Category: News

Attorney Crackdowns Persist as Hoda Amid is Taken into Custody

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Other, Prisoners
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UPDATE: Hoda Amid was released on bail on the evening of Sunday, November 4, 2018, after being incarcerated for 65 days.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Hoda Amid, attorney and women’s rights activist, was arrested by security forces in her home on Saturday, September 1, 2018. No further information is available on her condition or the reasons behind her arrest.

On Friday, HRANA reported the detention of two other attorneys, Farrokh Forouzan and Payam Dorafshan, at the Karaj home of imprisoned attorney Arash Kaykhosravi.

Following the detention of Kaykhosravi and Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, public attention has turned to the increasing political pressures being placed on Iranian legal practitioners, sparking widespread demonstrations across the country.

Kaykhosravi and Sholeh-Saadi were transferred to Evin Court, handcuffed and shackled in prison uniforms, on Tuesday August 21, 2018. They were returned to the Great Tehran Penitentiary after

PRISONERS ON DEATH ROW IN IMMINENT DANGER OF EXECUTION

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Prisoners
Death Penalty, Esmaeil Shahbaksh, iran human rights, Mohammad Shahbaksh, Zahedan Prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Earlier today, September 1, 2018, three political prisoners on death row in Zahedan (capital of the southeastern province of Sistan & Baluchestan and home to Baluchi minority) have been transferred to solitary confinement for imminent execution.

HRANA has confirmed the identities of these prisoners as Mohammad Shahbaksh, 21, of Zahedan, held in Ward 5, Esmaeil Shahbakhsh (aka Beheshti), age 23, held in Ward 4, and Hayatollah Nooti Zehi (Ayatollah Nnikzehi, aka Akbar), age 24, a citizen of Pakistan.

All three were sentenced to death by branch 2 of Zahedan Revolutionary Court last November. Their conviction and sentence were upheld in Supreme Court one month later. They were accused of participating in a firefight with police forces on July 7, 2015, which led to the death of a police colonel. Although all three denied having a hand in the colonel’s death, they were charged as accessories to murder.

Two of the prisoners, Shahbaksh and Zehi, also sustained gunshot wounds during the clash.

These prisoners wrote an open letter last autumn detailing mistreatment and torture at the hands of their interrogators. They wrote of having surrendered during the clash only when security forces promised them immunity, only to then arrest, torture, and arrange for the three to be put to death. The letter also details instances of their torture by interrogators, such as having pepper rubbed into their wounds or their genitalia pricked by needles.

Iran: No End in Sight for Oppressed Attorneys

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Other, Prisoners
Farrokh Foruzan, jailed iranian lawyers, Mohamad Reza Salas Babajani, Payam Dorafshan, Zaynab Taheri

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Attorneys Farrokh Foruzan and Payam Dorafshan were detained at the home of imprisoned attorney Arash Kaykhosravi on Friday, August 31st. No further information is available on Kaykhosravi’s condition or the reasons behind Foruzan’s and Dorafshan’s arrest.

On August 21, 2018, Kaykhosravi and Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, in prison garb and fully shackled, were transferred to the court branch of Evin Prison, where they were read their charges and sentenced to one month’s detention before being transferred back to prison.

Following the detention of Kaykhosravi and Sholeh-Saadi, public attention has turned to the increasing political pressures being placed on Iranian legal practitioners, sparking widespread demonstrations across the country.

The International Federation for Human Rights recently demanded that authorities cease the judicial harassment of attorney and legal practitioner Zaynab Taheri, as well as that of other human rights defenders who have faced increased hostility from authorities.

On June 19, 2018, the day after the execution of Mohamad Reza Salas Babajani, Taheri was detained by the Culture and Media Court for charges of “spreading misinformation with intent to disturb public opinion and campaign against the regime.” She was released on bail on August 8, 2017.

Political prisoner sentenced to lashings for late return from furlough

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Ethnic Minorities, Prisoners
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Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Mohammad Amin Abdollahi will receive 74 lashes for surpassing the end date of his medical furlough from Birjand Prison.
A political prisoner serving an exile sentence in Birjand, Abdollahi was doled the lashing sentence pursuant to a new case brought by Judge Mohabbati of Birjand General Court, branch 104, when he failed to return from his furlough as scheduled.
At the time he was forced to return to Birjand Prison, Abdollahi was in the city of Bukan. He had been hospitalized for chronic kidney failure, suspect appendicitis, back pain, and vision problems, many of which were brought on by hunger strikes he staged in 2015.
The verdict of his furlough-violation case also stipulates that the Ward 101 detainee will be denied the right to further furlough for a period of six months. A source close to Abdollahi told HRANA that he has a pending request for conditional release that, as of last week and for unclear reasons, Iranian authorities have yet to address.
According to Article 547 of the Islamic Penal Code, any prisoner who escapes from a prison or detention center shall be sentenced to 74 lashes or three to six months’ imprisonment. Prisoners who are on furlough in accordance with prison regulations, and fail to return to the prison at the ordered time without a reasonable excuse, shall be regarded as fugitives and are subject to the same punishment.
Abdollahi, a citizen from East Kurdistan, was first arrested in 2005 and spent 15 months in legal suspense before being sentenced in Mahabad Revolutionary Court to 18 years’ imprisonment in exile in Tabas on a charge of “Moharebeh” (enmity against God), for “Collaboration with armed Kurdish opposition parties”, and for another charge of “Propaganda against the regime”.
First serving prison time in Urmia and Mahabad, he was then exiled to Tabas before being transferred to Birjand. After spending more than two months in Birjand’s quarantine ward, he was transferred to the general ward.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) explicitly prohibits cruel and unusual punishments such as lashings.
*Birjand and Tabas are both located in South Khorasan province

Prison Authorities Clamp Down on Ramin Hossein Panahi as Execution Draws Near

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Ethnic Minorities, Prisoners
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Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Ramin Hossein Panahi, a political prisoner on death row in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison, waits shackled hand and foot in a solitary confinement cell.
Hossein Panahi stitched his lips together and went on hunger strike August 27, 2018, to protest his death sentence and the infringement on his basic rights by authorities. A source familiar with his situation told HRANA, “Rajai Shahr officials forcibly pulled the stitches from his lips and transferred him in handcuffs and shackles to solitary confinement in Ward 5, the known destination of prisoners whose execution is imminent.”
Hossein Panahi, who suffers from severe renal problems and other injuries, is unlikely to receive the medical attention he needs in his present state.
Hossein Panahi’s lawyers previously issued a statement announcing their client’s hunger strike and the motivations behind it, and asking judicial authorities to facilitate their client’s access to the legal rights of appeal and request for clemency.
Ramin Hossein Panahi was sentenced to death by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj (Iranian Kurdistan) on a charge of “Acting against national security” on January 16, 2018. The sentence was upheld in mid-April by the Supreme Court before being forwarded to the Execution of Sentences Unit.
Hossein Panahi’s lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz reported in June that his request for a retrial had been denied.
Previously held in Sanandaj Prison (300 miles west of Tehran), Hossein Panahi was transferred to an unidentified location on August 13, 2018, before being transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison (30 miles west of Tehran) for reasons unknown.

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Ahwazi Arab Poet Abbas Torfi Detained in Mashhad

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Cultural, Ethnic Minorities
abbas torfi, ahwazi arab activist, ahwazi arab poet, ethnic minorities in iran, iran human rights

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – On Thursday, August 30, 2018, an Arab poet and activist was detained in Mashhad after attending a private poetry reading. Security forces produced no warrants at the time of his arrest.

HRANA verified the identity of the detainee as Abbas Torfi.

Torfi is actively involved in Arab poetry, culture, and literature. The reasons for his arrest remain unknown. No information is currently available regarding his whereabouts or conditions post-arrest.

IRGC Detainee Back in Zahedan Prison Custody

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Ethnic Minorities, Prisoners
Abubakr Rostami, iran human rights, javaid rehman, political prisoners in Iran, un special rapporteur on iran, Zahedan Prison

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – On the evening of Thursday, August 30, 2018, Abubakr Rostami, a political prisoner on death row, was transferred to the General Ward of Zahedan Prison after being sequestered in an IRGC detention center for two days.
Rostami was originally taken from Zahedan’s Ward 4 into IRGC custody for reasons that HRANA has not yet been able to confirm.
Rostami was among a group of political Zahedan prisoners who addressed a letter to UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman, imploring him to advocate for political prisoners’ rights. Rehman is the UN’s designated expert on the human rights situation in Iran.
In an open letter co-written by Bandeh Chakerzehi and Sajjad Baluch — the two arrested with him on September 16, 2015 in Pakistan – Rostami proclaimed their innocence, stating the IRGC and Intelligence Agency exerted physical and mental torture on them on charges that were “bogus”.
In the letter, Rostami wrote of the trip to Pakistan he was planning in anticipation of making arrangements for continuing his studies [abroad]: “Due to border limitations, I was forced to travel through Pakistan to get to [another] foreign country, but I was arrested midway and handed over to the IRGC,” he wrote.
A second-year medical student at Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Rostami has spent the past three years in prison. In August 2017, along with Chakerzehi and Baluch who were on trial for the same case, he was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan on charges of “Moharebeh” (enmity against God) and “Acting Against National Security through Cooperation with Opposition Groups”. No further details on their case or charges were available.
*Zahedan is a county in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Political Prisoners Pen Condolences in Wake of Deadly Forest Fire

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Other, Prisoners
Arash Sadeghi, forest fire deaths marivan, iran human rights, Loghman Moradi, marivan forest fire, Mohammad Pazhouhi, Omid Kohnepoushi, prisoner letter, Rahmat Hakiminia, Rajai Shahr Prison, Saeed Shirzad, Sharif Bajour, Zanyar Moradi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Four political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison (a.k.a Gohardasht), Karaj, have written an open letter to express compassion over the deaths of four environmental activists who lost their battle with the forest fires of Marivan, located in Kurdistan in western Iran.

The deceased activists — Sharif Bajour and Omid Kohnepoushi, both members of Chya Green Society, and Mohammad Pazhouhi and Rahmat Hakiminia, members of Marivan Environmental Office — were fighting wildfires near the Iraqi border in Salasi and Pileh. Marivan’s county governor revealed their cause of death to be asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation.

Two other activists, Mokhtar Aminejad and Mohammad Moradveisi, were injured in the same fire.

Below is the full text of their letter, translated into English by HRANA:

It is not my lot to die a natural death;

Better for the holy grail than in blissful sleep,

And on truth’s command, I welcome that death

which releases freedom from chains of darkness

It was with great shock and sorrow that we heard the news that Sharif Bajour and the others had perished; grief engulfed us like flames. We struggle to reconcile with the sad reality that the chestnut oaks of Zagros Mountain (1) have lost a dear friend.

Sharif Bajour, so appropriately named (2), leaves the Zagros bereft. He was a true friend to the mountains, plains, and forests of Kurdistan. Had he lived anywhere else on earth [but here], his death would have roused the lament of a nation. If the state-run media shrouds his death in silence, he remains an eternal hero in the hearts of the people. His loss leaves a void in the heart of his nation, who has seldom known so noble and gentle a soul as his. His new and creative path of resistance is his legacy.

Bajour’s resistance involved guarding the chestnut oaks of Zagros with his body and soul, biking for the cause of peace on earth, and staging a hunger strike outside the media spotlight.

As political prisoners of Gohardasht prison, we express our condolences to the families of this respectable man, as well as to the families of the other Zagros fire victims, whose names we regrettably do not know. We extend our deep sympathy to his friends and comrades from the Chya Green Association, to all those who care about the environment, and to the people of Kurdistan. They have lost some of the most honorable men of their time. Much like the fire that took their lives, the loss of these beloved souls has burned our spirit.

Arash Sadeghi,
Loghman Moradi,
Zanyar Moradi,
Saeed Shirzad

—-

(1) Mountain range in western Iran and scene of the fatal forest fire
(2) Sharif means “honorable” in Arabic

Rajai Shahr Executions Continue

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Executions
Death Penalty, iran executions, iran human rights, Rajai Shahr Prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – At least two death row prisoners in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison were executed in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 29, 2018.

HRANA was able to confirm the identities of the executed prisoners: Mojtaba Asadi, who was detained in Ward 3, and Vahidollah Loghmani, age 54, reportedly from Afghanistan. Asadi was sentenced to death on a charge of murder, and Loghmani for a charge of armed drug trafficking.

HRANA was also able to confirm the identity of two prisoners from a group of at least five who were transferred to solitary confinement on Tuesday, August 28, pending execution: Mojtaba Asadi of Ward 3 and Shamsali Abdollahi of Ward 10.

When the plantiff in Abdollahi’s case permitted his execution to be delayed until further notice, he was returned to his prior Ward.

The fate of the two other prisoners is not yet known. If they were put to death, their executions have not been announced by the state-run media as of the time of this report.

An annual report published by the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) states that more than 60% of executions, called “secret executions,” are not disclosed by authorities. According to registered data from 2,945 reports by the Statistics, Publications, and Achievements Division of HRAI, in the past year (from March 21, 2017, to March 18, 2018) at least 322 citizens were executed and 236 others were sentenced to death in Iran. Figuring among these are the execution of four juvenile offenders and 23 public hangings.

Suffering from Cancer: Arash Sadeghi’s Medical Report in Rajai Shahr Prison

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Prisoners
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Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Rajai Shahr prisoner Arash Sadeghi, who despite severe physical symptoms was repeatedly denied medical treatment, has been diagnosed with bone cancer, a source ​close to the matter ​told HRANA.

Sadeghi, a civil rights activist, received his diagnosis after finally being transferred to a hospital last week for medical testing on a tumor in his arm. Hospital officials confirmed the tumor to be malignant, identifying​ it as chondrosarcoma.

Hospital oncologists recommended Sadeghi be immediately admitted to the hospital for further exams, biopsies, and pre-op procedures, HRANA’s source revealed. The source added, “The tumor is located in his right arm under the clavicle and scapula. Doctors have stated that the removal of the tumor and subsequent examinations will determine whether or not further surgeries or [post-op preventive] chemotherapy will be necessary.”

Chondrosarcoma is the most prominent malignant bone cancer in youth, affecting an estimated 100 patients per year in Iran. In this type of cancer, malignant tumors are composed of cartilage-producing cells that may arise spontaneously or from pre-existing benign tumors, most commonly in the pelvic, hip, and shoulder regions. Its cause is still unknown.

Pain and swelling are the primary symptoms of this type of bone cancer in its advanced stages. Unresponsive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, ​chondrosarcoma​ ​​is most often treated with surgical excision of the tumor and its marginal cells. Patient prognosis for this specific type of cancer has improved dramatically in recent years.

On July 21, HRANA reported on Sadeghi’s transfer to a hospital in Tehran under heavy security control. Upon his arrival, hospital officials refused to admit him, stating the doctor was not available to see him; he returned to the prison without receiving medical attention.

Subsequently, Amnesty International issued a statement demanding immediate action be taken to attend to the medical needs of Arash Sadeghi, as he had been diagnosed with a potentially malignant tumor in his elbow.

Arash Sadeghi was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. In December 2016, Sadeghi staged a 72-day hunger strike to protest the continued imprisonment of his wife, Golrokh Iraee.