Execution of Inmate Over National Security Allegations

On March 3, Iran’s state TV, IRIB, reported the execution of a prisoner charged with “acting against national security through planning for an explosion at a complex of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization in Isfahan.”

According to IRIB, displaying the news on its news ticker, the executed individual was purportedly under the command of Mossad, planning to detonate a workshop complex owned by the Defense Ministry on January 28, 2023.

Security-affiliated channels shared videos of the explosions, claiming to have taken place in this complex in Isfahan, linked the execution to these incidents. However, the regime has not disclosed the identity of the executed inmate.

In recent months, several individuals have faced execution on charges of “collaboration with Israel.” Notably, on January 29, 2024, Mohsen Mazloum, Pezhman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, and Hazhir Faramarzi were executed, adding to a series of such cases.

Nationwide Protests Continue after Mahsa Amini’s Death Sixth Day 

On September 22, 2022, nationwide protests following Mahsa Amini’s death continued in cities across Iran despite heavy police presence in the streets. Protests started in Tehran and the Kurdistan region and spread.

The security forces fired teargas, pellet guns and shotguns to scatter the crowds in several cities and internet and mobile services were disrupted or shot down as the Supreme National Security Council of Iran ordered to restrict people’s access to Instagram and WhatsApp.

During the protests in the past six days, several individuals have been killed or injured and many were arrested. 

The government-affiliated media has started broadcasting coerced confessions as the international criticisms of the government’s actions continue.

On the sixth day of the nationwide protests,   demonstrations continued in Tehran, Oshnavieh, Golshahr, Kashmar, Malekan, Behbahan, Dehdasht, Shirvan, Shahrood, Neyshabur, Tabriz, and Bandar-Anzali, with slogans such as  “death to Khamenei” and “death to the dictator”, as eyewitnesses reported the presence of riot police and plainclothes security agents.

Over 25 are estimated to have been killed so far. HRANA has obtained the following list, of which HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, can verify 10. HRANA is reviewing and fact-checking the following list:

  1.     Minoo Majidi (Kermanshah)
  2.     Reza Lotfi (Dehgolan)
  3.     Mohsen Mohammadi (Divandarreh)
  4.     Foad Ghadimi (Divandarreh)
  5.     Zakaria Khial (Piranshahr)
  6.     Freydoon Mahmoodi (Saqqez)
  7.     Mohsen Gheisari (Ilam)
  8.     Abbas Khaleghi (Qazvin)
  9.     Amir Nowruzi (Bandar-Anzali)
  10.   Abdollah Mahmoodpour (Balo Village, Urmia )
  11.   Farjad Darvish (Balo Village, Urmia)
  12.   Danesh Rahnama (Balo Village,  Urmia County)
  13.   Fardin Bakhtiari (Sanandaj)
  14.   Amin Maarefat (Oshnavieh)
  15.   Sadredin Litiani (Oshnavieh)
  16.   Milan Haghighi (Oshnavieh)
  17.   Roozbeh Khademi (Karaj)
  18.   Pedram Azarnoosh (Dehdasht)
  19.   Mehrdad Behnam (Dehdasht)
  20.   Hananeh Kia (Nowshahr)

 

There were additional reports on unconfirmed deaths. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting  (IRIB) has officially announced the death of 17 people during the nationwide protests. Kermanshah prosecutor has also said that two people were killed and 25 were injured. Iran Human Rights Organization reported that in Amol, 11 people have been killed.

Mahsa Amini was arrested by Tehran Morality Police at a train station for improper hejab. She fell into a coma after head trauma and later died at a hospital in Tehran.

Life Imprisonment and Death Sentence Against Two Brothers Without Any Proper Due Process

In a blatant violation of due process, prison officials verbally informed Abbas Daris’s family that he has been sentenced to death without providing a letter of conviction or any other written documents.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Daris’s family was informed of his sentencing about four months ago. 

Arrested during the November 2019 Protests, Daris is currently held in Mahshahr Prison. He was indicted alongside his brother Mohsen Daris on charges of “enmity against God (Moharebeh)”, “disturbing the public order” and “murdering a Counter-Terrorism Special Forces agent (NOPO)”. Mohsen Daris was sentenced to life in prison on charges of “collaborating to murder the NOPO agent”.

Karim Dahimi, a political and human rights activist, told HRANA that according to a report by the second crime scene analyst, “NOPO agent Reza Sayyadi was shot dead from behind on November 18, 2019, and therefore not from the front, where the protesters were standing. Moreover, Daris’s family has been told that they can compensate the victim’s family by paying blood money (Diya). This stands at odds with the charge of “enmity against God”, which indicates that the case does not have any plaintiff. This unorthodox request implies that they know that he is innocent”.

“Everything proceeded informally and verbally. They didn’t provide a single written statement regarding his conviction,” an informed source told HRANA. “The problem is that in this province, even verbal statements from the court and prison officials can be true and reliable. That the judiciary officials are not complying with legal routines and cooperating with his family and lawyer increases our concerns”.

Abbas Drais is 48 years old and the father of two children, ages 12 and 14. Reportedly, his wife died from a stroke after receiving the shocking news of his death sentence. His children are currently living with their grandmother.

In January 2020, the regime’s TV channel, known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), reported the murder of the NOPO agent. Considering the previous cooperation of IRIB with security forces in extracting confessions under torture, it is likely that both brothers have been subjected to torture-tainted confessions.

In November of 2019, an unprecedented increase in fuel prices sparked a wave of protests in dozens of cities across the country. The spokesperson of the Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Seyed Hossein Taghavi, announced that 7000 people were arrested during these protests. According to reports of human rights organizations, hundreds were killed by regime forces.

One Worker Killed and Seven Injured Due to Unsafe Workplace Conditions

In two separate recent accidents, several child workers were injured and one worker was killed in unsafe work environments.

On Wednesday, November 17, in a workplace accident in Meybod City, seven workers, some of whom are underage, were injured due to gas poisoning. In another workplace accident in Rajai Shahr in Karaj, a worker was killed after falling off a wall in a construction pit.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting IRIB News Agency, in an industrial zone in Meybod city, seven workers, several of whom are minors, were poisoned by a gas leak at their workplace and hospitalized.

“On Wednesday morning, seven people with symptoms of gas poisoning were transferred to the Hospital Imam Jafar by the emergence 115 of Meybod County “, the head of the Emergency Department of Meybod city commented. “These workers of a workhouse in Meybod Industrial zone, aged from 17 to 24 years old, have been hospitalized.”

According to IRNAN, the spokesperson of the fire department and the Municipal Safety Services of Karaj reported the death of a worker due to a non-standard excavation in a construction project.

“The emergency team reached the spot after three minutes and pulled the body out of the construction pit”, the spokesperson commented.

Iran ranks 102nd in workplace safety out of 189 countries.

 

 

One Worker Killed and One Injured in Recent Workplace Accidents

In two recent workplace accidents, one worker lost his life in Azna City in Lorestan Province and one was injured severely in Baneh City in Kurdistan Province.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting IRIB News Agency, a worker of Iran Ferroalloy Industries Company was killed after falling from a tall industrial structure. Reportedly, he died from a heavy object that fell on top of him in the accident.

In a separate work accident, according to IRNA, a gasoline leak from a car parked in a store caused a fire that severely injured one worker in an industrial town in Baneh City.

“The fire broke out in the store due to the gasoline leaked from a car in the vicinity of a heading torch” head of Municipal Fire and Safety Services of Baneh Salar Bastami stated. The injured worker has second-degree burns and is now hospitalized in Tabriz City.

Iran ranks 102nd in workplace safety out of 189 countries.

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IRIB Denies that Khosro Jamalifar’s Suspicious Death in Sanadaj Prison was Result of Guard Brutality

A few days after HRANA’s report on the death of Khosro Jamalifar due to being beaten by prison officers in Sanandaj Prison, in response, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) claimed in a report that Jamalifar fainted from a sudden headache and died in the hospital. Their statement stands at odds with reports from numerous informed sources.

To support the claim, the report published video footage of a moment when the inmate fell on the floor in his solitary confinement cell. This claim stands at odds with what informed sources reported to HRANA: that Khosro Jamalifar was beaten brutally by prison officers before being taken back to his cell, and died in prison rather than the hospital.

The IRIB also did not mention that following day, his body was buried secretly without waiting for the forensic report and delivering the body to his family. His family was also threatened into silence.

Some eyewitnesses who have seen the injuries on his head told HRANA that, contrary to IRIB’s claim, such wounds cannot be caused by a head collision with a bed frame.

On November 2, 26-year-old Khosro Jamalifar, who had previously been indicted on a murder charge and was awaiting the verdict, died from a strike to the head sustained during the beating.

According to an informed source, Jamalifar became involved in a quarrel with a fellow inmate in the quarantine section of Sanandaj. Thereafter, as an informed source told HRANA, “Prison officers began to beat him with batons which led to his death. In this incident, the failure of the prison nurse, named Abdollahi, to send (Jamalifar) to the healthcare center in a timely manner also played a role in his death.”

In the aftermath of Jamalifar’s killing, Sanandaj inmates are calling for authorities to take accountability and conduct a real investigation.

Iran’s prisons are notorious for their frequent incidents of brutality from authorities.  Acts of violence such as this one are at serious odds with the basic responsibility of prisons to provide for the safety and health of their inmates.  Institutions’ reluctance to conduct thorough investigations into acts of violence from their officials only perpetuates, and often even reinforces, a culture of abuse within Iran’s carceral system.

Khuzestan Update: IRIB Confirms that Citizen was Shot and Killed During Last Night’s Protests in Izeh

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) confirmed that a citizen was killed during last night’s protests in Izeh, Khuzestan.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Actiists, the IRIB report did not specify the identity of the killed citizen. However, it described his death as a result of a “suspicious” shooting—notably vague phrasing, considering that the overwhelming majority of gunfire throughout the protests has come from government forces.

Widespread protest rallies in Khuzestan started Thursday, July 15, in response to the negligence of officials that led to frequent cuts of drinking water and the drying of Karun River.

The demonstrations against the water cuts and lack of proper resource management continued yesterday into their sixth day. Rallies were held in Susangard, Behbahan, Abadan, Izeh, Ahvaz, Khorramshahr and Shadegan.

Hassan Nabovati, acting governor of Izeh, stated that one police officer was killed and another injured during the protests in Mahshahr last night.

As released videos show, the protests in Izeh were disrupted by violence from military forces. There were reports of military officers spraying tear gas and opening fire at protesters.