samedi 14 septembre 2013

Violation of Human Rights in Iran during a Week 09 June 2013

At a Glance


International Condemnation of Violation of Human Rights in Iran

 Statement by Ministers Baird and Kenney on Iran

June 5, 2013 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, today issued the following statement:
“We wish to extend Canada’s deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the thousands of innocents who have fallen victim to the Iranian regime, from the first days of the Islamic Revolution to the present. Canada grieves alongside all those whose loved ones suffered on the orders of Iran’s past and present rulers. 
Canada has not forgotten that the roots of today’s appalling situation extend back to the origins of this hollow regime. The persecution of dissident voices and systematic stifling of democratic freedoms stem from the highest levels of this regressive clerical-military dictatorship and its terrorist operatives in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.
“We would like to commend the work of the courageous human rights activists who continue to document the many crimes of the Islamic Republic’s rulers. Through their work, the ghastly and innumerable crimes of this regime’s rulers will not be forgotten. We will not forget the terrible summer of 1988, when the regime liquidated thousands of its political opponents, 25 years ago this year. We will not forget Zahra Kazemi, killed in an Iranian prison 10 years ago this summer. And we will not forget the innocent Iranians who face arrest, torture and death still today, simply for questioning the actions of this brutal regime.”
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
Follow us on Twitter:
@DFAIT_MAECI


Stoning to Death

Law Permits Execution of Child Offenders, Other Abusive Practices
June 3, 2013

Stoning to death is an abhorrent punishment that has no place in any country’s penal code. By insisting on keeping stoning in the penal code, Iranian authorities are providing proof positive that they preside over a criminal justice system based on fear, torture and injustice.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director
(Beirut) – Iran’s judiciary should not implement provisions of the new penal code that violate basic rights, including execution by stoning. The Guardian Council, composed of 12 religious jurists, reinserted the stoning provision into a previous version of the draft law which had omitted stoning to death as the explicit penalty for adultery.

No official statistics are available, but human rights groups
estimate thatthe Iranian authorities currently hold at least 10 women and men who face possible execution by stoning on adultery charges. At least 70 people have been executed by stoning in Iran since 1980. The last known execution by stoning was in 2009.

“Stoning to death is an abhorrent punishment that has no place in any country’s penal code,” said
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “By insisting on keeping stoning in the penal code, Iranian authorities are providing proof positive that they preside over a criminal justice system based on fear, torture and injustice.”

Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency
reported on April 27, 2013, that the Guardian Council had finished reviewing and making changes to the draft penal code and that the law would soon be implemented. The Guardian Council is an unelected body empowered to vet all legislation to ensure its compatibility with Iran’s constitution and Sharia, or Islamic law. It had approved an earlier version of the draft penal code but then withdrew its approval in late 2012 to amend it further before implementation.

The earlier draft proposed removing penal code provisions that prescribe stoning to death as a punishment for adultery. However, it would have still enabled judges to rely on religious sources, including Sharia and fatwas (religious edicts) by high-ranking Shia clerics, to sentence defendants they convicted of adultery to execution by stoning.

The
amended draft penal code explicitly identifies stoning as a form of punishment for people convicted of adultery or sex outside of marriage. Under article 225, if a court and the head of the judiciary rule that it is “not possible” in a particular case to carry out the stoning, the person may be executed by another method if the authorities proved the crime on the basis of eyewitness testimony or the defendant’s confession.

The revised code also provides that courts that convict defendants of adultery based on the “knowledge of the judge,” a notoriously vague and subjective doctrine allowing conviction in the absence of any hard evidence, may impose corporal punishment sentences of 100 lashes rather than execution by stoning. The penalty for people convicted of fornication, or sex outside of marriage that involves an unmarried person, is 100 lashes.

Human Rights Watch has previously
called on the Iranian government to end the practice of stoning, and opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently cruel and unusual form of punishment that violates fundamental human rights.

In 2012, Human Rights Watch issued a comprehensive
report analyzing the previous version of the draft penal code which contained numerous provisions that would violate human rights and breach Iran’s obligations under international human rights treaties. Outside of the adultery and stoning provisions, those provisions remain virtually untouched in the latest draft penal code. Some of the most serious problems with the proposed amendments include:
  • Retention of the death penalty for child offenders, for crimes that are not considered serious under international law, and for activities that should not be crimes at all;
  • Failure to define clearly and set out in the code several crimes that carry serious punishments, including capital punishment;
  • Inclusion of broad or vaguely worded national-security-related laws criminalizing the exercise of fundamental rights;
  • Continued use of punishments that amount to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, including stoning, flogging, and amputation; and
  • Retention of discriminatory provisions against women and religious minorities.
 Iranian government officials have frequently maintained that the proposed changes to the penal code represent a significant improvement and address many of the rights concerns expressed by the international community.

“Regardless of what Iranian officials say, the new penal code will be an absolute disaster for human rights,” Whitson said. “It speaks volumes when a main issue among Iranian officials and jurists is whether people convicted of the ‘crime’ of adultery should be stoned to death or hanged.”

Execution

 

Two Prisoners Were Hanged in Western Iran

Iran Human Rights, June 2, 2013: Two prisoners were hanged in the prison of Khoramabad (western Iran), reported the Iranian state media.
According to the Iranian state broadcasting two prisoners who were not identified by name, were hanged in the "Barsilon" prison of Khoramabad this morning. The prisoners were convicted of possession and trafficking of 2209 grams of synthetic narcotic drugs such as crack and crystal, said the report.
Torture

 

Forty prisoners object to Namegh Mahmoudi’s beating

Posted on: 7th June, 2013
HRANA News Agency – After Namegh Mahmoudi was beaten and denied proper medical care in Rajaie Shahr Prison, forty political prisoners  wrote a letter to the warden to voice their objection.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on May 26, 2013, Mahmoudi was beaten en route to hospital where he was to receive tests before his surgery.
Mahmoudi has filed a formal complaint, but the authorities have yet to look into the incident.  “On Sunday, June 2, he is planning a sit-in at the main office in prison,” one of the prisoners said.  “He will continue his sit-in until the guard who beat him is reprimanded.”
“All of his cellmates have written a letter to the warden to condemn the beating and have asked prison officials to take the necessary legal actions to deal with the guard who is responsible for the beating,” another prisoner explained.

Arbitrary Arrests

Iran announces arrest of election saboteurs

Mon, 06/03/2013 - 06:40
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced on Saturday June 1 that it has identified a team of troublemakers on a “mission to sabotage” the 11th presidential elections.
The announcement states: “In addition to the identification and arrest of the members of this terrorist cell, their weapons stockpile has been discovered and confiscated.”
According to the ministry, the main suspect had assembled a group of 12 in order to create disturbances in the upcoming election.
In May, two people, Mohammad Heydari and Kourosh Ahmadi, were hanged by Iranian judiciary after being convicted of spying for Mossad and the CIA respectively.
The presidential election will take place on June 14, and the government is on high alert to avoid any form of protest resembling the mass protests that followed the 2009 presidential election.

 

Forces descend on campaign event, make arrests

Sun, 06/02/2013 - 14:31
A campaign gathering for Iranian presidential hopeful Hassan Rohani was interrupted by security forces, which led to the arrest of some of the candidate’s supporters.
The Kaleme website reports that Saeedollah Bedashti, the head of Rohani’s young supporters, was arrested at the event together with a number of other activists.
The news of arrests at the Rohani campaign gathering was also reported by other websites, and Mehr News Agency added that participants in the event had chanted slogans in support of MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the reformist candidates of 2009 who are currently under house arrest.
The report indicates that the slogans called for the release of the opposition leaders from house arrest.
Rohani was quoted as saying: “2013 will not be like 2009, If they do not shoo you away from ballot boxes, we will all participate in the election and attain victory.”
The reformist candidates of 2009 made allegations that the vote was rigged in favour of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, triggering protests that led to the widespread arrest and persecution of protesters.

 

A citizen arrested for blasphemy in Gilan Province

Posted on: 8th June, 2013
HRANA News Agency – The Cyber Police in Gilan Province has announced that an individual in the city of Rasht has been arrested for blasphemy posted on the Internet.  Gilan’s Cyber Police Chief has also reminded all citizens that blasphemy is a crime for which there are severe penalties defined by the lawmakers.
According to a report by Mohabat News and Fars News Agency, Gilan’s Cyber Police has announced that Facebook pages containing blasphemy have been identified.  “We have found out who the pages belong to,” Gilan’s Cyber Police Chief Iraj Mohammad-Khani said.  “And in a surprise attack, we arrested the perpetrator in the city of Rasht.”
The Cyber Police has searched this individual’s house and seized the necessary evidence.  “He has confessed to his crime and has been charged,” Mohammad-Khani said.  “The accused is currently behind bars, and the bail has been set at [approximately] $600,000.”
Prisoners of Conscience

 

Gonabadi Dervish, Saleh Moradi, Sentenced to One Year in Prison and One Year of Exile

Tuesday, Jun 04 2013
Dervish rights activist, Saleh Moradi who has been temporarily released from AdelAbad prison two days ago, sentenced to one year jail term plus one year of exile by Kavar's General Court.
According to Majzooban Noor, Gonabadi Dervish, Saleheddin Moradi Sarvestani, was sentenced to one year in prison and one year of exile on charges of "inciting public opinion" and "disturbing the public order" by Kavar's General Court.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Moradi had been already confined in Adel Abad prison for 20 months so he has been in detention more than the serving a period of time which would equate to his sentence, on Sunday (12 Khordad 1392/ June 2, 2013) he was temporarily released on parole by Shiraz's Revolutionary Court order which approved by Kavar's General Court too.
It should be noted that there is another open case against this Gonabadi Dervish in Shiraz's Revolutionary Court with charges of "Propaganda against the regime", "acting against national security" and "Deviant group (Majzooban Noor) membership" in which by considering that Saleh Moradi has been in jail more than the time which would equate to his sentence, the Revolutionary Court had ordered the release on parole for him, but the Kavar's General Court refused to charge so he remained in prison awaiting Kavar's Court decision.
Saleh Moradi while is waiting for Shiraz's Revolutionary Court ruling, is appealing against the judgment of the Kavar's General Court.
Our reporter added that, a large number of Gonabadi Dervishes who had gathered outside of prison gave him a warm welcome at the time of his release.
Saleh Moradi along with another jailed Dervish, Kasra Nouri, had been protesting with a hunger strike against the illegal transfer of their Dervish lawyers to solitary confinement in Evin prison for 90 days and after transfer of seven Dervish lawyers to general ward 350, they ended their prolong-term hunger strike.
Kasra Nouri, another Gonabadi Dervish imprisoned at AdelAbad Prison in Shiraz, has been sentenced to four years and four months in prison in part to intimidate other youth and prevent them from joining the Dervish sect! The attorney of this prisoners of conscience, Fariborz Yadollahi, objected against the decision and asked an appellate court, therefore his case was taken to the court of appeal.

 

Blogger Vahid Asghari refuses to appear in court

Posted on: 5th June, 2013

Vahid Asghari is an Iranian blogger locked up for five years in Evin.
HRANA News Agency – Blogger Vahid Asghari who is locked up in Evin Prison has refused to appear in court.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Asghari had previously been sentenced to death by Judge Salvati presiding over the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.  However, the Supreme Court recently remanded his case to the 28th branch of the Appeals Court.  Judge Mohammed Moqayaseh has been assigned to review the case.
Before his arrest, Asghari was studying computer engineering at Bangalore University in India.  He was expected to appear in court on Sunday, June 2, 2013 but instead wrote a letter to explain his reasons for refusing to comply with the judge’s order.
“I refuse to appear in court for many reasons some of which are as follows,” Asghari writes in the letter obtained by HRANA.  “I am forced to wear a prisoner’s uniform during court appearance.  I have not been allowed to meet with my attorney so far even once.  I have no knowledge of the old and new charges against me.  I was neither informed of the lower court’s verdict nor the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
In his letter, Asghari further describes that he has been denied access to a defense attorney.  “I have every right to refuse court appearance under such circumstances,” he declares.  “And I must be immune from retaliation.  No one has the right to send me to solitary confinement or torture me because of this decision.”
“I have been in so-called temporary custody for five years,” Asghari further explains in his letter.  “Meanwhile, the judge and the prosecutor have refused to examine the documents that I have submitted in my own defense.  Instead, they have used my so-called confessions which were obtained under duress while I was being tortured for two years.”
“Asghari is currently under tremendous pressure to appear in court,” a prisoner locked up in Ward 350 of Evin Prison says.

 

Prisoners ordered to pay for eavesdropping equipment

Posted on: 6th June, 2013
HRANA News Agency – Authorities have ordered all inmates to pay for setting up eavesdropping equipment for the prison facility in Zahedan.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the authorities have threatened to cut off the phone system if prisoners refuse to pay for the equipment.
“We’ve decided not to pay,” one of the prisoners says.  “Soon no one will have access to a phone around here.”
The authorities have estimated that it will cost approximately $1,000 to purchase and set up the necessary eavesdropping equipment in each ward.  There are 11 wards in Zahedan Prison, and 3,500 inmates are incarcerated there for a variety of reasons.  About 20 inmates are identified as political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. In early 2013, there were between 50 to 60 political prisoners kept in this facility.  After two rounds of widespread protests by the prisoners, the majority of political prisoners were exiled to other locations such as Semnan, Bandar Abbas, Ardabil and Qazvin.
Prison conditions in this facility are deplorable, and the inmates are denied basic necessities such as decent food, light, ventilation and sanitation.  In the last few years, there have been many reports on the lack of food and basic health care in Zahedan Prison.  The facility is also overcrowded, and the inmates are not separated by the type and severity of their crimes.  Additionally, there have been reports of unannounced, secret executions in this prison.

 

Mohsen Barzegar summoned to prison

Posted on: 6th June, 2013

Mohsen Barzegar is an Iranian student and a political prisoner.
HRANA News Agency – Mohsen Barzegar has been summoned to Babol Prison to serve his two-year sentence.  Barzegar is a student activist at Babol Noshiravani University of Technology.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Barzegar was formerly the cultural secretary of the Islamic Association of Students at the univeristy.  He has been sentenced to two years in prison on charges of conspiracy against national security and insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran.
Barzegar must report to prison on Sunday, June 2, 2013.  During the presidential elections in 2009, he was a member of Mehdi Karrobi’s campaign in Babol and also a member of Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat, an Iranian student organization.  He was arrested several times following the events after election results were announced and contested in 2009.

 

Arash Sadeghi’s hunger strike continues

Posted on: 9th June, 2013

Arash Sadeghi is an Iranian student activist.
HRANA News Agency – Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi has been on hunger strike since June 1, 2013.  Locked up in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, Sadeghi went on hunger strike after being beaten by prison guards.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Sadeghi is a student activist expelled from Allameh Tabatabai University (ATU) in Tehran.  He has been behind bars since Jan. 15, 2012.
Sadeghi, who was a member of Mir Hussein Mousavi’s presidential election campaign, was first arrested on July 9, 2009.  After spending 53 days in prison, Sadeghi was released on bail.  On Dec. 27, 2009, he was arrested again while attending demonstrations to protest the election results and subsequently released in March 2010.
On July 9, 2009, when security agents raided Sadeghi’s house to arrest him, his mother suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Freedom of Expression

Advice for foreign reporters trying to cover censored elections

Published on Thursday 6 June 2013
Media freedom has been crushed and, aside from websites that support the Supreme Leader, Internet access has been blocked, including sites belonging to senior government officials. And to top it all, the authorities are now trying to discourage foreign journalists from coming to Iran.

200 visa requests “closely examined”

Last week, culture and Islamic guidance minister Mohammad Hosseini asked the intelligence ministry to “closely examine visa applications by foreign journalists wanting to cover the 14 June presidential election so that, contrary to what happened during the last election, Zionist spies are prevented from coming to Iran.
This request followed an announcement by the foreign media chief in the culture and Islamic guidance ministry on 18 May that “200 journalists from 105 media and 26 countries have filed applications for visas to cover the election.
The minister’s request was intended to discourage foreign journalists from coming or, if they do come, to put pressure on them not to stray from the official line imposed by the regime.
The ministry of culture and Islamic guidance is represented on a committee, along with officials from three other ministries (intelligence, interior and foreign affairs), which decides which journalists will be granted visas.

Vital reporting

As news agencies in Iran cannot tackle sensitive subjects and are obliged to employ a number of so-called “journalists” who are in fact intelligence officers, foreign media coverage of the persecution of Iranian journalists and civil society is a matter of great importance.
We hope that the foreign journalists who manage to get into Iran will use the opportunity offered by the elections to inform the rest of the world about the government’s suppression of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of information,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We hope they will provide as much coverage as possible of the ordeal of Iran’s imprisoned journalists.
Unlike their Iranian colleagues, foreign reporters will be able to interview the families of the 54 journalists and netizens currently detained. This is a unique opportunity to remind the international community that Iranians have been jailed for years just for exercising their fundamental right to inform their fellow citizens.
Two of the last election’s presidential candidates – Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister and owner of the now closed newspaper Kalameh Sabaz, and Mehdi Karoubi, former parliamentary speaker and owner of the closed newspaper Etemad Melli – have been detained since 24 February 2011. Mousavi’s wife, the best-selling writer Zahra Rahnavard, is being held with him.
They are under house arrest and denied all their rights. Nonetheless, government officials have insisted that they are free. If that this the case, journalists should be able to meet with them and talk to them.

Election marked by threats

Because of infighting among the regime’s rival factions and tension with the international community, this election is already characterized by threats and fear. Between 17 and 27 May, nine daily newspapers – Bahar, Tabnak, Hezbollah, Kayhan, Vatan Emrooz, Sharvand, Iran, Haft Sobeh and Madromsalari – received warnings from the Press Authorization and Surveillance Commission, the censorship wing of the culture and Islamic guidance ministry.
According to Iran’s media law, “a warning is the first step towards suspension.” The website of Madromsalari, which is owned by Mostafa Kavakabian, one of the candidates barred by the Guardian Council, and two conservative websites, Ibnanews and Seratnews, have already been closed on the orders of a "working group that combats criminal content.”

You are entering a country that is an “Enemy of the Internet”

All foreign journalists will be housed at the Laleh International Hotel, where they will have an Internet connection that is subject to close surveillance, like the rest of the Iranian Internet.
Iran is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet” and was one of the five countries named in a recent RWB report on surveillance. What follows is a list of basic protective measures that foreign journalists should take while in Iran.

Before leaving

  • If possible, travel with a virgin computer. Ideally, you should completely reinstall your operating system (Window, OS X or Linux).
  • If you need to take files with you on your computer, take only those that will be absolutely necessary while you are there and encrypt them using PGP or TrueCrypt, which is simpler to use.
  • Update your operating system and, while you are there, don’t accept any updates even if Windows ask you to.
  • Turn on your firewall (software that blocks unwanted incoming and outgoing connections, allowing your to ward off some kinds of intrusion).
  • Install antivirus software and make sure it is updated with the latest virus definitions.
  • Protect your computer and mobile phones with passwords. They will help to deny access to your work.
  • Encrypt your hard drive. Protecting your computer and mobile phone with passwords is pointless if you do not also encrypt your entire hard disk. In Windows, use Bitlocker or TrueCrypt. In Apple Mac’s OS X, use FileVault (Preferences > System > Security).
  • Install a VPN, which is an application that allows you to establish an encrypted communication tunnel between your computer and a server located outside the country. Using a VPN will make it extremely difficult to intercept your communications. It will also enable you to circumvent any blocking of websites and online services imposed by the authorities. You should install a VPN before you go because unofficial VPNs, meaning those not controlled by the regime, are banned in Iran and access to sites offering unofficial VPNs is blocked.

Measures to take while in Iran

Good “electronic hygiene” should be practiced to avoid installing any malware on your computer:
  • Don’t click on links sent by a stranger.
  • Don’t download any software if you don’t know where it comes from.
  • Don’t accept contact requests from strangers on social networks.
  • Always identify the sender of an email before opening any attachments.
  • When you connect to the Internet, always use your previously installed VPN.
  • Secure your browsing by using the https protocol. It prevents your website passwords from being visible on the network.
  • Encrypt your communications. Email is often intercepted in Iran. To guarantee the confidentiality of the messages you exchange with your editors, encrypt your emails with PGP or encrypt your chats with Pidgin and the OTR plugin.
  • The sending of an encrypted email is visible on the network. Although the regime may not be able to access the content of an encrypted email, it may know who sent it and to whom it was sent. Take care when you send an encrypted email. Take account of the situation of the person you are emailing.
  • Create one or two email address that are not associated with the media that you work for, and use only these addresses. As a result, your emails will be more discreet and will be more likely to pass unnoticed by the authorities.
  • You can also send your emails to a specially-created email address, from which they can be removed by a trusted third party with password access and forwarded to their final destination from another email address. This will protect the identity of the recipients of your emails while you are inside Iran.

In the event of Internet cuts or drastic slowdowns

It is not uncommon for the Internet to get much slower during demonstrations or in the run-up to major events. But Internet slowdowns or cuts do not last long. Keep filming or writing and store your work on an encrypted USB flash drive (encrypted with TrueCrypt, for example). A USB stick is easier to conceal and carry than a computer.
You can use a satellite connection to send your work but, be careful, because satellite transmissions are easily spotted. Don’t stay too long in the same place while transmitting files. Change location frequently. If you must sent big files, send them in stages. There is software than can break a big file down into smaller parts.

Mobile phones

Your mobile phone contains a lot of important information. Iran’s two main mobile phone service operators, Mobile Communication Company of Iran and Irancell, are controlled by the Revolutionary Guards. As well as data sent or received, you mobile phone or smartphone has a lot of information on the SIM card, its internal memory and any memory card that may be installed.
  • Protect your phone with a password, if it has this feature. All SIM cards have a PIN installed by default. Change it and block access to your SIM card with this SIM code.
  • If your phone uses the Android operating system, you can use the many applications created by the Guardian Project and Whispersys to encrypt your browsing, chats, SMS and voice messages.
  • Turn off GPS in the apps that use it. But make sure that someone is kept abreast of your movements.
  • If possible, don’t keep any browsing history. If you are in country that monitors mobile phones or if you think you are under close surveillance because of your activities, it is better not to use a mobile phone to communicate. Use face-to-face meetings instead.
  • If you want to keep your phone with you even during sensitive meetings, remove the battery before going. Even without a SIM card, mobile phones send a lot of information (IMEI, IMSI or TMSI numbers and network cell) to nearby relay antennae that allows them to be located. Using IMSI catcher software, the authorities can intercept these signals and locate a previously identified SIM card holder. Unfortunately, a battery cannot be removed from an iPhone.

Iran one of largest prisons for HRDs

Last Update 2 June 2013

Karim Lahidji: Iran is one of the largest prisons in the world for human rights defenders


Interview with Karim Lahidji, FIDH vice-president [
1] and president of the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) on Presidential Elections in Iran June 2013

FIDH: The United Nations Human Rights Council renewed in March the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. What does this mean?

Karim Lahidji: For many years the human rights situation in Iran has been on the agenda of the General Assembly and other UN bodies, because of the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country. However, the constant degradation of human rights in Iran made the mission of the Special Rapporteur – appointed in 2011 – crucial. For the victims of human rights violations, for their families and even for ourselves, the Special Rapporteur represents the only way to press the Iranian authorities to abandon its policy of repression. The renewal of the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council was in this sense a strong signal.

FIDH: FIDH and LDDHI published a list of human rights defenders currently imprisoned as a result of their activities. What is the situation of human rights defenders in Iran today?

KL: Iran is one of the largest prisons in the world for human rights defenders. Since 2009 and the repression following the protests against the presidential election’s results, many defenders, lawyers and journalists have been arrested, subjected to unfair trials and imprisoned to prevent them from acting. Ten lawyers, around thirty journalists and dozens of Iranian civil society activists are currently in prison. Nasrin Sotoudeh, Abdolfattah Soltani, Mohammade Seyfzadeh and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah were sentenced to prison terms of between 6 to 11 years for having provided legal defence to political prisoners. In this context, what margin of action is there today for human rights defenders? Repression is systematic in the country and the people committed to defending human rights of Iranians have no other choice but persecution or exile.

FIDH: The penal policy, and particularly the reasons for convictions and executions, are majors concerns expressed by civil society organizations. Which have been the recent trends in this regard?

KL: The Islamic Penal Code, dating from 1991, has recently been the object of a series of changes which are not yet put in practice. This reform was a major missed opportunity. Despite repeated recommendations of various UN bodies, by many states in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review as well as several NGOs, the new code remains one of the most “generous” with regard to the application of the death penalty. The death penalty is used and enforced not only for common crimes, but also for crimes of opinion, for drug trafficking or for violations of ‘’public decency’’. Iran has not put an end to the execution of minors. As a result, over the last 5 years, 500 to 600 people at the very least have been executed annually in Iran.

FIDH: The next presidential elections are scheduled in June. The 2009 elections were followed by demonstrations resulting in an increased crackdown on freedoms of assembly, association and expression, as well as in the arrest of several candidates, including Mousavi and Karoubi. What is the status of political freedom in Iran on the eve of the elections?

KL: The already critical situation has further deteriorated in recent months. Hundreds of people arrested right after the peaceful demonstrations in 2009, are still behind bars. Karroubi and Mousavi, and his wife, have been under house arrest for 2 years. FIDH and LDDHI obtained from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the confirmation of the arbitrary nature of these detentions and calls for their immediate release. Lately the pressure on the media has intensified and twenty journalists were arrested for having contacts with foreign media. In short, on the eve of the elections, all possible means of pressure and intimidation are used to prevent events like the 2009 demonstrations from occurring once again.

 

Iran court bans state-owned newspaper for 6 months

Sun, Jun 2, 2013
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say that a court has imposed a six-month publishing ban on a state-owned newspaper for its allegedly false reporting.
The semi-official Mehr news agency reported Sunday the suspension of IRAN, which is under the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is seen to express views close to his. The semi-official Fars also reported the ban.
The agencies did not say which report triggered the ban. Calls to IRAN were not immediately returned.
Conservative hard-liners who control many state institutions have been hammering at Ahmadinejad and his allies ahead of the June election, which decides on the president's successor.
Ahmadinejad fell out with conservatives in 2011, after he challenged the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters.

 

Reformist candidate’s campaign workers arrested

Sun, 06/09/2013 - 16:44
Reports from Tehran indicate that a number of participants in campaign events for reformist presidential candidate Hassan Rohani were arrested on Saturday in Tehran.
Saham News reports that a number of Rohani’s campaign workers were arrested yesterday along with a number of people who protested their arrest at an official gathering.
The identities of the detainees have not been announced yet; however, the Neday-e Sabz-e Azadi website reported the arrest of Amin Vatani, a student activist at Saturday’s gathering who was reportedly beaten prior to his arrest.
The presidential election will take place this week, and two reformist candidates, Hassan Rohani and Mohammadreza Aref, are expected to announce soon if one will withdraw in favour of the other.

 

Reformist cleric’s memorial services cancelled

Sun, 06/09/2013 - 16:42
http://archive.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/reformist-cleric%E2%80%99s-memorial-services-cancelledhttp://archive.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/reformist-cleric%E2%80%99s-memorial-services-cancelled

Ayatollah Taheri Esfahani

Commemoration services for Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, a reformist cleric who passed away last week, have been cancelled in Tehran and Qom.
The Kaleme website reports that it was decided to cancel the ceremonies after a conflict during the burial of the deceased resulted in “injuries caused to innocent people.” Therefore, the service will only take place in Najafabad.
The announcement says the cleric stated in his will that he would like his funeral to be held in complete peace, and any form of harm to citizens and young people is to be avoided.
In recent years, the passing of prominent figures critical of the government has been used as an outlet for dissenting forces. Government forces have often restricted participation in these events and at times has not even allowed any form of public burial ceremony to take place in order to avoid public gatherings.
Ayatollah Taheri Esfahani was critical of the government persecution of election protesters in 2009 and had publicly announced that he believed the elections were fraudulent.
The government is on guard to ensure the coming presidential election does not spark any form of protest movement as happened after the last election.

 

Iranian journalists cry out against web interference

Sun, 06/09/2013 - 14:54

A group of Iranian journalists and reporters is speaking out against the censorship of content on news websites.
The Mehr News Agency published the group’s statement on June 8. It denounces the “rising incidence of unregulated restrictions” on active websites.
The announcement indicates that on several occasions in the past year, “unauthorized individuals” have contacted official websites and news outlets to request that a certain article or text be removed from their site.
The statement claims that state decision-making in the online world springs from various sources and it maintains that many of these sources impose their views on the media without legal justification.
Mehr reports being subjected to such filtering efforts and adds that the situation was resolved by the Prosecutor General Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who removed the restrictions.
Many analysts have linked recent pressure on the media to the state’s fear of protests in the coming presidential election.
Women’s Rights

Female students banned from engineering fields

Posted on: 3rd June, 2013
HRANA News Agency – New criteria defined for graduate programs ban female students from studying in seven different engineering fields at Isfahan University of Technology.
According to a report by Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Isfahan University of Technology will no longer admit female students into graduate  programs to study agricultural engineering with a concentration in irrigation, animal science and machinery.  Female students have also been banned from obtaining masters degrees in natural resources engineering with a concentration in watershed and land management as well as desertification.  Furthermore, the university has adopted a policy to admit only male students to study water resources engineering.
A group of undergraduate female students have objected to the new policy, expressing their concerns in a letter written to the university officials.  “These decisions have been made without considering the number of female students currently enrolled in the related undergraduate programs,” the students wrote.  “Given the fact that the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology grants priority admission to local students, depriving residents from entering into graduate programs is contradictory to this standing policy and unjust.”
“Due to our social norms and restrictions, female students aren’t free to leave home to study out of town,” the students said in their letter.  “We have already asked the university board of directors to lift these restrictions.  But citing lack of job opportunities for female students, the board of directors has failed to address our concerns.”
“We have been told that our field of study is incompatible with our femininity,” the students complained.  “Nonetheless, we believe that we are as qualified as our male counterparts to specialize in any of these areas.  A large number of female engineers have already succeeded in the same fields.  Female students can have a promising future ahead of them if they are given the same opportunities as men.  We can excel in the job market both as engineers and teachers, training future female students.”

Minorities’ Rights

 

Two Kurds die of self-immolation

Posted on: 8th June, 2013

HRANA News Agency – Two followers of Ahl-e Haqq in Kurdistan set themselves on fire in protest to the persecution of another member of this group.  Ahl-e Haqq is a religious minority whose members are mostly ethnic Kurds.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on June 4, 2013, Hassan Razavi set himself on fire in front of the main administrative office in the Kurdistan Province.  Razavi’s self-immolation was in protest to how Keyumars Tamnak was being treated by officials in Hamadan Prison.  Tamnak had been forced to shave off his facial hair which is revered by the followers of Ahl-e Haqq.
With severe burning to more than 60 percent of his body, Razavi was taken to a hospital in Tehran.  He is under police watch at the hospital, and no one including his family is allowed to see him.
On June 5, 2013, another member of Ahl-e Haqq, Nimkard Tahari, set himself on fire in front of the same building after hearing that five prison officials had held Tamnak down to shave off his mustache.  Tahari died en route to the hospital, and his body was buried in the city of Sahneh on Thursday, June 6, 2013 under increased security measures.
The news of neither self-immolation has been covered by the local or national media.  Leaders of Ahl-e Haqq have been summoned to the Intelligence Agency in the city of Sahneh and have been threatened.
During the funeral held for Tahari, protestors staged a sit-in in front of the main administrative office in the Kurdistan Province for two hours, but none of the officials agreed to meet with them.  Eventually, the police forced the protestors to disperse.  Other members of Ahl-e Haqq have threatened to set themselves on fire if officials fail to address their concerns.

Four Baha’i citizens were tried and sentenced in Mashhad

Posted on: 31st May, 2013
HRANA News Agency – Four Baha’i citizens were tried and sentenced to prison in Mashhad.  Nika Kholoosi, Nava Kholoosi, Adib Sho’aie and Mahsa Mahdavi received sentences ranging from eight months to six years.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), these prisoners of conscious were tried in the 3rd branch of Revolutionary Court in Mashhad.  Judge Soltani presided over the trial during which the defenders were charged with promoting the Baha’i religion, propaganda against the Islamic regime and membership in Baha’i groups.
Nika Kholoosi was sentenced to six, Nava Kholoosi to four and a half, and Adib Sho’aie to one and a half years.  Mahsa Mahdavi was sentenced to eight months.

 

Baha’i Citizens interrogated upon return to Iran

Posted on: 31st May, 2013
HRANA News Agency – In the past few months, a number of Baha’i citizens have been interrogated by the authorities after returning to Iran from Turkey.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian intelligent officers have questioned Baha’i citizens at the airport and inspected their belongings in different occasions.
These Baha’i citizens had traveled to Turkey to visit their relatives.  Upon returning to Iran, they were summoned to the security office and interrogated at the airport.  Prior to their release, their personal belongings such as suitcase, cellphone and laptop were searched and inspected.

 

Two Baha'is sentenced to jail for “propaganda”

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:12
Two Iranian Baha’is have been sentenced to three years in jail by the Islamic Republic judiciary in Shiraz.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that the two Baha’i citizens were arrested last July in Shiraz and, after 11 months in Adelabad Prison, were finally charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “membership in Baha’i organizations.”
Rahman Vafayi and Hamid Eslami have each been handed three years in prison.
HRANA adds that 59-year-old Vafayi suffers from heart complications and his family fears the effects of imprisonment on his health.

The Islamic Republic does not recognize Baha-ism as a legitimate religion, and most Baha’is face severe discrimination and persecution in Iran, which is the birthplace of the Baha’i faith.

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