Reactions to the violations of human rights in Iran
1. On Wednesday the 1st of May, “Freedom House” published its annual report about the status of press freedom in the world, in which it stated that Iran is one of the worst counties regarding the government not giving people the right to access free media.
2. Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner, wrote a letter to Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nation Special Rapporteur, regarding the situation of human rights in Iran, and expressed her concerns about the conditions of political prisoners currently held in the Evin prison of Tehran.
3. During the past week, the “reporters without borders” organization demanded the prosecution of Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, whilst publishing a statement about the numerous “crimes” that they have committed.
4. Gohar Eshghi, the mother of Sattar Beheshti, has stated that due to the lack of clarity around her son’s case, she will be going on a hunger strike. Sattar Beheshti was a labourer, and blogger who passed away following the torture he received in Feta police custody. Mrs Eshghi wrote in her letter addressed to Ayatollah Khamenei “if we are living in an Islamic country, why isn’t my child’s murderer being prosecuted?”
5. Ibrahim Fooladi, a kickboxing athlete from the city of Baneh, has refused to attend the international championships in Spain due to the insulting and disrespectful behaviour of the sports authorities in Kurdistan. The Kurdish athlete wrote as part of his letter that “despite winning several gold and silver medals worldwide, the state officials showed their appreciation by giving me “a few cups” and a “pan”.
6. On Wednesday the 8th of May, ‘Reporters without Borders’ issued a press release, protesting against the increased blocking of the Internet in Iran.
7. Reportedly, a number of prisoners in Evin Prison have started an open-ended hunger strike due to not being transferred from Solitary confinement to the general ward, Section 350 of the prison. Their names are Saeed Madani, Abdullah Momeni, Abulfazl Aabedini-Nasr, Siamak Ghaderi, Amir Khosro-Dalirsani, Mohammad-Hassan Yousef-Poorseifi, Saeed Aabedini, Kamran Ayazi, Mohammad Ibrahimi and Pouria Ibrahimi.
8. A group of political prisoners from the Rajaee Shahr prison of Karaj have highlighted the human rights violations towards prisoners in a letter addressed to the United Nation Human Rights Council, and the people of Iran.
9. On Saturday, the 4th of May, a group of supporters of the ‘International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights in Iran’ gathered from across France, playing the “Daf” (a Persian drum) and demanding the unconditional release of all prisoners imprisoned in the dungeons of Iran, in order to express solidarity with the political prisoners and people who have been imprisoned due to their religious beliefs.
Universities and students
1. Niloofar Haashemi and Daniel Hossein-Nejad, two students of Tabriz’s art university, recently committed suicide by throwing themselves off a building. On numerous occasions, the reasons for such suicides in Iran have remained unknown, and no organizations or institutions are willing to investigate to discover the cause of such suicidal deaths.
2. Amir Shibani, a student expelled from the Azad university of Mashad due to supporting the Green Movement, whom a year ago, was put in Vakil Abad prison of Mashad, has been given five and a half years of unjust sentence, on charges of acting against national security, and insulting the leader.
The Sentences: Execution Flogging, amputation, imprisonment and custody
1. On Tuesday 7th May, three prisoners who had been charged with drug trafficking were executed in Isfahan central prison.
2. On Thursday 9th May The high court of Semnan province announced the execution of three prisoners charged with drug trafficking, in Shahrood prison.
3. On Sunday 5th May Poorbaagher, the judge of the third branch of the Tabriz Revolutionary court charged Dr. Latif Hassani, Mahmoud Fazli, Shahram Radmehr, Ayat Mehr-Ali Beiglow and Behbod Gholizadeh with forming an illegal group, and activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran and sentenced them to nine years in prison.
4. On Monday 16th May, in a public place in the village of Zay-yaran, in Aab-yek, lashings were carried out on a person charged with being a street ruffian.
5. On 29th Jan, Hassan Sadeghi Khorram Dashti, his wife Fatima Mosanna and their 17-year-old son Nima Sadeghi were arrested by security agents, and after more than four months are still in solitary confinement.
6. Reports indicate that Mojtaba Malaki, the Public Prosecutor of Kermanshah court, has announced the execution of three people charged with committing murder in the Azadi Square of Kermanshah city.
7. On Tuesday the 30th of April, Saber Mamdi and Nazmin Heydari, citizens of a village near Salmas city, were arrested and their houses were searched and inspected. The security forces that conducted the arrest removed various personal items, including a computer.
8. After 3 month’s imprisonment, Aarash Honarvar Shojayi, a Cleric and blogger, recently had his third trial and was charged by the prosecutor of the 2nd Branch of the Clergy of Tehran court.
Workers and the vulnerable people of the society
1. The director of the hemp factory in Rasht, due to his mismanagement, has not paid the salary or retirement money to his employees for the past 12-months.
2. In the last week a group of workers from the weaving company in Isfahan gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and demanded law enforcement on the company’s pension insurance scheme.
3. On Thursday 2nd May two labour activists named Mohammad Ghasem-Khani and Bahram Saeedi, were arrested, following a sit-in protest in front of Parliament.
4. On Saturday 4th of May, Mohammad Ahyaee, a labour and union activist and one of the workers of an automotive company near Tehran, was arrested.
5. On Sunday 5th of May, the family of Haamed Mahmoodi, a labour activist and a member of the Coordinating Committee, after visiting the headquarters of the News Information of Sanandaj were informed that Haamed had been arrested and detained within that office.
6. In the wake of an increasing number of closures of manufacturing industries due to financial losses, the manufacturing complex of Asveh located in Alborz within Industrial city of Ghazvin, was shut down and consequently 53 workers were made redundant.
The rights of ethnic and religious diversity in Iran
1. Farhaad Sabok-rooh, a priest, and his wife Shahnaz Jizan plus two servants of the church of Ahvaz city named Naaser Zaamen Dezfooli and Daavood Alijani were recently sentenced to imprisonment by the Court of Enghelab-Eslami, and despite the approval of their appeal in the appeals court, they were recalled to prison to spend their convicted period.
2. On Monday the 6th of May, Saeed Abedini a priest currently held in solitary confinement in section 240 of Evin prison, was transferred to the Modares Hospital in the city of Tehran and after being treated only in the outpatient section was returned back to the prison.
3. According to reports, on Wednesday the 1st of May, three arrested Kurdish citizens named Adel Moradi, Adris Karimi and Naghman Manoochehri were transferred to the Intelligence Corps Prison of the Kermanshah city by the security agencies of Ravansar city.
4. On Tuesday the 9th of May, A 23 year old Kurdish man called Afshin Sohrab-zadeh who was charged with “Moharebeh” (waging war against god) for being a member of the Komala Party, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and sent directly to the Minab Prison.
5. On Saturday the 4th of May, the Military Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran shot the car of a Kurdish trader called Nabi Abdollahi in the Saveh area of Tehran resulting in his death
6. On Monday the 6th of May, Habibullag Mohammadi and Behrooz Ahmadi, two civil activists who were driving towards the city of Marvin were shot 16 times by checkpoint security forces and are currently in a critical condition in the Hospital of Marivan city. According to Police, they were shot for refusing to stop for police checkpoints.
Press and Cyberspace
1. Dr Rahman Ghahra-manpour, a journalist and elite scientist who was arrested two years ago in his work place at the Centre of Strategic Research of the Expediency Council, has to remain in prison. The reason for his arrest was writing a series of critical reports about Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policies.
2. Following the publication of the “8 million fraud cases” video and other controversial news last week by the Baaztaab website, a number of official security institutions have demanded the arrest of Ali Ghazali, the manager of the site. The prosecutor has charged him for ”inciting public opinion”.
3.On Monday 6th May Hoomayun Amir-Zadeh, the Chairman of the ‘Committee for Overseeing the Infractions of Publishers’, announced that two stands at this year’s ’26th Tehran book exhibition’ were closed down, due to the fact that the books of unacceptable publishers were displayed.
4. According to FETA Police, it is a legal obligation to present a national ID card in an internet café. Therefore, without a national ID card one cannot use an internet café.
5. Following telephone conversations with three members of the House of Writers, they were summoned by the 15th Branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under the leadership of Judge Salavati to present their sentenses. Akbar Amini, Pejman Zafar-Mand and Mohammad Parsi were all charged with participating in public gatherings and colluding against national security. Akbar was given four years, Pejman five years, and Mohammad two years imprisonment.
6. From Saturday the 4th May most Internet filter hacking systems remaining in Iran were detected and removed.
Other human rights violations
1. Mahmood Beheshti-Langroodi, a spokesman for the ‘Teachers Union of Iran’, has been called to Enghelab court. He must attend this court on 11th May.
2. The undergroud city of Noosh Abad, a historically famous city known as “Ovi-ee”, which is also the world’s largest underground city, has been closed due to the breaking of Islamic regulations regarding hijab within the city.
3. On 5th May Babak Roghani, a protestor from Namini city, was summoned to Khomeini court in the city of Ardabil.
4. Mahmood Gholam-Nezhad, a political prisoner in section 350 of Evin prison, who declined to meet his family along with 35 other political prisoners, in an act of protest against transferring 10 of his cellmates last week, is now banned from having his monthly meeting with his wife.
5. Asadollah Hadi, a political prisoner in section 350 of Evin prison, was recently taken to a hospital for open heart surgery. However he has had to return to the prison before his treatment was completed.
6. On 21st April, Shirzad Baager-zaadeh, an ex-political prisoner was detained and since then has not been allowed to contact his family by phone or receive visitors.
7. Ibrahim Sahar-Khiz, the Deputy Mister of Education, has defended the change in the content of high schools books and called it a defence against the cyber war of the enemy.
8. Mohsen Gharaati has stated that “knowledge is useful if it results in serving God. Much knowledge is bad for mankind and it is better that the licence of the authors of the books of such knowledge is quashed”.
9. Last week the successor to the Chief Commander of Security Services in Iran (NAJA), in a public announcement indicated their plans to eradicate social corruption by having domestic animals such as dogs in public places and called it an undesirable social order. On Tuesday 30th April, they started to confiscate dogs from their owners by force. Days later the owners of these dogs discovered that their animals had been detained in Kahrizak prison without any due care to their health and nutrition.
10. Ali Akbar Heydari-fard , the former chief justice and one of the main prosecutors responsible for the cases of the Kahrizak prison has stated that: the Kahrizak detention cases were all carried out legally and the prison is still active under the name of Sorosh 111
11. After the arrest of Ali Ghazaali, the manager of the Baaztaab website on 27th of April, his mother has been told not to expect her son to be out of prison before the next few years.
12. On Wednesday the 8th of May, Shah Aabaadi, the Deputy Minister of Islamic Culture and Civilisation Committee, during the 140th cultural meeting, announced their plans to design a national outfit for men.
13. On Friday the 3rd of April the Chairman of the Economic Committee announced that: according to a new global ranking for Standard of Living, in comparison with other countries Iran has dropped down 62 places in the past 5 years.