerated in Iran on spying charges, has retained a prominent Iranian lawyer to represent him in a new effort to gain his release after nearly two and a half years in Tehran s Evin Prison, Mr. Hekmati s family reported on Tuesday. The lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, is well known in Iran as one of the legal representatives for the family of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and ideological pragmatist who remains an influential force in Iranian politics.
Publisher: Al Jazeera
11 Feb 2014
Iranian poet executed for ‘waging war on God’
An Arab-Iranian poet and human rights activist, Hashem Shaabani, has been executed for being an "enemy of God" and threatening national security, according to local human rights groups. Shaabani and a man named Hadi Rashedi were hanged in unidentified prison on January 27, rights groups have said. Shaabani, who spoke out against the treatment of ethnic Arabs in the province of Khuzestan, had been in prison since February or March 2011 after being arrested for being a Mohareb, or "enemy of God".
Publisher: rudaw
4 Feb 2014
Kurdish Prisoner in Iran Who Sewed His Lips Tells Story in Rare Interview
My worst days were when tens of my cellmates were executed at once, and also when I heard that my mother had passed away, he said by mail correspondence with Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist living in London. Nazari, who is jailed at the Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj and says he has not been outside of prison for nearly 20 years, told Alinejad: "I was at my sister's in Bukan when I was arrested (in 1994) and later sentenced to death... in a stagy and speedy trial without a lawyer." He was just 23 at the time of his arrest.
Publisher: Hrana
2 Feb 2014
A political prisoner is taken back from hospital to prison
Publisher: YouTube
1 Feb 2014
Bahram Ahmadi – a young Sunni preacher executed in Iran
Numerous Sunni scholars, preachers and activists have been imprisoned and executed in the Shia-led Iran, often following unfair trials using evidence obtained through torture. The Iranian regime commonly falsely accuses Sunni preachers of membership in a Salafi group or enmity against God , in an attempt to justify their imprisonment and execution.
Publisher: Hrana
27 Jan 2014
The authorities deny Farzad Madadzadeh’s freedom
Farzad Madadzadeh, who had spent his 5 years imprisonment sentence without any furlough, is confronted with prevention from being released. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Farzad Madadzadeh, the political prisoner of hall number 12 of Rajaei Shahr prison of Karaj who was supposed to be released on January 23, is confronted with authorities prevention.
Publisher: EA WorldView
25 Jan 2014
Iran Special Rouhani and Supreme Leader Deal – Protecting A Nuclear Agreement, Giving Up Political Prisoners and “Freedom”
President Rouhani has struck a deal with the Supreme Leader to protect the Government against hard-line criticism of the interim nuclear deal and further negotiations with the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, Germany, China, Russia, and France), according to well-placed sources in Iran. In return, Rouhani has pledged to back away from pursuit of measures to open up Iran s political and cultural spheres. He has also agreed not to seek the freedom of high-profile political prisoners, such as 2009 Presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.
Publisher: NYTimes
23 Jan 2014
New Push Is Made to Free an American While Iran Is at the Negotiating Table
Advocates for a former Marine imprisoned in Tehran more than two years ago are seeking to use a diplomatic window created by the temporary nuclear agreement with Iran to gain his release. In a letter to President Obama released on Wednesday, four top former American defense and security officials urged "immediate action" to expedite the release of the Marine, Amir Hekmati, who has been held in Evin Prison with no publicly disclosed charges against him.
Publisher: Persian2English
21 Jan 2014
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