Human rights

Iranwire – Human rights activist Narges Mohammadi was held as a political prisoner in Iran for more than five years before being released last October. Her book, White Torture, contains interviews with 12 female political prisoners – and 13 in the second edition – about their experiences of solitary confinement. In this guest post for IranWire, she discusses the dynamics …

Iran-HRM – The lives of prisoners in the Central Prison of Karaj are increasingly in danger with the start of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Reports from inside the overcrowded and unhygienic prison indicate that testing, treatment and care are not carried out for sick prisoners and the authorities have failed to take adequate infection prevention …

Iran-HRM – A Baluch fuel carrier was killed on Tuesday by the agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps at a border region in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran. The fuel carrier identified as Aslam Haji Zehi, had attempted to circumvent the road as the border region had been blocked. But the IRGC forces shot him to death in Kolehgan …

unwatch.org – UN Watch is calling on U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and EU states to condemn the UN’s election of Iran to a 4-year term on its Commission on the Status of Women, the “principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.” The vote yesterday by the UN’s Economic and Social Council, reported first by UN Watch, …

Al-Arabia – Turkish authorities have continued with plans to help Iran silence critics seeking refuge in the country, with assassinations, arrests, and deportations of Iranian opposition figures continuing unabated. Now, at-least five Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey are at the edge of deportation to Iran – with at least one facing execution if he gets handed over to the regime authorities. Among …

Shabtabnews– The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) joins in the calls on President Joseph R. Biden to immediately sign the directive raising the numerical ceiling for refugees accepted from abroad through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for the current Fiscal Year, which runs until October 1, 2021. The International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) requires that religious persecution …

Iranwire – Five people were arrested and sentenced to death over protests that broke out in Khomeini Shahr, Isfahan province, in December 2017. Their situation remains acutely worrying and there are a number of outstanding questions the Islamic Republic is not willing to answer. The judiciary agreed to a “retrial” of the case about four months ago. But no proceedings have been …

Iran-HRM- Jailed dissident Majid Khademi has been in limbo for 15 months in Behbahan Prison in Khuzestan Province. He has been prevented from contacting his family and banned from being released on bail, which was set in December at 3.5 billion Tomans. There have been grave fears over the spread of coronavirus in Behbahan Prison, where prisoners have complained of overcrowded and …

CHRI —The situation of dual-nationals and foreign persons taken hostage and imprisoned by the Iranian government has not only remained unchanged, but in certain cases it has deteriorated, despite the new US administration’s approach to Iran and resumption of nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran in recent weeks. It is essential that the US and EU prioritize the release …

amnesty – Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) ruthlessly persisted with executions, defying the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, making them some of the world’s most prolific executioners of 2020, said Amnesty International in its annual global death penalty report today. The report reveals that four out of five of the world’s top executioners are MENA …