Human rights

Amnesty – The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, working in collaboration with Amnesty International, published new investigation on the deadly tear gas grenades used against protesters in Iraq. It traces some of them back to what some at the time called the arms “deal of the century” between Serbia and Iraq in 2009. This directly contradicts Defence Minister Najah al-Shammari’s televised statement that the …

CHRI – Shahnaz Akmali Summoned to Jail After Visiting Fellow Victim’s Family Less than a month after hundreds of people were killed in the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on November’s mass street protests, a court in Tehran summoned the mother of a victim killed in a 2009 crackdown to prison for demanding justice. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) …

CHRI – Detainees Punished for Complaining That They Were Forced to Make False Statements, Says Lawyer Iranian authorities are refusing to transfer imprisoned conservationist Sam Rajabi to the hospital to treat a serious medical condition, and are continuing to hold three of his colleagues in solitary confinement without legal justification, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “It appears …

Radiofarda – Iran ranks just below China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, and Vietnam, at the top of the list of the countries that keep journalists behind bars, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) disclosed on Tuesday, December 10. For the fourth consecutive year, at least 250 journalists are kept in jails across the world, CPJ says in …

Radiofarda – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander described the suppression of the mid-November protests in Iran as a victory in an “all-out world war.” Many dismissed the comment as an “overstatement.” Nevertheless, what happened during the four-day deadly protests in Mahshahr County, in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, was at least reminiscent of the long and …

Iran-HRM – As the details of the crackdown on Iran protests are trickling out, we hear of horrific crimes committed against humanity including deaths under torture. At least 1,000 protesters have been killed during the November Iran protests, including several minors. 4,000 others have been injured and 12,000 have been taken to the regime’s prisons. The fate of many of …

CHRI – Fifteen-year-old Mohammad Dastankhah was walking home from high school in the city of Shiraz, Fars Province when he was shot and killed by a bullet while local authorities were repressing street protests in his city. In an interview with the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), his sister Ghazal Dastankhah said the authorities had offered to pay …

CHRI – Family of Bystander Killed During Protests Demands Answers Reports of the shooting deaths of bystanders not involved in the recent protests in Iran in mid-November continue to grow, indicating the breadth of the indiscriminate firing of live ammunition into crowds of civilians by security forces intent on crushing the protests. Amirhossein Kabiri, was killed by a bullet, even …

Radiofarda – A former revolutionary, turned bitter opponent of Iran’s Supreme Leader has called for a boycott of next February’s parliamentary elections and using “every opportunity” to protest. In a statement, Abolfazl Qadiani (Ghadyani) said, “boycotting the elections is not a sign of passivity”, rather “participating in the elections of a controlled, impotent and crippled parliament”, which is just a …

Radiofarda – In a petition published on December 9 by Amnesty International civil society organizations urged the UN member countries to publicly condemn the grave human rights violations by the Iranian authorities. The petition calls on governments to support the draft resolution of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly’s on November 14 on the situation of human rights in Iran and …