Human rights

VOA – Authorities in Iran’s southwest have arrested six people accused of “organizing riots” on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody which triggered nationwide protests, state media reported Saturday. Amini, an Iranian Kurd, died on September 16, 2022, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women. The intelligence …

Iranwire – As IranWire has reported, hundreds of Iranians have sustained severe eye injuries after being hit by pellets, tear gas cannisters, paintball bullets or other projectiles used by security forces amid a bloody crackdown on mainly peaceful demonstrations. Doctors say that, as of now, at least 580 protesters have lost one or both eyes in Tehran and in Kurdistan alone. …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic’s judiciary has sentenced a Kurdish political prisoner to death on sedition charges, Kurdish human rights activists reported on September 8. The sentence against Yussef Ahmadi was handed down by the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj on September 3, according to the Norway-based Hengaw group, which monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions. Ahmadi was arrested in …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces have arrested two family members of protesters killed in 2022 and 2019, bringing to at least 21 the number of such arrests over the past month. Omid, the brother of Foad Qadimi, was arrested on September 8 in the city of Diwandareh, Kurdistan province.  Foad Qadimi was killed by security forces during last year’s nationwide …

Iranwire – “They killed him. I swear, they killed him. I don’t mean they physically strangled him with a rope or beat him to death, but during these three months when his sentence was overturned, they killed him by keeping him waiting.” These are the words from a former cellmate of Javad Rouhi, an Iranian man who was detained during …

Iranwire – A US court has found the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for the torture inflicted on former Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Amirentezam during his almost 40 years of unlawful incarceration and house arrest that ultimately led to his death in 2018. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Amirentezam’s children, ordering …

Iranwire – An Iranian court has sentenced teacher activist Abolfazl Khoran to six years and eight months in prison, as well as 72 lashes, amid what the Coordinating Council of Educators’ Trade Unions called the “continuation of repression and intimidation of the teachers’ community.”  The council reported that Khoran was also banned from social media activities and exiled to the …

Iranwire – Saeed Masouri, a political prisoner who has spent 23 years behind bars, wrote a letter from Ghezelhesar prison in Karaj, near Tehran, in which he describes the facility as a “black hole” where inmates are denied the most basic amenities. “They lack even the bare essentials. There is no access to water, food or decent clothing,” wrote Masouri, …

Iranwire – An Iranian woman who made headlines in February after protesting the mandatory hijab during a meeting of engineers in Tehran has been sentenced to 74 lashes for “offending public decency.” The sentence, which was handed down on September 7, is suspended for five years, meaning that the punishment will be carried out if Zeinab Kazemi commits another “criminal …

Iranwire – Louis Arnaud, a French tourist arbitrarily jailed in Iran for 344 days, is celebrating his 36th birthday behind bars. “Today Louis is celebrating his 36th birthday in prison in Tehran. We think strongly of him, his parents, his sister. Let’s say STOP together! To support them, we are calling on you to tweet a photo of you holding …