Category: Activists

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Killed Parastou Forouhar’s Parents. Now It’s Going After Her.

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An Iranian activist who has been seeking justice for her parents murdered by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in 1998, will soon be put on trial based on charges brought by the same ministry. “I am due to be tried at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court [in Tehran] based on charges cooked up against me by the Intelligence Ministry last year,” blogged Parastou Forouhar on November 8, 2017. “The trial will take place three days after the anniversary of my parents’ murder,” wrote Forouhar, who lives in Germany where she works as a professional…

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Iran Executes 19-Year-Old Charged as Juvenile in Violation of Two International Treaties

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Ignoring pleas by international organizations and in violation of two international treaties, Iran executed 19-year-old Amirhossein Pourjafar, who was sentenced to death as a juvenile, on January 4, 2018, in Tehran. Pourjafar was 16 when he was charged with raping and murdering a six-year-old girl. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is illegal to execute someone for crimes committed under the age of eighteen. Iran is party to both treaties but remains one among a handful of countries still putting juveniles to…

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Unable to Locate Activists, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Illegally Detains Their Family Members

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The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has illegally detained or summoned close relatives of at least three activists from northwestern Iran since anti-government protests erupted in the region in late December 2017, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “One of the main principles of modern law is that… everyone is responsible for their own actions,” Iranian attorney Mohammad Moghimi told CHRI on January 22, 2018. “Ethics, fairness and justice dictate that no one should be punished for another person’s crimes.” “This principle has been in [Iran’s] Islamic Penal…

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Detainees Arrested in Iranian Protests Facing Charges That Carry Death Penalty

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Some detainees arrested in the protests that broke out in Iran’s Hamadan and Khuzestan provinces in December 2017 are facing charges that are punishable by death, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “Some of them have been investigated, interrogated and charged with ‘rebellion,’” said a legal source in the city of Izeh, Khuzestan Province, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “The families of the freed detainees have been threatened a lot and are too afraid to talk,” added the source. “Most…

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More than 150 Detained Iranian Protesters Have Requested “Pills,” Reports Committee

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Credible Sources Report That Detainees Told to Request Pills to Speed Up Release More than 150 people detained in the protests that broke out in Iran in December 2017 have requested opioid addiction treatment pills, according to the Tehran-based Committee for the Defense of the Dey 1396 Detainees. The committee’s statement follows credible reports that detainees in Tehran were told to admit to being drug addicts to speed up their release. “Out of about 400 people detained in the first three days [December 30, 2017-January 1, 2018], more than 150 asked for pills for…

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Activists Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee Beaten and Transferred to Different Prison

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  Political prisoners Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee were beaten by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran’s Evin Prison and transferred to Gharchak Prison in the city of Varamin, 37 miles south of the capital. “Atena called us this morning [January 25] and told us what happened,” Daemi’s mother, Masoumeh Nemati, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “She said that at 6:30 in the afternoon on January 24, agents came to theWomen’s Ward and told her and Golrokh that they need to come with them to the prison’s office…

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The situation of the recent detainees in Kermanshah and Ilam is still unknown

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Seven bloggers and human rights activists have been arrested in Kermanshah and Ilam, and after a few weeks, nothing has been announced/published about their current situation and status.   According to human rights sources, during a new wave of arrests, Bahman Maleki, Farhad Heshmati, Ali Kouchakpour, Keivan Mohamadi and Hosein Tahmasbi in Kermanshah, and Javad Kheibar and Laleh Aghaei, were arrested in Ilam and their situation is still unknown. The reports show that Bahman Maleki was arrested at work on 30 December 2017, and was transferred to an unknown location…

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Iran’s Executions and Human Rights Abuses Hit 27-Year High

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The Islamic Republic hit the highest rate of executing people since 1989. The official number indicates that Iran executed nearly two times more people in 2015 in comparison to 2010 when the hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in office, as well as roughly 10 times more than the number of executions in 2005. Approximately 1000 people were executed in 2015, according to the latest report from the United Nations investigator, Ahmed Shaheed, the special rapporteur for human rights in Iran. The unofficial number is higher. The peak of the executions in 2015 was between April…

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Mohammad Najafi Tried and Released on the Bail

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HRANA News Agency – Mohammad Najafi, a registered lawyer who is active in human rights related lawsuits in Shazand town, had his court hearing about the allegation of propaganda against the regime, and was then released on the bail. Mr. Najafi has three other cases against him, the first one in the armed forces’ court, the second one in the prosecution office of the town and the third one in branch number two of Evin court. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mohammad Najafi, registered…

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4 Activists Transferred to Women’s Ward of Evin Prison

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  HRANA News Agency – Tahereh Riyahi, Masoumeh Zia, Mahsa Raj`ati, and Mehrak Karimpoor are four civil rights activists who were mainly active in the field of news coverage, and were arrested in late December and early January. They were transferred to general female ward after more than two months, from solitary confinement of ward 209. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mahsa Ra`ati, 36, was arrested on January 2, Tahereh Riyahi, 35, journalist and editor of Borna press was arrested on January 4, Masoumeh…

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