Human rights

Iranwire – “These people were treated like prisoners of war. Because they called them ‘rioters’ instead of protesters, it gave them the prerogative to do whatever they wanted with innocent people.” So said Witness 407, a former judicial official who heard from colleagues in Iran about the events of November 2019. He was speaking via videolink in London on Friday at …

VOA – Iran is not serious about wanting a prisoner exchange with the United States and instead appears to be seeking money as part of any deal to release four Americans labeled by the U.S. as hostages of Tehran, according to informed sources. U.S. and Iranian officials have been trying to negotiate a potential rare exchange of prisoners since last …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO)- An unidentified man who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison. According to Hrana newsagency, a man was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on the morning of February 1. The 36-year-old man whose identity has not been established, was sentenced to qisas for murder. According to informed sources, the executed man was unable to …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Hafizollah Barahouyi, a Baluch man sentenced to death on drug-related charges, has been executed in Zahedan Central Prison. According to the Baluch Activists Campaign, a Baluch man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on the morning of February 3. Identified as Hafizollah Barahouyi, he had been sentenced to death for drug-related offences. Hafizollah’s family had …

Iranwire – The Quarterly Journal of Strategic Studies recently published a study, Identity Policy, Education and National Security in Iran, which analyzes the content of the Social Studies textbook used in the first grade of high school. Space given in the book to national identity, religious identity and global identity are explored, and the results of this official study are a …

Iranwire – As January came to a close, 65 Iranian motorcyclists took part in a Motorcycle and Auto Racing Federation competitive event in Iran. More than 30 women competed, despite an official ban on doing so. Iran’s state media and media affliated with the Revolutionary Guards refuse to cover such events, but independent websites and media in the diaspora regularly report …

Iranwire – The United Nations’ World Mother Language Day falls a little over two weeks from now on February 21. In advance of this, close to a thousand Iranians who grew up speaking a minority language have already taken to Twitter to express their sense of loss and frustration at the marginalization of their mother tongue. The #Manofarsi (Me and …

Iran-HRM – Iran uses the death penalty against dissidents to terrorize the public Dozens of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are currently on death row in Iran. These prisoners include dissidents, prisoners of conscience, as well as protesters arrested during anti-regime protests. The Iranian regime’s use of the death penalty against prisoners is intended to intimidate and prevent protests …

CHRI – A grassroots teachers’ rights movement is gaining steam in Iran, where large street protests by teachers are increasingly sprouting across the country. “In Iran’s current economic situation, the financial burden on the teaching community is terrible,” said Sattar Rahmani, the author of several Persian-language books and articles on the movement, in an interview with the Center for Human Rights in …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – An unnamed man was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison after being sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder based on qassameh testimony. According to Hamshahri online, a man was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison in recent days. The unnamed man was sentenced to qisas for murder. At trial, the only witness was deemed ineligible to testify by the judges and as the …