Human rights

Iranwire – The managing editor of Baloutestan, a socio-cultural digest focused on the Zagros Mountains area, has been sentenced to six months in prison and an eight-million-toman (US$252) cash fine for publishing so-called “fake news”. Mohammad Basati had criticized the performance of the state-backed Relief Committee in the city of Koohdasht, Lorestan province. These local bodies are expected to support the poor and …

gatestoneinstitute.org – A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage. The court’s ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of …

Iran-HRM – In all the years of its rule, the Iranian regime has been violating the rights of citizens with cruel and oppressive methods. Children have always been victims of systematic violations of human rights in Iran. Under the clerical regime in Iran, children’s rights are violated through executions, child labor, deprivation of education, and child marriage. The regime routinely …

RFL/RE – With a long list of crimes punishable by death, Iran put at least 314 prisoners to death last year, second only to China, which recorded more than 1,000 executions. The Iran Human Rights organization actually puts the figure at 333. That’s up from 267 executions in Iran in 2020. The alarming number of executions – almost all believed to be …

RFL/RE – Hundreds of civil activists in the western Lorestan Province have issued a statement calling on the Iranian authorities to release a woman who was arrested for protesting the mandatory head scarf and was apparently beaten to force a televised confession from her. The signatories of this letter described Sepideh Rashno’s “forced confessions” on state television as a “ridiculous display” and …

Iranwire – The past few days in Iran have been peppered by reports on contraceptive drugs apparently being blocked from sale due to an alarming combination of shortages, a new directive blocking over-the-counter sales, and the shadowy presence of the so-called “morality patrols”  trying hard to put buyers off. A spokesperson for Iran’s Food and Drug Administration has tried to dampen down the situation, …

Iranwire – Another 70 Iranian human rights activists have added their names to global condemnation of the ongoing state-backed wave of attacks on Iran’s Baha’i community. The country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority has come under increased pressure in recent weeks, with scores arbitrarily arrested, subjected to raids, or even made homeless overnight. The statement issued Wednesday, whose signatories included Nobel Peace Prize …

BBC – In Iran, virginity before marriage is important for many girls and their families. Sometimes men demand a virginity certificate – a practice that the World Health Organization (WHO) deems to be against human rights. But in the past year, more and more people have been campaigning against it. “You tricked me into marrying you because you’re not a …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Samin Ehsani had been running educational courses for Afghan children living in Iran, but who did not have access to education in the country. During the trial, her activities were presented as an example of the charges against her. In Iran, an estimated 300,000 followers of the Baha’i faith are being denied many fundamental rights such as access …

Iran-HRM – A recent wave of executions continued in July 2022 with at least 71 prisoners being hanged at Iran’s prisons. According to the statistics collected by the Iran Human Rights Monitor, at least 31 prisoners were executed on drug charges, 34 were hanged on the charge of murder, four on the charge of rape, and two others on the …