Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On October 28th and 29th, respectively, political prisoners Mohammad Ostadghader and Houshmand Alipour were permitted visits from their families for the first time since their arrest on August 3rd of this year.
On August 7th, Iranian national television broadcast footage of the young men confessing to an armed attack on a security post in Saqqez. Both stand charged of membership in a Kurdish opposition group, while their supporters assert that these “confessions” were violently coerced.
During the family’s visit earlier this week, security agents reportedly prevented Ostadghader and Alipour’s families from obtaining their signatures on attorney retainer forms.
No update is currently available on Alipour’s pending hearing in investigations court, which was scheduled for October 4th and later postponed.
Alipour’s brother Hejar published a letter earlier this month describing Houshmand’s judicial ordeal, writing, “The Islamic Republic pummeled and stifled the dreams of a young man, and we cannot stand by as they try to take his life.”
On September 10th, Amnesty International issued a statement that read: “On 3 August, Houshmand Alipour and Mohammad Ostadghader, from Iran’s Kurdish minority, were arrested by security forces near Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on suspicion of taking part in an armed attack against a security base in that city. Mohammad Ostadghader was shot and injured during the arrest but has been denied medical care. The pair were held in an unknown location without access to their families or lawyers.”
Houshmand Alipour is from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province. Mohammad Ostadghader is from Saqqez, Kurdistan province, near the border with Iraq and home to Iran’s Kurdish minority.
Category: News
Rajai Shahr Prison Authorities Embezzle Religious Offering
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- A prayer answered, a vow fulfilled — such is the faith behind the Nadhri (or Nazri) charity meal, a faith that’s now left many a Rajai Shahr prisoner burned.
Rajai Shahr Prisoner Director Gholamreza Ziaei capitalized recently on this mourning rite for the late Imam Hussein when he engaged, in exchange for individual prisoner donations of 2-3 million tomans [approximately $150-$200 USD], to undertake preparation and distribution of the Nazri meal.
Prisoners looking forward to tasting red meat again for the first time in months or years were disappointed on October 31st (i.e. Arba’een, last day of the mourning period) by a Nazri “feast” of yet another watery and meatless stew made from the prison pantry’s bottom-shelf usuals.
Ziaei reportedly collected a total of 70 million tomans [approximately $4,700] from prisoners for the meal. An informed source estimated the cost of the Rajai Shahr Nazri service at 20 million tomans [approximately $1,300].
Prior to Ziaei taking the helm of Rajai Shahr, prisoners were permitted to buy food from the prison store and share meals at their own expense among their fellow inmates and prisoner-soldiers. Ziaei has forbidden that practice.
A cumulation of damning reports depict Rajai Shahr Prison as a hotbed of corruption and human rights violations.
Rajai Shahr is located in Karaj, the capital of Alborz province, about 30 miles west of Tehran
Labor Activists’ Appeals Look Bleak
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Labor activist Ebrahim Madadi’s prison sentence of five years and three months has been upheld in Branch 36 of Tehran Revolutionary Appeals Court.
If the outcome of Madadi’s appeal has come clear, the case of his co-defendant Davoud Razavi is less so: the absence of a judge has delayed the appeals hearing that was scheduled to review his own five-year prison sentence on October 31st of this year.
Madadi and Razavi were arrested April 28, 2014, for labor activism, detained in Evin prison, and released 22 days later on 1 billion IRR [approximately $25,000 USD] bail. Their initial trial was held in Branch 26 of Revolutionary Court.
Madadi is the vice president of the Greater Tehran Bus Drivers’ Syndicate and a longtime labor activist. Saleh Nikbakht, the attorney for both men, told HRANA that authorities have historically founded their allegations against Madadi on his syndical activities– so many manifestations, she said, of their intolerance of syndicates like the Bus Drivers’ Union. Egregious in the eyes of the judiciary, the attorney said, was Madadi’s distribution of sweets at a bus terminal on International Workers’ Day (May 1st) 2014, and his 2015 lobbying at the Labor Ministry for a higher minimum wage. Madadi served a 3-year prison sentence, also connected to his labor activism, that ended April 18, 2012.
Likewise, Revolutionary Court cited Razavi’s participation in the minimum-wage demonstrations as evidence of “collusion and assembly to act against national security.” The publishing of photos from these demonstrations was tantamount to anti-regime propaganda, they said; rallying fellow citizens to attend an International Labour Organization conference was endorsing “the labor opposition movement outside of Iran” (the ILO is an official UN agency). The court offered no other evidence connecting Razavi to a criminal offense.
In a statement dated April 2017, Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities “to immediately and unconditionally release those imprisoned for their peaceful trade union work, and quash the harsh prison sentences […] and allow workers to hold peaceful gatherings, including on International Workers’ Day, and to exercise their right to form and join independent trade unions to improve their living situations.”
Madadi, a sexagenarian, suffers from diabetes, prostate inflammation, and high blood pressure and cholesterol. Secondary to a stroke, he has gone deaf in one ear and suffered partial hearing loss in the other.
Baha’i Mother and Daughter Begin Prison Term
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – At 5 p.m. on October 31st, a Baha’i mother and daughter turned themselves in to begin serving one-year prison sentences.
Mashhad resident May Kholousi, her daughter Saghi Fadaei, and their fellow Baha’is Shayan Tafazzoli and Dori Amri were all sentenced February 2018 by Judge Soltani of Mashhad Revolutionary Court Branch 3 on charges of propaganda against the regime. Appeals court upheld their sentences on August 26, 2018.
Security forces arrested all four in Mashhad in June 2014. Two court sessions met for the defendants while they were free on bail, on December 17, 2014, and June 17, 2017.
Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.
Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s constitution, however, recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.
Arrest Sweep Continues: Ten More Go Dark In Khuzestan
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Ten more Ahwazi Arab residents of Susangerd and Shush have been caught in an arrest sweep targeting civilians and activists alike in Iran’s southwest.
A September 22nd armed attack on an Ahvaz military parade is presumed to be the pretext for unexplained, unrelenting arrests in the region since that date. In its ongoing coverage of the arrest sweep, HRANA recently published the names of 169 detainees, reportedly only a fraction of those who have already been taken.
In the past few days, security forces have added to that list, sequestering a number of citizens in locations as yet undisclosed.
The ten most arrestees have been identified as follows:
1. Jasim Ghanemi Soveidi, age 27, married father of two, resident of Hajieh Village of Susangerd County
2. Halim Sawari, age 46, father of two, resident of Susangerd County
3. Aghil Sawari, age 20, resident of Susangerd County
4. Reza Sawari, age 17, resident of Susangerd County
5. Hanash Badawi, age 47, resident of Beyt Ahmad Almola Village of Shush County
6. Ayoub Morid, age 28, resident of Beyt Ahmad Almola Village of Shush County
7. Hassan Ismaeli, age 32, resident of Beyt Ahmad Almola Village of Shush County
8. Amir Badawi, age 45, resident of Beyt Ahmad Almola Village of Shush County
9. Mahdi Soveidi, resident of Hajieh Village of Susangerd
10. Hadi Rufe, age 25, resident of Beyt Ahmad Almola Village of Shush County
As of the date of this report, no further information is available on these citizens’ locations or the charges against them.
Judiciary Bounces Homicide Defendant Back to Gallows
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for Davoud Mir Hosseini, a 42-year-old married man accused of murder.
First arrested in 2014, Mir Hosseini has been detained in Nishapur, in the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan, ever since.
Mir Hosseini must now square off with the same anguishing fatality he once lawfully escaped: the Supreme Court previously reversed the death sentence issued to him in Nishapur Public Court Branch 3, but when the would-be closed case was forwarded to a parallel appeals court in 2017, authorities ruled back in favor of capital punishment. As announced by Mir Hosseini’s lawyer last week, the Supreme Court has moved to uphold it.
According to Amnesty International’s annual report, Iran ranks first in the world in executions per capita. According to registered data from the Statistics, Publications, and Achievements Division of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), at least 256 citizens were executed in Iran between October 10, 2017, and October 9, 2018, 15 of which were public hangings. Sixty-eight percent of executions, referred to as “secret executions,” are not announced by the state or Judiciary.
Crackdown on Azerbaijani Activists Veers to Violence
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – In their continued persecution of Azerbaijani activists, security forces attempting to extract confessions have reportedly battered two of them severely, landing one in the hospital with broken ribs and injured fingers.
Without explanation, agents arrested Nasim Sadeghi and Hakimeh Ahmadi within three days of each other in late October 2018, and sources close to both women report that they have since been subjected to beatings. In a video he published October 30th, Ahmadi’s husband Gholamreza Ghorbani related the news of her injuries and hospital transfer, explaining that authorities had refused to disclose where she had been admitted, forbade him from visiting, and advised him that pending treatments would be at his expense. Sadeghi, who was transferred from an IRGC intelligence detention center to Tabriz Central Prison on October 29th, confirmed on a phone call with her family that authorities were applying brute-force coercion to make her own up to their allegations, threatening to arrest her children and her sister’s children if she didn’t confess.
Security forces arrested Ahmadi on October 18th after inspecting her home and threatening her and Ghorbani with a close-combat weapon; Sadeghi was taken by security forces on her walk home October 21st.
Though Sadeghi and Ahmadi were not told the reasons behind their arrests, an assistant in Branch 19 of the revolutionary and general prosecutor’s office recently explained Sadeghi her charges: “propaganda against the regime through anti-regime news activity in cyberspace.” Initially offered bail during an October 25th court appearance, Sadeghi was kept in custody when security forces objected to her release.
Sadeghi was finally released Wednesday, October 31st on a bail of 150 million tomans [approximately $3,500 USD]. As of the date of this report, Ahmadi’s location and charges are still unknown.
Both Ahmadi and Sadeghi have previous arrests on their records. Ahmadi was detained this past September and released on a bail of one billion Rials [approximately $7,000 USD]. On July 28, 2016, Sadeghi was among dozens arrested for their participation in a public protest against controversial comments published in the newspaper Tarh-e No. She was interrogated for five days in the Intelligence Detention Center of Tabriz for charges of “acting against national security through propaganda against the regime,” brought by Branch 7 of the Prosecutor’s Interrogation Office of Tabriz Revolutionary Court. She was released on a bail of 1 billion IRR [approximately $8000 USD] pending trial.
Azerbaijani activists have felt the pressure of intensified security controls in recent months. Rahman Ghasemi and Abolfazl Fakouri, recently arrested in Tabriz for unknown reasons and transferred to undisclosed locations, are two more among many who have been unceremoniously swept up.
Ghasemi, an Urmia resident, was summoned and interrogated by Urmia security forces this past September. On July 7th, he was arrested amid security crackdowns on an Azerbaijani cultural gathering at Babak Fort and released four days later.
Per a recent announcement, the appeals hearing of Azerbaijani activist Kiumars Eslami, also arrested and charged for his presence at Babak Fort, will take place November 17th at 10 a.m. in Branch 1 of Ardebil Appeals Court. Eslami’s cultural activism — including his membership in the Parsabad county Pan-Turkic movement and translation of Persian-language books into Azerbaijani — have earned him accusations from authorities of being “sectarian” and propagandizing against the regime.
Tabriz is the capital of the northwestern province of Eastern Azerbaijan, which borders the Republic of Azerbaijan and is home to Iran’s Azerbaijani ethnic minority. Fort Babak, a monument built during the pre-Islamic Sasanian period, is the namesake of Babak Khorramdin, who led an uprising against the Abbasid caliphate in 893. In recent years, it has become a place of symbolic gathering for Azerbaijani activists, especially during annual commemorations held in the first week of July.
Baha’i Citizen Zabihollah Raoufi Begins Prison Term in Sanandaj
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On the morning of Wednesday, October 31st, Baha’i Sanandaj resident Zabihollah Raoufi, age 69, went to Sanandaj Prison to begin his one-year prison sentence.
In July, Branch 4 of Sanandaj Appeals court — for the charge of “propaganda against the regime” — sentenced Raoufi to one year in prison and one year of exile to Minab County, Hormozgan Province.
An informed source told HRANA that Raoufi was escorted to prison this morning by an entourage of his loved ones.
Raoufi’s wife Parvaneh Rahmani faces one year in prison on the same charge. Her case is currently under review in Kurdistan Province Appeals Court.
On September 8, 2015, Raoufi was arrested in his home by security forces and released on a bail of 300 million Rials [approximately $2,000 USD] six days later. He was also detained in 2009 and sentenced to a year in prison, again on charges of propaganda against the regime. This sentence was appealed to a six-month term of exile to Tuyserkan, Hamedan Province.
Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.
Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s constitution, however, recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.
Oshnavieh Resident Under Arrest for Reasons Unknown
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – In the morning of Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Oshnavieh resident Amir Hajipour was arrested by security forces in the store where he works.
A source close to Hajipour confirmed news of his detainment to HRANA. As of the date of this report, no further information is available on the reasons behind his arrest.
Oshnavieh resident Rezgar Marouf, arrested by security forces October 5th, was released on a bail of 1.3 billion rials [approximately $8,600 USD] after ten days in custody.
Oshnavieh is a western border county of West Azerbaijan Province.
Wave of Arrests Continues in Khuzestan Province
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Over the past few days, more Ahwazi Arab citizens in the cities of Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, and Shush were arrested by security forces and transferred to undisclosed locations.
They are presumed to have been swept up in an ongoing arrest campaign initiated by authorities after the September 22nd shooting on a military parade in Ahvaz.
In its ongoing coverage of the arrest sweep through Khuzestan province, HRANA previously published reports listing the identities of 130 detainees.
The most recent arrestees have been identified as follows:
1. Yusef Marvaneh, age 18, resident of Molashiyeh, Ahvaz
2. Abdullah Hayati, resident of Seyed Khalaf, Ahvaz, arrested October 27th
3. Nader Hayati, resident of Seyed Khalaf, Ahvaz, arrested October 27th
4. Mustafa Basiri, resident of Kian Abad, Ahvaz, arrested October 27th
5. Kazim Sayahi, resident of Hamidiyeh County, arrested October 27th
6. Mansour Askari, resident of Koye Alawi, Ahvaz city, arrested October 27th
7. Yahya Abidawi, age 28, resident of Hamidiyeh County
8. Qasim Abidawi, age 26, resident of Hamidiyeh County
9. Adel Zabi, resident of Koye Alawi, Ahvaz
10. Aref Abiat, resident of Koye Alavi, Ahvaz
11. Nader Sharifi, age 50, resident of Mollashieh, Ahvaz, arrested October 29th
12. Najm Haydari, age 30, resident of Koye Alawi of Ahvaz city, arrested October 28th
13. Rassoul Chaldawi, age 27, resident of Koye Alawi, Ahvaz, arrested October 28th
14. Seyed Fahd Alawi, age 24, resident of Shush County
16. Abdul Hamid Kanani, age 25, resident of Shush County
16. Amin Soleymani, age 27, resident of Shush County
17. Mohammad Abidawi, age 26, resident of Shush County
18. Valid Hayavi, age 28, resident of Shush County
19. Hassan Barsim (Kanani), age 24, resident of Shush County
As of the date of this report, no further information is available on these arrestees’ locations or the charges against them.