Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – A number of Ahwazi Arab citizens were arrested by intelligence agents Wednesday, September 12th in Molashiyeh, located in southern Ahvaz County in Iran’s Khuzestan Province, near the Iran-Iraq border.
HRANA was able to identify six of the arrestees as Lami Shamoosi, age 31; Eidan Shamoosi, 28; Shani Shamoosi, 29; Farhan Shamoosi, 27; Amir Shamoosi, 19; and Jasem Heydari, 21.
Many more than these six have been detained, according to estimates from local sources. At the time of this report, no further information was available on their location or the reason for their arrests.
An annual report published by Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) states that in 2017, 6883 citizens were arrested in Iran on ideological or political grounds. Among these were the arrests of 1281 individuals accused of posing a political, ideological, or security-related threat to Iranian citizenry.
The demographics of the arrest pool include 66 media activists, 14 environmental activists, 222 religious minorities, 114 women protesters and women’s rights activists, and 60 laborers and labor activists.
Category: News
Number of Barred Baha’i Students Increases on 2018 National University Entrance Exam
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – A large number of Baha’i students who participated in the 2018 National University Entrance Exam, known as “Konkur,” have had their applications flagged “deficiency on file” on the National Organization for Educational Testing website, a known harbinger of educational aspirations dead in the water.
As an informed source told HRANA, “The ‘deficiency in file’ flag is used on Baha’i citizens to keep them from moving forward in their studies, a practice that’s been prevalent since 2006.”
The barred Baha’i students are Shamim Idelkhani, of Ardebil, ranked #139; Farnia Iliyazadeh of Tehran, studying Mathematics; Parmida Husaynpuli Mamaqani, ranked #4500, studying Mathematics; Sarvin Azarshab of Tehran, studying business, ranked #19000; Parand Mithaqi; Shahrzad Tirgar; and Melina Qavaminik, from Tehran, studying mathematics, ranked #10545.
Yesterday, HRANA reported on a number of Baha’is at the same impasse: Tarannum Mu’tamedi Broujerdi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Faran Abbaspouli Mamaghani from Tehran, Sahand Ghaemi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Vahid Sadeghi Sisan, and Shaghayegh Ghassemi.
In direct violation of the law, Baha’is are prevented from pursuing degrees or employment in government offices, per under-the-table directives from the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Every year, a new cohort of Baha’is is barred in this way from the university enrollment process.
Since the 1979 revolution, the office of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran has repeatedly protested the Iranian government’s animosity towards its Baha’i population, particular in preventing these citizens from furthering their studies. According to the Rapporteur, such directives demonstrate a blatant disregard of multiple international treaties.
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. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes 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.
Three More Deaths in Urmia Prison Attributed to Medical Neglect
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Urmia central prisoners Gholamreza Tubaragh Ghaleh, Reza Malek Rezaie, and Sajjad Jamali Fard have died due to authorities’ refusal to arrange for appropriate medical treatment, joining a dismal trend of detainee deaths related to medical neglect.
Fard died on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 after his transfer to an outside hospital. Rezaie and Ghaleh passed away inside the prison.
Ghaleh was being held on alcohol-related charges; the charges of the other victims have yet to be confirmed.
Prisoner deaths related to detention-related disease and restrictions on hospital transfers have reached a total of five since March 2018, the beginning of the Iranian year. Moloud Vanousheh of Mahabad died of a long-neglected colon condition while being held on alcohol-related offenses. Ghorbanali Mir Esmaeili also died of unattended conditions while in Urmia’s psychiatric ward 2.
Prisoners at Urmia Central Prison continue to be exposed to the elevated health risks of a short-staffed prison clinic without a resident physician. On June 12, 2018, Bahaoldin and Davood Ghassemi, two brothers on Urmia’s death row, requested to be executed as soon as possible when prison authorities refused their transfer to an outside clinic for treatment. Both are suffering from foot infections secondary to spinal injuries which have been further exacerbated by the sanitary conditions of their quarters.
Crackdown on Women’s Rights Activists Continues: Najmeh Vahedi held on ghost charges for 11 days running
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Since women’s rights activist Najmeh Vahedi was arrested 11 days ago, her family has been struggling to learn more about the reasons behind her arrest on September 1st.
In a brief interview with HRANA, Najmeh’s brother Reza said, “In a one-minute phone conversation with my sister on Tuesday September 4th, she was only able to tell us that she didn’t know her charges or why she had been arrested. We keep inquiring [with authorities], and are getting anxious because it’s been 11 days and we still don’t know what’s going on.”
Najmeh Vahedi earned a BS in sociology from Tehran Allameh University and an MS in sociology from Tehran Alzahra University. She is now in her third semester of Women’s Studies at Tehran Allameh Tabatabai University.
On September 3, 2018, HRANA published a report on the detention of this women’s rights activist by security forces at her home.
Over the past few weeks, civil rights activists–especially women’s rights activists–have been pursued by authorities with a renewed fervor. Women’s rights activist Rezvaneh Mohammadi and women’s rights activist and attorney Hoda Amid were among those detained recently.
Vahedi and Amid had reportedly held educational training workshops for women inquiring about their rights in marriage contracts. At the time of this report, no further information was available on their respective charges, nor on the conditions facing them in custody.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement on September 5th of this year asking Iranian authorities to stop the repression of human rights defenders like Amid and Vahedi and to immediately release those who are in custody for peaceful expressions of dissent.
Amnesty International also voiced their opposition to this civil crackdown last week, demanding that affected prisoners be immediately released and that defendants not be limited to a list of regime-designated attorneys.
Labor Activist Behnam Ebrahimzadeh Released on Bail
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On September 11, 2018, labor activist Behnam Ebrahimzadeh was released on a bail of approximately $4,000 USD (400,000,000 Rials) and is awaiting trial.
Ebrahimzadeh was arrested by security forces near Kermanshah (western Iran) and transferred to the local detention center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday, August 17, 2018.
On August 31st, Ebrahimzadeh’s case garnered international attention when a statement from Canadian Union of Postal Workers President Mike Palecek condemned his arrest and demanded his immediate release.
In a previous report, a source close to Ebrahimzadeh’s family told HRANA that he was apprehended “en route to assist survivors of the Kermanshah earthquake.”
Ebrahimzadeh, born in 1977 in Oshnavieh (West Azerbaijan province), has been detained several times since 2008 in cases related to his labor activism. In May 2017, HRANA announced his release from Rajai Shahr Prison after serving a seven-year sentence.
Five Shirazi Baha’is Sentenced to Exile in Absentia
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – In the absence of both the defendants and their attorneys, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz has sentenced five of its Baha’i citizens –Farhad Sarafraz, Shahram Mansour, Vahid Dana, Saeid Abedi, and Adib Haghpajouh– to one year in prison and one year in exile each.
”All five men were accused of ‘Propaganda against the regime,'” an informed source told HRANA. The verdict stipulates that all five will serve their sentences in different cities of the Fars province: Sarafaraz is to be exiled to Jahrom, Mansour to Eghlid, Dana to Arsanjan, and Haghpajouh to Larestan.
On August 5, 2014, HRANA reported the arrest of Haghpajouh, Abedi, and Dana; Mansour and Sarafraz were detained by Shiraz security forces four days prior.
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. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes 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.
Death Row Juvenile Offender Stages Hunger Strike from Solitary Confinement
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Bahauldin Ghasemzadeh, a juvenile offender sentenced to be executed in Urmia Prison who was physically assaulted and transferred to a solitary cell on September 11th, has started a hunger strike in protest.
An informed source confirmed that Ghasemzadeh was transferred and beaten for complaining about authorities’ neglect of his and his brothers’ medical needs. First Ghasemzadeh was barred from hospital visits for his ulcers and spinal cord damage. Then, when he wanted to provide care to his paralyzed brother Davoud, who is also on death row, authorities told him “no.”
“Ghasemzadeh was regularly visiting and tending to his disabled brother at the prison clinic,” the source added. “Yesterday, the head of the prison informed him that he is not allowed to do so any more.”
On June 12, 2018, HRANA reported on the deplorable conditions of Bahauldin and Davoud Ghasemzadeh, two imprisoned brothers on death row who both suffer from spinal cord damage. The report stated that the brothers had developed infections in their feet secondary to these injuries, exacerbating their physical ailments. When prison authorities refused to send the two for outside medical care, the brothers requested their executions be carried out as soon as possible.
As previously reported by HRANA, the two were supposed to be transferred to another prison on April 1, 2018. However, as of the date of this report, high ranking prison officials have prevented the transfer.
Prisoners at the Central Prison of Urmia continue to suffer from a lack of medical attention due to a shortage of medical personnel on site. As of March 20, 2018, the beginning of the Iranian calendar, the deaths of at least five prisoners have been attributed to inadequate medical help.
Background on Death Row Prisoners Bahauldin and Davoud Ghasemzadeh
A source close to the Ghasemzadeh family told HRANA of the brothers’ backgrounds and history with authorities.
According to the source, Bahauldin was 17 when him and Davoud were arrested on charges of murdering two individuals in a tribal conflict. When the charges were formalized one year later, Bahauldin absconded from court and fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.
Bahauldin’s spine was injured in a severe beating by authorities upon his coerced return to Urmia.
“Security officers arrested his sister, mother, and other brother, transferring them to the Urmia Prison,” the source said. “They told him his family members wouldn’t be released until he came back. When he did one month later, he was physically assaulted and sustained the damage to his backbone and spinal cord.”
Both Davoud and Bahauldin are currently on death row. Davoud, the elder Ghasemzadeh, is now completely paralyzed and is held at the prison clinic full-time. Their other brother Javad was executed in Urmia in 2013 on a separate murder charge.
Prisoners at the Central Prison of Urmia continue to suffer from a lack of medical attention due to a shortage of medical personnel on site. As of March 20, 2018, the beginning of the Iranian calendar, the deaths of at least five prisoners have been attributed to inadequate medical help.
January Protests: Third Day of Hunger Strike for Prisoner Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour, a political prisoner being held at Nashtaroud Prison of Tunekabon, has been on hunger strike for three days.
For her participation in the January protests in Tunekabon, Ahmadpour was sentenced in the city’s Revolutionary Court, and Branch 101 of its Penal Court, to 10 months in prison. She has been serving her sentence since August 14, 2018.
Ahmadpour declared hunger strike on Monday September 10, 2018 in protest to a lack of medical attention, authorities’ refusal to allow her access to the prison phone, and of prison authorities, who have reportedly threatened to develop a new case file against her.
An informed source elaborated to HRANA, “When they didn’t let Ahmadpour use the phone, it led to an argument. Instead of escalating the matter for handling by authorities, Mrs. Sha’bani the guard got involved, insulting the prisoner and threatening to get prison and security authorities to pursue further charges against her.”
One day after the incident, the guard told Ahmadpour that a new case file had been opened against her, charging her with blasphemy, even while the content of Ahmadpour’s altercation with Sha’bani was reportedly limited to their disagreement over use of the phone.
The source added, “Ahmadpour is anemic, and is supposed to receive seven units of blood every month. Due to her anemia, she has a high chance of developing leukemia and has to receive regular monthly injections as a preventative measure. Despite these conditions and supporting medical documentation, the prison authorities have not permitted her to be transferred to the hospital for her treatments.”
Mahin-Taj Ahmadpour is a 46-year-old resident of Tunekabon. A peddler by trade, she was arrested along with 14 other residents during the January 2018 countrywide rallies known as the January Protests. The Revolutionary Court of Tunekabon sentenced eight of these arrestees to 28 months’ imprisonment, divided among the defendants. Branch 101 of Criminal Court No. 2 of Tunekabon, presided by Judge Ebrahimi, also sentenced six of the arrestees to 24 collective months of prison time.
Ahmadpour was sentenced May 2, 2018 in Branch 101 of Tunekabon Criminal Court No. 2 to serve six-months prison sentence on a charge of “disrupting the public peace through participation in an illegal gathering.” On August 11, 2018, Tunekabon’s Revolutionary Court compounded the sentence with four months’ imprisonment for “propaganda against the regime.” As evidence against her, the court cited a combination of law enforcement reports and images and video taken during the January protests in Tunekabon.
Tensions Mount over Unlawful Execution of Three Kurdish Political Prisoners
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Shock, sorrow, and censure over the executions of Zanyar Moradi, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi continue to pour in from both international institutions and Iranian citizens in-country, further straining relations between Iranian authorities and the human rights activist community at large.
A number of Kurdish opposition groups have sounded the call to strike to Kurdish regions of Iran, inviting fellow Kurds to protest their comrades’ executions.
Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated, “I deeply deplore the executions last week of three Iranian Kurdish prisoners despite the serious concerns raised by Special Procedures mandate holders that they were not afforded fair trials, and were subjected to torture.” Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, has also condemned these executions.
Imprisoned civil rights activist Atena Daemi was among a number of imprisoned civil rights activists publishing separate letters expressing sorrow and outrage over the men’s deaths. Golrokh Iraee and Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, two more imprisoned activists, wrote and published their own messages of protest and sympathy, with Sotoudeh likening their executions to the *political massacres of 1988.
Some of these letters have reportedly incited blowback from prison authorities, who have subjected Daemi and Iraee to repeated non-routine body searches after their letters were published. When these women inquired about the reason for the searches, they learned the order for frisking had been issued by the Prison’s Director. A Prosecutor Assistant has since promised to investigate.
Excerpts from the letters of Sotoudeh and Iraee, translated into English by HRANA, are below.
Nasrin Sotoudeh:
“The judicial system has executed three Kurdish compatriots. Our Kurdish compatriots have been plagued by oppression for decades. The verdict and sentences of the Revolutionary Court, condemning these three compatriots to die, was the product of an unlawful process that runs counter to Human Rights principles and the laws of the Islamic Republic. In at least one of these trials, had due process been respected, the defendant may very well have been acquitted.
Zanyar and Loghman Moradi were on hunger strike when they were hanged, another testament to the inherent brutality of the judicial system, who itself is supposed to protect us from violence.
I extend my condolences to our Kurdish compatriots, who have had a steadfast, crucial presence in the cultural promotion of Iran; to all Iranians; and, in particular, to the families of Moradi, Moradi, and Panahi. I hope that in heeding the diverse manifestations of Iran’s judicial violence, the urgent need to renounce all forms of it will become clear.”
Golrokh Iraee
“[Their death] invites the wrath of Kurdistan’s Children […] Zanyar Moradi, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi, freedom fighters, Kurdistan’s immortal resistance, teachers of patience and persistence, have left behind a lesson in determination. They were hanged while on hunger strike, in protest of their mistreatment at the hands of authorities; they stood up to the monsters of despotism and reactionarism.
They unmasked those traitors who call themselves statesmen and rulers. Let it be known that the time for lip service has passed. To hold them accountable, we must act.”
****
After being hanged to death in an undisclosed location in Tehran on September 8th without notice to their lawyers, the bodies of the Moradis and Hossein Panahi were *confiscated by the Iranian authorities. The Ministry of Intelligence has since threatened the men’s surviving family members.
Ahmad Amouee, journalist and former prisoner of conscience, published an account of the Moradi and Moradi families’ visit to Tehran’s main cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, where officials had summoned them to bid farewell to their sons’ bodies. Their final resting place remains unknown.
* In the summer of 1988, on the orders of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran at the time, thousands of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners were executed after inquisition-style interrogation sessions. Almost all of these prisoners had already been tried and were either serving their sentence or, having completed their sentence, were awaiting release. All were buried in unmarked, often secret, mass graves.
Mother of Narges Mohammadi Pleads with Prison Officials: “Give her one hour at her father’s side”
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Currently imprisoned at Evin, civil rights activist and Vice President of Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) Narges Mohammadi is being championed by her mother, Ozra Bazargan. Worried that her daughter might never see her ailing father again, Bazargan pleads Mohammadi’s case for temporary release in a letter addressed to Tehran’s Prosecutor General.
The text of Bazargan’s letter, sourced from DHRC and translated into English by HRANA, is below:
Dear Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran Prosecutor General,
Why won’t you agree to Narges’s furlough? How far will you take this injustice against my daughter?
We are in the fourth autumn of our family’s separation. Narges’s father, who is 85 years old, suffers from a cardiac disease and high blood pressure. We have seen Narges four times in as many as years, as our poor health prevents us from traveling to Tehran where our beloved daughter is held. The Evin Prison officials can attest to this.
Last year, Narges’s father suffered from three horrific heart attacks. Fearing she would never again see her father alive, Narges was ready to make the trip to see her him in the ICU–with guards present–for only an hour. And officials wouldn’t even grant her that.
Narges is being kept from her two children, her husband, and her father, all while looters, embezzlers, and society’s high crooks walk free, sit comfortably at home, or– if they’re in prison– enjoy perks from the Judiciary and security forces. An intolerable discrimination underlies this.
We have witnessed the temporary release of prisoners whose lives were affected by tragic events. The last of these was Abdolfatta Soltani [who was only granted furlough in the wake of his daughter’s sudden death]. I fear that my daughter will have to wait for a tragedy, too.
My daughter did not deserve a ruthless 22-year prison sentence at the age of 44. I cannot bear to think of it, let alone of the conditions she’s in: bereft of seeing her loved ones, deprived of medical care, cut off from the cures to her many ailments. I hear that my daughter struggles with aches and pains that she is keeping from us, to spare us the worry. You and your assistants, on the other hand–you know about her pain firsthand. I am told that she suffers through days without getting care. In tears–in cries–I lift my grief to heaven and I ask God for justice.
As a mother and a member of a family of activists, I am weary of the fight against oppression. I condemn this injustice and cruelty oppressing my daughter. I request that authorities consider the length of my daughter’s long sentence, and grant her this furlough. And if you still are resolute on restricting my daughter, send guards along. Give her one hour at her father’s side, so that he might find peace at the sight of his beloved daughter.
Ozra Bazargan
Narges Mohammadi’s mother
* According to her lawyer Mohamoud Behzadirad, Narges Mohammadi has served 6 years and 4 months of her prison sentence, and has 3 years, 8 months left ahead. “She is eligible for conditional release, but the request for that release has yet to be approved,” Behzadirad said.
HRANA reported August 13th, 2018 on Mohammadi’s transfer to Imam Khomeini hospital following a deterioration in her health condition, one week after prison officials had barred her from seeing a neurologist. Earlier, on June 30th, she spent almost a week away from prison while undergoing eye surgery.
Mohammadi was issued a 16-year prison sentence in 2016, 10 years of which were for her role in LAGAM (the Step-by-Step Campaign to Abolish Death Penalty in Iran). The court equated her LAGAM affiliations with “association with the aim to threaten national security.” Mohammadi later stated that her trial judge had displayed an openly hostile attitude towards her, and seemed adamant about backing the charges against her from the Ministry of Intelligence. She also stated that the judge likened her campaigns against the death penalty as attempts to warp divine law.
The other 6 years of Mohammadi’s sentence were on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “disseminating propaganda against the regime,” both in connection to her peaceful civic activities, including: interviews with the media about human rights violations, participating in peaceful assemblies before prisons, supporting the families of death row detainees, contacting fellow human rights activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, participation in peaceful assemblies in protest of acid attacks, and meeting with Catherine Ashton (at the time the EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security policy) in 2014.
Branch 26 of Appeals Court upheld Mohammadi sentence in October 2016. In May 2017, her request for a retrial in the Supreme Court was denied.