Human rights

RFL/RE – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has captured exiled opposition activist Roohollah Zam, claiming he was being directed and supported by intelligence officials from France, the United States, and Israel. Roohollah Zam has vowed to take down the government. The IRGC said in a statement read out on state TV on October 14 that its agents …

AFP -Four detained Iranian environmental activists have been cleared of a charge that could carry the death penalty, state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday. “The charge of ‘corruption on earth’ was dropped in recent days for four detained environmentalists,” said Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer who represents some of the activists. “Of course their other charges still remain,” he …

Radiofarda – On Thursday, October 10, almost 4000 women entered a stadium in Tehran for the first time after almost four decades to watch a men’s soccer game. Minutes before starting the game, the Iranian government spokesperson appeared on the state-owned TV with his background showing women at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium declaring that President Rouhani’s government facilitated the historic event. …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Man hanged at the central prison of the Iranian city of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, last Thursday. According to IHR sources, Alem Karimi, 50, was hanged at Sanandaj prison on Thursday, October 10, 2019. He was sentenced to death 10 years ago for murder charges.  Out of the 110 people who were executed in the first …

Iran-HRM Security forces in southwest Iran have made widespread arrests following large protests over the HIV infection of more than 300 villagers by a local health clinic. The arrests in the village of Chenar Mahmoud in the town of Lordegan, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province, started on Tuesday, October 8, three days after hundreds of Iranians in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari …

Radiofarda – A large group of Iranian lawmakers have submitted a proposal in parliament to stop the teaching of English as a second language in public schools, citing remarks by the country’s Supreme Leader. Three years ago, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei complained in a speech that teaching English was spreading even “into daycare” institutions. Now, 57 members of parliament are backing …

VOA – The 5-year-old daughter of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran since 2016 has arrived back in Britain, her father said Friday, after making the “bittersweet” decision to bring her home. Gabriella Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been staying with relatives in Iran since her mother Nazanin’s detention on sedition charges, visiting her in jail each week. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, stated in …

CHRI – On the International Day of the Girl Child, All States Urged to Address Needs of Girl Children Child Marriage, Lack of Protection against Abuse, Juvenile Executions Key Issues in Iran October 11, 2019—On the International Day of the Girl Child, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) urges the authorities in Iran to confront its child protection crisis, …

CHRI – Women’s Tickets Capped at 4,000 Out of 75,000 The soccer match between Iran and Cambodia on October 10, 2019, in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium included the historic presence of thousands of women. However, although the stadium was more than half empty, the authorities capped the number of tickets sold to women and denied female photographers press access. No law bans women …

Radiofarda – An Iranian human rights organization, Justice for Iran has called on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation “to undertake serious measures to ensure authoritarian states, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, do not use Wikipedia as a tool for censorship, suppression and impunity.” Some of the Iranian Wikipedia contributors had previously accused some members of the Persian editorial team …