Convicted Drug Offender Executed in Ahvaz Prison

On August 21, 2023, an inmate previously convicted of drug-related crimes faced execution within the walls of Sheyban Prison in Ahvaz.

The inmate has been identified by HRANA as Abdolreza Ghalavand. A resident of Andimeshk and a father to a single child, Ghalavand had spent the past decade behind bars.

None of the official sources and media outlets inside the country reported this execution at the time of writing.

In 2022, the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists in Iran registered 457 reports related to the death penalty. This included 92 death sentences, including the conviction of 6 people to public execution and 565 execution sentences were carried out, 2 of which have been carried out in public. Based on the announced identifications of some of the executed individuals, 501 were male and 11 were female. In addition, 5 juvenile offenders were executed in 2022, meaning they were under the age of 18 at the time they committed the crime.

 

 

Report on Protests Following Abadan Building Collapse

In recent days, following the collapse of a building in Abadan in Khuzestan Province which led to the death of 29 people declared so far, hundreds of citizens in Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr-e-Rey, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr demonstrated against the government, more specifically on the issues related to corruption, low safety standards, and mismanagement. People protested against authorities and influential individuals whose corruption, incompetency and failure to impose safety standards on the construction contributed to the disaster. They also blamed shortcomings in rescue operations and equipment for such a high death toll.

Metropol Collapse

So far, a number of protestors have been arrested. Anti-riot forces have been present on the scene, turning peaceful protests into a violent showdown.

On Monday, May 23, 2022, 10-story building which was under construction known as Metropol collapsed in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province. Dozens of people were killed, injured or trapped in the rubble. The experts of the Abadan Engineering Organization had already warned about the safety deficiencies and announced that for these safety issues, the building should not be inaugurated. Nonetheless, the construction continued.

Although the causes of the collapse have not been investigated yet, many argue that the lack of construction oversight by the municipal officials who are themselves the shareholders of this project led to this disaster.

Moreover, the government’s failure to provide adequate emergency response and proper rescue equipment caused anger and criticism toward the officials. According to some victims’ families and protestors, the officials’ failure to provide the required equipment hindered the debris removal operation, which led to the death of more people who were trapped under rubble. Moreover, the government did not cancel a state-run celebration in a sports stadium, which further angered the populace.

Protests

Initially, people gathered for mourning after the building collapse which turned into the marching in streets and spread to additional cities. In Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr Ray, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr, people marched and chanted slogans against the Iranian regime.

On Friday, the protests turned violent in some cities as the police attempted to scatter the crowds with tear gas and pellet guns. Many protestors were beaten in Ahvaz and Shahin-Shahr .

The protests continued on Saturday and Sunday. In Andimeshk, Abadan, Shahr-e-Rey, and Dezful, people marched and chanted “death to the dictator”, “the clerics must go away”, and other anti-regime slogans.

On Sunday, officials in Abadan attempted to hold a supervised mourning gathering. According to reports of eye-witnesses obtained by HRANA, during the gathering, people began to chant anti-regime slogans, did not allow the assigned cleric to finish sermons, and left to march in the streets.

The map below shows the geographical distribution of protests:

On Friday, Netblocks, a watchdog organization that monitors global access to the internet reported disruption on the internet in Iran. Some local sources have also reported the internet and phone disruption to HRANA. These reports were in Abadan, Ahvaz and Khorramshahr.

Arrests

Dozens of people have been arrested during these protests. So far, HRANA has identified four individuals who were arrested as Ali Fartoosi, Aghil Amoori, Mohammad Fartoosi, and Hamid Fartoosi. These individuals were arrested and transferred to an unidentified location. Also, on Thursday, Karim Aldninawi, an Arab poet and resident of Shush City, was arrested following his criticism of the government in a video post on social media.

The following video is a compilation of 44 verified video reports on current protests.

 

 

Report on Current Nationwide Protests: Hundreds Arrested; Dozens Killed and Injured

During the last two weeks, triggered by food price hikes, nationwide protests erupted in more than 31 cities across 10 provinces. HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, has recorded 53 demonstrations so far. 

According to HRANA, on Friday, May 6, 2022, following the government’s decision to cut subsidies on essential food items such as dairy products, flour, cooking oil, chicken, and eggs leading to soaring prices, the call for rallying against soaring prices went viral on social media. In the following days, several protests broke out in Khuzestan Province and soon swept through numerous cities across the country.

Prior to these protests, a series of protests and gatherings of teachers, labor workers and the retirees who had lost their pensions due to the government’s risky financial decisions had been sweeping across the country leading to dozens being arrested.

The new rounds of protests sparked initially in Susangerd City and other neighboring cities in Khuzestan Province. In the following days, at least 30 Arab-speaking citizens were arrested by security forces.

Soon after, the protests spread to other cities and provinces. The videos received from citizen journalists indicate that the protestors chanted slogans against inflation as well as the Iranian regime leaders, including President Ebrahim Raeisi and Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The map below shows the locations where the protests were.

As the map shows, the protests took place in the following cities: Izeh, Susangerd, Hamidieh, Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Masjed Soleiman, Shadegan, Jarahi Town Mahshahr, Dorud, Andimeshk, Dezful, Shahrekord, Junaqan, Fashafouyeh, Yasuj, Ardabil, Farsan, Khorramabad, Dehdasht, Borujerd, Suq, Yazd, Golpayegan, Cholicheh, Rasht, Neyshabur, Surshjan, Hafshejan, Babaheydar, Karevan Town and Pordanjan.

In total, 53 protests have been recorded. Moreover, 45 times, the attempts to start a protest were foiled due to the heavy presence of police and security forces in the streets. 

The map below shows the locations of 53 protests and the time periods.

During these protests, at least on 22 occasions in 14 cities, the police and security forces used tear gas, warning shots, pellet guns and in some cases heavy weapons against the protestors. In nine cities, tear gas and in 14 cities warning shots were used to scatter the crowds. In eight cities, security forces fired straight toward the crowds. Reportedly, security forces have used pellet guns, Kalashnikov assault rifles and paintball guns to disperse the protestors.

The map below shows the places where crackdowns and unrestrained shootings have been reported.

Since the beginning of the protests on Friday, May 6, the government disrupted the internet in several areas in Ahvaz in an attempt to prevent the protests. In the days that followed, Internet disruption was also reported in at least 10 cities.

In addition to intentional Internet disruption, the press was banned from covering the protests.

According to the reports obtained from local sources, at least 449 individuals were arrested during the protests.

So far, six people have been confirmed dead. These people have been identified as Pishali Ghalebi Hajivand (Dezful), Saadat Hadipour (Hafshejan), Jamshid Mokhtari Junaqani (Junaqan), Omid Soltani (Andimeshk), Hamid Ghasempour (Farsan City), and Behrooz Eslami (Babaheydar). HRANA can only confirm the reports on the death of the first two individuals mentioned above.

From all videos of protests which are circulating on social media, HRANA has verified the authenticity of 30 video reports which compilation you can watch below:

 

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 22, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 22nd, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) More than nine protests were organized across the country. Retired educators and other retired government employees, Ghoflkar Company workers in Alborz, the municipality workers in Lowshan, Marivan, Borujerd, and Andimeshk, the workers of Assaluyeh Pars Petrochemical Company, the shareholders of Caspian financial institution in Rasht, and the contractors of Tehran municipality have held separate protests to request their demands.

(2) Placed 1st in the Iranian University Master Studies Entrance Exam, Amir Reza Alipour Hashtali Amoli, was sentenced to six months in prison on the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader”.

(3) In the last nine months, 56 workers died and 112 have been injured in the work-related incidents in East Azerbaijan province, which is a four percent increase over a year. Iran ranked 102 in the workplace safety among other countries.

(4) 72 people have been arrested in a “mix gender party” in Sari. The detainees were transferred to the court. They may be able to get out of jail by posting bail, otherwise they would be imprisoned.

(5) Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a professor of journalism, was summoned to the Evin’s prosecutor’s office. He was an editor of several newspapers, including Kian, Toos, Jame’eh, Neshat, and Asr-e Azadegan.

(6) A Human rights lawyer, Mohammad Najafi, was sentenced to 19 years imprisonments. He is serving his three years sentence in prison and faced 74 lashes and 16 more years imprisonment for his new charge of “spreading lies and disturbing public opinion”.

(7) Behzad Shahsavar and Siamand Shahsavar, prisoners of the Intelligence detention center in Urmia, have been transferred to Naqadeh prison. They were accused of “corporation with a Kurdish opposition group”.

(8) 23-year-old, Amin Pishdad, was transferred to Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad. He had been arrested last year on blasphemy and espionage related charges and was sentenced to ten years in prison which was reduced in the appeals court to eight months.

(9) A Baha’i citizen, Soheil Haghdoost, was sentenced to four months imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the state” for announcing and following up regarding his business’s forced closure. Also, he has been sentenced to a year in prison in March 2018.

(10) Reza Khandan and Farhad Meysami have been sentenced to six years in prison each, and were banned for two years form traveling, membership in any social or political group, and internet activism.

(11) The workers of Assaluyeh Pars Petrochemical Company, who were protesting their layoffs, have been arrested.

(12) Five students in Kashan were transferred to a hospital for gas poisoning because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in heater installation in the school.

(13) Three thousand villages in Sistan and Baluchestan do not have water distribution network. 46 percent of population in this province have access to the water sources.

(14) Members of the Iranian Writers Association, Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and Keyvan Bazhan have been arrested. They were summoned to the court on the “encouraging immorality or prostitution” and security-related charges, were imprisoned because they could not post a bail.

(15) 180 workers of Ahvaz inter-city rail have 18 months of unpaid wages. Kayson Project Management Company paid one months of their unpaid wages but there are still concerns that the remaining will be left unpaid.

(16) A prisoner accused of murdering his friend was spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Tehran. He was spending 6 years in prison.

(17) Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, civil rights activist, was released on bail. He was arrested with Arsham Rezaei and Majid Hosseini on the charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “collusion against the state”. The two others’ whereabouts is still unknown.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 11, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 11th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Tohid Ghoreishi was transferred to Evin prison after an attack to Sunni prisoners’ ward in Rajai-shahr prison by the Special Forces. He is facing new accusations while serving the last months of his seven years sentence.

(2) Esmail Bakhshi ‘s lawyer confirmed that none of the Iranian authorities have reached out to him regarding his complaint. He wrote a letter explaining his torture in prison and called on the Minister of Intelligence for a debate concerning torture and abuse in prisons.

(3) In a bus rollover in Assaluyeh on Thursday, 13 workers of Bushehr Petrochemical Company were injured.

(4) Nasrollah Lashani a political prisoner, ended his hunger strike. He was on hunger strike since January 7, 2019, protesting mistreatment by the prison officials and being banned from having visitors. Lashani is a Nationalist-Religious Activist who was accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and was sentenced to six years in prison. He was beaten and insulted in front of his wife and his 8-years-old son during a family visit on December 26, 2018.

(5) Expulsion of Shayan Manavi, a Baha’i Civil Engineering student from Azad University of Qods due to his faith. Baha’i students in Iran routinely experience denial of entrance to university or expulsion during their studies.

(6) The parliament authorities have shown concern about Zahra Navidpour ‘s death. She accused a member of parliament for repeatedly raping her. She reported that there were several women who had been raped by Salman Khodadadi but did not file a complaint, fearing their lives.

(7) Mostafa Mostafavi, a Sunni prisoner, had been held for 27 days in a solitary confinement of the intelligence office before he was transferred to Urmia prison. He is accused of ‘cooperation with Kurdish opposition groups’.

(8) A prisoner who was sentenced to death on the charge of murder, was saved from the gallows by the intercession of Imam of Friday prayers and forgiveness of the next of kin in Andimeshk after six years.

(9) A manager of a clothing retailer was arrested and her business was closed down in Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh in Gilan province because of advertising in social media. In October, several photographers were arrested in Shiraz because of ‘inappropriate content’ in their Instagram account.

(10) Several customers of the Iranian automobile manufacturers in protest to the company’s false promises to deliver their purchased car and fulfilling their demands, have been protesting for three consecutive days in the international auto fair in Tehran.

(11) Nour Mohammad Shimvaari, a prisoner of Zahedan prison, was severely beaten and injured by prison wardens. His wrist was fractured, and he was denied medical care.

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A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 29, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 29th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) A Ph.D. student of political science, Shapour Reshno, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and two years exile. He along with six other residents of Andimeshk were accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ through cooperation with opposition groups. Ehsan Mirzavand was sentenced three years in prison and two years exile. Hossein Tafi, Darioush Jafarpour, and Iman Mirzavand were sentenced to six months imprisonment and finally, Behzad and Siavash Ghalavand faced four months in prison.

(2) In a letter, Mohammad Habibi, a teacher’s right activist who is detained in the Evin prison, has warned that the political prisoners’ cases are judged outside the judicial system. He is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 74 lashes.

(3) Hamzeh Darvish a Sunni prisoner of Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj had a severe anxiety attack and the left side of his body is paralyzed. He ended his hunger strike after 70 days last month.

(4) Hamidreza Rahmati,a teacher activist,who was protesting the arrest of the teachers during teachers’ strikes, was arrested.He is accused of ‘disturbing public order’ through his nine days sit-in by the Shahreza’s Ministry of Education office.

(5) Farid Pazhoohi a 24-year-old from Marivan, was arrested in October 2018 by the Intelligence Agency. His whereabouts is still unknown.

(6) Two kulbars were injured by the border patrol’s shot in Urmia and Khoy. Another kulbar was drowned in Baneh.

(7) The workers of Paloud Dairy Company reported that at least 180 workers have five months of unpaid wages. Also, Sani Electric Company went out of business and laid off 40 workers.

(8) The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company has shown concerns about incidents similar to the Azad University bus rollover and criticized the government’s policies on transportation. Ten students died in a bus rollover in Tehran on December 25.

(9) Delnia Sabouri and Rojin Ebrahimi were transferred to Kamyaran prison. They are accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ by attending the international Labor Day protest in the Kurdistan ‘s appeal court.

(10) Three workers in Hamadan were injured in an unsafe workplace-related incident.

(11) A citizen of Turkey, Aydin Ojilak, was exiled to Tabriz prison. He was accused of cooperation with opposition groups and had been serving his five years sentence in Urmia prison. After his hunger strike, he faced exile and was transferred to Tabriz prison.

(12) Retired staff of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, and the family of detained workers of the Iran National Steel company were held protests on December 29.

(13) Students and the families of students who died in a bus rollover incident at the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch were protested on December 29, 2018. The main reason behind the deadly bus crash seems to be the old transport system. University students participated in a demonstration at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, in Tehran to protest about old transport fleet which led to the death of their peers this week. The family members of the victims also joined the demonstration.

(14) A Baha’i prisoner was denied medical care despite his severe heart disease in Adelabad prison. Hasan Momtaz Sarvestani was accused of tutoring at The Baha’i Institute of Higher Education and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

(15) Several children in Kerman province are suffering from Epidermolysis bullosa which is a group of genetic conditions that cause the skin to be very fragile and to blister easily. They don’t have access to needed health care.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 7, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 7th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Two Citizens Were Saved from Execution

(2) An Execution in Bandar Abbas

(3) Security Agents Did not Allow People to Commemorate 20th Anniversary of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja’far Pouyandeh Murders

(4) A Transgender Character Was Censored in an Iranian TV Series

(5) Two Citizens Were Saved from Execution

(6) More from Iran

   


(1) Two Citizens Were Saved from Execution

An individual who was arrested with a murder charge, finally was saved from execution in jail by the help of judicial authorities and victim’s family’s consent. This citizen had spent the last 17 years waiting for the execution in prison. The murder took place in 2001 in one of the villages of Sarab that is a city in East Azarbaijan province. In another case, a prisoner who was accused of murder and was sentenced to death, by the intercession of Imam of Friday prayers of Andimeshk and forgiveness of the next of kin, was saved from the gallows. Khodakaram Rahimi, the head of Andimeshk’s judiciary office said “we have 15 million cases in the judicial office and with the help of reconciliation committees, they are investigating precisely and quickly. Andimeshk is a city in Khuzestan province.

(2) An Execution in Bandar Abbas

Jamshid Agha Rahimi, a prisoner who was accused of murder was executed on December 4th,2018 in the Bandar Abbas central prison. An informed source said: Jamshid was a resident of Haji Abad. 15 days before his execution, he was transferred from Haji Abad to the Bandar Abbas prison. He was accused of murdering a man who harassed Jamshid’s sister in 2014. His execution has not been announced from Iran’s media yet.

(3) Security Agents Did not Allow People to Commemorate 20th Anniversary of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja’far Pouyandeh Murders

Earlier this week, Iranian Writers Association invited people to commemorate 20th anniversary of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja’far Pouyandeh murders in Emamzadeh Taher cemetery in Karaj in Alborz province. But today, security agents came to the cemetery and did not allow people to mark the anniversary of their deaths. Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja’far Pouyandeh were among the victims of chain murders in Iran. The chain murders of Iran were the assassination in the string of disappearances and suspicious deaths of intellectuals and political figures in the second half of 1998. After Mokhtari was reported missing, the body of Mohammad Ja’far Puyandeh was found near Karaj. The case of these four individuals became known as the chain murders.Prior to their murder, Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, leaders of the Iran Nation Party, were brutally murdered in their house.

(4) Masoud Babapour Faced Prison

A political activist, Masoud Babapour, was sentenced to 13 years in prison and was banned from social rights for two years with the charges of propaganda against the regime and acting against the national security. He was arrested on November 27th, 2009 and after several months of interrogation, was sentenced to two years in prison back then.

(5) A Transgender Character Was Censored in an Iranian TV Series

Nima Shabannejad, the actor who played a transgender character in an earlierly- banned Iranian TV series, Mamnoee, announced his disagreement on the censorship of his role in this TV series.

(6) More from Iran

The Ministry of Oil has decreased natural gas allowance per household by the verge of winter.

Teachers in Kermanshah announced their solidarity with the worker and student protests.

A teacher who had physically punished a student in a school in Hamedan was suspended and the school’s principal and his assistant principal were dismissed.