Human rights

Radiofarda – The chief of police in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province says security forces arrested “a large number” of people who danced in a promenade on eve of religiously sensitive date. The night before 21st of Ramadan is called Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Glory) , which in Islamic belief is when the Quran was first sent from Heaven to the …

Iran-HRM – Female political prisoners in Iran go through vicious tortures and interrogations. Following are the cases of Saba Hamadi and Fahimeh Esmaili Badvi. This is but a small part of the atrocities done to female political prisoners in Iran. Saba Hamadi (Abyat), daughter of Zeidan, born in 1998 in Susangerd, Khuzestan Province, is married and a student of Agricultural …

HRANA – Elaheh Samizadeh, a Baha’i citizen, has been sentenced to one extra year of imprisonment and two years suspension from holding all governmental and public jobs by Branch 105 of Shiraz Criminal Court. Ms. Samizadeh had previously been sentenced to six years in prison by Branch One of Shiraz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Seyed Mahmoud Sadati, on …

Iran-HRM – Security forces attacked and fired tear gas and rubber bullets into locals who were protesting the lack of drinking water in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province.According to local reports, running water in Gheizaniyeh district has been cut off by local officials in the past few days. The residents of Gheizaniyeh rural district in the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – In a joint letter, eight human rights organizations, including Iran Human Rights, pay tribute to late Iranian human rights activist, Ali Ajami. Ali’s body found in McGovern Lake at Hermann Park on May 2, and was buried in his hometown in Iran on May 21, 2020. We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ali …

Radiofarda – The heir to the last Shah of Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi, has condemned the sentencing of 10 activists to a total of 100 years in prison and called on the international community to support them. “Even in the midst of a pandemic, the spread of which it enabled, the repressive regime in Iran is continuing its campaign against …

VOA – The husband of one of Iran’s most prominent jailed dissidents has strongly criticized authorities for not furloughing her from a coronavirus-plagued prison where he says her health is in danger. In a Thursday phone interview with VOA Persian from Tehran, Reza Khandan faulted the Iranian government for temporarily freeing thousands of common criminals from jails since late February …

Radiofarda – Following the arrest of a parkour athlete in Tehran, the Iranian capital’s police announced the detention of his female companion who appeared with him in a video and photos seen by the authorities as a violation of Islamic Republic’s dress code and morality restrictions. The police announced the arrest of the young female, but no official source has …

Iran-HRM – “Removing the veil in the cyberspace is considered a crime,” the Deputy Chief of the Iranian Cyber Police announced, adding, “Anyone who does not abide by the law on Hijab in the cyberspace would be recognized as a criminal.” Col. Pashaii reiterated, “There is no difference between crimes committed in the cyberspace and those committed in real life. …

CHRI – Civil rights activist Shora Fekri was taken to prison in Amol, Mazandaran Province, on May 18, 2020, to begin serving a five-month prison sentence for protesting Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. After three days of denials, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) admitted to “accidently” shooting down the plane on …