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Maryam Ebrahimvand Arrested by Security Forces in Tehran

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Cultural, Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners, Women
Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, cash bail, censorship, Ebrahimvand, Evin, Evin Prison, freedom of expression, irgc, Maryam Ebrahimvand, Ministry of Intelligence, Tehran, Women's Ward of Evin Prison

On the morning of Sunday, August 22, Maryam Ebrahimvand, a director, filmmaker, and former prisoner, was arrested by security forces and taken to an unknown location.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, she was released after a couple of hours interrogation.

According to a close source to Ms. Ebrahimvand, she had gone to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to seek permission for her confiscated films, and was arrested in front of the Ministry’s building in Tehran.

“A few months ago,” the source told HRANA, “Ms. Ebrahimvand was told by the Ministry of Guidance that after receiving a letter working ban from the IRGC,  it is not possible to grant permission for her films.”

Ms. Ebrahimvand had previously been detained and convicted. IRGC intelligence agents arrested Ms. Ebrahimvand in September 2016. After 35 days, she was released on  a bail of 300 million Tomans from the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center, Ward 2A, Evin Prison.

Nearly two years later, in July 2018, Ms. Ebrahimvand was arrested again after being summoned to Branch 4 of the Culture and Media Court. She was transferred to Ward 2A of the IRGC, and then was transferred to prison a month after interrogations ended, while a bail of 10 billion Tomans was issued for her.

Ms. Ebrahimvand, who had been detained in the Women’s Ward of Evin Prison from July 2018, was sentenced by Branch 1059 of the Government Employees’ Court to ten years in prison in November of last year on charges of “making a vulgar film”, “insulting the President”, and “spreading lies against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”.

In the second part of her case, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced her to 6 months in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime,” and in the final verdict, she was sentenced to a total of ten years and six months in prison.

Ms. Ebrahimvand was finally informed of her release in June of this year after appearing before the Culture and Media Court.

Maryam Ebrahimvand is a writer, film director, and producer of “Comedy of Love”, “We Are All Alone”, and “Girls’ Boarding House”.

Shahbaz Jadidi Executed in Yasuj Prison in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province

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Executions, News
Boyer-Ahmad, Boyer-Ahmad Province, Jadidi, Kohgiluyeh, Secret executions, Shahbaz Jadidi, Yasuj, Yasuj Central Prison

On July 18, Shahbaz Jadidi was executed in Yasuj Central Prison in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting the Iran Human Rights (IHR), 39-year-old Jadidi had previously been sentenced to death on a charge of murder.

Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per capita, according to international organizations. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) reported that between January 1 and December 20 of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed.

One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death. According to the same report, more than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary, which human rights organizations call “secret” executions.

Mr. Jadidi’s execution has not been announced by Iranian media or official sources as of this writing.

HRANA Report: COVID-19 Vaccinations Underway in Iranian Prisons

A number of prisons, including Evin in Tehran, Rajai Shahr in Karaj, Qarchak in Varamin, Lakan in Rasht, Urmia in Urmia, and Qom Coastal Prison, have been examined as a statistical sample in this report.
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Environment, News
Barekat Vaccine, COVID, covid-19, Evin, Evin Prison, Lakan, Lakan prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht, Ministry of Health, Qom Central Prison, Rajai-Shahr, Sinopharm, Urmia, Urmia prison

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the vaccination of inmates in different prisons throughout the country has started this month.

A number of prisons, including Evin in Tehran, Rajai Shahr in Karaj, Qarchak in Varamin, Lakan in Rasht, Urmia in Urmia, and Qom Coastal Prison, have been examined as a statistical sample in this report.

According to reports received by HRANA, in some prisons in the country, prisoners have been forced to receive the Iranian vaccine “Barekat”, and many others have refused to receive the Barekat vaccine due to doubts about production conditions and the lack of WHO approval. In some prisons, vaccination has been partially abandoned due to the lack of enough dosage per the Ministry of Health.

Although this action of the Prisons Organization has given a bit of hope to the prisoners and their families, reports received by HRANA from various prisons across the country indicate that -regardless of the quality and type of vaccine used- a small percentage of inmates have been vaccinated and that most of the inmates still have not been vaccinated against COVID.

Prisoners in the women’s ward of Lakan Prison in Rasht were vaccinated with the Barekat vaccine. According to an informed source, the vaccination process has started in this prison in late July this year; first the prison officials, then the male prisoners, and finally the female prisoners have been vaccinated.

As of this writing, a small percentage of inmates in Urmia Prison are vaccinated. An informed source about the vaccination process in this prison told HRANA, “At first, the Iranian vaccine Barekat was sent for Urmia prison, but prisoners refused to inject, then a small number of Chinese vaccines arrived which only was enough for a few. Though the vaccine was given to all prisoners in the political prison, and any of them who wished was vaccinated.”

According to the source, prison officials, along with a limited number of other detainees were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Since mid-August of this year, some prisoners in various wards of Evin Prison have received the first dose of the vaccine. Initially, the vaccination was carried out with the Barakat vaccine, but this process was stopped due to the refusal of many prisoners to inject the Iranian vaccine. A few days later, some prisoners were injected with the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm. According to an informed source, in many wards of the prison, even prisoners with underlying diseases who are at risk of infection have not been vaccinated yet.

Political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj have also been injected with the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine. According to an informed source, in other wards of the prison, vaccination was going on based on the age priority and people with underlying diseases until prison officials announced that the vaccination would be halted and postponed until the Ministry of Health and the Prisons Organization were able to provide the vaccine.

The HRANA investigation shows that most of the prisoners in Qarchak Prison in Varamin have been injected with the Sinopharm vaccine, but new inmates, whose numbers are very high, are still not vaccinated as there are not enough vaccines for them.

In Qom Coastal Prison, only the clergy prisoners being held in the special ward for clergies have been fully vaccinated. According to an informed source, 20 prisoners in this ward, along with a small number of prisoners from other wards, have been vaccinated so far. Prisoners in Bushehr Prison in Bushehr Province have not yet received any vaccine.

These are the reports from prisons while in early August, Mohammad Mehdi Haj Mohammadi, head of the Prisons Organization, claimed on his Twitter account that 50 percent of the country’s prisoners had been vaccinated.

Although the prisoners’ vaccination could help to control the spread of coronavirus in prisons, the effectiveness of vaccination is still unclear as spaces in prisons are closed, pre-and post-vaccination health protocols are not met, principles of quarantine are not observed, and prison populations are large. Also, some prisoners have received the Iranian Barekat vaccine, whose effectiveness is highly questionable.

The negligence of the authorities towards the situation of sick prisoners, lack of proper medical care in prisons, the strictness of the authorities in sending prisoners to medical leave and hospitals, and the lack of adequate sanitary facilities in prisons have all contributed to and intensified the spread of the disease.

 

Residents of Sistan and Baluchestan Province who do not have ID being Denied Coronavirus Vaccine and Other Medical Services

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Environment, News
COVID, COVID vaccines, Fatemeh Kaykhah, Hamshahri, Hemmatabad, Sistan and Baluchestan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Zahedan

Despite numerous reports indicating a significant increase in the number of infected patients and deaths in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, many people in the province who do not have ID have been denied vaccination, even when vaccines are not in short supply.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Hamshahri, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, COVID vaccines remain inaccessible for many citizens.  Medical centers in several of the province’s cities are few and far between, and many of the roads by which to reach them are poorly-maintained.

Fatemeh Kaykhah, a general practitioner who has participated in a camp on the outskirts of Zahedan, commented on the predicament.

“I visited 60 patients in the Hemmatabad neighborhood, and I had enough vaccine doses to inject them, but 50 of them did not have any kind of ID,” Kaykhah said. “It was very bitter the moment they left the clinic without getting vaccinated. The taste of being different this time is more bitter than ever for people who have never been issued an ID, perhaps even more deadly. The problem is not just the vaccine, if they die from the corona, they do not come in any statistics because they do not have identity documents. [it is like] They did not exist from the beginning nor they will at the end.”

There are, unsurprisingly, no definite statistics on the number of people who do not have identity documents in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, but according to a former Zahedan resident, some estimate the number to be around 100,000, with 30 percent living in Zahedan.

Noor, a girl who has no ID, has heard that enough doses of COVID vaccine have arrived in the province. ‌ “We are also the people of this country,” she said. “Couldn’t they let us just this one time to get vaccinated? Are our lives not in danger? Why is the vaccine being withheld from us?”

Beyond the vaccine issue, the multitude of barriers to health insurance make it difficult for residents to get the medical attention they need. People who have not been issued identity documents cannot have health insurance, and out-of-pocket treatment expenses are very high. Many in severe need of medical care are refusing to go to health centers because they either do not have the financial resources to get health insurance, or because their lack of identification prohibits them from seeking it out.

According to the Director General of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province Registry, since 2013, the cases of more than 9,000 households who did not have ID have been processed, resulting in the issuance of about 30,000 identification documents. More than 1,500 cases of citizenship have been denied.

Vahid Afkari’s Request for Retrial Rejected by Supreme Court

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Executions, News, Prisoners
Adelabad, Adelabad Prison, Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Afkari brothers, Dehghan, Habib Afkari, Navid Afkari, Saeid Dehghan, Shiraz, Vahid Afkari

Political prisoner Vahid Afkari’s request for retrial was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Afkari  is currently imprisoned in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.

Saeid Dehghan, the lawyer for the Afkari Brothers, wrote in a note on his social media, “Even if they had just skimmed and scanned the case document, there were enough legal reasons to accept a retrial as the verdict contains 24 contradictions and 3 lies.” Dehghan went on to ask, incredulously,  “25 years imprisonment only based on the Judge’s knowledge and without observing Article 211 of the Penal Code?”

Navid Afkari and Vahid Afkari were arrested in September 2018, and Habib Afkari was arrested in December 2018 in connection with the nationwide protests in August 2018. The brothers  have been repeatedly beaten and tortured during interrogations.

After being tried by the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz’s Criminal Court, Navid Afkari was sentenced to 2 death sentences, six years and 6 months imprisonment, and 74 lashes, Vahid Afkari was sentenced to 54 years and 6 months imprisonment and 74 lashes, and Habib Afkari was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison and 74 lashes.

Despite the serious flaws in the basis of the case against the brothers, and despite a wave of worldwide support for him and calls for authorities to halt the execution, one of the three brothers, Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler, was executed at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz at dawn on September 12, 2020.

That same month, Vahid and Habib Afkari were transferred to the isolated ward of Ebrat which is a detention center for prisoners deprived of telephone contact.

Hassan Younesi, one of the Afkari brothers’ lawyers, said in late September of last year, “After the execution of Navid Afkari, Vahid and Habib are not being held in the public ward, and their families and lawyers have not had any (free) meetings with the Afkari brothers.”

Previously, Saeid Afkari, Vahid’s brother, had reported on his social media that he had met with Habib and Vahid Afkari and that they were being held “in solitary confinement, without the right of contact and the right to medical treatment”.

“According to the prison guidelines, convicts should only be kept in public wards under the supervision of the Prisoners’ Organization,” Younesi previously said. “Also, according to the same rules, keeping the accused in detention centers will be possible only with a written order from the judicial authorities, and keeping Habib and Vahid Afkari outside the public prison without meeting (freely) is against the law.”

In May of this year, an interrogation session was held in connection with the Afkari brothers’ complaint about being beaten, long-term solitary confinement, and death threats by two officials. According to Saeid Afkari, the hearing was held in the presence of Vahid Afkari without access to the files and documents of the defendants.

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Citizen Arrested in Qazvin for Criticizing Ayatollah Khamenei’s Ban on US and UK Vaccine Imports

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Environment, Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Khamenei, Citizen arrested, COVID, COVID vaccines, Khamenei, Mehregan, Qazvin, Reza Behrouzi

On Saturday, August 21, Reza Behrouzi, a resident of Qazvin, was arrested by security forces at his home.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Mr. Behrouzi had previously posted a video on his social media page criticizing the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, for banning the import of COVID vaccines. Ayatollah Khamanei banned US and UK vaccine imports in January.

Reza Behrouzi is a worker living in the Mehregan town of Qazvin and the father of three children. As of this writing, no information is available on the whereabouts and status of this citizen.

Death Sentences Issued for 2 Defendants in Tehran

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News
Capital Punishment, Citizen death penalties, Citizen death sentence, Citizen death sentences, citizen executions per-capita, Death Penalty, Death row, Tehran, Tehran Province

In two separate cases, two defendants in Tehran were sentenced to death by the Second and Seventh Branches of the First Criminal Court of Tehran.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Didar, a defendant in Tehran was sentenced to death by the Second Branch of the First Criminal Court of this province for murder.

Also, according to Javan Online, a young man in Tehran was sentenced to death by the Seventh Branch of the First Criminal Court of this province for murder.

Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per capita, according to international organizations.

The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) reported that between January 1 and December 20 of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed. One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death.

Javid Rahman’s Latest Report on the Human Rights Situation in Iran has been Published

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Executions, Freedom of Expression, News, Prisoners
accountability, COVID, covid-19, death sentence issuances, death sentences in Iran, Javid Rahman, Rahman, Ukranian aircraft, UN Human Rights Council

Javid Rahman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Iran, has published his latest report, which is scheduled to be presented at the next meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, various issues have been addressed, such as the COVID-19 crisis, the alarming rate of death sentence issuance, and the Islamic government’s lack of accountability for human rights violations in the country.

According to the report, journalists and civil society activists were under pressure from security agencies as this year’s presidential election approached. Those who called for a boycott of the election were detained or harassed by security forces.

Expressing concern over the non-observance of the preconditions for free elections, Javid Rahman called for fundamental reform of Iran’s electoral laws.

The rapporteur reiterated the lack of accountability of individuals and institutions that have violated the rights of Iranian citizens, such as the violence in November 2019, and the downing of a Ukrainian 752 aircraft, and he added that restitution to the families of individuals killed in the flight can in no way replace serious prosecution and punishment of perpetrators.

He further expressed concern about the impact of international sanctions on the state of the Corona epidemic and called the government’s efforts to reduce the impact of the crisis on the social and economic life of citizens insufficient.

You can read the complete report here. 

Atena Daemi Denied the Right to Make Telephone Calls in Lakan Prison in Rasht

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News, Prisoners, Women
Atena, Atena Daemi, Ensieh Daemi, Hunger Strike, Lakan, Lakan prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht, prison hunger strike, Rasht

Civil activist Atena Daemi is being denied the right to make phone calls in Lakan Prison in Rasht.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Daemi went on a hunger strike on August 12 in protest of repeated telephone cuts and prison mismanagement.

She ended her strike on August 17 following the fixation of telephone cuts, and the release of prisoners whose release was delayed for weeks. Now, however, it appears that prison authorities are once again denying the activist phone access.

Ensieh Daemi, Atena’s sister, said on her social media page, “They have taken Atena’s phone card, and they have deprived her of the right to contact us. After being six years in prison, Atena could guess [knew] that they may deprive her of making phone calls, but she was happy that the phone cuts will be fixed, and the rest of the prisoners can make phone calls, and freedom will be restored.”

Supreme Court Rejects Hamed Ghareh Oghlani’s Request for Retrial 5 Days After its Submission

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News, Prisoners
Hamed Ghareh Oghlani, Mojahedin, Shahid Beheshti University, Urmia, Urmia prison

The Supreme Court rejected political prisoner Hamed Ghareh Oghlani’s request for retrial five days after its submission. Oghlani is currently serving out a 13 year sentence in Urmia Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Oghlani’s sentence was previously upheld by Branch 41 of the Supreme Court in February of this year.

In the first part of the case, Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia sentenced Oghlani to death for membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). In the second part of his case, he was sentenced to 14 years and one month on charges of “participating in military courses and attacking Basij bases”, “propaganda against the regime”, “blasphemy”, “and insulting the leadership”.

Finally, after the judges’ session, Oghlani was sentenced to a total of 14 years and one month in prison including 13 years in prison for participating in the insurgence group (MEK), and to 13 months in prison for insulting the leadership. The most severe punishment 13 years of imprisonment applies to him after Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.

Mr. Ghareh Oghlani was installing CCTV cameras before his arrest. He dropped out of Shahid Beheshti University in 2016 due to financial issues.

Hamed Ghareh Oghlani was arrested in June 2020 by Ministry of Intelligence agents and was transferred to the detention center of this security institution in Urmia. He was transferred to Urmia Prison in July of the same year after the interrogation process.