Human rights

Iranwire – The coincidence of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with the Nowruz New Year holiday has led to Iranian authorities implementing a new set of restrictions.  Even before Nowruz began, the Deputy Interior Minister threatened to take action against those who chose not to fast during the holiday despite Islamic law exempting travelers from fasting obligations. Seyed Majid …

VOA – U.N.-appointed international legal experts who investigated Iran’s suppression of a women’s rights movement that erupted in September 2022 are appealing for more time to do their work, but objections from Tehran’s allies could terminate their mission next month. The chairperson of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, Sara Hossain, made the appeal Monday in Geneva, where she …

iranintl – The prospect of Iranian officials facing criminal charges under human rights law took a big step forward in the current session of the UN’s Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. The two reports presented to the Council mark a watershed for Iran, giving impetus to the ending of impunity and new emphasis on legal accountability for those IR …

Iranwire – Iranian border guards have shot and injured two more Kurdish kolbars on the eve of Persian New Year (Nowruz) as violence against the transborder porters continues to surge.  Mehdi Sharifi, 23, from Saqqez, and Suleiman Amini, 28, from Baneh, both sustained gunshot wounds during firing at the Hengejal border crossing on March 19, according to Hengaw Organization for …

iranwire – Vahid Asghari, a 17-year-old Azeri student, has been in the custody of Iranian security forces for the past 14 days, according to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Asghari’s family remains in the dark about his legal status, location, and detention conditions. They have had only one brief phone conversation with him since his arrest …

CHRI – Crimes Against Humanity: State Atrocities in Iran Revealed in First Report of UN Fact-Finding Mission Unlawful deaths, extra-judicial executions, disproportionate lethal force, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances were among the many rights violations amounting to “crimes against humanity,” that have been revealed in the detailed inaugural report of the UN’s independent, international Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI), …

iranintl – UN’s rapporteur on Iran’s human rights and its fact-finding mission have renewed their call to hold Tehran accountable for its violations, including brutal crackdown on dissent and surging executions. The Human Rights Council hosted members of the UN’s fact-finding mission that was established to investigate Iran’s crackdown on the popular protests of 2022, ignited by the death in …

Iranwire – The Iranian judicial system has sentenced five Kurdish individuals to varying terms of imprisonment, according to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Among those sentenced is a minor, 16-year-old Hiwa Sharifi. Two others, Shwana Babakri and Shafie Babakri, have been identified as members of a “justice-seeking family.”  The remaining two individuals are Shahin Ebrahimi and …

Iranwire – Another Iranian prisoner has died under suspicious circumstances in custody amid a rising number of inmate fatalities. Sohail Haqbin reportedly died due to “reckless prescription of psychotropic drugs” by prison authorities, according to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.  The report alleges that Haqbin succumbed to the effects of excessive medication at Lakan Prison in …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Prominent human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi sent an urgent appeal to the 55th session of the Human Rights Council which was read by IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. She called for the mandates of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to be extended “to allow …