A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for February 2, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on February 2nd, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Karim Mohebbi was executed in the central prison of Tabriz on the charge of murder and another prisoner was sentenced to public hanging in Gilan.

(2) More than four protests were organized across the country. Educators in the cities of Karun and Bavi, the customers of two Iranian automakers, Iran Khodro (IKCO) and Kerman Motor, the students of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch in Tehran, and the investors of the project of Shahid Keshvari in Isfahan have held separate protests to request their demands.

(3) A landmine explosion severely injured a citizen in the city of Dehloran. More than 42 thousand square kilometers of the lands in the Iran‘s western provinces contain landmines left from the Iran-Iraq war. Dehloran is in the Ilam province.

(4) Five Baha’i residents of Shiraz have been sentenced to six months imprisonment, each, on the charge of “propaganda against the state”. They were identified as the following: Farhad Sarafraz, Shahram Mansour, Vahid Dana, Saeed Abedi, and Adib Haqpajouh.

(5) An Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, Hakimeh Ahmadi, is in prison since October 18, 2018. According to Hrana, she underwent hospital treatment for rib cage and finger injuries which have been occurred in the Intelligence detention in Marand County. Security forces entered Ahmadi’s home on October 18th, threatening both her and her spouse with a weapon. She was arrested and transferred without explanation to an undisclosed location. In a video which was published on October 30th, Ahmadi’s husband, Gholamreza Ghorbani, related news of her hospital transfer, explaining that authorities had refused to disclose where she had been admitted, forbade him from visiting, and advised him that pending treatments would be at his and Ahmadi’s expense.

(6) Expulsion of Sepehr Shahidi Ghamsari, a Baha’i civil engineering student from Sina Higher Education Institute in Kashan due to his faith. Baha’i students in Iran routinely experience either denial of entrance to university or removal from student lists during their studies. Numerous reports are published annually regarding the barring of Baha’i citizens from education.

(7) Reza Khandan and Farhad Meysami filed an appeal against their conviction. They 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.

(8) The second court session of eight environmentalists on the espionage-related charges was in session in Tehran. Moreover, five of the detained environmental activists were charged with “corruption on earth”.

(9) A detained Baha’i citizen, Maryam Ghafarmanesh , was arrested on September 16th, 2019. Her family did not receive any answer to why, and for how long, she will be held in prison. She was one of the eight Baha’i citizen who were arrested and transferred to Evin prison between September 16th and October 17th. They were identified as Parvan Manavi, Elham Salmanzadeh, Hooman Khoshnam, Payam Shabani, Peyman Manavi, Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Jamileh Pakrou (Mohammad Hossein) and Kianoush Salmanzadeh.

(10) Jafar Azimzadeh, the leading member of the Free Union of Workers in Iran, was transferred to Evin prison to serve his six-year prison term. Moreover, Azimzadeh and Shapour Ehsanirad have been acquitted of charges of “acting against national security” in June 2018. In 2016 he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over charges of “propaganda against the state” and “assembly and collusion against national security through organizing an illegal group’.

(11) Hossein Rezaei, a teacher and the secretary of the teachers’ union in Bushehr, who was arrested on January 26, was released on bail. He had been summoned twice to the intelligence office and was interrogated in January.

(12) The workers of Saman Tile Manufacturing Company in Borujerd, have more than four years of unpaid wages. The workers of IranPetroTech have also unpaid wages and 12 workers of this company have been laid off last month.

(13) A labor activist, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, has been detained for one month and a half, although his family provided his bail bond which has been set for 200 million Toman [approximately 20 thousand USD]. He had been released from prison last year after finishing his seven years sentence.

(14) The special needs students’ transportation vehicle crashed, leaving eight injured in Sharafkhaneh in Shabestar County in the East Azerbaijan Province.

(15) Iran has six thousand disabled veteran women of Iran-Iraq War and more than six thousand women had been killed in this war. These women and their families have been treated unequally by the government and the society in comparison with men veterans.

(16) Saeed Malekpour’s mother wrote an open letter to Tehran’s Prosecutor General to request her son’s release after serving ten years in prison. A Canadian resident and alumna of Sharif University was arrested in 2008, during a trip to Iran on blasphemy-related charges. According to Hrana, the Cyber Unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), accusing Malekpour of managing Persian-language pornographic websites, arrested him during a trip to Iran to visit his family and sentenced him to death plus seven and a half years in prison, on counts of “propaganda against the regime,” “blasphemy,” “insulting the Supreme Leader,” “insulting the president,” “contacting opposition groups” and “corruption on earth.” Malekpour’s death penalty sentence was eventually reduced to a life sentence. Throughout his legal proceedings, Malekpour has insisted that case analysis by a computer and internet expert would absolve him of the charges.

(17) Hamid Askari, a singer, was banned from working and the rest of his concerts have been canceled because of featuring a female vocalist and guitar player, Negin Parsa, in his concert. Women are prohibited from singing or playing musical instruments solo in Iran.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 13, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 13th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) 11 protests were organized across the country. The workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Mill, the customers of Caspian financial institution in Tehran and the customers of its branch in Mashhad, Badr Toos institution, the workers of city services in Nishabur, the workers of Ahvaz intercity railway, retired academics in Tehran, teachers in Yazd, the employees of financial intuition of Arman in Tehran, municipality employees in Abadan, the retired workers of Kian Tier in Tehran, members of theater organization in Tehran have held separate protests.

(2) 13 Baha’i citizens were exonerated in the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. Shamim Hakimi, Nader Farzandi Ardekani, Baba Salmanzadeh, Mmostafa Shaerzadeh, Aref Nikaeen, Habib Ram, Navid Jaberi, Mohammad Esmail Forouzan, Varjavand Mostaghim, Mehran Dokouhaki, Riaz Khadem, Badiollah Masoumi, and Aminollah Shammardani were accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and their businesses have been forceful closed for a month.

(3) There were 276 reported child abuse cases in Khuzestan in the mid six months of 2018.

(4) Three university students were burnt because of a faulty stove due to dormitory’s authorities negligence in maintenance in Hormozgan province.

(5) Three Baloch citizens, Mohammad Damani, Akhtar Askani, and Morad Bakhsh Askani, who were arrested on December 15, were released on bail. They were arrested in Qasr-e Qand city after the Chabahar attack.

(6) Ali Vaseghi and Asgar Akbarzadeh, Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists, were summoned to the Ardabil Revolutionary Court on January 23. They were charged with ‘forming an illegal group to disrupt national security’.

(7) Ali Ghabeshi was released from Ahvaz’s Sheiban prison after he finished serving his 3-years imprisonment sentence. He was arrested in March 2016 with several others who were later executed or received long term imprisonment sentences

(8) A worker activist, Ezzat Nasri, was released from Saqqez prison after finished serving his 3-month imprisonment sentence. He was arrested on November 27th with the charge of ‘propaganda against the state’.

(9) Two residents of Ahvaz, Sami Sagouri and Abdelghader Delfi, were arrested by the security forces and transferred to an unknown place. The reason of their arrest and their whereabouts are still unknown.

(10) A Baha’i citizen, Maria Kosari, was exonerated in the appeal court in Kurdistan province. She was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and two years exile.

(11) Amir Hossein Mohammadifar and Sanaz Allahyari who were arrested by the security forces on January 9, have been transferred to the Ahvaz intelligence detention center. They were working as editors of “Gam” journal.

(12) Three prisoners were publicly executed in Yasuj today. They were charged with ‘moharebeh through ‘armed robbery’. In 2018, at least 236 people have been executed and 195 people have been sentenced to death in Iran.

(13) The workers of municipality of Marivan have at least six months of unpaid wages.

(14) Hamid Babaei, a detained student who is serving his six years imprisonment sentence, has been granted a furlough. He was a Ph.D. student in finance at Liège University in Belgium when he was summoned to the Intelligence Ministry while visiting his family in Iran in August 2013. According to Hrana, he is married and was born on 11th December 1983 in the city of Takab, in West Azerbaijan province. He was graduated in mathematics from Sharif University in 2006 and the same year to follow a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering Science was accepted in Technology University of Iran. The relatives of Babaei have said that he has not had any political activity during his stay abroad and only because of rejecting the request of Ministry of Intelligence upon cooperating with them, he has been arrested.

(15) The administrators of a popular Telegram channel were arrested by security forces in Omidiyeh. They were accused of publishing classified information.

(16) Three Baha’i-owned businesses have been forcefully kept closed in Khoramshahr, during the last two months.

(17) The chairman of city council of Yazd was sentenced to 37 lashes and paying fines on the charge of ‘distributing falsehood’. Gholamali Sefid, supported, Sepanta Niknam Zoroastrian councilor who had been suspended from his post due to his faith.

(18) Four workers died and two have been injured in the cities of Nur, Rafsanjan, and Tehran because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(19) Four prisoners were spared from hanging on gallows by the consent of next of kin in Kermanshah. They were accused of murder in 2010.

(20) A landmine explosion severely injured a 34-year old man in the city of Dehloran. Moreover, another landmine explosion injured a landmine disarming agent in Mehran city. More than 42 thousand square kilometers of he lands in the Iran ‘s western provinces contain landmines left from the Iran-Iraq war. Dehloran and Mehran cities are in Ilam province.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 30, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 30th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) The 2018 annual overview of Human rights violations in Iran which is compiled by HRANA from 3677 reports is published. This 42-page report contains the details of more than 7442 months of imprisonment sentences, 2694 lashes, and execution of 236 people.

(2) The house of Jalil Behamin, a Baha’i citizen in Isfahan, was thoroughly searched by the security forces and some of his belongings were confiscated. The house of two other Baha’i citizens in Isfahan had been searched by the security forces in the past weeks

(3) Nine Christian converts in Karaj were arrested suspecting their ties to a ‘Zionist Christian sect’. They are accused of trying to convert Muslims and the followers of other religions to their underground house church.

(4) The family of Ali Nejati, a detained member the syndicate of workers of Haft Tappeh Agro-Industry, reported concerns about his health conditions in the prison. He is suffering from heart disease.

(5) Jamshid Derakhshan, a Christian convert, was released on bail on December 16th. He was arrested on November 30th in Karaj.

(6) Four prisoners were transferred to solitary confinements
in preparation for their execution in the Urmia prison. Their charges are murder and narcotic drugs-related crimes.

(7) The appeal court of five Baha’i citizens of Shiraz will be in session on Monday. They were earlier sentenced to one-year imprisonment and one year of exile in the Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court.

(8) Pouya Razavian, a Baha’i student, has been banned from school since 2011. He was barred from graduating from high school because of his faith.

(9) Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Hengameh Shahidi’s attorney confirmed that he has submitted an appeal request for her sentence of 12-years and nine months of imprisonment.

(10) A school vehicle crash injured five students in Sumay-ye Beradust District in Urmia province. The injured students have been transferred to a local hospital.

(11) A citizen was severely injured in a landmine explosion incident in Dasht-e Abbas village in Dehloran County in Ilam Province.

(12) Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi, a writer and activist, who was arrested in Mashhad at October 11, was released on bail today. He was accused of acting against national security and overthrowing the government.

(13) Marliksan Company in Qazvin laid off 180 workers.

(14) Two citizens were sentenced to death in Tehran. One of them accused of murdering the executive editor of ‘Shomaresh’ magazine. Moreover, in Gonbad-e Kavus three prisoners got the victims’ family’s consent and were saved from execution.

(15) Several employees and the head of Kish Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting were fired due to inefficient censorship of a foreign television show.

(16) Hendijan’s head of health care system confirmed that 33 residents are victims of drinking contaminated water. They have been diagnosed with dysentery.

(17) The director of AIDS Research Center, Dr. Minoo Mohraz, confirmed that the main AIDS transmission method has been changed to sexual contact in the past two years. She added that the number of infected females has grown 10 times.

(18) Two workers in Tehran and Kerman have been injured due to their unsafe workplaces.

(19) Municipal workers of Lowshan, students who have been accepted in Azad University entrance exam, workers of city services in Nishabur, the farmers of Isfahan province, families of detained workers of Iran National Steel Industry Group, workers of city services in Kut-e Abdolla, and students of Science and Technology University held separate protests on December 30, 2018.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 23, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 23rd, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Iranian border patrol shot a 27-year-old Kurdish kulbar, Ali Mamveisi, in Sardasht. He was severely injured and was transferred to a hospital in Urmia.

(2) A 36-year-old woman committed suicide by self-immolation on December 22 in Kooy-e Saadi district in Ahvaz.

(3) In the last two days, six workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group were released. More than 43 workers were arrested on December 19.

(4) A prisoner charged with murder was saved from death with forgiveness of the next of kin in Khuzestan.

(5) Behrouz Farzandi , a Baha’i prisoner of war and disabled veteran of Iran-Iraq war, has been denied his degree after completing a bachelor program in Business Administration.

(6) A citizen was severely injured after a mine exploded in Dehloran city in Ilam province.

(7) The Supreme Court rejected the death sentence of Marjan Davari, a 52-year-old translator and scholar in Shahr Ray women’s prison, who was sentenced to death on charge of ‘corruption on earth’ in 2017. She was a translator in the Rah-e-Marefat institution.

(8) Detained civil rights activist Reza Khandan was released on bail. His charges are “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the state” and “encouraging prostitution by promoting non-observance of the hijab.”

(9) Esmail Bakhshi, a labor activist, returned to his workplace. He was a worker of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Argo-Business and was released on bail on December 12. He was detained for 40 days in prison.

(10) Nader Fatourechi’s court was on session on December 23. He confirmed that he faced persecution over his criticism of prison conditions after his detention at Fashafoyeh Prison. He was released on bail.

(11) A woman suffers serious injuries after an acid attack by her 20-years old step-son in Tehran. The two had financial disputes.

(12) The director of burn prevention research center: 40 percent of the burn patients are children and more than 15 percent of them are the women who are the victims of self-immolation.

(13) In a statement, more than 600 teachers requested immediate investigation of the causes and the responsible authorities in a Zahedan kindergarten fire. They warned that more than half of the schools in the country are unsafe.

(14) The appeal court of a Baha’i painter, Shahriar Cyrus, who was arrested on June 2015 and was sentenced to five years in prison will be in session on December 25th. He was accused of ‘assembly and conspiracy against the state’ by offering painting classes. He was a student of Aydeen Aghdashlou, Rouyein Pakbaz, and Ahmad Vakili and had been teaching painting for many years. He has also published articles on philosophy and art history in Iranian newspapers.

(15) More than 60 workers in Iranian Rail Industrial Development Company (IRICO) have been laid off due to company’s financial problems.

(16) Two workers died due to an unsafe workplace in Dehdasht and Gonabad.