Azad University Threatens to Expel Students Protesting Professor Who Killed a Healthy Dog For Dissection

On Tuesday, June 16, a professor of Veterinary Medicine in the Shushtar Branch of Azad University in Southwest Iran was criticized by students for killing a healthy dog for the purposes of a dissection lesson.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, the dog was still conscious after receiving several doses of anesthesia, and only finally died after the professor cut into its leg vein. Students who have criticized the killing and have posted images of the dissected animal online have been threatened by the school’s administration with expulsion.

Students at Azad University have also said that last year a donkey in the same class was killed in the same way. According to student posts online, the animal stumbled around the room for several hours after being beheaded before it died.

In 2019, all three Ministries of Science, Education, and Health issued directives restricting the use of live animals in laboratories and classrooms. The language of the Ministry of Education’s directive is significantly more decisive than its counterparts; it declares that the use of living beings for education is prohibited without exception. The circular of the Ministry of Health, however, despite emphasizing the importance of first seeking out alternative methods that do not harm the animals, states that it is ultimately up to the teachers to use their best judgement.

According to students in the class, the female dog did not have any specific diseases and the teacher had confirmed the dog’s health after the examination. The professor has as of yet not been reprimanded by the school.

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place in different parts of the country this week. Below is a quick recap and footage from the demonstrations.

 

Saturday, May 29

 

On Saturday, May 29, A group of farmers in Ahvaz city held a rally in front of the Khuzestan governor’s building near the Salman water supply canal to protest water shortages. Teachers of Green Result-Letter rallied in front of the Ministry of Education building in Tehran. Staff of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj gathered after receiving inaccurate salary payments in the hospital area. Izeh preschool teachers rallied in the city’s education building and protested uncertainty over their employment status. Persian Gulf Holding staff protested in front of the gate of the special Mahshahr site. Protestors called on their demands to be addressed.

 

Farmers in Ahvaz city and rural areas:

 

 

Teachers of Green Result-Letter:

 

 

Staff of Imam Khomeini Hospital:

 

 

Izeh preschool teachers:

 

 

Workers from the Persian Gulf Holding:

 

 

Sunday, May 30

 

On June 30, farmers from different villages of Ahvaz city held a rally for the second consecutive day in front of the Khuzestan governor’s building. Retirees of Khuzestan Steel Company held rallies in several cities including Tehran, Ahvaz, Isfahan, and Rudbar in front of their cities’ Civil Servants Pension Fund buildings. A group of teachers and staff of non-profit schools from different cities gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly building in Tehran, in front of the Education Department in Isfahan. Several professors at Azad University in Ahvaz, Shiraz, and Isfahan rallied in front of the campus buildings of their towns. Several fired workers of Mahshahr Petroleum Products Distribution Company gathered in front of the entrance of the oil depot of this city. Bankrupted investors in Caspian Financial Institution rallied in front of the Judiciary building in Tehran. Villagers of Bloband from the Kharqan section of Zarandieh city in Markazi Province held rallies as well.

 

Farmers from different villages of Ahvaz:

 

 

Retirees of Khuzestan Steel Company:

 

 

Tehran

 

 

Khuzestan province

 

 

Teachers and staff of non-profit schools in Tehran and Isfahan:

 

 

Azad University Protesters:

 

Ahvaz

 

Shiraz

 

 

Isfahan

 

 

 

Fired workers of Mahshahr Petroleum Products Distribution:

 

 

Bankrupted investors in Caspian Financial Institution:

 

 

Monday, May 31

 

Several employees of the Persian Gulf Holding Oil protested in front of Mahshahr Petrochemical Site 4. A group of teachers rallied in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly building in Tehran. Service staff of the National Iranian Drilling Camp protested in Ahvaz. Staff of Imam Hospital Khomeini protested in Karaj. A group of temporarily employed staff of Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone and Bandar Imam held rallies.

 

Employees of the Persian Gulf Holding Oil:

 

 

Temporary employees of Mahshahr Petrochemical:

 

Service staff of the National Iranian Drilling Camp in Ahvaz:

 

Staff at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj:

 

 

Tuesday, June 1

 

A group of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane workers protested in front of the management office complex. A group of landowners in the new city of Pardis gathered in front of the Judiciary building, several of whom lost money to the Mehr View Housing project in Tabriz, at the project’s site.  Masjed-e-Soleiman ranchers who lost their livestock to sewage water pollution of Masjed Soleiman Petrochemical protested the devastating oversight.  A group of bus drivers in the bus terminal of Shiraz held protest rallies and called on their demands to be addressed.

 

Landowners in the new city of Pardis:

 

 

Masjed-e-Soleiman ranchers:

 

 

Mehr View Housing project:

 

 

Bus drivers in Shiraz:

 

 

Wednesday, June 2

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane gathered in front of the complex’s management building for the second day in a row and protested. A group of Ahwaz Water and Wastewater personnel rallied in front of the company’s building.

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane (Day 2) :

 

 

Thursday, June 3

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Cane, who say they have not yet received their salaries for the past two months, rallied for the third day in a row in the company’s yard. Police responded violently to the demonstration. In Tehran, BRT bus drivers  rallied to call on their demands to be addressed.

 

Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane (Day 3):

 

 

 

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 19, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 19th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Nasrin Sotoudeh, the jailed human rights lawyer, who was sentence to five years imprisonment earlier this year, will face prosecution on her new charges on December 23. Also, Nader Fatourehchi confirmed that he faced persecution over his criticism of prison conditions after his detention in Fashafoyeh Prison. His court day will be on December 23, 2018.

(2) More than four protests were held in Iran.  Workers of Zanjan Bus Company, retired teachers and the education personnel of Kermanshah, and participants of entrance exam at Medical Branch of Islamic Azad University held protests on December 19, 2018.

(3) Iranian Parliament Committee on Culture requested investigation and additional information from Judiciary and intelligence department about Vahid Sayadi Nasiri, the imprisoned Iranian activist who died after a 60-day hunger strike.

(4) Siamak Namazi and Baquer Namazi ‘s appeals were denied. Siamak was sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign government. Baquer who was a governor before the revolution is suffering from heart disease.

(5) A theatrical performance was canceled in Islamic Azad University of Quchan because of a mixed-gender play on the scene.

(6) On December 19, 2018, 11 detained workers of Iranian National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz were released on bail. Their names are the following: Seyed Habib Tabatabaei, Javad Gholami, Mohsen Baloti, Mehdi Tahmasbi, Kourosh Esmaeili, Ali Emami, Abdolreza Dasti, Sohrab Naami, Hossein Asakereh, Fariborz Sheikhrobat, and Seyed Ali Javadpour. On December 16, more than 43 workers of Iranian National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz had been arrested.

(7) City service workers of Borujerd have nine months of unpaid wages. Borujerd is a city in Lorestan province.

(8) Mohammad Mehdi Zamanzadeh,an internet activist, was temporary released from jail. Zamanzadeh, Mohammad Mohajer and Alireza Tavakoli were arrested in September 2018 and have been sentenced to five years imprisonment being accused of blasphemy related charges.

(9) Mehran Zahrakar is a detained author who is serving his two years sentence on charge with ‘insulting supreme leader’. He has been published several socio-political books.

(10) Shaho Sadeghi, a labor activist who was accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ for participating in International Workers’ Day protest, began serving his sentence on December 19,2018.