A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 24, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 24th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) The court was in session for five Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists, Rahim Gholami, Asgar Akbarzadeh, Ali Vaseghi, Mehdi Houshmand, and Saeed Sadeghifar on the charge of “establishing illegal groups with the intention to disturbing national security”.

(2) Davoud Azizi was released from Zahedan prison after 17 months. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment on the charge of “acting against national security”.

(3) Kiana Rezvani and Kimia Mostafavi, Baha’i citizens, were released on bail. They had been arrested in Kerman on January 19, 2019.

(4) Mahmoud Naji began hunger strike on Tuesday protesting unfulfillment of his requests by the prison authorities. He went on a hunger strike for the same cause earlier on December 11, 2018 and ended it on December 25.

(5) A convict in the Golestan province received an alternate sentence for imprisonment. He is sentenced to perform free public service and 200 hours of fire extinguishing. He caused injury to someone by his careless driving.

(6) A seventh-grade student in Qazvin was transferred to a hospital after being beaten by the school’s headmaster. The student’s parents filed a complaint to the head of the education department of Qazvin and the headmaster has resigned.

(7) A prisoner was executed in the Tabas prison on the charge of murder. In 2018, at least 236 people have been executed and 195 people have been sentenced to death in Iran.

(8) One worker died and three others were injured in Khomeyni Shahr, Bardaskan, and Shahrud because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in their workplaces. In addition, 11 people were injured in a buses accident carrying workers in Saveh.

(9) Two prisoners accused of murder, were spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Tehran. They were spending nine years in prison.

(10) More than nine protests were organized all over the country. The retired educators and teachers in Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah, Ardabil, and Khorramabad, the investors of Padideh Shandiz in Mashhad, the workers of Marivan municipality, farmers of Lordegan County in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, and the workers and residents of Shemshak Ski Resort have held separate protests to request their demands.

(11) The families of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian visited them in Ahvaz. One of the detainees indicated that they had been beaten. They were rearrested after the broadcast of their under-torture confessions on the national television.

(12) More than 40 lawyers, on January 24 the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, wrote an open letter to the head of the Judicial system and requested the release of the detained lawyers.

(13) Amnesty International published a report on the extent of Iran ‘s repression of dissent in 2018: over 7,000 protesters, students, journalists, environmental activists, workers and human rights defenders were arrested.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 19, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 19th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Two Baha’i citizens, Kimia Mostafavi and Kiana Rezvani, have been arrested in Kerman. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

(2) A landmine explosion injured Hadid Babajani, a 19-year-old Kulbar (Kurdish back carrier), in Ravansar city in the Kermanshah province.

(3) Two workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group (NSIG) in Ahvaz, Karim Sayahi and Tarogh Khalafi, were released after two months. More than 43 workers of NSIG have been arrested on December 16, 2018.

(4) A student transporting vehicle crashed leaving four students injured in Tehran. Similar incidents had happened in Qaleh Ganj and Ekhtiarabad in Kerman province on January 15 and 16.

(5) A Baha’i owned-business in Birjand was reopened. Farshid Deymi’s store was sealed off by judicial authorities order last year. Apparently, the Baha’i owned-businesses were shut down because they were closed for Bahai religious holidays.

(6) Two detained labor activists, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh and Arsham Rezaei have their bonds set at 200 million Toman [approximately 20 thousand USD] each. Ebrahimzadeh was arrested last month and he had been released from prison last year after finishing his seven years sentence.

(7) Masoud Shamsnejad, a lawyer and professor, was arrested and transferred to Urmia prison while the security guards raided his home and confiscated his belongings. He was accused of “propaganda against the state” due to being a lawyer of his clients.

(8) A worker died of electrocution in Tehran and another worker fatally fell in Zahedan, because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(9) Four employees of a news website, Sunni News, were summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan. Sunni News discusses the Sunni Islam beliefs and rituals with respect to the other religions.

(10) The workers of Khuzestan Pipe Industrial Company have more than 15 months unpaid wages and 11 months unpaid insurance fee owed by the employer.

(11) Two environmentalists have been arrested in Sanandaj city in Kurdistan province. Edris Mohammadi and Avat Karami were arrested for an unknown reason and their whereabouts are still unknown.

(12) More than three protests were organized in Iran on January 19, 2019. Municipality workers in Borujerd, several people in Sistan and Baluchestan, and the workers of Ahvaz inter-city rail, have held separate protests to demand their requests.