HRANA News Agency – Eight Kurdish Sunni citizens (followers of Maktab Koran) from Muchesh, were detained by security forces after they were called by police station.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on Sunday 21 October, eight Kurdish Sunni citizens were called by local police station. But at the entrance there was a car from security forces, detained and transferred them to the Intelligence Agency of Kamyaran.
The name of detainees are: Ataollah Mohamadian, Asadollah Saed Mucheshi, Abedin Saed Mucheshi, Mehdi Saed Mucheshi, Ali Saed Panah, Fardin Saed Mucheshi, Saber Ayoubi and Hamed Awseti.
It is said, one their charges is distributing Maktab Koran’s announcements about the Kurdish Sunni teachers who are forbidden of teaching.
Maktab Koran is a Kurdish Sunni religious movement founded by َAllama Ahmed Moftizadeh.
Author: admin-hr
Three Student Activists Arrested in Sanandaj
HRANA News Agency – Over the past few days, three student activists, Mehdi Dohago, Milad Karimi and Soran Daneshvar, have been arrested by security agents in the city of Sanandaj.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), when three members of Democratic Union of Kurdish Students were summoned to the Intelligence Agency’s office in Sanandaj, they were arrested.There has been no news of them thus far.Mehdi Dohago is the secretary and Milad Karimi the deputy secretary of Democratic Union of Kurdish Students.Soran Daneshvar is responsible for the coordinating committee of the Union.
Previously, when Democratic Union of Kurdish Students was declared illegal, and the authorities shut down the Union, Mehdi Dohago was also detained, and other members were summoned to the Intelligence Agency’s office multiple times.
Democratic Union of Kurdish Students has issued a statement in relation to recent arrests.In part of the statement, the Union says, “Student organizations including the Union from the day it was established in 2004 have utilized rationality, tolerance and non-violent principles as their guiding values to independently pursuit activism within the framework of the constitution.The government’s policies towards such student organizations and the Union prove the nature of a totalitarian system aiming to purge all thoughts, voices and religious and linguistic diversity into one unit.Meanwhile, imposing heavy consequences on dissent in the society is the means by which the government is striving to reach its unattainable goals in Kurdistan.”
Last week during an orchestrated effort to increase pressure on civil and trade organizations in Kurdistan, eight member of Teachers’ Union were arrested on charges of acting against the national security, the membership in Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan and defending the families of those executed and political prisoners.The activists were later released because of the pressure exerted by teachers who attended gatherings to protest against these arrests.
A Moving Letter from Dr. Maleki to UN Special Rapporteur
HRANA News Agency – Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first president of Tehran University after the revolution, has written an open letter to Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.Pointing out the tragic plight of human rights in Iran, Dr. Maleki has underscored the crimes committed by totalitarian rulers and has announced that he is ready and available to testify about the torture and execution of prisoners in Iran.Dr. Maleki has also declared that he stands by his words and is prepared to face the consequences of his testimony.
Dr. Mohammad Maleki has spent a long time behind bars in various Iranian prisons and was once sentenced to death.During his last incarceration, Dr. Maleki spent 191 days locked up in prison while being harmed and harassed throughout that time until he was temporarily released from Evin Prison because of his deteriorating health.Although Dr. Maleki received a seven year suspended prison term in March 2000, he remains in a legal state of limbo thus far.
The content of Dr. Maleki’s letter in its entirety as released by Daneshjoo News is as follows:
In the Name of Justice
Your Excellency, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed
With warm greetings, I wish you success in the grand, humanitarian endeavor you have undertaken.
I am Dr. Mohammad Maleki, a retired professor and the first president of Tehran University appointed after the revolution.I am writing this letter in order to share with you a small portion of human rights violations in my country as witnessed by me.I provide this information to you with the hopes of taking a step towards rescuing my people from the tyranny, corruption and cruelty of the rules oppressing this nation.
My brother, Mr. Shaheed, I am one the tens of thousands of individuals whose human rights have been violated multiple times by authoritarian and oppressive rulers reigning the Islamic Republic of Iran for thirty two years.In Iran’s prisons, I have witnessed numerous crimes but can draw your attention to only a small number of them in this letter.
In 1979, after the revolution succeeded and following my appointment to the presidency of Tehran University, in order to achieve one of the revolutionary goals, I strived to establish a democratically elected council consisting of professors, students and employees who would run all university affairs.This undertaking wasn’t received favorably by a government monopolizing all aspects of life within the country.At last, a coup d’état dubbed as “the Cultural Revolution” was orchestrated to attack universities, kill a number of students, injure scores of them and finally arrest the rest.Then, universities were closed down, and student dissidents detained, tortured severely and eventually executed.
The Management Council of Tehran University and the High University Council responsible for the day to day operations of the university opposed “the Cultural Revolution” and raised their voices against it.Nonetheless, instead of addressing these concerns, the government detained a number of dissidents including me and under the pretence of opposing the Supreme Leader’s (Ayatollah Khomeini) decree, imprisoned us.
I was unlawfully tried in a court without legal representation and was sentenced to death at first.This verdict was then modified to ten years in prison.During this time, I have endured the most brutal treatments such as being beaten on the soles of my feet and elsewhere with an electric cable and being hung from the ceiling.My head was repeatedly banged against the wall, and I was punched, kicked and forced to tolerate a number of other forms of torture.As a result, I lost vision in my left eye and suffered from a broken bone in my right wrist.The markings of some of those tortures still remain, and my body bears the scars to this day.
After five years, I was supposedly released from prison, but for months, I had to report to the judiciary every few days to be interrogated and tormented in other forms.
Together with tens of other activists, I was arrested again in March 2000 under the pretext of plotting to overthrow the government and was locked up in an isolation cell measured 1×2 meters in one of the most gruesome and dreadful prisons (Eshratabad) operated by IRGC.Legal experts and psychiatrists refer to the incarceration of prisoners under extreme sensory deprivation and isolation as “white torture.”After tolerating approximately seven months of “white torture,” I was released in order to stand trial.Subsequently, I was illegally tried again behind closed doors and received seven years of suspended prison sentence.
On August 22, 2009, intelligence agents raided my house in the early hours of the day.After searching the premises and seizing many books, they took me out of my sickbed and directly transferred me to Evin Prison, Ward 209, where I spent three months in solitary confinement.At the time of my arrest, I suffered from prostate cancer, irregular heartbeats and abnormal blood pressure.I was also receiving chemotherapy and struggled with regular fainting spells and blackouts.
During interrogations, I was insulted and humiliated in so many different ways, and only because of my writings, I was charged with the crime of Moharebeh [Waging War Against God] and insulting the supreme leaders of Iran, Mr. Khomeini and Mr. Khamenei.Eventually, after 191 days of incarceration and due to rapidly deteriorating health, I was granted a sick leave from prison in order to continue my chemotherapy and undergo a surgery to implant a pacemaker in my heart.
Recently, I have been summoned to court to stand trial behind closed doors once more against the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.For now, I spend very difficult and agonizing days, waiting to find out the court’s ruling.Although I am a 78 year old, sick elderly man, I am ready to face any verdict issued against me because my goal has always been and will remain to be fighting against tyranny, oppression and injustice imposed by those holding power in Iran.
I lean on God and the masses and fear no punishment.I wish to meet with you in order to recount the reality of what has happened in Iran during the last three decades and what injustice has been inflicted upon this nation.
Your Excellency, Dr. Shaheed, I will testify that during 1980s, how young prisoners and students including men and women, after being brutally tortured, were taken in groups of tens or hundreds every night to face the gallows.And down that road they went to face their destiny while chanting songs. I am prepared to cite the facts as witnessed by me in the prisons of the Islamic regime and stand by my words to pay the price for such testimony.
At the end, as an Iranian, I wish you every success in all your undertakings.Rest assured that God is with you.With warmest regards and hoping to meet you,
Dr. Mohammad Maleki
Political Prisoner and Tehran University Retired Professor
September 2011
Copyright © 2011 All Rights Reserved
Student Activist Hadi Hamidi Shafiq Arrested; His Wedding Not Permitted
HRANA News Agency – In an unprecedented move, Tabriz Intelligence Agency prevented Hadi Hamidi Shafiq to have a wedding.
According to a report by South Azerbaijan Student Movement (AZOH), Hadi Hamidi Shafiq’s wedding was to take place in Tabriz with political and social activists from all over Azerbaijan attending the event.Yesterday morning, on July 20, 2011, Tabriz Intelligence Agency summoned the wedding banquet hall director and interrogated him about the scheduled event.
Additionally, this morning, Tabriz Intelligence Agency contacted the bride and the groom’s families by phone, summoning them for questioning and threatening to arrest all the guests.The intelligence agents also contacted Hadi Hamidi Shafiq, forbidding him from going ahead with his wedding plans.When faced with his opposition, the agents told him that the wedding ceremony would be held by them and all the guests without any exception would be detained.
The intelligence agents from Tehran and Urmia offices have also phoned some of the activists invited to the wedding in order to warn them not to attend the ceremony or be arrested.
According to the last reliable news, Hadi Hamidi Shafiq has been arrested by Tabriz Intelligence Agency, and his whereabouts is still unknown.
Recently, Hadi Hamidi Shafiq was sentenced to six months in prison and 60 lashes on charges of propaganda against the regime.In May 2006, Hadi Hamidi Shafiq was arrested for attending demonstrations and spent 17 months behind bars.
Rappelling Operations to Confiscate Satellite Dishes
HRANA News Agency – Sardar Mohammad Reza Radan, Deputy Police Commander, has said that if a homeowner isn’t present at the time when agents attempt to confiscate a satellite dish, and it is not possible to enter a house through the door, the police will utilize rappelling and airborne operations to seize the dish.
According to a report by Aftab News Agency, in a television program, the Deputy Police Commander emphasized that the police force couldn’t ignore a crime as it was being committed and added, “It is possible that the police forces attempt to confiscate a satellite dish while the homeowner isn’t there or might be on a trip.Our agents will not enter the house since the homeowner isn’t present but will use airborne and rappelling operations to gain access to the roof to seize all the satellite dishes.”
It is noteworthy that Mohammad Reza Radan’s speech comes at a time that in recent years, even when the police forces are present when a crime is being committed, they fail to prevent it from occurring.Specifically speaking, the police, although present, didn’t prevent an honor killing in Kaj Square from happening.
Student Activist Sina Mehdinia Sentenced to Six Months in Prison
HRANA News Agency – Sina Mehdinia, a student at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, has been sentenced by Babol’s Revolutionary Court to six months in prison.
According to a report by Daneshjoo News, local sources have stated that last March, police forces summoned Sina Mehdinia to serve his prison term.However, since his sentence was preliminary and had not been formally communicated to him, his attorney’s appeal was granted.Currently, Sina Mehdinia’s case is pending a decision by the appeals court.
Sina Mehdinia was arrested during Ashura protests organized by Babol’s Green Movement in 2009.After spending eleven days in solitary confinement, he was released on bail approximately equivalent to $30,000.
Brick Factory Workers’ Strike Continues in Bukan
HRANA News Agency – The news from Saroghamish regions in Bukan [West Azerbaijan Province] indicates that the workers of several brick factories continue their strike which began on May 21, 2011.
According to a report by Mukrian News Agency, brick factory workers have demanded a wage increase for each one thousand bricks they handle. Workers pulling brick wheelbarrows are asking for an increase of $3.30 per one thousand bricks while workers who place the bricks in furnaces are asking for an increase of $0.94.
At the time when this report was being prepared, brick factory employers were not willing to accept the demand made by workers. Meanwhile, brick factory workers have also announced that until their requests are met, they will continue their strike.
Assault and Murder in Tabriz under the Pretext of Combating Mal-veiling
HRANA- Using their identification cards, three member of the paramilitary Basij, kidnapped and sexually assaulted a young woman in the city of Tabriz before shooting and killing her. The three then proceeded to dump her body outside of the city. This incident has sparked outrage amongst the people of the region.
Continue reading “Assault and Murder in Tabriz under the Pretext of Combating Mal-veiling”
Saman Nooranian’s 3 Year Prison Sentence Confirmed
HRANA – Saman Nooranian’s 3 year prison sentence was confirmed by the appellate court.
According to Daneshjoo News, the lower court’s imprisonment sentence for Saman Nooranian has been confirmed by judge Salavati presiding over Branch 15 of the appellate court. Mr. Samanian is a graduate of the prestigious College of Engineering and Medicine at Amir Kabir University; one of the most reputable institutions of higher education in Iran.
Mr. Nooranian who is currently held in Ward 350 of Evin prison was arrested in the aftermath of the popular protests on December 27, 2009 (the day of Ashura).
Prisoner Hanged in Kashan, Iran
HRANA News Agency – A prisoner convicted of drug trafficking was hanged in Kashan, Iran.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), quoted from IRIB News, a prisoner convicted of drug trafficking was hanged in Kashan Central Prison om Monday, December 17, 2012.