HAPPY NEW YEAR
With
hope for the realization of the Democracy, Social Justice and Human Rights in
Iran
At a Glance
Violation of Human
Rights in Iran
6 January 2013
International Condemnation of
Violation of Human Rights in Iran
Overview: House Resolution
http://beta.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/134?q=U.S.+House+of+Representatives+resolution+condemns+Iran%27s+persecution+of+Baha%27is
Sponsor : Rep. Dold, Robert J. [R-IL-10] (Introduced 03/01/2011)
Cosponsors : 146
Latest Action : 01/01/2013 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Major Recorded Votes : There are no Roll Call votes for this bill
Summary: H.Res.134 [112th]
There is one summary of the bill.
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (03/01/2011)
Condemns the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Calls on the government of Iran to release seven specified imprisoned Baha'i leaders and all other prisoners held on account of their religion, including: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, and Mr. Navid Khanjani.
Calls on the President and Secretary of State, in cooperation with the international community, to condemn Iran's continued violation of human rights and demand the release of prisoners held on account of their religion, including the above-named individuals.
Urges the President and Secretary to utilize all available measures, such as those available under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 and Executive Order 13553, to sanction Iranian government officials and other individuals directly responsible for human rights violations in Iran, including against the Baha'i community.
Execution
UK aid contributes to hundreds of executions in Iran
02 January 2013
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2013_01_02_Iran_executions_UK_aid/
UK aid for Iran’s ‘War on Drugs’ is helping to send hundreds of people to death row, despite extensive sanctions placed on the country by the Government, a new report from Reprieve has found.
British aid provided to Iran’s counter-narcotics programmes, both bilaterally and via the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) amounts to millions of pounds and includes night vision equipment, GPS and training for Iranian enforcement agencies.
This aid is helping Iran to send hundreds of people to the gallows on drugs offences. Iran currently executes more people per capita than any other country, and drug offenders make up the large majority of those executed – 488 out of a total of 600 in 2011 alone, according to Amnesty International.
Reprieve warns that no conditions have been placed on the aid to ensure that it does not contribute to Iran’s appalling record on human rights abuses and executions.
The report notes that “the UK has provided more than £3.6 million for anti-drugs assistance to Iran since 1998, largely via UNODC (for law enforcement capacity building, demand reduction, public awareness and legal assistance programmes), but also through bilateral programmes (including the provision of night vision equipment, GPS, and customs training),” and concludes that “causal links between aid and executions in Iran are not hard to establish.”
Reprieve investigator Maya Foa said: "It's outrageous that Britain, which is supposed to be committed to the abolition of capital punishment, should in fact be funding executions for drug offences in Iran.
"Given the country's appalling record on human rights, there will be real concerns about just how the equipment and support provided by Britain is being used.
"Hundreds are being hanged every year, including children, vulnerable people and innocent scapegoats; that Britain should have played a part in this tragedy is shameful."
Iran: at Least 33 Executions within the last 12 days of 2012
Tuesday, 01 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=763:1&catid=15:execution&Itemid=10
HRANA News Agency – Iranian regime has executed 33 prisoners within the last 12 days of 2012, most of them are unreported.
According to the reports by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian regime has executed 33 prisoners across Iran within 12 days: one prisoner in Sari, convicted of drug trafficking, five public execution of prisoners convicted of rape in Yasouj, one Afghan citizen convicted of drug trafficking in Damghan, four prisoners convicted of rape in Yazd, at least two prisoners convicted of rape in Urmia, four prisoners convicted of drug trafficking in Ghezelhesar Prison, six Salafi prisoners convicted of assassination, 10 prisoners convicted of drug trafficking in Taybad.
The statistics of HRANA, that will be released soon, shows Iranian regime has executed nearly 600 prisoners in 2012.
IHR Strongly Condemns Executions of Salafi Kurd Prisoners In Iran
http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2668
Iran Human Rights, January 2, 2013: According to unofficial reports Iran Human Rights (IHR) has confirmed, at least six Sunni Kurdish prisoners were executed in Ghezelhesar prison in Karaj (west of Tehran) on December 27.
The group, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) identified the prisoners as Bahram Ahmadi, Asghar Rahimi, Behnam Rahimi, Mohammad Zaher Bahmani, Keyvan Zand Karimi and Houshiar Mohammadi.
The prisoners allegedly belonged to a Salafist group. Their official charges were, "Membership in Salafi groups" and "Participation in terrorist acts, such as the assassination of a Friday prayer Imam in Sanandaj (Iranian Kurdistan) in 2009". The Kurdish Salafist group did not claim responsibility for the assassination.
Additionally, several other prisoners allegedly belonging to the same group are in danger of execution. ….
One prisoner was hanged in southern Iran
http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2670
Iran Human Rights, January 3, 2013: One prisoner was hanged in the prison of Yasouj (southern Iran) yesterday January 2.
According to the Iranian state media, the prisoner who was not identified by name, was convicted of possession and trafficking of 20050 ampullas containing heroin and 74917 psychotropic pills.
Last week five prisoners were hanged publicly in the city of Yasouj.
Iran: One prisoner hanged in Yasouj
http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=17300073
January 2, 2013: One prisoner was hanged in the prison of Yasouj (southern Iran).
According to the Iranian state media, the prisoner who was not identified by name, was convicted of possession and trafficking of 20050 ampullas containing heroin and 74917 psychotropic pills. (Sources: Iran Human Rights, 03/01/2013)
Two sentenced to death for assault caught on film
Thu, 01/03/2013
http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/two-sentenced-death-assault-caught-film
The Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced two people to death for assault and robbery.
The court reports that of the four people recently arrested for an assault and robbery case in Tehran, two have been sentenced to death and the other two have been sentenced to 10 years in jail, five years of exile and 74 lashes by Judge Salavati. The four are also required to return the stolen goods to the plaintiffs.
In early December, a surveillance video recorded how an individual approached a passerby on a busy Tehran street in broad daylight and forced him to relinquish his belongings under threat of a cold weapon.
The head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Larijani, reacted to the airing of this episode in the streets of Tehran, saying: “Although such incidents happen everywhere, the occurrence of such events in our Islamic country is very jarring.”
He stressed that security forces should begin a “new round of crackdown on bandits” and added that, according to Sharia, there is no difference between cold weapons or firearms, and the use of either constitutes armed robbery, which is punishable by death.
Khabar-on-line reports that shortly after the video of the incident was aired, the suspects were arrested, and the Tehran prosecutor assured the public that the case would be processed within a week to 10 days.
On December 29, a single court session led to the sentencing of all four suspects.
The prosecutor’s spokesman reported that the prime suspect is 23 years old and has a previous police record. He was charged with “enmity with God and corruption on earth by engaging in armed robbery with a cold weapon and assaulting the plaintiff.”
The second suspect is reportedly 20 years old and was charged with “enmity with God and corruption on earth by creating fear in society.”
The other two suspects are reportedly 23 and 21 and charged with “armed robbery with a cold weapon.”
The lawyer for the second suspect has said that if the film of the episode had not been aired in the media, the suspects would not have been charged with enmity against God, which has resulted in the death sentences.
Two brothers were hanged publicly in western Iran today
http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2672
Iran Human Rights, January 5, 2013: Two prisoners were hanged publicly in the town of Shahr-e-Kord (western Iran) early this morning, reported the Iranian state media.
According to the state run news agency Mehrnews the prisoners who were brothers, were convicted of sodomy rape for kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old boy.
None of the prisoners were identified by name and their age is not announced in the report.
The public hanging was carried out at the Bazar (market) crossing of SHahr-e-Kord.
Persian Source: http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1783902
Younes Aghayan on Hunger Strike in Solitary Confinement
Saturday, 05 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=768:1&catid=12:prisoners&Itemid=12
HRANA News Agency – Younes Aghayan, ethnic prisoner sentenced to death who was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, is on hunger strike from that day.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Younes Aghayan, a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq), ethnic prisoner who is sentenced to death, was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison. He is on hunger strike from the day he was transferred to solitary confinement. There is fear of his execution.
Younes Aghayan is a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq) from the village of Ooch Tappeh, near Miandoab. In October 2004, police raided Ooch Tappeh village to remove signs with religious writings of Yari faith. When villagers resisted the raid and confronted the police, Younes Aghayan, 21, and another Yari faith follower by the name of Mehdi Ghassemzadeh (Aghayan’s uncle) were arrested. In January 2005, the two men were put on trial by Branch Two of Mahabad Revolutionary Court, and were sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “carrying ammunition and arms,” and to death on charges of “armed resistence against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” After the Supreme Court confirmed the sentences, Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed in 2008, and Younes Aghayan has remained on death row inside Orumiyeh Prison since then. Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed without the knowledge of his family and his court-appointed lawyer, and according to the source, his body was never returned to his family for burial.
Urgent: The Kurdish Political Prisoners Zanyar And Loghman Moradi At Imminent Danger Of Execution
http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2676
Iran Human Rights, January 6. 2013: Reports from the Rajaei Shahr prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) indicate that the death row Kurdish political prisoners Zanyar and Loghman Moradi might be at imminent danger of execution.
According to reliable sources in Iran, the prisoners were today handed a form with questions from the prosecutor’s office. One of the questions in the form was “what is the reason why your death sentence has not been implemented yet?”
The same sources also say that Marivan’s Friday prayer Imam has travelled to Tehran where he has been asked questions about the implementation of Zanyar and Loghman’s death sentences.
Loghman and Zanyar Moradi were sentenced to death on 22 December 2010 by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of murdering the son of Marivan’s Friday prayer Imam. According to a statement by Ahmad Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur for the human rights in Iran on March 2012, “Zanyar and Loghman Moradi were compelled to confess to allegations of murder after being severely beaten and threatened with rape”. The statement also said:” … no evidence or witnesses were brought against these men, and that they did not have reasonable access to their legal counsel.”
Human rights’ groups are particularly concerned about possible execution of the political prisoners after the executions of six Kurdish prisoners, belonging to a Salafi group, which took place last week. ….
Prisoners of Conscience
URGENT ACTION
Hunger striker demands medical treatment
UA: 2/13 Index: MDE 13/001/2013 Iran Date: 4 January 2013
Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi, a prisoner of conscience, started a hunger strike on 17 December 2012 in protest at the authorities’ denial of his repeated requests for medical leave. He is refusing medication as well as food. He is in poor health and requires specialized medical care outside the prison.
Reza Shahabi (also known as Reza Shahabi Zakaria), treasurer of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), who is serving a six-year prison sentence in Section 350 of Tehran’s Evin Prison on charges related to his peaceful trade union activities, has been on hunger strike since 17 December 2012. He had been transferred to a hospital outside prison on 15 December for medical examinations including an MRI scan. However, he has said the guard who went with him took him back to the prison before the examinations were carried out, threatening to beat him if he resisted. In protest at the authorities’ treatment, Reza Shahabi stopped taking his medication that day and started a hunger strike two days later. He has told his family that he will continue his hunger strike until he is granted medical leave.
Reza Shahabi underwent an operation on his spine on 23 May 2012 at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Hospital. Despite his doctor’s recommendation that he needed to rest afterwards for at least three months, he was returned to Evin Prison shortly after the operation and has not been granted any medical leave since then. According to one of his family, Reza Shahabi is suffering from fluctuating blood pressure, frequent nosebleeds, and numbness in his right fingers and toes. His family have expressed concern that he might be at risk of paralysis if he is not provided with the specialized medical care he requires.
Reza Shahabi was previously the subject of UA 137/10 and follow-ups. See: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/027/2012/en
Please write immediately in Persian, English or your own language:
Calling on the authorities to release Reza Shahabi immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience held solely for his peaceful trade union activities;
Urging them to ensure that Reza Shahabi is given full access to the specialized medical treatment required for his condition outside prison. ….
Additional Information
Reza Shahabi was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for “gathering and colluding against state security” and one year for “spreading propaganda against the system” by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran in April 2012. He has also been fined 70 million rials (US$5,700) and banned from all trade unionist activities for five years. In July 2012 Branch 36 of Tehran’s Appeal Court upheld his sentence.
The Union (or Syndicate) of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was banned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Workers resumed the union's activities in 2004, although it is not legally recognized. On 22 December 2005, police arrested 12 of the union’s leaders at their homes, but soon released four of them. Other members were arrested three days later after they went on strike to call for the release of their colleagues. Hundreds more were arrested during a further strike in January 2006 (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/002/2006/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/008/2006/en).
Reza Shahabi was arrested in June 2010. Detained incommunicado for some weeks, he later contacted his family and told them he was being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison. In September 2010, after the authorities announced Reza Shahabi could be released on bail, his family paid the required 600 million rials (US$50,000) only to have the authorities demand a further sum equivalent to US$100,000. He began a hunger strike on 4 December 2010 in protest at his continued detention. Seven days later, Reza Shahabi was hospitalized as his health deteriorated. Due to his continuing poor health, Reza Shahabi ended his hunger strike on 19 December 2010. On 22 November 2011 Reza Shahabi began another hunger strike which lasted 30 days. Following hospitalization and requests from supporters and fellow trade unionists, Reza Shahabi ended his hunger strike.
Other trade unionists have been arrested or harassed, including members of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
(HTSCC) Trade Union, which is also not recognized by the government. Ali Nejati, a former leader of the HTSCC Trade Union, was arrested on 12 November 2011 and taken to Dezful Prison to begin serving a one-year sentence related to his peaceful trade union activities. He was released on 24 September 2012 after completing his sentence. On 20 October 2012, he was summoned to Branch One of the Office of the Prosecutor in Shoush in the western province of Khuzestan for questioning. It appears that this was because he had given a speech in Iran’s Kordestan province and sung a “provocative” folksong. He was summoned once more on 31 December 2012 to Branch Four of the Office of the Prosecutor in Sanandaj regarding the same case. Ali Nejati’s wife, Shahnaz Nejati, who is also a member of the HTSCC Trade Union board, was arrested on 27 November 2011 by members of the Ministry of Intelligence in Khuzestan province. She was released 24 hours later. On 28 October 2012, Branch 102 of the General Court of Shoush acquitted her of charges of “spreading propaganda against the system”, “publishing lies”, and “causing unease in the public mind”. In November 2012, Shahnaz Nejati received a summons ordering her to go to Branch Two of Dezfoul Revolutionary Court on 15 December 2012. Amnesty International understands that she has been informed that she is charged with “propaganda against the system”.
Rasoul Bodaghi, a member of the Tehran Teachers’ Trade Association, was arrested in September 2009. He was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding against national security”. In January 2011, an Appeal Court confirmed Rasoul Bodaghi’s sentence and banned him from taking part in any civil society activities for five years. According to reports, he was severely beaten by two prison officers in May 2010.
Iran: Political prisoners urge UN Human Rights Commissioner to intervene to release imprisoned Iranian lawyers
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/12612-iran-political-prisoners-urge-un-human-rights-commissioner-to-intervene-to-release-imprisoned-iranian-lawyers
NCRI - About a dozen political prisoners in Gohar Dasht Prison in Karaj urged UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to intervene for the release of imprisoned lawyers and to urge for their sentences be rescinded.
The joint letter was signed by Shahrokh Zamani, Rasoul Badaghi, Saleh Kohandel, Misagh Yazdan Nejad, Saeed Massouri, Ali Jabari, Afshin Ossanlou, Reza Sharifi Boukani, Afshin Heyratian, Jafar Eghdami, and Khaled Hardani.
In their letter, while reminding the mullahs' crimes in the past 33 years, described the mullahs' regime as "one of the biggest human rights violators in the world."
The prisoners elaborated: "The Islamic Republic regime has not stopped at committing all these crimes and have violated most of the international laws as well laws that have been ratified by the regime regarding the attorneys and brazenly have condemned them to long imprisonment and revoking their licenses, solely for providing legal defense to their clients."
The prisoners have urged Navi Pilay to "take proper action in any possible means to rescinded the sentences against respected attorneys Mohamad Seyf-Zadeh, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nasser Zarafshan, Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah, Fatah Soltani, Hootan Kia, Khalil Bahramian, the attorneys of Dervishes from Gonabad and other anonymous lawyers who face similar plight."
No information about Milad Dehghan, from his arrest up to now
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=766:1&catid=12:prisoners&Itemid=12
HRANA News Agency – There is no information about political activist, Milad dehghan, a member of Pan-Iranist Party who was arrested in Ahwaz on Sunday, December 9, 2012.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Milad dehghan, a member of Pan-Iranist Party was arrested in Ahwaz and at the same time the houses of his father and his uncle were searched by security forces and they seized his personal things.
There is no more information about his charge(s) and the place he has been held, up to now.
Security forces in Iran have began a new wave of pressure and arrest of Pan-Iranist Party members.
Security forces have arrested 10 members of this party in who were gathering at home of Reza Kermani on Thursday, November 22, 2012. Among them, Hojat Kalashi and Ozhen Akbari, are still in jail.
Ali Akbar Baghani sentenced to 1 year in prison, 10 years in Exile
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=765:1&catid=20:cultural&Itemid=2
HRANA News Agency – Ali Akbar Baghani, the secretary general for the Teacher’s Union in Iran, was sentenced to one year in prison and 10 years in exile to Zabol City, by branch 26th of Tehran’s revolutionary court.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Judge Pir Abassi at branch 26th of Tehran’s revolutionary court, sentenced Ali Akbar Baghani to 1 year in prison and 10 years exiled to Zabol, a city far in eastern south of Iran. This verdict was issued based on his case from 2010 on charge of propaganda against system.
If this new verdict been confirmed by Supreme Court, Ali Akbar Baghani will be imprisoned for six years, because he has a 5 year suspended imprisonment in his records from 2006.
Activist stages hunger strike in prison
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26739:activist-stages-hunger-strike-in-prison&catid=5:human-rights&Itemid=27
Iran Focus, 2 Jan. - Reza Shahabi, a member of the Board of Directors Tehran’s Bus Drivers Syndicate, has staged a hunger strike in prison for the past 15 days because officials have refused to give him temporary leave to get treatment for his ailments, including urgently-needed surgery. He has refrained from eating or taking medicine in protest against his mistreatment in prison. Shahabi was arrested in June 2011, and after a two-year detention, was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court for acting against state national security. He is suffering from high blood pressure as well as arthritis, which have caused severe neck and back pain.
The refusal of the authorities to provide proper treatment to dissidents in prison is designed to force their gradual death. In a letter to Sadeq Larijani, the Head of Judiciary, Mr. Shahabi described the horrific conditions of dissidents in prison, which has led to the death of a number of them, including Mohsen Dokmechi, an activist of the main Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, as well as journalist Hoda Saber and blogger Sattar Beheshti.
Political prisoners call for medical treatment of inmates
Thu, 01/03/2013
http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/political-prisoners-call-medical-treatment-inmates
Iranian political prisoners have called on the head of Evin Prison to remove the obstacles that restrict the treatment of ailing prisoners.
The Kaleme website reports that in a letter written last week, 20 prominent political prisoners from ward 350 of Evin Prison called on Ali Ashraf Rashidi to draw his attention to 26 of their inmates who suffer from various health complications. They urged the prison warden to be wary of violations of prison regulations that could lead to fatalities among the prisoners.
They remind Rashidi that he is responsible for the treatment of prisoners that are suffering with ailments and will have to be accountable for any possible occurrence.
Three Gonabadi dervishes -- Mostafa Daneshjoo, Reza Entesari and Hamireza Moradi -- who were moved to prison during hospital treatments, are among the 26 sick prisoners mentioned in the letter.
Also mentioned is Mostafa Ghadiyani, a senior reformist figure and the oldest political prisoner in Evin Prison, who is said to suffer from acute heart complications.
Labour activist Reza Shahabi, journalist Alireza Rejai, political activist Abdollah Momeni, lawyer Mohammad Seufzadeh, and the journalists Mohammadreza Maghisseh and Mohammad Davari are among the other ailing prisoners mentioned in the letter.
Solitary Confinement Cause of Soltani’s Illnesses
Friday 04 January 2013
http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/139812.html
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the daughter of Abdolfattah Soltani said that her father was hospitalized two weeks ago, following a deterioration in his health. Maedeh Soltani told the Campaign that the Iranian judicial authorities finally agreed to her father’s medical treatment outside the prison after months of requests for his transfer.
“Over the past six months, my mother kept submitting requests for my father’s transfer. My father has various ailments. He suffers from ulcers, anemia, and digestive track problems. My mother says that different specialists have been testing him and he is still in the stages of diagnosis,” Maedeh Soltani told the Campaign.
Abdolfattah Soltani, a prominent human rights lawyer, was arrested on September 10, 2011. On January 8, 2012, Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court under Judge Pirabbasi sentenced him to 18 years in prison, exile to Borazjan, and 20 years’ ban on his legal practice on charges of “being awarded the [2009] Nuremberg International Human Rights Award,” “interviewing with media about his clients’ cases,” and “co-founding the Center for Human Rights Defenders.”
“Most of my father’s illnesses are the result of the conditions of Ward 209 and solitary cells inside Evin Prison; they are the result of psychological pressure and whatever solitary confinement does to an individual. My father suffered different illnesses during that time and later, and because he received no treatment for them in the General Ward, his conditions worsened. My mother said that once she even saw my father limping during one of her visits with my father, but he never said a word about what had happened to him and the reason for the limp,” Soltani added.
“The doctors said that they can’t tell what my father’s problem is yet, but they have emphasized that he will need to be kept away in a stress-free environment with proper nutrition,” Abdolfattah Soltani’s daughter told the Campaign.
Maedeh Soltani told the Campaign that on three separate occasions in recent months, Abdolfattah Soltani refused to be transferred to the hospital in handcuffs. “My father is in the hospital without handcuffs now. The security forces knew that if they tried to transfer him in handcuffs again, that he would refuse to go. They also allowed my mother to be near him in the hospital, but they did not grant permission for other relatives, friends, and acquaintances,” she said.
Maedeh Soltani expressed hope that judicial authorities would agree with her father’s medical furlough.
Along with other prominent Iranian human rights lawyers Shirin Ebadi, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, and Mohammad Sharif, Abdolafattah Soltani established the Defenders of Human Rights Center in 2001. He has represented many political and civil activists such as Akbar Ganji, Zahra Kazemi’s family, Zahra Baniyaghoub’s family, and Haleh Esfandiari, as well as several National-Religious activists and members of the Tehran Bus Drivers Union. Presently, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, another member of the DHRC, is in prison; Shirin Ebadi was forced into exile; and the organization’s spokesperson Narges Mohammadi was sentenced to six years in prison, but was released into her family’s custody after she developed complete muscular paralysis in prison.
Key official of suppression in Northwest Iran revealed
Saturday, 05 January 2013
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/201-exclusive-report/12632-key-official-of-suppression-in-northwest-iran-revealed
Secret detention center in Western Azerbaijan identified
NCRI - Activists of the Iranian resistance inside of Iran have identified one of the key elements of suppression in Western Azerbaijan province. Colonel Jahangeer Nemat of Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is Deputy for protection and intelligence and also operations officer in Western Azerbaijan. He is aged around 50, from the village of Mohammadyar in Naqadeh.
IRGC Colonel Nemati is also the head of a totally secret detention center of the IRGC in this province called 'Ramadan 81'.
Most political activists in Western Azerbaijan are transferred to this gruesome torture center upon their arrest, where they endure long, brutal physical, psychological and sexual torture. Prisoners are subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security prison and then to Urumiyeh or other prisons in the province.
Ramadan 81 prison is situated between the Al-Mehdi garrison and the Hamzeh Seyed Shohada IRGC Corps base.
It is managed by interrogators from the IRGC ntelligence.
Jahangeer Nemati has been involved in suppression, torture, murder and fabrication of dossiers against people, especially political prisoners, since the 1980s. He is a boxer and strikes political prisoners in the face and sensitive parts of the body during tortures at the Ramadan 81 detention center. Many prisoners have become unconscious during torture and gone on to suffer life-long effects, including chronic diseases.
The fabrication of dossiers against political prisoners, especially against IRGC intelligence staffers that are no longer prepared to continue their cooperation and their spying activities for the regime, is carried out by Col Nemati.
In order to exert more pressure on the political prisoners, head henchman Jahangeer Nemati also intimitaes or entices the spouses of political prisoners to get a divorce, and in this way, he has so far destroyed numerous families of these prisoners.
Freedom of Expression
Three Iranians receive human rights grant
Wed, 01/02/2013
http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/three-iranians-receive-human-rights-grant
Three Iranians are among those awarded Hellman/Hammett grants by Human Rights Watch for 2012.
Issa Saharkhiz, Keyvan Samimi and Hila Sedighi are among 41 winning writers from 19 countries.
According to Human Rights Watch, the grants are given to people “for their commitment to free expression and the courage they showed when facing political persecution.”
The Hellman/Hammett grant program was set up in the name of Lillian Hellman and her companion Dashiel Hammett. During the McCarthy era, the two writers were aggressively interrogated by U.S. congressional committees about their political beliefs and affiliations. Hellman was blacklisted and had difficulty finding work, while Hammett was even imprisoned.
Hellman had left provisions in her will to start such a program, and in 1989, Human Rights Watch was asked to set up the program to help writers around the world who are persecuted for expressing their views.
The three Iranian winners of the grant this year -- Issa Saharkhiz, Keyvan Samimi and Hila Sedighi -- were arrested after Iran’s controversial 2009 election, which led to mass protests and a severe government crackdown on all who challenged the legitimacy of the results.
Human Rights Watch describes Issa Saharkhiz as “a veteran journalist in Iran who has consistently voiced his criticism of the government crackdown against reformists, particularly in stifling media freedom in Iran.” Shaharkhiz has been in jail since 2009, and his health is reportedly deteriorating gravely.
Keyvon Samimi is another journalist and human rights activist who, according to the rights organization, has continuously defended freedom of speech and the right to education for all. Charged with propaganda against the regime, Samimi is currently serving a six-year sentence and he has been in Evin Prison since 2009.
Hila Sedighi is a young Iranian poet who, according to Human Rights Watch, was arrested and interrogated by the Iranian authorities after the 2009 election protests for her poetry and has been given a “postponed” sentence of four months in jail.
Press freedom violations recounted in real time (from 1st January 2013)
Published on Friday 4 January 2013
http://en.rsf.org/iran-press-freedom-violations-recounted-04-01-2013,43862.html
04.01.2013- Netizen begins serving two-year jail term, journalist freed
Reporters Without Borders has learned that Sayeed Haeri, a netizen and member of the Human Rights Reporters Committee, was arrested on 12 December after responding to a summons to Tehran’s Evin prison and has begun serving a two-year jail sentence on a charge of anti-government propaganda.
Originally arrested on 20 December 2009, he was released conditionally on 11 March 2010 on bail of 500 million toman (500,000 euros). In September 2010, a Tehran revolutionary court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison and 74 lashes. An appeal court reduced the sentence to two years in prison six months later.
Two other members of the Human Rights Reporters Committee are already in prison. They are Shiva Nazar Ahari, who was arrested on 8 September 2012, and Sayeed Jalali Far, who was arrested on 30 July 2011. Ahari is serving a four-year sentence while Far is serving a three-year sentence.
Reporters Without Borders has also learned that Reza Ansari Rad, a journalist who worked for several reformist news outlets, was released on 15 December after being deemed to have completed a one-year sentence on a charge of anti-government propaganda.
Imposed in 2010, the sentence was upheld by a Tehran appeal court in March 2012 and Rad began serving it on 4 May.
Iran designing software for controlled social media access
06 January 2013 - 08H37
http://www.france24.com/en/20130106-iran-designing-software-controlled-social-media-access
AFP - Iran is designing "intelligent software" that would give citizens restricted and controlled access to banned social networking sites, local media on Sunday quoted police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam as saying.
"Smart control of social networks will not only avoid their disadvantages, but will also allow people to benefit from their useful aspects," Ahmadi Moghadam said, as cited by the 7Sobh daily.
"The designing of intelligent software to control social networking websites" is underway, he added.
Facebook, Twitter and many other social websites are blocked by an official filtering mechanism as part of Iran's strict Internet censorship.
But many web users in Iran, where half of the 75-million population is connected to the Internet, have found ways around the blocks through sophisticated software known as VPN despite it being declared illegal in Iran.
Ahmadi Moghadam hinted that the new software would allow Iranians to have limited access to social networks.
"Smart control of social networks is better than filtering them completely," he said, without elaborating.
His comments came after the launch in mid-December of a Facebook page dedicated to the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attracted a great deal of attention at home and abroad.
Authorities regularly warn Iranians against the dangers of social websites, arguing they are part of a Western-backed plot to undermine the Islamic regime.
Iran launched a "cyber police" unit in 2011 to confront anti-regime conduct online. But the death of blogger Sattar Beheshti in its custody in November provoked an international outcry, leading to the dismissal of its chief after an official inquiry.
Iran is also working on establishing a national intranet that it says will be clean of un-Islamic content. Authorities claim the "National Internet" would not cut access to the Internet.
Social networks and websites such as the video-sharing hub YouTube were used in organising street protests after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
Several activists, bloggers and journalists are reported to have been arrested due to their posts and comments on social networks.
The United States accuses Iran of maintaining an "electronic curtain" to cut its citizens off from the world.
Minorities’ Rights
Two Baha’i Infants Imprisoned with Their Mothers Transferred to Hospital
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=764:1&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13
HRANA News Agency – Two Baha’i infants imprisoned with their mothers in Semnan Prison, were transferred to hospital due to health deterioration.
According to the reports by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Two Baha’i infants suffering from lung and ear infections, imprisoned with their mothers in Semnan prison’s Women Ward (one of the worst prisons in Iran), were transferred to hospital.
Zahra Nik-A’in and Taraneh Torabi, Baha'i citizens who were sentenced to 23 and 20 months in prison, respectively, are serving their sentences at Semnana Prison despite being mothers of infants. Zahra has a 11-month old son, and Taraneh has a five-month old son. All of them are severely sick and need immediate medical care.
Zahra Nik A’in: 14 Mar 2011; Arrested, 03 Apr 2011: Released on 100 million Tomans bail, 16 Apr 2011: Summoned and interrogated, 15 Dec 2011: Sentenced to seven year in prison, but sentenced by Semnan Court of Appeals to 23 month in prison.
Taraneh Torabi: 20 Feb 2011; arrested, 23 Feb 2012: Sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison on charges of "setting up and running an illegal group, 02 Jul 2012: Reported sentenced by Semnan Court of Appeals to 20 months.
Mona Majidi is the third Baha’i mother with her infant in Semnan prison.
Two Members of the non-Trinitarian Faith Arrested in Rasht
Thursday, 03 January 2013
http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6070:two-members-of-the-non-trinitarian-faith-arrested-in-rasht&catid=36:iranian-christians&Itemid=279
Agents of the Iranian Intelligence Office arrested two members of a non-Trinitarian group, known as "Church of Iran", in Rasht. Security authorities raided and thoroughly searched the homes of the two men on the last day of 2012, arrested the men and transferred them to an unknown location.
According to Mohabat News, Mr. Kourosh Lahouti, spokesperson of the "Church of Iran" group, said in an interview with Rahsa News that the two who were arrested are identified as Mohammad-Reza (Yohan) Omidi and Behzad Ta'ali Pasand.
He did not mention details of their arrest nor did he give any reason for their detention.
Mr. Lahouti also addressed the situation of other members of their group who are in prison. Giving the latest updates on Messrs. Alireza Seyyedian and Mohammad-Reza Hosseini, he said, "They are currently being held in Evin prison. However, in recent months, some members of the "Church of Iran" group including Messrs. Vahid Roghangir, Soroush Saraei and others members of Shiraz house church were arrested. They are in an uncertain situation in custody and their cases are not being processed further."
It is worth noting that Yousef Nadarkhani, another member of the non-Trinitarian group who had been facing the death penalty and was later released as a result of international pressure, was arrested for the second time on December 25, Christmas day, following an earlier sentence issued by the Revolutionary Court in ... He was summoned to the Lakan prison of Rasht to serve the remaining 45 days of his three year sentence.
It is also reported that there are still concerns over the health of Behnam Irani. He is also a member of the same group whose fellow members refer to him as pastor. The prison authorities do not provide the required medical care for Mr. Irani who is imprisoned in Karaj.
It should be remembered that the group known as the "Church of Iran, have no relationship with the official churches in Iran. They are followers of William M. Branham. Their faith is in line with a "Jesus Only" cult and is not accepted by Protestant or Catholic Christians due to their rejection of the Holy Trinity. Because of their unorthodox personal interpretations of the Bible they were given the non-Trinitarian title.
85 years old Baha’i prisoner banned of visit and phone call
Monday, 07 January 2013
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=770:1&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13
HRANA News Agency – 85 years old Baha'i citizen, Mohammad Hussein Nakha'i, sentenced to 3 years in prison, is banned of visit and phone call with no reason.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Elderly Baha’i citizen, imprisoned from May 2012 in Birjand Prison, Mohammad Hussein Nakha'i, is being banned of visit and phone call by judiciary authorities with no reason.
Due to his age, Mohammad Hussein Nakha’i needs continuous medical care and from other hand, all his relatives are in Tehran. So, being banned of visit and phone call has made his family in worry and trouble.
Mohammad Husein Nakha'i, 85 years old Baha'i citizen from Birjand city was detained in May 2012 with the charges of propaganda against regime and being a member of Baha'i Community and was sentenced to 3 years in prison by local revolutionary court.
He had also passed five years in prison in Gonbad in the first decade of the Islamic Republic Regime for his faith.
Labor’s Rights
Workers speak out against continued wage delays
Tue, 01/01/2013
http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/workers-speak-out-against-continued-wage-delays
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