The following statement has been released by Mothers of Park Laleh on the International Day Against Death Penalty, October 10, 2011:
The Nobel and Honorable People of Iran:
How can we believe the government when there is so much evidence to the contrary? Since the Islamic Republic of Iran came to power, human rights violations began. Mass killings in Kurdistan, the Cultural Revolution, the dismissal of large numbers of students and professors from universities, the oppression of political parties and the imprisonment of their members, barbaric and violent tortures, the mass executions of prisoners, the continuation of a destructive war with large numbers of fatalities and disabled veterans, the dismissal of bright and intelligent individuals from their places of employment, the Chain Killings in Iran and abroad, orchestrated attacks against dormitories and murdering college students, driving the country’s gifted and talented scientists abroad, opening fire on crowds in the streets, attacking gatherings of women, workers, teachers, students and funeral processions in homes and cemeteries and thousands of other human rights violations which can’t be mentioned here one by one. So what must be done? Continue reading “Mothers of Park Laleh: Human Rights Violations Reaching Record High in Iran”
HRANA News Agency – Forty three prominent professors around the world have issued a letter denouncing restrictions on freedom of education in Iran. For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has denied Baha’i citizens the right to attend universities and has blocked any attempts by the Baha’i community to establish institutes of higher education for its members. As recently as two days ago, seven Baha’i professors and university officials connected with the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) were sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison. Continue reading “Prominent Professors Denounce Restrictions on Freedom of Education in Iran”
HRANA News Agency – The Statistics and Publications Unit of Human Rights Activists in Iran has reported that from October 2010 to October 2011, 480 individuals charged with various crimes have been hanged in Iran. During the same period of time, there have been 641 prisoners sentenced to death and 46 individuals hanged in public.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the majority of prisoners who received the death penalty were charged with drug related crimes. It is also noteworthy that Iranian Judiciary Branch neither officially announces the majority of death sentences when they are issued nor the time when they are carried out.
Since the beginning of 2011, 478 individuals have been sentenced to die, and the death penalties for 422 of these prisoners have been carried out. If there are no more hangings in the remaining days of 2011, the number of hanging in the current year will be 22% less than last year. Continue reading “480 Prisoners Hanged From October 2010 to October 2011”
Joint Message from UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, ILO and Education International on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day
NEW YORK/ GENEVA/ PARIS, 5 October 2011 – Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we honour the millions of educators all over the world who devote their lives to teaching children, youth and adults.
This year’s theme, “Teachers for Gender equality”, reminds us that in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the gender dimension of teaching must receive particular attention, beginning with girls’ access to schools. We know, for example, that in many regions a low proportion of female teachers will mean fewer girls at school and consequently even fewer women teachers in the future. Yet educating girls and women has cascading benefits for human development: fewer deaths in childbirth; more healthy babies; more children in school; better protection for children and women from HIV and AIDS, trafficking and sexual exploitation; and the economic and political empowerment of women, leading to stronger and more inclusive development. Continue reading “Joint Message from UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, ILO and EI on World Teachers’ Day”
Tehran, 1st October 2011– More than 5 years after Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi was incarcerated for being a steadfast advocate of strict adherence to the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he has suffered a severe heart attack, which has led to a pulmonary edema. Intelligence authorities have rejected all demands by Evin prison officials for him to be treated at a properly equipped medical facility.
For over 1825 consecutive days, Kazemeini Boroujerdi has been denied the freedom for advocating separation of religion from state in Iran, and peace in the Middle East. As importantly he has called for Iran to abide by all its international obligations.
He was brutally arrested at his home by the Iranian state’s feared Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), on 8th October 2006. Alongside him, those arrested included members of his family and hundreds of supporters who were acting as human shields. The LEF deployed handguns, tear gas, batons and anti crowd control vehicles to attack the residence and the surrounding streets, beat up, maim and transport the arrested to Section 209 of Evin prison where they were brutishly questioned and held in solitary confinement. Since then Kazemeini Boroujerdi has been subjected to the most inhumane forms of physical and psychological torture to force him into signing a statement renouncing his beliefs. Continue reading “Boroujerdi Suffers Heart Attack and Pulmonary Edema”
HRANA News Agency – Majid Dari is an imprisoned student activist expelled from Allameh Tabatabai University (ATU) in Tehran. He studied literature at ATU and was a member of the Advocacy Council for the Righhttps://www.en-hrana.org/thehiddenlocation/wp-admin/post.php?post=4419&action=editt to Education. In July of 2009, Majid Dari was arrested by Iranian Intelligence Agency and locked up in Evin Prison.
Following a trial and an appeal, Majid Dari was sentenced to 6 years in prison and exiled to Khuzestan Province. In August 2010, without prior notice, prison officials placed Majid Dari in shackles and transferred him to a prison in the city of Behbahan. Since then, he has been serving his prison term in exile.
Majid Dari has written the following statement from Behbahan Prison on the occasion of the new school year in Iran: Continue reading “Majid Dari: “Students Stand Tall Against Tyrants!””
The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International is seriously concerned for the welfare of journalist, poet and activist Faranak Farid, who was arrested on 3 September 2011 in Tabriz, north-west Iran, apparently for her peaceful activism and writings on environmental issues and women’s rights. She was reportedly severely beaten during her arrest and also ill-treated during the lengthy interrogation sessions which followed at the Tabriz police detention centre in the initial days of her detention. Requests for medical treatment have been denied and concerns for her welfare are mounting. PEN International demands Faranak Farid’s immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. It also urges that she is given all necessary medical treatment as a matter of urgency. Continue reading “PEN International Demands Faranak Farid’s Release”
HRANA News Agency – More than 80 Iranian artists have issued a statement to protest against the prosecution of their colleagues in the country. Amongst the signatories, there are well-known artists belonging to two generations of Iranians living either in the country or abroad. The full text of this statement is as follows:
Art is the portrayal of liberty on the wings of thought and imagination. Pity those who believe by imprisoning an artist’s physical being, his thought process is eroded.
How do occasional incursions carried out against independent and intellectual artists lead us to the shores of salvation while our nation’s thirst and admiration for art can’t be quenched by pretentious rulers reigning over our culture? Continue reading “Befitting to Name Evin & Gharchak Artists’ Dwelling”
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. Continue reading “A Moving Letter from Dr. Maleki to UN Special Rapporteur”
Mothers of Park Laleh condemn the 1980s massacres especially the mass executions of political prisoners in 1987 and join all mourning mothers to demand justice!
Another anniversary of mass executions of political prisoners in 1987 arrives while the horrifying account of this brutal massacre has spread all over the world. With each passing year, curtains purposefully drawn to conceal these crimes are opened to reveal dark accounts as living eye-witnesses begin to talk about those murderous years.
The story of 1987 is the tale of tortures, lashes and atrocities; it is the tale of sudden cessation of all communications with and visits from the outside world. It is the story of trials lasting only a few minutes with a single question asked and a lone answer received without the presence of an attorney or the right to defend oneself; it is the story of prosecuting even prisoners whose prison terms had ended. It is the tale of death sentences not subject to appeals. Continue reading “Mothers of Park Laleh Remember Political Prisoners Slain in the 1980s”
