Human rights

Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement the USCIRF stated that : ” 81% of cases of state enforcement of #blasphemy laws were in only 10 countries: Pakistan, Iran, Russia, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Yemen, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.” 81% of cases of state enforcement of #blasphemy laws were in only 10 countries: Pakistan, Iran, Russia, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Yemen, Bangladesh, …

Iranwire.com – Iran is not just a place. Iran exists wherever Iranians talk and care about Iran. Naturally the Iranian diaspora around the world is an energetic amalgam of cultures, religions and political dispositions. But they are all Iranian, definitely and eternally, however many years they have been away from their homeland. Three Iranian human rights figures, the lawyer Payam …

Radiofarda – Twenty-two years after the political “Chain Murders” in Iran, Pirouz Davani’s family is still waiting to hear about his whereabouts. His brother, Hossein Davani, says that no trace remains of his brother, who he says was murdered in the heat of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence’s project to kill dissidents in 1998. The writer, translator, and owner of …

RFL/RE – In early December 2005, Nshan Topouzian, an ethnic Armenian bishop living in Iran, received an alarming tip-off. According to Iranian border guards, a demolition crew had arrived at the Armenian cemetery of Julfa, in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan. The Armenian cemetery of Julfa. This is one of several photographs of the ancient cemetery that were taken by …

Radiofarda – In his new memoir, Barack Obama recalls a moment that shocked the world. In 2009, as protestors swarmed the streets of Iran’s capital, the clerical regime’s Basij militia shot and killed a young woman named Neda Agha Soltan. The 26-year-old philosophy student became a symbol of the uprising after a video of her final moments, her blood gushing on a Tehran street, went viral. In the …

RFL/RE – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging Iran to cease jailing members of the press for their work after a 72-year-old journalist began a three-year prison sentence over his coverage of protests last year. “Jailing an elderly journalist in the middle of a raging pandemic shows how much contempt the Iranian judiciary has for the press,” CPJ’s …

Amnesty – A group of UN human rights experts have written to the Iranian government warning that past and ongoing violations related to prison massacres in 1988 may amount to crimes against humanity and that they will call for an international investigation if these violations persist, a push for accountability welcomed by Amnesty international on the eve of International Human Rights Day. “The …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence handed to opposition journalist and activist Ruhollah Zam, whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili made the announcement on December 8. He did not say when the court issued its ruling. Zam was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in June following …

VOA – A lawyer for an Iranian digital activist has accused authorities of illegally arresting and sending his client to prison last week to begin his incarceration without first issuing a summons to give the activist a chance to report to the prison voluntarily. In a December 3 interview with VOA Persian from Iran, lawyer Ali Sharifzadeh said security forces …

iranwire.com – “Why should I say yes?” Many mothers are faced with this question from their little girls, who want to know why marriage is a good thing. Child marriage has many opponents in Iran, including in parliament, where representatives in the past have tried unsuccessfully to change the law and stop the practice. However, one by one, the Guardian …