Iran has introduced 2,000 new morality police units in reaction to what officials call an “increasing defiance” of the compulsory wearing of hijabs. The units, called “resistance groups for verbal and practical response to bad-hijabi women”, were launched recently in the northern province of Gilan as part of a pilot scheme. They are each made up of six women who have the power to arrest and detain those they deem to be flouting the country’s strict veiling laws. The move comes amid a growing backlash by women in the Islamic…
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Amnesty: Proposed Iranian Law Restricting Access to Lawyer Would Be Crushing Blow for Justice
A contemptible amendment to the Iran’s code of criminal procedure could effectively strip detainees who are facing punishments such as the death penalty, life imprisonment and amputation, of the right to access a lawyer while they are under investigation, Amnesty International announced on Thursday, May 16. An analysis of the bill published by the organization Thursday details how, if passed, the amended law would permit the prosecution to immediately deprive individuals arrested on “national security” and certain other serious criminal charges of access to a lawyer for 20 days, which…
Read MoreJournalists Condemn Arrest of Reformist Reporter Ahead of World Press Freedom Day
Marzieh Amiri, a reporter for the reformist Shargh newspaper, has been in Evin Prison’s Ward 209 under the control of the Intelligence Ministry since she was arrested while covering a Labor Day protest in Tehran on May 1, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Amiri was detained after she went to a detention center on Vozara St. to inquire about workers’ rights activists who’d been arrested at a rally near Iran’s Parliament, according to tweets by Shargh reporters. Judicial authorities have not commented on the reason…
Read MoreMemo to Zarif: Stop Taking Dual Nationals as Hostages
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s statement today that he has the “authority” to exchange Iranian-Americans imprisoned in Iran with the US is a glaring admission that these prisoners are being held as political hostages. “If ever there was a question that imprisoned dual nationals in Iran are being used as political pawns, Zarif publicly admitted today that his government has taken these people as hostages,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “The foreign minister spoke as though he was trying to make a…
Read MoreIran Execution: Six prisoners, Including a Juvenile Offender, Facing Execution In Days
Iran Human Rights : At least six prisoners from different wards were transferred to solitary confinement at Rajai Shahr Prison to be executed. Omid Rostami, a juvenile offender, is one of the prisoners. According to a close source, on the morning of Monday, February 12, at least six prisoners from different wards were transferred to solitary confinement at Rajai Shahr Prison to be executed. Most of them were sentenced to death on murder charges. Some of them are identified as: Masoud Taghipour from ward 6, Mohammad Saleh Dolatabadi from ward…
Read MoreIran: Women Face Bias in the Workplace
(Beirut) – Laws and policies that discriminate against women interfere with Iranianwomen’s right to work, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Women confront an array of restrictions, such as on their ability to travel, prohibitions on entering certain jobs, and an absence of basic legal protections. The 59-page report, “‘It’s a Men’s Club’: Discrimination Against Women in Iran’s Job Market,” examines in detail the discriminatory provisions and insufficient protections in Iran’s legal system that represent obstacles to women’s equal access to the job market. Over the past four…
Read MoreDeprivation of Education for Afrooz Zabihi, a Baha’i Student in Her Fifth Semester
HRANA News Agency – Fifth Term Civil Engineering student from Shahid Beheshti University, Baha’i Afrooz Zabihi, was banned from continuing her education after completing 90 credit hours, because of her religious faith. Miss Zabihi has several achievements in the Shining Genius Test in her name. According to HRANA, a close source to Miss Zabihi said “on Dec. 19, 2016, at the same time as the publication of the President’s Bill of Rights and the beginning of final exams, she was contacted on behalf of the Education Officer of the college. Moreover,…
Read More4 Activists Transferred to Women’s Ward of Evin Prison
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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