Violation of Human Rights in Iran during a Week 16 June 2013

At a Glance

International Condemnation of Violation of Human Rights in Iran

Iran: Repression of dissent intensifies in run-up to presidential election

AI index: MDE 13/021/2013                                                           11 June 2013

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/021/2013/en/663912b0-10e0-45a5-8f46-7d9b88898638/mde130212013en.html

Amnesty International is concerned by evidence that the Iranian authorities are intensifying their clampdown on dissent in the run-up to the country’s next presidential election, due to be held on 14 June 2013.
Those targeted include political activists, journalists and other media workers, trade unionists, advocates of greater rights for Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities, students and others. In many cases, the full reasons for arrest and detention are not known; in others, those arrested have been brought before the courts on sweeping but vaguely worded charges, convicted and sentenced to prison terms. In yet other cases, individuals who were sentenced in previous years but not made to serve them immediately or else released provisionally for medical reasons have been summoned to prison to serve what remains of their sentences as the authorities seek to pre-empt protests at the time of the presidential election.
The Iranian authorities have long sought to suppress and punish dissent and the advocacy of views or policies with which they disagree, and the authorities’ current crackdown is only the most recent of many similar bouts of repression. One of the most severe occurred following the last presidential election in 2009 when nationwide mass protests broke out after the authorities announced that the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had secured victory by a large margin, prompting allegations of electoral fraud.
Today, dozens of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials connected to the 2009 protests, remain in prison. Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, who emerged as main opposition leaders when they contested the 2009 presidential election against President Ahmadinejad, along with latter’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, continue to be confined under indefinite house arrest orders that the authorities have enforced since February 2011. This is despite repeated calls for their release by the UN, including a joint call in February 2013 by three leading human rights experts, the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Iran and on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. On 29 August 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that the detention under house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi amounted to arbitrary detention, so contravening both Iranian national law and international law; nevertheless, their detention under indefinite house arrest continues.
The post-2009 government crackdown saw the security forces commit gross human rights violations, including unlawful killings and torture. To date, however, the authorities have generally failed to bring those responsible for these violations to justice while at the same time taking action against victims and relatives who dare to call for justice and reparation. Amnesty International welcomed the Judiciary’s recent launch of an investigation into the deaths of at least four individuals in custody while detained in Tehran’s Kahrizak detention centre following the 2009 presidential election. The trials, however, have been held behind closed doors, raising questions as to their fairness.
Since late last year, Amnesty International has recorded a new surge in repression, reflected in new cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials of political suspects and the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience – individuals imprisoned solely on account of their political opinions or beliefs who have not used or advocated violence.
This latest crackdown appears intended, at least in part, to stifle debate and deter criticism of the authorities in the lead-up to the election, which will see one of currently only six permitted candidates replace President Ahmadinejad for a term of four years.
Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to halt the implementation of repressive measures which conflict with Iran’s obligations under international human rights law and treaties to which it is a party, and to respect and protect the human rights to freedom of opinion, expression, assembly and association.
Amnesty International has compiled this briefing on the basis of information obtained from a wide range of sources, including sources inside Iran, although the Iranian authorities have not permitted the organization to visit Iran and assess human rights at first hand for more than three decades. Despite this, Amnesty International has regularly published reports and documented rights abuses in Iran.

Recent emblematic cases that highlight the clampdown on human rights include those detailed here.

Journalists and online publishers

Security forces in Kordestan arrested Khosro Kordpour, the manager of the Mukrian News Agency, on 9 March 2013 and searched his home, removing some of his possessions. Two days later, they arrested his brother, Masoud Kordpour, when he visited the Mahabad office of the Ministry of Intelligence to seek information about the arrest and detention of Khosro Kordpour. Both brothers were taken to a Revolutionary Guards detention centre in Orumiyeh on 16 March 2013, where they were reportedly held in solitary confinement. Despite repeated inquiries, the families of both men were unable to obtain information about their whereabouts until 2 May 2013, when they were permitted to visit them. The brothers told relatives that those who arrested them had not given them any reasons. On 19 April 2013, Khosro Kordpour started a hunger strike to protest his lack of access to his lawyer. He ended it on 13 May 2013 at the request of his family and friends and after he was transferred from solitary confinement to a cell with other detainees. The reasons for the arrests of the Kordpour brothers remain unclear but they are believed to have been detained on suspicion of offences against national security. It is not known whether the authorities have formally brought any charges against them to date. The brothers’ lawyer was reportedly informed on 14 May 2013 that their detention order had been extended for a further two months.

Mohammad Reza Pourshajari, who is also known by his pen name, Siamak Mehr, is currently held in Karaj Central Prison, where he is serving a four-year prison term, despite serious concerns for his health. Security forces arrested him at his home in Karaj on 12 September 2010 because of a blog that he ran and, he alleges, held him in solitary confinement for eight months and tortured and otherwise ill-treated him, including by subjecting him to a mock execution to make him “confess”. Following a trial which concluded on 21 December 2011, Branch 109 of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj convicted him on the vaguely worded charge of “insulting Islamic sanctities” and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment. Mohammad Reza Pourshajari had previously been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on charges of “insulting the Leader” and “acting against national security”. According to a member of his family who spoke to Amnesty International, he suffered a heart attack on 16 February 2013, following which the authorities moved him to a hospital outside the prison for only five days and continue to deny him leave from prison to receive adequate medical treatment, reportedly against the advice of prison doctors.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger and prisoner of conscience, returned to Evin Prison in Tehran on 21 May 2013 to serve the remainder of a 15-year prison sentence that he incurred in 2010 after a Revolutionary Court convicted him on charges that included “membership of the [illegal] internet group ‘Iran Proxy’”, “spreading propaganda against the system” and “insulting the Leader and the President”, apparently in connection with his peaceful activities including writing articles he had published on his blog. In May 2012, he went on hunger strike because the authorities refused to allow him leave from prison to receive medical treatment for a kidney ailment, before the authorities conceded and freed him upon payment of bail of 10 billion rials (approximately US$815,000). However, he was rearrested in August 2012 while still on temporary leave from prison, together with human rights activists who were assisting people at a relief camp for earthquake victims in East Azerbaijan province. He was taken first to Section 1 of Tabriz Prison, then to Evin Prison in Tehran and charged with “distributing unclean and non-hygienic goods” but again allowed medical release on 6 November 2012 after payment of bail. He has had several kidney operations and needs to take regular medication. His father says that since his recall to Evin Prison, the authorities there have not allowed him to take his prescribed medicine, prompting renewed concern for his health and wellbeing.

The authorities have detained at least five journalists since the beginning of March and have closed down three publications. The journalists are: Mohammad Mehdi Emam Naseri and Alireza Aghaee Rad, respectively the manager and political editor of Maghreb newspaper; Ali Ghazali and Foad Sadeghi, respectively the manager and an editor of the Baztab Emrooz news website; and Mohammad Javad Rouh, an editor at Mehrnameh, one of the three publications closed by the authorities. The others were Aseman and Tajrobeh. All five journalists are reported to be facing prosecution in connection with their journalistic activities although no details of the charges have yet emerged.

Political activists

Jamileh Karimi, a member of an association known as the Central Council of the Reformists Coalition in Fars Province, is reported to have been arrested by security forces in April 2013 and to be detained in solitary confinement at a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Shiraz that is known simply as “No. 100”. Jamileh Karimi, who formerly worked for the Fars provincial governor as an advisor on women and youth affairs during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), was arrested at her home on 10 April 2013, according to the opposition Kaleme news website. Before her arrest, she was one of around 90 signatories to a letter urging Mohammad Khatami to again stand for the presidency in 2013. No charges are known to have been brought against her as yet.

On 4 June 2013, the National Religious Alliance reported on its website that security forces had arrested four individuals associated with the organization, which is banned but generally tolerated, naming them as Reza Agha Khani, Nasrollah Lashani, Alireza Akbar Zadeh and Hossein Bahiraee. Currently, the reasons for their arrest are unclear but may be connected to the forthcoming election given the occurrence of detentions of National Religious Alliance members prior to previous Iranian elections. The authorities have not disclosed their places of detention and it is not known whether charges have been brought against any of the four. The families of the arrested men have asserted that they had not been involved in any illegal activities and that some of them are not even political activists.

Security forces are reported to have detained a number of members of the campaign team of presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani on 1 June after a rally in Tehran at which supporters chanted slogans demanding the release from house arrest of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. They reportedly included Nafiseh Nikbakht, Milad Panahi Pour, Mohsen Rahmani, Mohammad Parsi, Mohammad Ehtesham, Shirin Mir Karimi, Saeedollah Bedashti, Mojtaba Hashemi and Farzad Eslami. According to information released on the Kaleme website on 3 June, one of the detainees had told their relatives in a phone conversation that 13 individuals were arrested. The website has also reported that all 13 were being held in solitary confinement in Section 240 of Evin Prison and had been informed that they would face charges. Some individuals have been released but others are believed to remain in detention.

Trade unionists

On 28 May 2013, trade unionist Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi received a four-year prison sentence after Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted him of “gathering and colluding against the national security” and a further one year in prison for “spreading propaganda against the system”. Neither charges amount to an internationally recognizable criminal offence. At present, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi remains at liberty awaiting the outcome of an appeal, but if this is rejected he may also be required to serve a previous four-year sentence that was imposed in connection with his trade union activities but suspended. A former speaker of the Iran Teachers’ Trade Associations (ITTA), an affiliate of European International, an international body that represents educational workers, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi was arrested in April 2010 just before Iran’s Teachers’ Day on 2 May and held incommunicado for 16 days. He has been free on bail since 4 July 2010.

Security forces arrested at least 10 trade unionists and labour rights activists in connection with their trade union activities including peaceful gatherings planned to mark International Labour Day on 1 May 2013. Those held included Mohammad Ehyai, Mohammad Ghasem-Khani, Bahram Saeedi, Aram Zandi, Fardin Ghaderi, Shahpour Hosseini, Jalil Mohammadi, Hamed Mahmoudi Nejad, Nastaran Mohammadi and Bakhtiar Chatani. Some have been released, but others are still believed to be detained although it is not known whether any of them are facing charges.

Members of ethnic and religious minorities

Five members of Yeni Gamoh, an Iran-based, Azerbaijani (Turkic) cultural and political rights advocacy organization, were sentenced to eight-year prison terms by Branch Three of the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz on 29 April 2013 after it convicted them of “forming an illegal group with the intention to harm national security”. In addition, the court sentenced each of them to one year’s imprisonment for “spreading propaganda against the system”. The five – Latif Hasani, Mahmoud Fazli, Ayat Mehr-Ali Beyglou, Shahram Radmehr and Behboud Gholizadeh, all members of Yeni Gamoh’s Central Council – were arrested by Ministry of Intelligence officials between January and March 2013 and detained incommunicado, then moved to Tabriz Central Prison. They were not permitted access to lawyers until one week before their trial. A family member of one of the five told Amnesty International that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated while detained by the Ministry of Intelligence. Shahram Radmehr and Behboud Gholizadeh both suffer from health problems that require medical treatment unavailable in prison, but authorities told Shahram Radmehr that he would be allowed to access such treatment only if he agreed to attend in his prison garb and with his wrists and ankles cuffed.

Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American Christian pastor and USA resident, has been imprisoned since 26 September 2012 when he was detained, apparently by Revolutionary Guards, while in Iran to visit relatives. On 20 January, 2013, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment, which he is serving in Section 350 of Evin Prison, after convicting him of “forming house churches with intent to harm national security”. Following his sentencing, he told his family in a letter of March 2013 that he had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated while held in detention, and that medical staff in Evin Prison refused to treat him because they considered him to be “unclean” or an “unbeliever”. He is said to be in need of medical treatment after suffering intestinal bleeding.

On 4 June 2013, the Majzooban-e Noor website, which acts as a Sufi news agency and reports on human rights violations against dervishes, reported that one of its managers, Saleh Moradi, a Nematollahi Dervish� journalist, had received a one-year prison sentence from the General Court of Kavar in Fars province after it convicted him of “disturbing public opinion” and “disturbing public order”. In addition, the court sentenced him to one year in internal exile. By the time of his sentencing, Saleh Moradi had already been in detention for more than one year, and so he was released from custody. According to Majzooban-e Noor, however, he still has a case pending against him in the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz on charges of ”spreading propaganda against the system”, “acting against national security” and “membership of Majzooban-e Noor group”.

In April 2013, Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz sentenced Kasra Nouri, another Nematollahi Dervish, to imprisonment for four years and four months after convicting him on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system”, “acting against national security, “insulting the Leader” and “membership of Majzooban-e Nour group”. Both he and Saleh Moradi were arrested in around September 2011 when the authorities also arrested seven other Nematollahi Dervishes who remain in detention, apparently without charge or trial – Afshin Karampour, Amir Eslami, Farshid Yadollahi, Mostafa Daneshjoo, Hamid-Reza Moradi Sarvestani, Omid Behroozi and Reza Entesari. These seven were held initially at Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, then moved to Section 350 of Evin Prison, where they remained until they were placed in solitary confinement in the prison’s Section 209, controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence, in January 2013. They were only returned to Section 350, the prison’s general ward, three months later after Saleh Moradi and Kasra Nouri had gone on hunger strike in protest at their plight. They and Kasra Nouri are all believed to suffer from health problems exacerbated by the conditions of their imprisonment. Gonabadi Dervishes of the Nematollahi order have faced continuing repression by the Iranian authorities over the last four years.

Five members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority currently remain on death row at Karoun Prison in Khouzestan, where they are at serious risk of execution. All five – Mohammad Ali Amouri, brothers Sayed Jaber Alboshoka and Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, and two teachers, Hashem Sha’bani Amouri and Hadi Rashidi (or Rashedi) – were arrested in early 2011. They were reportedly tortured and forced to make televised “confessions”. On 7 July 2012, they were sentenced to death after they were convicted of “enmity against God and corruption on earth”, “gathering and colluding against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. Branch 32 of the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences on 9 January 2013. In early June 2013 it was reported that they are currently not permitted visits, prompting fears that their executions may be imminent, since death row prisoners are often held in solitary confinement before execution.

Student activists

Ashkan Zahabian, a student activist, was detained by armed Intelligence Ministry officials who went to his home on 27 May 2013 and took him to Babol Prison in Mazandaran province to begin serving an eight-month prison term, imposed on him in 2011 when a court convicted him of “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. At the time of arrest, he had not received a written summons requiring him to commence serving his sentence. Amnesty International believes that the manner and timing of the arrest may be intended to deter other students from involvement in political activities. Ashkan Zahabian was previously imprisoned for political reasons: arrested in June 2009 for supporting Mehdi Karroubi's presidential election campaign, he spent about three months in detention before obtaining release on bail but he was then arrested in November 2009 and accused of “acting against state security by forming Islamic [student] Associations in the north of the country”. Again released on bail, he was later sentenced in his absence to six months in prison by Branch 101 of the Revolutionary Court of Babol. He was arrested when he answered a summons to appear before Ministry of Intelligence officials in Sari, northern Iran, and then served his six-month prison term.

Afshin Keshtkari, a student activist and founder member of the Islamic Student Association at the University of Technology in Shiraz, was summoned to appear before the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz on 18 May 2013 and then committed to Adel Abad Prison to begin serving six months of a three-year prison sentence (the majority of the sentence was suspended on appeal) imposed after a court convicted him of “forming an illegal group with intent to harm national security”. He was arrested on 7 December 2010 after a protest by students at the University of Technology in Shiraz. He was held incommunicado at the detention centre known as “No. 100” in Shiraz until 1 January 2011, when he was released on bail. While in detention, the university’s Disciplinary Committee banned him from continuing his studies for one semester.

Abuses in the criminal justice system

Mazyar Ebrahimi, an Iranian businessman who founded his own production company in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, was detained by Intelligence Ministry officials in June 2012 and held incommunicado. On 6 August 2012, the official IRTV1 television channel aired an almost 40-minute long documentary entitled “Terror Club” in which Mazyar Ebrahimi was one of 12 detainees, including both men and women, who were shown “confessing” to involvement in the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists and academics, five of whom have been killed since 2010. Apart from the “confessions”, which may have been obtained through torture or coercion, the documentary contained no other evidence of the detainees’ involvement in the deaths. In May 2013, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje’i, Tehran’s Prosecutor General and Judiciary spokesperson, was reported to have announced that a closed trial of 44 individuals accused in connection with the scientists’ killings had commenced, but without disclosing the identities of the defendants. They may include Mazyar Ebrahimi and others among the detainees shown “confessing” in the Terror Club TV documentary, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Seven months after the death in custody of blogger Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian authorities have yet to hold anyone to account for his death. Following his arrest at his home by Cyber Police on 30 October 2012, his family were unable to find out where he was being held or gain access to him until, on 6 November 2012, they received a telephone call advising them to collect his body from Tehran’s Kahrizak detention centre. After his arrest, he had spent one night in Section 350 of Evin Prison and had lodged a formal complaint, alleging that his interrogators had tortured him in pre-trial detention. His death in custody has been the subject of several investigations by bodies such as the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament and the Judiciary’s High Commission for Human Rights but, as yet, despite a number of arrests, no one has been convicted in connection with his death. Some of his family members say they have been warned that they face arrest if they speak to the media about his death.

Recommendations to the Iranian authorities

Immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience and drop all charges against anyone who is facing trial solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression or related rights to freedom of association or assembly;

Release all other detainees unless they are charged with a recognizably criminal offence and tried in full conformity with international standards of fair trial and without resort to the death penalty;

Ensure that detainees and prisoners, from the moment of arrest, are granted access to relatives, lawyers of their own choosing and all necessary medical care, and are fully protected at all times against torture or other ill-treatment in custody;

Urgently review and amend or repeal all Iranian laws that impinge on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly as these are set and defined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other relevant international treaties to which Iran is a state party;

Permit all individuals and groups to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, including in ways which dissent from state policies and practices; the free exercise of these rights may take on special importance during election campaigning periods;

Immediately cease all executions, declare an immediate and comprehensive moratorium on executions, commute death sentences, and begin steps to abolish the death penalty for all crimes;

Allow international scrutiny of the human rights situation in Iran, including by allowing visits to Iran by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and other UN human rights experts and mechanisms that have requested visits, and by Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations.

Gonabadi Dervishes in Iran consider themselves to be Shi’a Muslims. This Sufi order describes Sufism as neither a religion nor a sect, but rather a way of life by which individuals – from any religion - may find God. See, for example, � HYPERLINK "http://www.sufism.ir/sufischool.php" http://www.sufism.ir/sufischool.php. This is a website belonging to the Gonabadi Dervish order in Europe, which is headed by Dr Sayed Mostafa Azmayesh. In Iran, the head of the order is Dr Nour Ali Tabandeh, who was forced to leave his home in Bidokht, the main centre of the order in Iran, in May 2007 and take up residency in Tehran. Several prominent clerics in Iran have issued fatwas attacking Sufis. For example Ayatollah Lankarani said in 2006 that Sufis were “misleading Iranian youth” and that “any contact with them was forbidden”.

Arbitrary Arrests

 

Labor activist arrested on election day

Posted on: 15th June, 2013

 http://hra-news.org/en/labor-activist-arrested-on-election-day

HRANA News Agency – Labor activist Ali Raouf was arrested early Friday morning on the election day.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Ali Raouf was arrested in his house in Tehran at 7 a.m. on June 14, 2013.  Security agents searched his house and seized his laptop, books, notes and other personal belongings.
“It was 7 in the morning when the agents raided the house,” one of Raouf’s friends said.  “They took Ali who was in bed.  They even didn’t let him put on his clothing, handcuffed him and took him.  His mother was crying and begging them to stop, but they didn’t care.”
“Security agents have threatened his family,” the friend added.  “The family has been told if they talk about the arrest and publicize it, they won’t see him again.”

 

Mehdi Rahmani the Yarsan follower arrested

Posted on: 14th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/mehdi-rahmani-the-yarsan-follower-arrested

HRANA News Agency – Mehdi Rahmani, the follower of Yarsan religion -Ahle Hagh- has been arrested on charge of recording the video of another Yarsan follower’s suicide in front of Hamedan governorate.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mehdi Rahmani a follower of Yarsan religion -Ahle Hagh- who has recorded Nimard Taheri’s suicide by fire in front of Hamedan governorate in protest to the insults of the authorities, has been arrested by security forces and there is no news of his condition. 
On June 4,5 two of Yarsan religion followers whose names are Hassan Razavi from Hamedan and Nikmard Taheri from Kermanshah committed suicide by fire in front of Hamedan governorate in protest to shaving Kiomars Tamnak’s mustache by Hamedan prison authorities.
Nikmard Taheri passed away because of severe injuries and Hassan Razavi is in hospital.

 

Akbar Amini the political activist arrested

Posted on: 14th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/akbar-amini-the-political-activist-arrested

HRANA News Agency – Akbar Amini Armaki, the political activist arrested by security forces at his father’s home and transferred to an unknown location.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on Friday midnight the security forces arrested Akbar Amini Armaki at his father’s home. Akbar was the coordinator of Dr. Shole Sadi’s election campaign. 
Akbar Amini was arrested on February 14, 2011 just a couple of hours after waving protest symbols on top of a crane in Ghasr square in Tehran; Then he was sentenced to one year imprisonment and released after spending his one year imprisonment verdict.

Prisoners of Conscience

Families of political prisoners subjected to intrusive body searches

Posted on: 11th June, 2013

https://hra-news.org/en/families-of-political-prisoners-subjected-to-intrusive-body-searches

HRANA News Agency – Families of political prisoners have been subjected to intrusive body searches while visiting their loved ones in Evin Prison.
According to a report by Kaleme, female visitors including women and young girls have reported and objected to manual body searches performed on Sunday, June 9, 2013.  Female visitors felt humiliated and extremely uncomfortable.  Among the victims was Nasrin Sotoudeh’s daughter who continued to cry non-stop while visiting her mother.
Families of political prisoners have reported that prison officials intentionally made the visit unpleasant for everyone.  Faced with the objection of the families, security agents said that they were told to perform intrusive body searches.  Since Ali Ashraf-Rashidi became the warden, the horrific conditions in Evin Prison have further deteriorated.  Families of political prisoners plan to take actions against such searches and stop visiting their loved ones until the issue is addressed.

 

Arash Sadeghi has been on the sixth day of strike

Posted on: 14th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/arash-sadeghi-has-been-on-the-sixth-day-of-strike

Hrana  News Agency _ political prisoner Arash Sadeghi was held in Evin prison in section 209 and since 6 days age  he is on a hunger strike because of  beating by prison guards .
According Herana ‘s reporters ,news agencies of human rights activists in Iran :Arash Sadeghi who is student activists and he expelled from Allameh university ;he has been kept in 209 section of security strap of Even  from 15 January 2011till now. On 1 June 2013 he was beaten by prison guards and From the same date  he has gone on hunger strike .
First time this student activist and member of Mousavis’s campaign   was arrested on 9 July 2009 and kept in section 2A of Sepah and after 53 he was released on bail . after a while ,coincided with Ashoura’s events again he was arrested on 27 December 2009 and was released on bail on April 2010.his freedom was not very durable and he rearrested on 15 January 2012 . it is nearly 17 months have passed since then he is being held in ministry of information section 209.
At the end that is to say: on 9 July 2009 at his first capture, Arash Sadeghi  ‘s mothers died from heart attack because of raid of security forces to their home

 

Vahid Asghari refused to appear in the court

Posted on: 14th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/vahid-asghari-refused-to-appear-in-the-court-2

HRANA News Agency – Vahid Asghari the imprisoned weblogger has avoided to appear in the trial session.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), this imprisoned weblogger was sentenced to death in branch 15 of Tehran revolutionary court by judge Salevati but lately the issued verdict was rejected by supreme court and sent back to branch 28 of provincial appealed in Tehran revolutionary court by the presidency of judge Mohammad Moghayeseh.
Vahid Asghari the weblogger and student of information faculty in Banglore-India was supposed to appear in branch 28 of revolutionary court on June 2, 2013 but he has refused to appear.
In a letter by Vahid that HRANA got a copy of it he expressed his intention of refusal of appearing in the court that “I refused to appear in the court because of compulsory prison clothing for transferring to the court, lack of access to lawyer even once till now, no information about my accusations and no informed verdict from the court, the supreme court and … and not having access to the dossier and lack of legal ways to defending myself and too many more reasons; and I believe it is my right to not be in confinement cell and …; and be protected against harassment. As well I object my 5 years detention. Meanwhile because of not paying attention to the provided documents by me but paying attention to the bogus confesses which taken under tortures and 2 years pressure, I lost my trust.”
One of the prisoners in ward 350 of Evin said to HRANA correspondent “Vahid Asghari is under severe pressures to appear in the court.”

 

Behnam Ibrahimzadeh summoned to return prison

Posted on: 14th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/behnam-ibrahimzadeh-summoned-to-return-prison

HRANA News Agency – Despite of blood cancer of Behnam Ibrahimzadeh’s son and necessity of hospitalizing again in Mahak hospital, this labor -union- activist was summoned to Evin prison.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Behnam Ibrahimzadeh the labor and kids’ rights activist who is in vacation because of his son’s blood cancer, has to appear in Evin prison on June 9 afternoon.
This happens while forensics has confirmed in a letter for the court that his son -Nima- suffers from blood cancer, under chemotherapy and IT and as well in this condition the presence of the father is very important in the treatment process.
 Also Mahak hospital that Nima is hospitalized in for a round of chemotherapy declared to the judicial authorities that the presence of Nima’s father is important in amelioration of Nima.
Tehran court issued the warrant for Behnam Ibrahimzadeh to return prison without consideration on the letter of forensics and Mahak hospital.
Behnam Ibrahimzadeh suffers from neck arthritis and hearing issues in left ear was unable to get treatment because of his son’s cancer.
Behnam -As’ad- Ibrahimzadeh is labor activist, member of “committee of following ups on forming labor unions”, kids rights activist and member of “the group of defending kids of streets”. He was arrested on June 12, 2010 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by revolutionary court that the verdict diminished to five years imprisonment by the appealed.

Freedom of Expression

 

Iran's presidential candidates facing strict censorship

Index on Censorship 10 June 2013

http://www.ifex.org/iran/2013/06/10/censorship_ahead_of_elections

Iran's state television this week held the second of three presidential debates. Unlike the 2009 debates, no one-on-one debating was allowed. In these debates, resembling game shows, candidates have less than five minutes to talk about their policies on different issues, and other candidates were chosen at random to question the speaker. Candidates were then left with very limited time to conclude after the end of questions.

The eight qualified candidates could not escape Iran's strict censorship during their campaigns. Iranian state TV censored reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref's speech in a programme broadcast for the Iranian diaspora on 26 May. The recording was halted and not resumed.

In another programme on the domestic Channel One, conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaei was censored for talking about how unemployment devastated a family who lost their children in the war, and were led to suicidal thoughts as a result of pressures from the economic crisis and inflation.

State television censored documentaries made by the campaigns of each candidate — including Saeed Jalili, Ayatollah Khamenei's favoured candidate — showing that even a favourite could not escape the sharp blades of censorship.

Iran carefully vetted the candidates in this year's race: Hashemi Rafsanjani and Rahim Mashaei were disqualified from the upcoming presidential election by Iran's Guardian Council. Hashemi Rafsanjani, 78, was dropped from the race for being too old. Mashaei was disqualified because he promotes nationalism and nationalist Islam — despite being a part of hard-liners faction.

Even before the election's candidates were announced, Iran's ruling elite moved to slow internet connections, blocked access to Gmail accounts, and clamped down on circumvention tools. All over the country, Iranians are struggling to access social media, or even check their email.

Authorities have also tightened up web censorship — censoring even influential political figures close to the government. A blog belonging to one of Rafsanji's advisors was blocked recently. The move raised eyebrows, because Hashemi Rafsanji is key revolutionary figure, a former president, a former head of Parliament and the current chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran.

Iran also shut down sites aligned to presidential hopeful Efandiar Rahim Mashaei.

Meanwhile, Ahmadi Moghadam, the chief commander of Police, said that the authorities would not allow any distractions around the election. Following the announcement, jailed journalists and bloggers who were released after being imprisoned and sentenced after the 2009 uprising were arrested once more. Former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are still under house arrest.

Iran's press has also faced enormous challenges in reporting on the election. The ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance invited journalists to a seminar about what could be reported. Officials emphasised that “negative news” should not be published. Subsequently, some papers received official notices for their content. The websites of reformist newspapers Mardom Saalaary and Bahar were blocked, even though print editions of the newspapers continued to be distributed

In light of restrictions, rights organisations have cast doubt on the election's freedom. In a 24 May statement Human Rights Watch asked, “How can Iran hold free elections when opposition leaders are behind bars and people can't speak freely?”

Raha Zahedpour is a journalist and researcher living in London. She writes under a pseudonym

 

 

Harassment, restrictions and censorship limit election coverage

Published on Wednesday 12 June 2013

http://en.rsf.org/iran-harassment-restrictions-and-12-06-2013,44766.html

Reporters Without Borders condemns an increase in the Iranian government’s harassment of Iranian journalists in the final days before the 14 June presidential election and the restrictions imposed on the few foreign journalists allowed into the country to cover it.

With just two days to go, the Iranian authorities still have not issued visas to the vast majority of foreign journalists who requested them and many news media have had their requests rejected.

In an interview for France Culture on 10 June, Ali Ahani, Iran’s ambassador in France, said the Iranian authorities had received more than a thousand media visa requests, 100 of them from French media alone. Checking applications took time but the Iranian consulate in Paris had issued 30 media visas, he claimed.

Reporters Without Borders has learned that foreign journalists who obtained a visa and who are currently in Iran have been prevented from moving about the capital freely. They have been banned from covering the meetings of candidates supported by reformers, and from contacting government opponents or the families of political prisoners.

Speaking to Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity, a foreign media reporter said: “Each time you go out, you need permission from the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance. You have to tell them who you want to see, when and where. And to cap it all, you are watched by the government-imposed interpreters.”

Reporters Without Borders has meanwhile learned of the arrests of two more Iranian journalists in the past eight days.

Omid Abdolvahabi, a Tehran-based reporter for the Mardomsalari newspaper and the Reform website, was arrested on 4 June, while Hesamaldin Eslamlo, who is responsible for the culture section of the weekly Parsargard in the southeastern city of Sirjan, was arrested on 8 June.

Why they were arrested and where they are being held is not known. Their arrests bring to 54 the number of journalists and netizens currently detained in Iran in connection with the provision of news and information.

Broadband Internet connection speeds have slowed right down since 15 May, with the result that it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to go online. Many websites, including the sites of official news agencies, have been blocked by the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content.

The Mehrnews agency, for example, was blocked for several hours before being rendered accessible again after the prosecutor general intervened. Around 100 journalists working for state media wrote an open letter protesting against “the completely illegal intensified blocking of news websites.” On 8 June, the state news agency ISNA confirmed Gmail’s “disruption and inaccessibility.”

The intelligence ministry continues to harass the families of Iranian journalists employed by media based abroad. Arman Mostofi, the head of Radio Farda, a Persian-language station based in Prague, issued a statement condemning the harassment and intimidation of the relatives in Iran of nine of his journalists.

Today is the second anniversary of Iran-e-Farda journalist Hoda Saber’s death in detention, 11 days after journalist and women’s rights activist Haleh Sahabi died as a result of the beating she received at her father’s funeral. No one has been arrested or tried for either of these deaths.

 

Iran restricts international coverage of election

By Jason Stern/CPJ Middle East and North Africa Research Associate

June 12, 2013

http://www.cpj.org/blog/2013/06/iran-restricts-international-coverage-of-election.php

Some authoritarian governments try to hide their targeting of the press, but not the Islamic Republic of Iran. Officials there brag about it. Ahead of Iran's presidential election Friday, they have much to brag about.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented a severe crackdown against the domestic press in the months leading up to the polls. Many websites and newspapers have been banned. The government has arrested at least 25 journalists this year. Most of those recently taken into custody have since been released, but as of April 15, at least 40 Iranian journalists were languishing in prison for their work, according to CPJ research. Only Turkey jails more journalists.
The message of these arrests is clear: do not challenge the official narrative. Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed in March that 600 Iranian journalists are part of an anti-state spy ring associated with the BBC, and the arrests were an attempt to "prevent the emergence of sedition prior to the elections."
But arresting local journalists is not the only way the government has attempted to "prevent sedition." They have also sought to restrict international journalists through the three-pronged approach of restricting access, tightening control, and constricting communication.

Restricting access

According to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, over 200 international journalists applied for visas to cover this week's election. Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini warned that all the applicants would be closely examined to ensure that "contrary to what happened during the last election, Zionist spies are prevented from coming to Iran."

It is not clear how many journalists passed the Zionist spy test. The ministry did not reply to my requests for comment. An international journalist on the ground said he has seen at least 20 foreign correspondents this week.
At least 15 international outlets are publishing under a Tehran byline or told me they received visas, including major players like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, CNN, Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, McClatchy, and Xinhua. Channel 4's Jon Snow was also granted a visa, dispelling a rumor that all British media would be banned as part of the so-called BBC spy ring.
Several journalists, including some for major international outlets and freelancers told me that they were denied visas or never received an official response. They asked for anonymity to protect their chance of working in Iran in the future. It is never entirely clear why some outlets are let into Iran and others are not. But some of the journalists denied visas had written critically of the government in the past. In March, CPJ's executive director, Joel Simon, criticized the mutually restrictive visa policies of the U.S. towards Iranian journalists and Iran towards American journalists.
In an interview with France Culture this week, the Iranian Ambassador to France, Ali Ahani, was asked by the station why it had not received a visa. He responded that more than 1,000 journalists had applied for visas, and that approximately 30 of the 100 French journalists who applied were approved.

Tightening control

Journalists who do make it to Iran will be under strict control of the Iranian government. All journalists operating there must work with a government-approved fixer.

Most journalists find their fixer through "media service companies" that claim to help international journalists navigate Iran and its government bureaucracy in acquiring visas, work permissions, interpreters, drivers, and technicians, and arranging interviews. As one company, ResanehYar, boasts on its website, the firm provides "every kind of services [journalists] might need."
These media service companies are often staffed by former government officials looking to make a quick buck off their connections, journalists told me. For major outlets with deep pockets, the fees charged by these companies are high but accepted as necessary. For freelancers, they are prohibitive.
According to journalists, the companies also act as a privatized intelligence service for the government, reporting on the actions of their clients--where they went, who they interviewed, what they said. I contacted four of these companies--ResanehYar, Ivan Sahar, NNC, and Shiva Rasaneh--for further information about their services and relationship to the government. All of them did not respond or referred me directly to the Culture Ministry.
That is not to say that all fixers are agents of the government. Experienced journalists say they have found fixers they can trust. Many care deeply about their work, but like Iranians in all fields, they are caught within an authoritarian system that demands compromises--professional and otherwise. They don't want to get in trouble, and their journalist clients don't want to get them or their sources in trouble. So the chill of self-censorship sets in.
Laura Secor chronicled for The New Yorker what happens when journalists stray too far from government control. Reporting on last year's parliamentary elections, Secor and other international journalists were corralled into a compulsory government program that bussed them to choreographed visits at polling stations and, of all things, the Alborz Space Center. They were told they could be arrested if they deviated from the plan. Secor shrugged off the threat, went her separate way, and wound up in an interrogation room.
Like last year, all international journalists covering Friday's election have been told to stay at the Laleh International Hotel, several journalists told me. So far, the government has not announced plans to impose another mandatory program.
Even without such a program, it will be difficult and even dangerous for journalists to interview any voice that challenges the official regime narrative. One journalist who has worked in Iran said she decided to not cover this week's election, citing her former translator who warned it would be a "waste of time and money" because she would not be able to report on the opposition.

Constricting communication

Iran has long spied on communications between journalists and their sources. As Danny O'Brien warned in CPJ's annual Attacks on the Press, "every journalist's cellphone is untrustworthy [because they] make journalists easier to locate and intimidate, and confidential sources easier to uncover." This is especially true in Iran. Surveillance and censorship of the Internet has also long been the norm, with even conservative and semi-official news outlets chafing under the regime's control, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Golnaz Esfandiari.

What's new are the extraordinary measures the government has taken to shut down the Internet all together. As Holly Dagres reported for al-Monitor last month, "the Iranian daily Ghanoon likened the state of the Internet in Iran to being in a coma--alive but barely functioning."
Ali Bangi, the director of ASL19, an organization dedicated to supporting Iranians in bypassing Internet censorship, told me Iranian authorities have taken two particularly troubling steps in recent months. First, they changed the way they practice deep packet inspection, a process by which the government inspects every piece of data sent over Iranian networks. Previously, data packets were assumed innocuous unless proven otherwise. Now, the government considers all packets guilty until proven innocent, and blocks them pre-emptively. Second, the government has blocked the ports used by Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), a tool used by Iranians and journalists to circumvent government censors. These measures have also hindered the effectiveness of TOR, a tool to use the Internet anonymously, with the number of users plummeting by approximately 90 percent this year, according to the Tor Project.
The result is an unsafe and unreliable Iranian Internet. Social media, video, and communication websites and applications are either blocked or rendered unusable by slow Internet speeds. CPJ was even told by Twitter users that its recent video about imprisoned journalists was inaccessible in Iran. Yet ironically, numerous presidential candidates and the supreme leader operate social media accounts.
For journalists inside the country, these measures will make it even more difficult to communicate securely with sources. Fear of surveillance will make contacts less willing to speak openly or even talk at all. For journalists outside the country, it will be harder to follow events through citizen journalists and trusted sources--as they have covered the conflict in Syria. The government clearly wants to avoid a repeat of 2009, when mainstream media picked up a cellphone video portraying the slaying of Neda Agha-Soltan at the hands of the Basij militia.

Plotting against Iran

The Iranian regime has worked hard to choreograph this week's election, with the Guardian Council already disqualifying 678 presidential candidates. And to ensure everything goes to plan, they have weaved a vast conspiracy to scapegoat journalists. In the process, they have revealed that the only true plot in Iran is one by the regime to maintain power at all costs.

Satellite Dishes Confiscated in Salmas County

Posted on: 11th June, 2013

https://hra-news.org/en/satellite-dishes-confiscated-in-salmas-county-2

HRANA News Agency – As the presidential election approaches, Iranian officials have, once again, banned the use of satellite dishes and begun interrupting their signals throughout Salmas Country in West Azerbaijan Province.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), plain clothes agents together with security forces began searching the neighborhoods in the city of Salmas early morning on Saturday, June 8, 2013.  Citizens of Salmas County have objected to illegal searches conducted without a warrant.
Iranian government has banned satellite dishes, citing the spread of non-Islamic values and obscenity as the primarily reason for the ban.  In reality, though, the signals of news channels are mostly interrupted, and satellite dishes are generally confiscated during election cycles.

Two imprisoned journalists detained without charge

Posted on: 15th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/two-imprisoned-journalist-detained-without-charge

HRANA News Agency – Two Iranian journalists, Favad Sadeghi and Ali Ghazali, are detained in Ward 240 of Evin Prison without charge.  Sadeghi and Ghazali have been in prison for 28 and 47 days respectively.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), both journalists work for Baztab, a website that publishes news and other related information in Iran.  Sadeghi and Ghazali  were arrested after Baztab published two reports about financial corruptions of Iranian government officials.
Sadeghi is married and has a two-year-old toddler and a 6-month-old infant.  His two-year-old child who suffered violent convolutions before Sadeghi was arrested is reportedly in critical condition.  For the last ten days, Sadeghi’s children have been denied the opportunity to visit their father.

 

Dissidents’ sites hacked by Cyber Police

Posted on: 15th June, 2013

http://hra-news.org/en/dissidents-sites-hacked-by-cyber-police

HRANA News Agency – Iranian Cyber Police has hacked 13 websites belonging to various opposition groups.
According to a report by Mehr News Agency, some of the websites and blogs include Justice for Iran, Arash Sigarchi, Al Ahvaz, Rahe Azadi, the Voice of Ahvaz, Ostanban, Iran Global, Free Ahvaz and a number of other blogs.
On Friday, June 14, 2013, other websites such as Khodnevis, Supporters of Human Rights in Iran, Rozaneh, Rasa TV, Jebhe Meli and Saham News were attacked by a group known as Unkown Jihadists of Virtual World.

Economic and Social Rights

Iran: Rising poverty, declining labour rights

Last Update 10 June 2013

http://www.fidh.org/iran-rising-poverty-declining-labour-rights-13403

On the eve of the presidential election in Iran on 14 June, FIDH and the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) publish a report entitled «Iran: Rising poverty, declining labour rights», documenting violations of economic and social rights in Iran.

The social and economic situation in Iran is progressively deteriorating, with an immediate impact on people’s living conditions. Unemployment is on the rise, inflation is at unprecedented levels and most people have to combine several jobs because the minimum wage is insufficient to counterbalance inflation. Iran’s population is experiencing an increasing income gap between rich and poor.

Against this worrying backdrop, workers have no right to organise freely. “Official workers organisations are vehicles in the hands of the authorities to exert social control on the working people. Attempts in recent years to establish independent trade unions have been harshly repressed, and labour leaders have been imprisoned on charges including ‘acting against national security’ and ‘spreading propaganda against the system", stated Karim Lahidji, President of FIDH and LDDHI.

The widespread violations of rights are particularly flagrant, in law and in practice, against women in the field of labour, as well as on grounds of religion, ethnicity and political opinion.

"Government Policies marginalise women in flagrant contradiction of the universal principle of equality between women and men. Recent measures to overhaul population control policies in order to induce a higher fertility rate further deepen discrimination against women", added Karim Lahidji.

Journalists, human rights defenders, critics of the government are victims of discrimination at work as a consequence of their political opinions. Besides sentencing them to imprisonment, the authorities have frequently expelled them from work at State-owned organisations or secured their expulsion from private companies. Their relatives are also persecuted and lose jobs. A number of lawyers and journalists have been additionally sentenced to long-term bans on practising their profession.

In spite of the State secrecy and lack of official reliable data, FIDH and LDDHI are able to conclude from credible and domestic sources that more than 50% of the 75 million plus population live under the poverty line. Recent investigative reports have indicated that the population’s purchasing power has fallen by 72% over eight years from 2005 to 2013. "In that context of rising poverty and unemployment, workers are left with no legal channels to present their claims and no collective bargaining rights", concluded Karim Lahidji.

The 2013 elections will not bring about the crucially needed change. However, if the economic downturn continues, social demands and demands for respect for labour rights may keep rising and eventually challenge the current regime.

The examination of the second periodic report of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) took place in May 2013. The CESCR’s concluding observations largely corroborate findings by FIDH and LDDHI.

Download the report Iran: Rising poverty, declining labour rights

Women’s Rights

Activists say “political kidnapping” hurts young women

Tue, 06/11/2013

http://archive.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/activists-say-%E2%80%9Cpolitical-kidnapping%E2%80%9D-hurts-young-women

A group of political-social activists in Shiraz has called for the release of Jamila Karimi, a women’s rights activist and member of the Reformist Coalition Council of Fars, two months after her arrest.
In a statement, the activists stress that Karimi’s arrest so close to the election can only be seen as “political kidnapping” and an attempt to control the political atmosphere in favour of a particular group.
They go on to condemn the arrest as a violation of human rights and the violation of the rights of citizens who, despite all the threats and restrictions, regard participation in the election scene  as their absolute right.
The activists say Karimi’s arrest has “irreparable effects on the trust and confidence of the young generation of women that are familiar with her extensive cultural activities in the city.”
Security forces arrested Karimi in April in Shiraz.

Minorities’ Rights

 

Gonabadi Dervish Sentenced to 3 Years Imprisonment

Tuesday, Jun 11 2013

http://www.majzooban.org/en/sufi-news/4189-gonabadi-dervish-sentenced-to-3-years-imprisonment.html

Gonabadi Dervish, Mostafa Abdi, sentenced to three years in prison by Tehran's Revolutionary Court.
According to Majzooban reporter, judge Abolqasem Salavati presiding over Tehran's Revolutionary Court, Branch 15, has sentenced Mostafa Abdi to 3 years in prison on charges of "gathering and colluding to disturb national security," under article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code.
Mostafa Abdi was arrested along with more than 15 other lawyers and managers of Majzooban Noor website ( Nematollahi Gonabadi Order News Website) in Shahrivar 1390 (September 2011) in Tehran then he was released on bail after enduring more than one month of solitary confinement in Evin's 209 section.
Among those detainees who affiliated with Majzooban Noor website, Ali Moazzami has been sentenced to two years imprisonment, Alireza Roshan sentenced to 1 year in prison and 4 years suspended sentence (who is currently serving his sentence in Section 350 of Evin prison) and Nosrat Tabasi, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and four years and six months of suspended jail term, each on similar charges.
It is important to say that, among those arrested in last Shahrivar (September 2011) seven Gonabadi dervishes ( Messrs. Hamid Reza Moradi Sarvestani, Amir Eslami, Mostafa Daneshjou, Farshid Yadollahi, Afshin Karampour, Omid Behroozi and Reza Entesari ) are still being held in Ward 350 Evin prison as well as Mostafa Abdi has been confined in prison from 5 months ago, after refused to post bail.
They have been kept in temporary detention without trial for more than 21 months, which means they are being held in abeyance.