Human rights

Al-Monitor – Iranian members of parliament have pushed ahead a controversial bill that would essentially cut off most Iranians from the internet and hand over the country’s internet infrastructure to the armed forces. On Feb. 22, a special parliamentary committee approved the general outline of the “Bill to Protect Users in Cyberspace,” first introduced three years ago. Last July, members of parliament …

Iranwire – Branch 2 of the Mazandaran Court of Appeal has upheld the initial sentence of a Baha’i citizen named Shiva Khalili, a resident of Babol. Shiva Khalili appeared at the General and Revolutionary Court of Babol at the session of the Court of First Instance, on December 13, 2021, to be sentenced to one year in prison on charges …

Iranwire – Three days ago members of the Iranian Shooting Federation elected Morteza Ghorbani, a long-standing commander and officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as its new president for the next four years. Ghorbani secured the top role with 32 of the 57 votes cast and is now set to head one of Iran’s most important sporting bodies until …

VOA – Talks on restoring a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program and ease sanctions are near conclusion, a Russian envoy said on Tuesday, and sources close to the negotiations said a prisoner swap between Iran and the United States is expected soon. “Apparently the negotiations on restoration of #JCPOA are about to cross the finish line,” Mikhail Ulyanov said …

Iran-HRM – Kurd activist lashed 70 times in northwest Iran prison Kurd political prisoner Chia Aghabigpour was lashed 70 times in a prison in Bukan, western Iran on charges of “spreading propaganda against the state”. He hass also been sentenced to one and two months of prison and a heavy fine. The sentence on Tuesday, February 22, the same day …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – The repression of civil society and human rights defenders has intensified with the revival of the JCPOA talks. Prominent human rights defender, Narges Mohammadi’s eight-year sentence has been upheld. Human rights defender, Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb has been arrested and his and at least one other family seeking justice’s homes have been raided and searched. Iran Human …

Iranwire – Two more horrific so-called “honor killings” of women and girls came to light this month. The patriarchal belief system that underpins these murders can sometimes be hard to unpack. But there are signs that it is beginning to lose its grip on the younger generation of men and boys in Iran. Two recent studies by Iranian universities found that male students in …

Iran-HRM – Prison authorities in Rajai Shahr Prison have prevented the continuation of treatment and surgery of the gums of political prisoner Hassan Sadeghi. Hassan Sadeghi went to the hospital for several sessions and his gums were operated on and sutured, but he was told that he was no longer allowed to be sent to a hospital outside prison. “Political …

Iran-HRM – In a new report, the American Heritage Foundation, a U.S. institution, reported a 4.8-step drop in Iran’s economic freedom index in 2021 compared to the year before. According to the report, published on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, Iran ranks 170th out of 177 countries on the Economic Freedom Index with a score of 42.4. The Foundation rates countries …

Iran-HRM -Political prisoner Forough Taghipour has been taken to a filthy cell with no access to hygiene or medical care after she contracted the omicron Covid variant in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, in Tehran Province. She suffers from lung disease and asthma and has symptoms of the virus since last week. Alarm is growing over the danger the poor condition …