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.

2 Civil Rights Activists Arrested in Ardebil

HRANA News Agency – Mehdi Houshmand and Reza Vahdat, both from Ardebil were arrested while being beaten by intelligence agents.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mehdi Houshmand and Reza Vahdat were arrested in the street by security agents on July 27. Continue reading “2 Civil Rights Activists Arrested in Ardebil”