Human rights

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Ghasem Abasteh, a Kurdish-Sunni political prisoner sentenced to death without due process or a fair trial for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through “armed resistance and membership in a Salafi jihadi group,” was executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison after spending 14 years on death row. Emphasising the inhumanity of the death penalty, Iran …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Hossein Golmohammadi, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Arak Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Arak Central Prison on 2 November. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Hossein Golmohammadi from Arak. He was arrested for drug-related charges around four years …

VOA – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi began a hunger strike Monday over being blocked together with other inmates from getting medical care and to protest the country’s mandatory headscarves for women, a campaign advocating for the activist said. The decision by Mohammadi, 51, increases pressure on Iran’s theocracy over her incarceration, a month after being awarded the Nobel …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities executed Kurdish prisoner Qasem Abasteh on November 5 in Karaj’s Ghezelhesar prison, near Tehran.  The Hengaw human rights group reported that the hanging was carried out after Abasteh had spent 13 years and nine months behind bars. Abasteh was arrested on December 7, 2009, on murder charges.  However, Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced …

RFL/RE – Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a renowned Iranian religious scholar and political activist who openly opposes the Islamic republic’s draconian hijab law, has a simple explanation for why the country’s clerical establishment turns to violence to enforce hard-line policies the majority does not support. “They believe that people should always submit to the government without question,” Vasmaghi told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda …

RFL/RE – A German citizen abducted in Dubai and sentenced to death by Iran is almost unable to walk and talk due to health conditions that prison authorities have failed to properly treat, his daughter told AFP. Jamshid Sharmahd, who is also a U.S. resident, suffers from Parkinson’s disease and could die due to his deteriorating health, Gazelle Sharmahd said …

RFL/RE – In a significant expansion of dress-code enforcement, Tehran has seen the deployment of “hijab enforcers” within the grounds of Tehran University and the streets surrounding Amir Kabir University, as well as key areas in the city. The move coincides with disciplinary actions against students, notably more than 50 female students at Tehran University who have faced reprimands and suspensions for …

Iranwire – A year ago, Iranian security forces unleashed live bullets on largely peaceful protesters, bystanders and worshippers after Friday prayers in the city of Khash, southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, killing at least 18 people, including children. The November 4, 2022, incidents occurred less than a month after Bloody Friday in the provincial capital, Zahedan, which claimed the lives …

Iranwire – The Court of Appeal in the northern province of Mazandaran has issued prison sentences and fines for 14 members of the Baha’i religious minority in the province. This follows their arrest on August 31, 2022, in the city of Qaemshahr. According to HRANA, the human rights news agency, Sanaz Hekmatshe’ar and Bita Haghighi, two Baha’i citizens, have each …

VOA – The United Nations Human Rights Committee on Friday expressed concern over Iran’s treatment of women and girls and called for the disbandment of the Islamic Republic’s morality police. In its review of Iran’s human rights record, the committee said Tehran should introduce legislation that protects women and girls from any form of violence. “The state party should adopt …