Weekly report on Human Right Violation in Iran by International Organisation to preserve Human rights in Iran
Responses to Human Rights abuses in Iran
1. On Monday the 11th of March 2013, Ahmad Shaheed” the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, presented his fourth report. Ahmad Shaheed read the summary from the 700 page report and condemned the Iranian officials for the increase in Human Rights violations in the Islamic Republic. Those who speak out continue to be subjected to harassment, arrest, interrogation and torture, and are frequently charged with vaguely-defined national security crimes, which are seemingly meant to erode the front line of human rights defense in the country.
2. On Monday 11th of March, the European Union Foreign Minister, presented the new sanctions on Iran for human rights violations. These sanctions include prevention of travelling and obstructing of various properties. 9 people have been given these sanctions (so far). On top of these 9 people, institutions that are related to human rights violations will also be given these sanctions.
3. According to reports, 6 Arab cultural activists from Ahvaz have gone on a hunger strike. Aber Alboo-shoke, Haadi Rashedy, Haashem Sha’baani, Mokhtar Alboo-Shoke and Mohammad Ali Omori who are all members of the Alhavar institution, in the city of Khalifeh, have been sentenced to death by hanging, after they were arrested. And the 6th member, Rahman Asakareh has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. It is said that these six activists went on hunger strike to protest against the death sentence given to them.
4. On Tuesday the 12th of March, families of the labour activists who have been arrested in Sanandaj gathered in protest outside the Intelligence Services building for the 5th time.
5. Also on Tuesday the 12th of March, judge Mansori, head of the Media and Cultural Court of Branch 9, gave information about the 13 actresses who complained against Faraj-Allah Salahshoor, a filmmaker who is close to the Iranian government. The reason for their complaint was due to statements Salahshoor had made comparing the Iranian cinema and actresses to Prostitution.
6. 17 non-governmental organisations have written a letter addressed to the permanent members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, requesting Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, to continue in his position and asking the members to repeat (reconsider) there verdict.
Women’s Rights
1. During the past week, the department of Education for the city of Marivan expelled 40 girls from schools, because they could not afford to pay the school fees.
2. On Saturday the 9th of March, members of public reported to the police of Mashhad that a body of a young homeless women, approximately 35 years of age was found dead. She had passed away due to the cold weather. The woman’s body was taken to Mashhad for forensic medical examination.
3. On the 8th of March, all female political prisoners inside Evin Prison were allowed to hold a ceremony for international women’s day, whilst female activists in Iran, outside of the prison, were not able to celebrate in public places, due to the huge pressure they were put under. In the ceremony inside the Evin prison, the political prisoners with different political and ideological views took part, and speeches were made about the pains of being an Iranian woman.
4. Parvin Ghaffar-Khani, former vice president of the students of medical sciences in Azad Islam University of Tehran was arrested, on charges of insulting the Supreme Leader. After she was released on bail for 50 Million Tomans, she set herself on fire and is now in a critical condition.
University and Academics
1. While the Universities are approaching the final days of the Persian calendar, the Year of 1391, students are experiencing a lack of nutrition in their diet due to reduced subsidies. This has caused the academic leaders to have serious concern on how to feed the students.
2. According to reports, Iman Amiri, an IT Network Security student from the University of Malmo in Sweden, on returning back to Iran, was arrested by the security forces and detained in Evin Prison. He has been undergoing thorough mental and physical torture in order to give an interview on video camera.
Labourers and vulnerable communities
1. Sharif Saed Panah, a board member of the Free Trade Union of Workers in Iran was arrested at his home on Sunday the 10th of March. He was arrested in the presence of approximately 20 security forces, where they also searched his house.
2. On the 9th of March Sohrab Ghanbari, the head of the Workers in West of Tehran announced that the Iran Pouya fridge making factory has officially been declared closed. No reasons have been given for the closure of the factory.
3. On Monday 4th of March workers of the Industrial Development Corporation for phase 12 of South Pars Tehran, protested against unpaid wages and poor service and accommodation.
4. Sahal-Abadi, the head of the Esfehan Association of Employers’ has announced that one of the mine laborers has burned himself to death, and stated that ‘the psychological problems of the workers are results of recession and the increase in living costs.
5. On Sunday the 10th of March, More than 700 workers from factories 1 and 2 of the Iranian metal industry have protested for not having received 4 months of their wages and bonuses, and gathered in front of the governor’s building in Tehran.
6. Hamidreza Haji Babaee, the Education Minister, has stated that the bonus remains unpaid for 25 thousand pensioners. He also said; what are most important to me are the immediate payments to the pensioners who served their country in education.
7. The Islamic Association Center for Labor mariners of the Persian Gulf continue to prevent paying the wages of more than 1500 sea workers from the “Marine Bank branch in Bandar Abbas on Jahangardi Street.
8. On Monday the 11th of March in the council meeting that was held with the worker representatives, employers and the government. The minimum wage was announced for the next year, which affects eleven and a half million workers.
9. Tabriz’s Teraktor Sazi has announced the dismissal of 100 workers and has threatened to dismiss more.
The Sentences: Execution Flogging, amputation, imprisonment and custody
1. According to recent reports, on Sunday the 10th of March, Mr Kordpour a Kurdish journalist was arrested, when he went to Mahabaad’s intelligence office to enquire about his brother Mr Khosro Kordpour.
2. On the 2nd of March, 7 Kurdish citizens were arrested in the city of Paveh by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after three days they were transferred to Paveh prison. Until today, no detailed report has been released to state the main reason for their arrest.
3. On the 6th of March 2013 Mr Badri Safyari a student of Kovar Fars University, who is also the author of the weblog called ‘SUFI’, was arrested by three undercover police officers in the city of Shiraz. No report has been released to declare the main reason for his arrest and his current location and condition remains unknown.
4. On Monday the 11th of March Mr Abbas Darwish Tavaangar the head of Tasnim’s News agency, whilst attending the court for a complaint made by the Government about him, was arrested after a few hours of questioning. There is no reason given for his arrest and his location remains unknown.
5. The Security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have arrested two Kurdish citizens, 25 year old Mohammad Sohrabi and 29 year old Naser Nematkhah in the city of Naghdeh. Unfortunately no accurate or valid reason for their arrest has been given and their current location is not available.
6. In continuation of the arrests made in the city of Paveh, on 12th of March 2013, two more people named Gouran Bahrami and Aras Hatami have both been arrested by the security forces.
The rights of ethnic and religious diversity in Iran
1. Two Baha’i families named Fanaian and Firouzian were facing threats and intimidation over the phone by the intelligence officers. More than 24 days has passed since the arrestment of Ardeshir Fanaian and Shidrokh Firouzian. However after all the actions and enquiries of the two families regarding, any information about the two arrested people has not resulted to anything.
2. On Tuesday the 22nd of March 2013, Five Bahia’s were summoned to court in the city of Tehran, only due to their association with the Baha’is academic institution.
3. Five converted Christians named Mohammed Roghangir, Soroush Seraji, Eskandar Rezayi, Shahin Lahooti and Masoud Rezayi who were arrested on late 2012, will be prosecuted by the Revolutionary Court sometime this week. These Christians were arrested on the October 2012 during their worship in a House Church in the city of Shiraz.
4. Many activists, religious and political groups have issued a statement to complain regarding the way the Islamic Republic treats the Sunni citizens of Iran, and to ask to stop executions of Sunni activists in Iran.
5. On Tuesday the 12th of March, Ten Baha’i residents from Tehran, called Nazanin Nikoo-Seresht, Tooloo Golkar, Peyman Kooshk-baghi, Abas Tayef , Azita Rafi Zadeh, Ahmed Golzar, Hassan Momtaz, Negin Ghada-miyan, Nasim Bagheri and Ahmad Beheshti, were summoned to Shahid Moghadas Court in Tehran.
6. Iranian Citizen Behnam Irani, who converted to Christianity, and is in section 2, Hall 7 of the penitentiary prison in the city of Karaj, has been suffering from back pain over the past two weeks and the authorities have not taken any action to treat him.
7. Reports have stated that the suppression of house churches by the Iranian Security police has intensified in the city of Mashhad.
Media and Cyber space
1. Following continuous pressures on the news and media in Iran, the government arrested a high number of journalists, and also withdrew publishing permission from the Newspapers; Aseman, Mehrnameh and Tajrobeh, due to unknown reasons. The Media supervision team, in a meeting on Monday 11th of March, cancelled the “Marghreb” Newspaper’s permit, and issued a warning to “Roshd” magazine.
2. Mohammad Parsi, Mohsen Ghash-ghayi, Ahmad-reza Ahmadi, Akbar Amini, and Pezhman Zafarmand were summoned to the Enghelab Court, Branch 15, and 26. The five men were charged with conspiring to act against the internal security of Iran.
3. Iran, China, Syria, Bahrain and Vietnam, have been named as five countries who are enemies of the internet. This year ‘Reporters without borders’, main report focused on the monitoring of the Internet. This Internet monitoring is considered from two different angles: the general and extensive control over the content or availability of content on the Internet, and the controlling of Internet activists.
Other human rights violations
1. With the Iranian New Year approaching, the Judiciary has banned all prisoners who were charged with “acting against national security”, from the new year break, this mean The majority of the political prisoners who were arrested after the 2009 election will not have break in the New Year as all were charged with “acting against national security”.
2. The Governor of the city of Gachsaran has evaluated Internet Cafe activities in the city of Gachsaran, and ordered to have segregated men and women areas inside all Internet cafes’.
3. In the case of the judges accused of murdering the prisoners in Kahrizak prison, while plaintiffs of the Kahrizak case asked the court to hold a public hearing in the second session, this was ignored and the court case was held in a closed hearing. Mortazavi and two others judges are charged in this case.
4. On Monday the 11th of March, Ali Akbar Heidari-Far, former judge, who is the second person accused in the case of the judges of Kahrizak, told the court, in the closed third session hearing, that he had ordered the arrest and transfer of the prisoners to Kahrizak. Heidari-Far confirmed that Mortazavi was on holiday at the time when he, as assistant of the prosecutor, ordered the arrests.
5. According to reports, the school teacher Abdoul-reza Ghan-bari who is sentenced to death in Evin Prison, has recently been under great pressure by Alavi, the head of the Interrogation Department of the Intelligence Service, to dismiss his attorney Alizadeh Tabatabaei
6. Doctor Mohammad Mehdi, the Head of Anesthesiology and special care in Iran has given a warning over the shortage of anesthetic drugs in the country, he stated; unfortunately due to shortage of anesthetics drugs in operating rooms, several private and public hospitals in Tehran are on the verge of closure.
7. On Saturday the 2nd of March prison authorities rejected permission to send the political prisoner Mohammad Samei to hospital for medical treatment. He has been suffering from heart problems.
8. On 11th of March at the 67th session of the General AssemblyThe United Nation Human Rights Council, chairman asked Iran’s delegate to the council, Mohammad Larijani, to give his opinion about the framework of the United Nations protocols and not to make any personal attack against the Special Rapporteur.
9. A citizen by the name of Mohammad Bahrami from the village of Seif, near the city of Marivan was arrested by Iranian Intelligence agents. Despite a month of detention having past, his situation is still unknown.
10. On Tuesday the 05th of March the student Zia Nabavi was transferred from Ahvaz Prison to court, and after appearing in court, instead of returning to the prison, he was moved to solitary confinement in the Ahvaz Intelligent Office.
11. On the morning of Thursday the 14th of March Human rights activist and founder of “Society against Discrimination in Education” Navid Khan-jani was beaten by Rajaei Shahr prison authorities because he refused to wear prison clothes whilst being send to court.