A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for February 7, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on February 7th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) More than four protests were organized across the country on February 7, 2019. Teachers and educators in Isfahan, the investors of Padideh Shandiz in Mashhad, the teachers of Esfarayen in the Ghazvin province, the workers of Karaj municipality, have held protests to request their demands.

(2) Two workers were injured in Gotvand city in Khuzestan province because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in their workplaces. Iran ranked 102 in the workplace safety among other countries.

(3) The CEO of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation confirmed that 50 million Iranians reported to live below the poverty line.

(4) Human Rights Watch announced that Iran’s authorities are violating fair trial standards in the case of eight environmentalists; “Iranian authorities should open a transparent investigation into the torture allegations the accused have raised during the trial.”

(5) Ehsan Karami was banned from appearing on Iran national television. He is a singer, actor, and television host.

(6) The Special Forces attacked Sunni prisoners’ ward in Rajaee Shahr prison because a prisoner, Tohid Ghoreishi, refused to attend the court session. Tohid Ghoreishi, Hamzeh Darvish, Marivan Karkuki, and Namegh Deldel were severely beaten and injured

(7) A number of Ahwazi Arab citizens were arrested by intelligence agents in Hamidiyeh in Ahvaz. Nabi Saedi, Ahmad Saedi, and Shahab Sayahi were arrested on Wednesday, February 6th. No further information was available on their location or the reason for their arrests.

(8) AbuBakr Rostami, a political prisoner on death row in Zahedan prison, began hunger strike after being transferred to the quarantine ward for an unknown reason. He was a medical student at Zabol University of Medical Sciences and spent the past three years in prison on the charges of “acting against national security by collaborating with anti-regime groups” and “Moharebeh” (enmity against God).

(9) A converted Christian, Sina Moloudian, was released on bail on Monday, February 4th. Iranian security officials raided his home and confiscating his belongings in Isfahan on January 23, 2019.

(10) Maryam Mombeini, the wife of Kavous Seyed-Emami, is still barred from leaving the country. Seyed-Emami was the Iranian-Canadian environmentalist who died in prison after being accused of spying.

(11) The Iranian government arrested, imprisoned or executed at least 860 journalists over 30 years frpm 1979 to 2009, according to documents leaked to Reporters Without Boarders (RSF) and at least four journalists were executed.

(12) More than 500 workers have been laid off in Ghazvin province while two workers of Pars Tire Company in Saveh were laid off after the wage protest.

(13) The Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, pardoned or reduce the sentences of a large number of convicts on the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution which is commemorated in Iran.

(14) Five homeless people died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in Fardis in Alborz province.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for February 3, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on February 3rd, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) More than four protests have been organized across the country on February 3, 2019. The educators in the cities of Karun and Bavi in Khuzestan province, the investors of Persian Pars Company in Tehran, the customers of Iran Khodro Company, and the workers of Cham-e Shir dam in Gachsaran have held separate protests to requests their demands.

(2) The whereabouts of 20-year old who was arrested two months ago in Piranshahr on the charge of “cooperation with a Kurdish opposition group”, is still unknown. Soleiman Mohammadnejad is a resident of Gargul village in the West Azerbaijan Province.

(3) The nurses of Azadi hospital in Tehran have at least two months of unpaid wages.

(4) Mehran Bandi Amirabadi and Mehran Eslami Amirabadi, Baha’i citizens of Yazd, began their one-year prison sentence in the Yazd prison.

(5) Arjang Davoudi, 65-year-old political prisoner in Zahedan prison, is detained in quarantine ward despite his sickness and sever kidney pain. He is banned from visits, medical care, and meeting other inmates. He is serving a five-year prison term.

(6) The attorney of Parvin Mohammadi , a labor activist and the vice-president of the Free Union of Workers in Iran, announced that his client’s case has been transferred to the court after an appeal on her one-month warrant.

(7) Abubakr Rostami, political prisoner on death row in Zahedan prison, was transferred to the quarantine ward after being summoned to the prison warden’s office on Saturday. The reason of his transfer is still unknown.

(8) Mostafa Tork Hamedani, the attorney of the workers of the Social Security Organization, began his prison term. He was sentenced to 40 lashes and six-months imprisonment for the complaint filed by Saeed Mortazavi, the former general prosecutor of Tehran.

(9) Afsaneh Emami (Naseri), Baha’i citizen, was arrested at her house in Tehran. The security forces searched her house and confiscated her belongings. Her whereabouts after the arrest is still unknown.

(10) Mohammad Parvazeh and Hamid Parvazeh, citizens of Marivan, were released on bail. They were arrested on January 16 on the charge of “cooperation with a Kurdish opposition group”.

(11) The Evin prison officials refused to transfer Ahmadreza Jalali, an Iranian-Swedish doctor on death row,to the hospital despite prior arrangements. He is suspected to have Leukemia. He was arrested in 2016 accused of espionage.

(12) One worker was killed, and seven others were injured in separate incidents in Khoy and Tehran because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in the workplace.

(13) A prisoner who was accused of murder, was spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Andimeshk after nine years in prison.

(14) 13 citizens who were arrested during the uprising of July 2018, received their sentences. Five of them are sentenced to one year in prison and eight others are sentenced to six months in prison. They are accused of “acting against the national security and illegal gatherings”.

(15) Pouria Sepahvand, an environmentalist and a consultant of Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, was arrested on February 3, 2019. The reason of his arrest and his whereabouts’s are still unknown.

Zahedan Court Considers Case File Deficiencies of 3 Death Row Prisoners

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Judge Mashhadi presided over two lengthy court sessions September 24th and 25th in order to resolve deficiencies in the case files of Zahedan prisoners Abubakr Rostami, Sajjad Baloch and Bandeh Chakerzehi (Chakeri), who were issued death sentences in August 2017 from Branch One of Zahedan’s Revolutionary Court.
In the initial trial, all three were charged with “acting against national security by collaborating with anti-regime groups” and “Moharebeh” (enmity against God).
An informed source told HRANA that authorities at the court sessions, which lasted more than five hours each, pored over evidence submitted against the prisoners by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). So far, the evidence submitted is not anticipated to adequately support their convictions. “Barring any more reliable documentation to substantiate the claims of the IRGC representative, including documentation of the location of their arrest, it is looking more likely that they could be acquitted of the Moharebeh charge,” the source said.
When the last court session drew to a close, the three prisoners were transferred back to Zahedan Prison and told that the court’s decision–or request for further information–would be forwarded to them in the prison.
On August 30, 2018, HRANA reported on the transfer of death row prisoner Abubakr Rostami back to the general ward. He had been sent August 28th from Zahedan’s Ward 4 to the Detention Center of the Intelligence Office of the IRGC for unknown reasons.
Earlier, Baluch, Chakerzehi, and Rostami proclaimed their innocence in an open letter, saying that the accusations against them were baseless, and relating physical and psychological tortures they had experienced at the hands of the IRGC. All three were arrested December 13, 2017, in Pakistan.
In the aforementioned letter, Rostami wrote of his trip to Pakistan, which was planned amid arrangements for a study 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.

Two Saravan Residents Transferred to Zahedan Prison after a Month of Interrogation

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – After being read their charges, two residents of Saravan (Sistan and Baluchestan Province) who were previously arrested by security forces and transferred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Detention Center, were transferred to Ward 1 of Zahedan Central Prison.
HRANA has confirmed the identities of the detainees as Najib Dehvari, 21, and Abdolshakur Sotoudeh, 22.
An informant confirmed the news to HRANA, adding, “Both were arrested and interrogated on charges of ‘Acting Against National Security’ in connection with a sound bomb that went off in front of Saravan’s Intelligence Ministry last month, which incurred no casualties.”
Although several others are likely to be arrested and transferred to prison in connection with this case, no further information is currently available.
On August 31, 2018, HRANA published a report on the transfer of Abubakr Rostami, another political prisoner on death row, from an IRGC detention center–where he was sequestered for two days–to the General Ward of Zahedan Prison. No information is available on the reasons for his transfer. *

IRGC Detainee Back in Zahedan Prison Custody

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.

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Zahedan Death Row Prisoner Now in Custody of the IRGC

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Abubakr Rostami, a political prisoner on death row, was transferred from Ward 4 of Zahedan Central Prison to an IRGC detention center on August 28, 2018. To date, HRANA is unable to confirm the reason for his transfer.
A source close to Rostami told HRANA, “A few days ago, prison authorities told Rostami he was not to use the library or gym, then on Tuesday they transferred him outside.”
Rostami was among a group of political prisoners in Zahedan who addressed a letter to UN special rapporteur Javaid Rehman, imploring him to advocate for political prisoners’ rights.
Prior to this, in an open letter co-written by Bandeh Chakerzehi and Sajjad Baluch — the two arrested with him on September 16, 2015– 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.