Tag: iran human rights

At Home and Abroad, Civil and Union Activists Continue to Rally Behind Detained Teacher Mohammad Habibi

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Freedom of Expression, Labor and Guilds, Prisoners
At Home and Abroad, imprisoned teachers, iran human rights, labor union iran, mohammad habibi, prisoner of conscience

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- In the interest of obtaining Mohammad Habibi’s medical treatment and release from detainment, over 1400 Iranian civil and union activists have signed a letter to the attention Iran’s Supreme Leader, as his case steadily gains exposure with syndicates abroad.

Habibi, himself a union activist, educator, and member of the Teachers’ Union Association Board of Directors in the Province of Tehran, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence ruled Saturday, August 4th in Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court. In addition to prison time, Habibi’s sentence included a two-years ban on civic activity, a two-year travel ban, and 74 lashings.

Since his detainment, Habibi’s requests for medical furlough have been repeatedly denied. On the one occasion his leave was granted, he was released from Great Tehran Penitentiary, prematurely dismissed from the hospital without receiving treatment, and then transferred to Evin on Monday, September 3, 2018, where he has remained since.

In one letter addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the French trade unions SFDT, SGT, FSO, Solidaires, and UNSA called Habibi’s imprisonment a violation of both human rights and the fundamental freedoms of syndicates, and held the Supreme Leader accountable for his fate.

“Prison authorities continue to refuse him the medical treatment he sorely needs. Without proper care, his condition is at risk of rapid decline,” their letter reads. “We mean to impress upon you that as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, you are responsible for the life and health of Mohammad Habibi.”

The signatories of the Iranian letter below are currently at 1400 and steadily increasing. Its full text is below, translated into English by HRANA:

“The Noble People of Iran,
Dear Teachers,
Political, Civil, and Union Activists,
Sensible people of the world,

As you know, Mohammad Habibi — member of the board of directors of the Teachers’ Union Association of the Province of Tehran, and protector of the rights of students, retired educators, and currently working teachers– has been subjected to the hostility of authorities and unlawfully detained in the Great Tehran Penitentiary, weakened in body but vigorous in spirit, and was recently sentenced to ten and a half years in prison, a 2-year travel ban, and a 2-year ban on civic activity.

The verdict against this unionist, coupled with the sentences of fellow unionists and political and civil activists, betrays the will to choke freedom of speech with medieval punishments such as lashings, exile, and internment in prisons reminiscent of POW detainment centers– so many efforts to inject fear and trepidation into the civil activist’s drive for justice.

Habibi’s verdict is reminiscent of the heavy sentences imposed on student activists and of the lashes inflicted on Agh Tappeh mine workers, sentences that are the latent dread of every civic society.

These sentences are issued for teachers, workers, students, etc… meanwhile, the thieves, the embezzlers, and the corrupt, in comfort and security, violate and withhold the rights of ordinary people and laborers, continuously lowering the bar on their livelihood.

It is our human duty in such circumstances to raise our collective voice against these cruel punishments, in order to put an end to the imprisonment, flogging, and persecution of sick prisoners.

To intercept a looming human tragedy, the Defense Committee of Mohammad Habibi calls for his immediate medical admission, and with a greater sense of solidarity than ever before will continue to fight for his release as well as the release of other imprisoned teachers.

We call on all free and righteous people to protest the imprisonment and flogging of Mohammad Habibi, and that of other unionists and civil activists, starting with their signature on the “No to Prison and Flogging” petition. Hopefully, this year, Mohammad Habibi’s students will see him again in the classroom, and not behind the bars of a prison.”

****

On May 10, 2018, the Council for Coordination of Teaching Syndicates urged teachers, be they retired or employed, to assemble in protest across the country. In Tehran, several of those who responded to the call were arrested and transferred to Evin Prison; all but Habibi were released on bail three days later.

Mohammad was previously arrested at his workplace on March 3, 2018 and jailed for 44 days in Evin Prison. On April 15, 2018, he was released on a bail of approximately $20000 USD (2.5 Billion Rials) in wait of his trial the following August.

Prisoner Attempts Suicide to Escape Rajai Shahr Prison Mafia

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Prisoners
human rights violators, iran human rights, prison suicide, Rajai Shahr Prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Rajai Shahr prisoner and father of one Ali Ahmadi, 50, has been transferred to a hospital after attempting suicide by pill overdose. As of the date of this report, his medical status is unknown.

According to a close source, Ahmadi attempted suicide to escape the prospect of continuous harassment from the prison mafia, a group of inmates maneuvered by Ward 1 Head “Hassan Kord” (real name Hasan Gord) who physically assaulted him for refusing to pay them, and then got away with it.

“On Kord’s orders, they went to hector Ahmadi into paying two million tomans (approximately 150 USD). When he couldn’t make the payment, they beat him up. When Ahmadi reported the beating and extortion to Kord and the prison authorities, nothing came of it,” the source said.

Currently held in Ward 1 of Rajai Shahr, located in Karaj, Alborz province (30 miles west of Tehran), Ahamdi has spent 13 years in prison on murder charges, and over the course of his sentence has obtained *forgiveness from three out of four of his victim’s family members.

Rajai Shahr is among the most redoubtable prisons of Iran. Though it is classified as a criminal penitentiary with the National Prison Bureau, it has for many years served as an exile for both political and non-political prisoners.

Human rights organizations have published numerous reports on discriminative mistreatment of prisoners, as well as prison authorities’ blatant disregard of regulation by abetting organized crime, smuggling, premeditated murder, and the unlawful directives of security authorities. HRANA previously published an exposé of key players in Iran’s prison system, laying bare the systematic nature of prison corruption.

Ahmadi is not the first prisoner to attempt suicide under Kord’s despotism; HRANA has reported on a number of Rajai Shahr prisoners who declared hunger strike, self-mutilated, or attempted suicide in similar circumstances. In a brief conversation with HRANA, one prisoner revealed that Hassan Kord was behind the assaults of at least five prisoners in the first week of September 2018 alone.

Kord, who collaborates with multiple prison gangs including “Hani Kordeh,” has a history of instigating violent brawls among inmates that have led to prisoner deaths. He plays a central role in Rajai Shahr’s funneling of recalcitrant or quarreling prisoners into an institutional no-man’s-land known as the “bloody ring,” a particular hall of the prison where many were killed in March 2018.

In 2016, HRANA reported on the murder of prisoner Babak Ghyasi, who had allegedly not been amenable to the demands of Kord or his associates. Earlier this year, controversial prisoner Vahid Moradi was also killed in a ward under Kord’s management.

* In Islamic penal code, the family of a murder victim may freely choose between “Qesas” (eye-for-an-eye) punishment (i.e. the execution of the defendant) and a death row pardon, often in return for blood money. In this legal sense, “family” includes parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, but not the victim’s spouse. Often the defendant must obtain unanimous forgiveness from the victim’s legal family in order to be pardoned.

Zahedan Prisoner Hanged on Drug and Weapons Charges

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Executions, Prisoners
arafi reigi, Death Penalty, iran executions, iran human rights, Zahedan Prison

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA)- Arafi Reigi, a 32-year-old prisoner of Zahedan’s Ward 5, was hanged to death early this morning, September 15, 2018.

Reigi had been in prison for six years on charges of drug trafficking and armed clashes, and had always denied the latter charge. According to a confidential source, Reigi was summoned September 12th for a purported transfer to a Ministry of Intelligence detention center. “Instead,” said the source, “he was taken to solitary confinement to await execution.”

Amnesty International annual reports indicate that Iran has the highest rate of execution in the world per capita. The HRANA Statistics Center reported that between March 21, 2017 and March 18, 2018, at least 322 persons have been executed and 236 have received the death penalty in Iran. Among those executed, there were 4 juvenile offenders—under 18 years of age at the time of the offense—and 23 executions carried out in public. More than sixty percent of Iran’s executions are not publicized, and are considered “secret” executions.

Update: Authorities Continue to Hold Back Aspiring Baha’i Students

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Religious Minorities, Students
baha'is in iran, Bahai Students, banned students in iran, barred students in iran, iran human rights, konkur, religious minorities in iran, university entrance exam iran

Baha’i enrollment numbers in Iranian universities are still under threat

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) Additional Baha’i college applicants have had their university entrance exam results invalidated on the National Organization for Educational Testing website, effectively barring them from continuing their studies.

As part of a larger anti-Baha’i discrimination policy administered by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the e-dossiers of Parham Mokhtari from Saravan (ranked #397), Basir Zeinali Baghini of Bandar Abbas (ranked #1506), Yahya Mousavi Tangrizi from Karaj, and Anita Rastegar have all been flagged “deficiency on file.”

The flagging of results on this nation-wide competitive test, known as “Konkur,” is a well-known technique for repressing Baha’i college hopefuls. HRANA previously reported on a number of Baha’i student test results that were blocked from further processing using the same method. As of the date of this report, sixteen students have been prevented from pursuing higher education because of their Baha’i faith.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.

Update: Systematic Religious Discrimination Curbs Twenty-three Baha’i College Hopefuls

Seven more would-be college students have been plucked from the pool of candidates by a government-sanctioned process designed to thwart the educational pathways of Baha’i citizens.

Nabil Bashi Ardestani, Tara Bahamin, Bita Charkh Zarrin, Nona Ghadiri, Sayeh Aghaei from Tabriz, Pegah Siroosian, and Sadaf Misaghi Seysan of Tehran have joined the growing number of Baha’i youth whose results on the competitive National University Exam, known as “Konkur,” have been flagged “deficiency on file” on the National Organization for Educational Testing website, rendering them ineligible to apply to college.

Over the past few days, HRANA reported on 16 prospective Baha’i college applicants who are now at the same impasse: Parham Mokhtari from Saravan ranked # 397, studying mathematics; Basir Zeinali Baghini from Bandar Abbas ranked # 1506; Yahya Mousavi Tangrizi from Karaj, Anita Rastegar, Tarannum Mu’tamedi Broujerdi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Faran Abbaspouli Mamaghani from Tehran, Sahand Ghaemi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Vahid Sadeghi Seysan, Shaghayegh Ghassemi, Shamim Idelkhani, of Ardebil, ranked #139; Farnia Iliyazadeh of Tehran, studying Mathematics; Parmida Hosseinpooli Mamaqani, ranked #4500, studying Mathematics; Sarvin Azarshab of Tehran, studying business, ranked #19000; Parand Misaghi; Shahrzad Tirgar; and Melina Ghavaminik, from Tehran, studying mathematics, ranked #10545.

The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution flags the e-dossiers of Baha’i students as part of an organized effort — in the words of one HRANA source — “to keep them from moving forward.”

The most recent seven targets of this campaign bring the current total to 23 Baha’i students being deprived of the opportunity to pursue higher education because of their faith.

Letter from Afshin Hossein Panahi Honors Executed Brother, Supporters

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Ethnic Minorities, Executions, Prisoners
Afshin Hossein Panahi, Death Penalty, hangings, iran executions, iran human rights, Loghman Moradi, Political Prisoners, prisoner letter, Ramin Hossein Panahi, Zanyar Moradi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Following the execution of his brother Ramin, political prisoner Afshin Hossein Panahi has expressed his gratitude and solidarity in the form of a letter, addressed to an international community which continues to champion the memory and cause of his late sibling.
At an undisclosed location in Tehran province on September 8th, Ramin Hossein Panahi was hanged to death alongside Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, without notice to their respective families or lawyers, and pursuant to a legal process on which human rights organizations had already cried foul.
Once the brothers were hanged to death, their families received threatening messages from the Ministry of Intelligence and were refused the right to inter their bodies.
In the wake of these executions, residents and merchants of several Iranian cities where Iran’s Kurdish population is highest– particularly in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan –went on a general strike. In response, civil activists in the cities of Sanandaj, Marivan (Kurdistan), Oshnoviyeh, Sardasht (West Azerbaijan), and Ravansar (Kermanshah) have been taken into custody.
Seven political detainees at Evin Prison, including Atena Daemi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Golrokh Iraee, have written letters to express their condolence to the families of Moradi, Moradi, and Panahi.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet responded to the executions in the following statement: “I deeply deplore the executions last week of three Iranian Kurdish prisoners despite the serious concerns raised by Special Procedures mandate holders that they were not afforded fair trials, and were subjected to torture.”
Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, has also condemned these executions.
The full text of Afshin Hossein Panahi’s letter, translated into English by HRANA, is below:
A whisper echoes through the iron labyrinth
It sings, “endure! dawn is upon us!”
To the dear civil rights activists, and political parties and groups both inside and outside Iran,
I am thankful and grateful for your unfaltering efforts and support over the past year in trying to stay the execution of my innocent yet audacious brother.
I have a heavy heart and tearful eyes in my grief over the loss of Ramin, who died with dignity. He was proud to fight for the freedom of those who would *later rise in [his] defense and honor, those who have peacefully troubled the foundation of despotism.
Fettered in prison, I am no free man. Notwithstanding my innocence, and my faith in the righteousness of the freedom march, I suffer pains common to all Iranian civil and political activists, and my demands have become one with theirs. I demand my rights be realized, and I will not rest or falter until they are restored. I am infinitely thankful to those comrades who strive to raise the voice of Iran’s political hostages.
Let it be known that the strength of our pact and the spirit of our fight will prevail.
Afshin Hossein Panahi,
Sanandaj Central Prison
* Referring to the general strike in Kurdish areas of Iran
*************************
Afshin Hossein Panahi is a political activist who was arrested on June 26th, 2017 in his home. He was sentenced to eight and half years in prison by judge Saeedi of Branch one of Sanandaj Revolutionary Court on charges of “disseminating propaganda against the regime” and “collaboration with a Kurdish opposition group through participation in a Nowruz ceremony.” This sentence was upheld in appeals court. He was also arrested in 2011 for inquiring into the suspicious death of another one of his brothers, Ashraf Hossein Panahi. In that case, he was sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime.”

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Merchant Strikes Sparked by Recent Executions Lead to Backlash and Arrests

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Ethnic Minorities, Labor and Guilds, Prisoners
iran human rights, iran protests, Loghman Moradi, merchant strikes iran, Ramin Hossein Panahi, Zanyar Moradi

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Kurdish merchants in Iran’s Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan provinces have shut down shop and gone on strike, heeding a call from Kurdish activists to organize a rebellion in response to the recent execution of three Kurdish political prisoners.
Loghman Moradi, Zanyar Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi were hanged to death in dubious circumstances on September 8th, sparking international outcry and rebuke from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Kurdish opposition parties reacted to the untimely deaths of Moradi, Moradi and hossein Panahi by sounding the call to strike through Kurdish regions of Iran, inviting fellow Kurds to protest their comrades’ executions, HRANA previously reported.
The Kurdish shop owners began staging strikes September 12th, which have thus far led to the arrest of 16 political and civil activists in the Iranian Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Marivan, Oshnavieh, Sardasht, and Ravansar. In addition to civic arrests, security forces have responded by spray-painting threats onto shuttered bodegas.
On Tuesday, Labor activist Khaled Hosseini was detained by security forces in Sanandaj–the Iranian city with the largest Kurdish population–along with Mozaffar Salehnia and Mokhtar Zarei, who were arrested one day later. All were transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison with a bail set at approximately $8000 USD (800 million IRR).
Meanwhile, the western border city of Marivan is experiencing the brunt of the crackdown: Moslem Bahrami, Suran Daneshvar, Aram Fathi, Mohammad Azkat, Dalir Roshan, Ahmad Tabireh, Nishervan Rezaei, Nooshirvan Khoshnazar, Aram Amani and Ahsan Partovi were all reportedly arrested there Tuesday.
Oshnavieh resident Rashid Naserzadeh was also detained on Tuesday, and released on bail a few hours later.
Jafar Rasoulpour was arrested the same day in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province. Bagher Safari, age 60, was taken in Wednesday by security forces in Ravansar, Kermanshah.
Zanyar and Loghman Moradi were put on death row after the Iranian authorities accused them of murdering the son of a Friday prayer leader in Marivan, a charge they have always denied. Censured by human rights organizations from the outset for its shoddy documentation and lack of evidence, the Moradi’s case was still incomplete at the time they were put to death.
The Moradis wrote an open letter, published in May 2017, detailing their ordeal along with case facts they alleged were constructed by the Ministry of Intelligence. The letter also described torture they experienced at the hands of authorities.
Ramin Hossein Panahi, the third executed Kurd, was tried and sentenced to death by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on a charge of “acting against national security by violating the rights of others” on January 16, 2018. His sentence was upheld in mid-April by the Supreme Court before being forwarded to the Execution of Sentences Unit.

Second Dervish Arrested in Dashti Village

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Religious Minorities
dervish iran, Hadi Karimi, iran human rights, religious minorities in iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Hadi Karimi, Dashti village resident and member of Iran’s Dervish religious minority, has been arrested and taken to an undisclosed location, Majzooban Noor reported.

The Dervish-interest news agency reported that Karimi was taken away around 8 p.m. on Monday in Dashti, Isfahan province, when four plainclothes officers pulled up to the village’s body shop in a Samand vehicle and swarmed him.

The identities of the agents and the reason behind Karimi’s arrest remain unknown. It is speculated that his arrest is connected to violent clashes that took place in Tehran this past February, when scores of Dervishes were arrested during protests of restrictions being placed on their spiritual leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh.

Karimi’s detainment marks this summer’s second instance of Dervishes being arrested in Dashti village. On July 3rd, Hossein Ghazavi, also a Dervish, was arrested during a raid on his home in which his personal belongings and spiritual books were confiscated.

Number of Barred Baha’i Students Increases on 2018 National University Entrance Exam

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Religious Minorities, Students
baha'i barred from education, Bahai Students, iran human rights, religious minorities in iran, right to education

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – A large number of Baha’i students who participated in the 2018 National University Entrance Exam, known as “Konkur,” have had their applications flagged “deficiency on file” on the National Organization for Educational Testing website, a known harbinger of educational aspirations dead in the water.

As an informed source told HRANA, “The ‘deficiency in file’ flag is used on Baha’i citizens to keep them from moving forward in their studies, a practice that’s been prevalent since 2006.”

The barred Baha’i students are Shamim Idelkhani, of Ardebil, ranked #139; Farnia Iliyazadeh of Tehran, studying Mathematics; Parmida Husaynpuli Mamaqani, ranked #4500, studying Mathematics; Sarvin Azarshab of Tehran, studying business, ranked #19000; Parand Mithaqi; Shahrzad Tirgar; and Melina Qavaminik, from Tehran, studying mathematics, ranked #10545.

Yesterday, HRANA reported on a number of Baha’is at the same impasse: Tarannum Mu’tamedi Broujerdi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Faran Abbaspouli Mamaghani from Tehran, Sahand Ghaemi from Shahin Shahr of Isfahan, Vahid Sadeghi Sisan, and Shaghayegh Ghassemi.

In direct violation of the law, Baha’is are prevented from pursuing degrees or employment in government offices, per under-the-table directives from the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Every year, a new cohort of Baha’is is barred in this way from the university enrollment process.

Since the 1979 revolution, the office of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran has repeatedly protested the Iranian government’s animosity towards its Baha’i population, particular in preventing these citizens from furthering their studies. According to the Rapporteur, such directives demonstrate a blatant disregard of multiple international treaties.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.

Three More Deaths in Urmia Prison Attributed to Medical Neglect

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Prisoners
Gholamreza Tubaragh Ghaleh, iran human rights, medical neglect, prison neglect, Reza Malek Rezaie, Sajjad Jamali Fard, Urmia prison

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Urmia central prisoners Gholamreza Tubaragh Ghaleh, Reza Malek Rezaie, and Sajjad Jamali Fard have died due to authorities’ refusal to arrange for appropriate medical treatment, joining a dismal trend of detainee deaths related to medical neglect.

Fard died on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 after his transfer to an outside hospital. Rezaie and Ghaleh passed away inside the prison.

Ghaleh was being held on alcohol-related charges; the charges of the other victims have yet to be confirmed.

Prisoner deaths related to detention-related disease and restrictions on hospital transfers have reached a total of five since March 2018, the beginning of the Iranian year. Moloud Vanousheh of Mahabad died of a long-neglected colon condition while being held on alcohol-related offenses. Ghorbanali Mir Esmaeili also died of unattended conditions while in Urmia’s psychiatric ward 2.

Prisoners at Urmia Central Prison continue to be exposed to the elevated health risks of a short-staffed prison clinic without a resident physician. On June 12, 2018, Bahaoldin and Davood Ghassemi, two brothers on Urmia’s death row, requested to be executed as soon as possible when prison authorities refused their transfer to an outside clinic for treatment. Both are suffering from foot infections secondary to spinal injuries which have been further exacerbated by the sanitary conditions of their quarters.

Crackdown on Women’s Rights Activists Continues: Najmeh Vahedi held on ghost charges for 11 days running

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Prisoners, Women
homa amid, iran human rights, najmeh vahedi, Prisoners of conscience, women political prisoners, women's rights in iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Since women’s rights activist Najmeh Vahedi was arrested 11 days ago, her family has been struggling to learn more about the reasons behind her arrest on September 1st.

In a brief interview with HRANA, Najmeh’s brother Reza said, “In a one-minute phone conversation with my sister on Tuesday September 4th, she was only able to tell us that she didn’t know her charges or why she had been arrested. We keep inquiring [with authorities], and are getting anxious because it’s been 11 days and we still don’t know what’s going on.”

Najmeh Vahedi earned a BS in sociology from Tehran Allameh University and an MS in sociology from Tehran Alzahra University. She is now in her third semester of Women’s Studies at Tehran Allameh Tabatabai University.

On September 3, 2018, HRANA published a report on the detention of this women’s rights activist by security forces at her home.

Over the past few weeks, civil rights activists–especially women’s rights activists–have been pursued by authorities with a renewed fervor. Women’s rights activist Rezvaneh Mohammadi and women’s rights activist and attorney Hoda Amid were among those detained recently.

Vahedi and Amid had reportedly held educational training workshops for women inquiring about their rights in marriage contracts. At the time of this report, no further information was available on their respective charges, nor on the conditions facing them in custody.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement on September 5th of this year asking Iranian authorities to stop the repression of human rights defenders like Amid and Vahedi and to immediately release those who are in custody for peaceful expressions of dissent.

Amnesty International also voiced their opposition to this civil crackdown last week, demanding that affected prisoners be immediately released and that defendants not be limited to a list of regime-designated attorneys.