Responces to Human Rights Abuses in Iran

1. Ana Gomes, one of European Parliament’s representatives, issued an official letter to the Iranian ambassadors, such as Mahmood Barimani in the regime’s embassy in Brussels, and Hasan Gharibi at the regime’s embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, requesting them to take immediate action regarding the situations of the Dervishes in Evin and Adel Abad prisons, and to put an end to the continued illegal arrests.
2. On Saturday the 13th of April, the Stockholm branch of the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights in Iran organised a gathering in the centres of the Swedish capital to show their support for Kasra Noori and Saleh Moradi, imprisoned Gonabadi Dervishes, who had been on hunger strike since January 2013 inside of Shiraz’s Adel Abaad prison.
3. During the past week, after holding a series of protests in various cities across Europe in support of the imprisoned Gonabadi Dervishes on hunger strike in Adel Abad and Evin prisons, and after a statement by the German Foreign Ministry about the situations of Dervishes in Iran and Member of European parliament Mrs Gomes who is one of the most prominent figures in the European Parliament showed her reaction towards the violations of human rights in Iran, which lead to Amnesty International issuing a demand for urgent action to be taken about the states of the two dervishes in prison, who had been on hunger strike for almost three months.
4. Abdulrahman Boroumand’s organisation expressed their concerns about the violation of the rights of Dervishes in Iran, and insisted the Iranian government put an end to the violations of the basic rights of prisoners, and to put an end to their illegal activities on Dervish prisoners and their attorneys and to take responsibility for the life of these prisoners.
5 The Activists from the City of Marivan and the members of the Houses of Parliament questioned the prison authorities on why they had dressed a male prisoner in a ladies outfit and walked him around the city in order to humiliate him. Further to this, on the 16th of April a number of female activists also protested against the actions of the prison authorities taken to humiliate this prisoner.
6. In continuation of the protests regarding the illegal imprisonment of lawyer Dervishes in Tehran and Shiraz prisons, the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights in Iran intends to hold a protest in front of the parliament of Sweden on Saturday the 20th of April.
7. On Wednesday the 17th of April, the officials and guards of Karaj’s Rajaee Shahr prison went into the cells of political prisoners in order to inspect them, which lead to resistance and objection by the political prisoners. Political prisoners and other prisoners have decided to go on a hunger strike from Wednesday the 17th April until Saturday, 20th of April, in order to protest against the inhumane acts by the officials and the head of the Rajaee Shahr prison in Karaj.

Women’s rights

1. in the last week, Shiva Nazar Ahaari a Human Rights Activist was denied the extension of her leave and was sent back to Evin prison, in Tehran.
2. Commander Montazer Al-mahdi, the Social Assistant of the Iranian military of NAJA reported that: “Iranian actresses, who don’t consider wearing hijab outside of the country, will be reported to Interpol.” He added:”we have to be thankful to God about hijab, it is not a choice for the individual but an issue for society, and to protect women’s dignity this message should be widely spread.”
3. The husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, imprisoned Human Rights lawyer and activist, has expressed great concerns over his wife’s loss of vision. In a statement made to the ‘International organization for Human Rights’he said that: “Sotoudeh’s eyesight is continuously deteriorating and she is in need of thicker glasses, however she’s been refused to leave the prison for a few hours to receive treatment with a specialized optometrist.”

Universities and academics

1. Hosein Naderi-manesh Deputy Minister of Science Education reported that up to 30 Universities are being built and designed particularly for single sex students. Naderi-manesh claims that special universities for males and females to study separately is one of Khameneie’s goals and at the request of the people.
2. According to the reports from the Department of Education, in 2012, 27 Higher Education centers, universities and private schools were built especially for single sex. Among these 13 universities were specially made for female students and 4 universities were made for male students.

Workers and vulnerable communities
1. Sharif Saed-Panah and Mozafar Salehnia, two board of directors of the Free Trade Union for workers in Iran, were sentenced to six months in prison due to insulting the regime.
2. Last week Amir Karami-nazar, who is in charge of controlling the local Traders in Hamadan, warned 120 local shops and ordered the removal of 95 foreign language signs on the shops in the city. He has also warned 35 shops to change their names to a more suitable one within 2 months.
3. Reza Shahabi, a Workers Activist who is on the board of directors for the Tehran Bus Drivers Trade Union, was not permitted to extend his leave and returned to Evin Prison on Monday 15th April. Shahabi has been sentenced to five years in prison and was charged for acting against national security.
4. More than 120 workers of the Zagros steel plant have protested in front of the Governors building in Qorveh.

The Sentences: Execution Flogging, amputation, imprisonment and custody

1. According to reports on Thursday the 11th of April, Jamileh Karimy, was arrested. She was previously adviser to the Governor of the state of Fars in the time of the reformists and a member of the Central Council of the reformers coalition.
2. Two political activist prisoners named Mohsen Ghashghai-zadeh and Mohamad Parsi were put on trial on Thursday the 11th of April for the second time. They were charged with assembly and collusion against national security.
3. On Wednesday the 10th of April, Omid Shojaiy was hanged in Bandar Abbas Prison. There are currently more than 100 prisoners in the central prison of Bandar Abbas who are awaiting execution.
4. On Tuesday the 16th of April, 9 civilians in the city of Shiraz who are accused of “Moharebeh”, war against God, were given the death sentence. Based on this report, these citizens charged with “waging war against God through effective participation in several armed robberies, harassment and intimidation, murder and kidnapping” were sentenced to death in public.
5. According to reports, on Wednesday the 17th of April, two prisoners charged with rape were hanged before dawn in the city of Mashhad.
6. Over the past five weeks, approximately 188 Ahvazi Arab citizens across the province of Khuzestan have been arrested. This statistic represents a large increase in the harassment and crackdown on all activists by the Security Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, due to the upcoming presidential elections of June 2013
7. According to published reports, on Friday the 23rd of April, an Arab citizen teenager named Morteza Sooydi was shot dead by the Iranian security forces in the city of Ahvaz.
8. On Wednesday the 28th of April, a prisoner who was accused of drug trafficking was hanged in the prison of Zarand Kerman in the city of Mashad.

The rights of ethnic and religious diversity in Iran

1. Kasra noori, a Gonabadi Darvish prisoner, was supposed to be transfered to the Enghelab court in the city of Shiraz, however according to recent reports the prison authorities were afraid to transfer him due to his horrific condition as a result of his hunger strike. Meanwhile a number of Gonabadi dervishes, who had gathered outside the Enghelab court to announce their solidarity, were faced with physical abuse from the security forces, during which four Darvishes, Amin Karami, Amir Nouri, Hashem Zahk-hoordy, Hamid parhiz-kar, were arrested on charge of disarming government officers.
2. It has been reported that the condition of the women Baha’i prisoners in Semnan Prison has become unbarable, and the prison food is of a very poor standard.
3. Babak Zeinali, a Baha’i resident of Bandar Abbas, was arrested on the 3rd of April by the Information security officer.
4. On Monday the 15th of April, the Darvish prisoners in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz were transferred from section 209 to section 305.The previous transition of these Darvishes from the general section of the prison to the security section of 209, lead to international protests and the hunger strike of Mr Kasra Noori and Saleh Moradi.

Media and Cyberspace

1. It has been reported that, a young boy who had set up an Internet shop in the city of Ghazvin to sell a computer program called anti-filter was found and arrested by the police.
2. Mojtaba Danesh-talab, a seminary student and blogger and also one of the cyber activists who work for the Government, is in prison due to publishing an article in criticism of the Iranian leadership. He has been charged for publishing the title: “Why does the leader of Iran not allow his period of leadership to end”.
3. Poria Farazmand, a blogger and cyber activist was arrested in Kermanshah city on Sunday 7th of April.
4. On Thursday 11th of April, Hengameh Shahidi, who was a journalist for the Eatemad newspaper which is now closed down, was admitted to the CCU of Tehran hospital following a heart attack.
5. According to reports, on the morning of Wednesday 17th of April a Kurdish blogger by the initials of M.A in Sanandaj city was arrested by security forces and taken to an unknown location.

Other human rights violations

1. Siavash Ghanbari, a Kurdish citizen from Mahaabad who was arrested in his home on the 14th of March this year by security forces, has had no contact with his family since then and there is no information regarding his current condition.
2. Masoud Ladoni, a political activist from khozestan state who was arrested in January, has been kept in a very bad condition in Karoon Prison in Ahvaz. He is now suffering from serious health problems and despite the doctors’ orders and agreement of the prosecutors, the prison authorities have not granted his medical leave.
3. On the 9th of April, Mohammad Reza Porsha-jareh, an imprisoned blogger, was transferred to the Madani Hospital and returned to the prison in the same day without receiving any treatment.
4. On the 13th of April 2013, Fatemeh Kheradmand, who is a Health and Wellbeing journalist was summoned to the offices of the Security police of Tehran.
5. On Tuesday the 16th of April Mohammad Bagger Morady, who is a member of the “saraye ghalam organisation” and has been arrested previously, received a Subpoena from the revolutionary court of Tehran for next week.
6. Despite his critical health condition, the security forces have stopped the transfer of Nameg Mahmudy, to hospital. Mr Mahmudy is a political prisoner in Rajaee shahr prison in Karaj, who has been accused of cooperating with one of the Kurdish groups who are against the government.
7. On Tuesday the 16th of April the police of Maryvan forced a prisoner to wear a lady’s dress and walk in public through the town in order to humiliate him.
‪8.Two Human Rights activists named Massud and Khosro Kurd poor have been arrested for more than 40 days, however no information has yet been given regarding their location and condition.
9-Gholamali Rezvani who is the Deputy of Political Security General Governor of the state of Kah-giloyeh and Boyerahmad in west Iran stated that: “It is wrong for a male and female work partners to work in the same room”adding that “for this reason it is very necessary for the government to inspect the workplaces to ensure the rules regarding Hijab are being adhered to.’
10-Mohammad Hosseini, the minister of culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran stated: “the artists who have been outside of Iran for a certain period of time and have criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran, and would also like to perform a concert within Iran, a license will not be granted to them
11-On Sunday the 31st of March 2013, the officials in Neyreez City, in the southwest of Iran, prevented the body of an afghan refugee woman from being buried in the city.
12- After receiving no information about his sister for one week, the brother of Jamileh Karimi, a political activist currently in prison in city of Shiraz, was granted permission to visit his sister in prison. However, on the 16th April, the intelligence officers of Shiraz prevented the visit from taking place