Category: Human Rights

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Slaps Azeri Rights Activist With New Charges, Claim He’s Organizing Protests from Prison

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Iran’s Intelligence Ministry is pressing new charges against prominent Azeri ethnic rights activist Abbas Lesani, claiming he has been organizing protests from inside the prison in the city of Ardabil where he is incarcerated. Since January 15, 2019, the 57-year-old activist has been serving a 10-month prison sentence in the capital of Ardabil Province, 373 miles northwest of Tehran, for speaking at the funeral of Hassan Damirchi, a prominent Azeri musician. For practicing free speech, Lesani was convicted of “propaganda against the state” “When he was put in jail there…

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Britain To Grant ‘Diplomatic Protection’ To Dual Citizen Imprisoned In Iran

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Britain says it will grant “diplomatic protection” to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a U.K.-Iranian dual citizen imprisoned in Tehran since 2016, citing “unacceptable treatment” during her three years of detention. “I have today decided that the U.K. will take a step that is extremely unusual and exercise diplomatic protection,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on March 7. “This represents formal recognition by the British government that her treatment fails to meet Iran’s obligations under international law and elevates it to a formal state-to-state issue.” Hunt added, however, that it…

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Iranian Parliament Deputy Immune from Prosecution Despite Accusations of Sexual Assault

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Based on the evidence, documents and testimonials which have been obtained from reliable sources, there are at least two new allegations of multiple counts of sexual harassment and assault against Salman Khodadadi, a current Member of Iran’s Parliament and the Chair of the Parliament’s Social Committee. Mr. Khodadadi was previously accused of sexual harassment and assault and was detained on the charge of raping his secretary and a visitor to his office. Mr. Khodadadi held the position of MP and was a member of the Parliament’s National Security Committee and Health…

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Unknown status of the detained Iranian Christians

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Christians proselytes are arrested in different cities in Iran whilst their statue is vaguely unknown. Details of theses arrests are published several weeks after while number of charges against these detainees are on State-media outlets whatsoever. According to the Times of Israel, November 16, 2018, Behnam Ersali and Dawood Rasooli (David), two proselytes, were arrested in Mashad and Karaj by security forces and moved to an unknown location. Also on Saturday, 17th of November, Sara Karim Aghaei, Shohreh Darvishi, Babak Hayati and Hamid Khobyary in Shiraz, and on Monday, November…

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Sentence Commuted for Activists Marking International Day against Torture

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Five of six activists detained and sentenced in 2016 for their observance of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture have had their sentences commuted in the Appeals Court of Western Azerbaijan (located in northwestern Iran and home to Turkic, Azerbaijani, and Kurdish minorities). What was an eight-month prison sentence looming over Meysam Azadi, Morteza Zarrin, Vahid Nasibi, Gholamali Hossein-Gholizadeh, and Vahid Faezpour has now been reduced to a fine of 2.4 million Tomans (approximately $165 USD). The sixth activist, Somayeh Alidoust, did not appeal. In February…

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Prisoners in Iranian Baluchestan Brutally Tortured by IRGC Intelligence Unit

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At the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp’s Saravan Intelligence Unit, at least seven detainees have recently been subjected to torture. HRANA has identified two of these victims as Najib Dehvari, 21, and Abdolshokur Sotoudeh, 22, both from Saravan. Saravan is a city in Iran’s southeastern Sistan & Baluchestan Province, home to the Baloch ethnic minority group. Dehvari, Sotoudeh, and their comrades were initially arrested in connection to a sound bomb that went off in front of the Ministry of Intelligence Bureau in Saravan. There were no casualties. They…

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A Prisoner Severely Beaten in Zahedan Prison

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HRANA News Agency – Mehdi Narouee, prisoner in the central prison of Zahedan, has been severely beaten by the head of prison. The beating was so severe that it broke his fingers and injured his face. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mehdi Narouee, prisoner in the central prison of Zahedan, was severely beaten by Mohammd Ali Alizadeh, head of prison, after he protested against the disagreement with his furlough and his request for visits by prison judge on March 5, 2018. The beating was so…

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A Student Arrested in Tehran

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HRANA News Agency – Banafsheh Cheraghi, student of social sciences at Tehran University, was arrested at her house and taken to an unknown location by security forces on March 5, 2018. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Banafsheh Cheraghi, student of social sciences at Tehran University, was arrested on March 5, 2018. A source close to Ms. Cheraghi informed HRANA that Ms. Cheraghi had been arrested at her house and taken to an unknown location by security forces on March 5, 2018. The first wave…

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Three Student Activists Sentenced to Imprisonment

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HRANA News Agency – Mohsen Haghshenas, student of Stage Designing at Tehran University, was convicted by Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of gathering and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the security of the country and disturbing public order by taking part in illegal gatherings, to two years imprisonment. Leila Hossein Zadeh and Sina Rabiei, two other student activists, were sentenced to eight years imprisonment in total and a ban on leaving the country. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA),…

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UN Should Keep Engaging Iran on Its Human Rights Record by Renewing Special Rapporteur’s Mandate

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Rights Violations Continue Under President Rouhani’s Watch February 22, 2018 — Iran’s deteriorating human rights record requires the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic to maintain constructive pressure on the government and magnify the voices of activists inside the country. “Renewing the mandate of the special rapporteur will send a strong signal to the Islamic Republic that the international community is watching and expects the government to produce tangible improvements,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of…

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