A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 8, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 8th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) More than four protests were organized on January 8, 2019. The workers of city services in Dezful, customers of SAIPA and other automakers in Tehran, shareholders of the bankrupt Caspian Finance Institution in Rasht, and residents of Kerman held separate protests to request their demands.

(2) A 24-year-old nurse, Saeed Alian, died due to working long hours in Larestan county in the Fars province. Shortage of nurses in Iran impacts patient care and nurses’ health.

(3) Gharib Hoveizavi and Meisam Ali Ghanavati, workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG), were released on bail in Ahvaz. More than 43 workers of INSIG have been arrested on December 16, 2018.

(4) In the last week, Milad Rahimi, Mehdi Kanisoori, and Barezan Babakri, all 17 years old, were beaten and arrested by the security forces in Baneh in Kurdistan province. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

(5) Elham Ahmadi, a detained Gonabadi Dervish, sentenced to 148 lashes. She is serving her sentence of two years imprisonment and is accused of ‘defamation and insulting prison officials’ because of publishing a voice recording in which she describes the disastrous life of the prisoners in Gharchak prison.

(6) A Kurdish poet, Hossein Bagheri known as Jakan Baran, was summoned to a court and charged with ‘propaganda against the state and blasphemy’. He is unable to walk and lost his right kidney.

(7) Zahra Navidpour who accused a member of parliament of repeatedly raping her, was found dead. She reported that there were several women who have been raped by Salman Khodadadi but did not file a complaint about this, fearing for their lives.

(8) Esmail Faghir Dadzehi and Khalil Shahbakhsh, prisoners of Zahedan prison, were severely beaten and injured by prison wardens.

(9) An indictment charged an elementary school official with ‘child molestation’. He threatened and sexually abused several students in the school in the district four of Isfahan.

(10) Seven residents of Jabbarand village, have been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, combined. Jafar Rasoulpour, Bahman Dandansaz, Mohammad Leilaneh, Mohammad Soyrou, and Rasoul Mohammad Amini were sentenced to one-and-a-half-year imprisonment. Vafa Heydari and Ayob Ahmadi were sentenced to five years in prison. They were accused of ‘cooperation with a Kurdish opposition group’. Jabbarand is a village of Sardasht county in the West Azerbaijan province.

(11) Arsham Rezaei and Mohammad Hassanzadeh were arrested by security agents in Tehran. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

(12) Employees of the South Pars gas field were going on a strike since January 1st to protest not being paid for several months. In addition, 280 thousand people were laid off and 150 thousand were suspended in auto part manufacturing units in last year.

(13) The New York Times reported the arrest of a US citizen in Mashhad. Michael R. White, 46, was arrested in late July while he was visiting his Iranian girlfriend.

(14) Salah Sharifzadeh, a detained Bukan resident, has been transferred to Urmia prison after four months of interrogation in detention. He was accused of ‘cooperation with Kurdish opposition groups’.

(15) Sahar Kazemi was transferred to Sanandaj prison and Madeh Fathi is undergoing interrogation in the Intelligence Department. They were arrested in November and the reason of their arrest is still unknown.

(16) Hossein Miri Nazarlou, a cyber activist, is serving his sentence of eight years imprisonment in Evin prison. He is accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and blasphemy related charges.

(17) A Kulbar (Kurdish back carriers), Hoda Feqh Mahmoudi fatally fell off the mountains in Sardasht. He was escaping from border patrol agents.

(18) Environmental Protection Agency reported catching 345 poachers in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province in the last nine months.

(19) Three workers were injured in a fire at their workplace in Gachsaran because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(20) A prisoner charged with murder in Miandoab was saved from gallows by the victim’s family’s consent after spending 10 years in prison. Miandoab is a city in the West Azerbaijan province.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 1, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 1st, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Vahid Moshgani farahani, the attorney of the detained lawyer, Amir Salar Davoudi, reported of renewal of detention for his client. He was arrested earlier on November 20 being accused of ‘assembly and collusion against national security.’

(2) Workers of Ahvaz Urban Railway Company have 18 months of unpaid wages. Also, workers of Kishwood Industries have unpaid wages.

(3) The appeal court of nine Baha’i citizens affirmed their primary sentence of 48 years in prison, combined.

(4) Due to unsafe workplace conditions, one worker was killed, and six others were injured in Kerman and Yazd provinces. Also, because of rollover of the bus carrying workers in Fars province, one worker was killed, and 12 others were injured.

(5) Hamidreza Rahmati, a teacher activist, who was arrested while protesting the arrest of the teachers during teachers’ strikes, was released on bail.

(6) Six Baha’i citizens were sentenced to three years imprisonment combined in an appeal court in Sistan and Baluchestan province. They are accused of ‘acting against the national security by membership in the Baha’i Community’.

(7) The head of guards of the Department of Environment in the province of Gilan confirmed that two rangers were injured in fights with poachers.

(8) The chief of Public Security Police announced that 38 thousand pirated and illegal books were discovered in a storage in south eastern part of Tehran.

(9) Omar Rasoli, a 45-year-old prisoner died because he was denied medical care in Urmia prison. Urmia prison officials neglect for medical care is a serious issue; seven inmates died because of that in the last year.

(10) Tehran’s chief of police, Hassan Rahimi, confirmed that 932 protests had been held in the last nine months. He added that the emergency calls received by the police department have been increased eight percent in the same period.

(11) Over 121 children under six who were suffering from malnutrition, were identified in Bandar-e Mahshahr in the last nine months. They have been significantly off the charts in weight and height.

(12) Seven workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group are still in prison. Behzad Alikhani, Mostafa Obiat, Karim Syahi, Kazem Heydari, Meisam Ali Ghanavati, Tarogh Khalafi, and Gharib Hoveizavi were arrested on December 16.

(13) A prisoner was executed on a murder charge in Mashhad prison on December 30. In 2018, the Iranian authorities issued the death penalty sentence to 240 individuals and have already carried out more than 256 executions.

(14) Fazel Gheytasi and Reza Asadi were arrested by security forces in Kamyaran. The reason of their arrest and their whereabouts are unknown.

(15) Two Azerbaijani Turkic rights activists, Reza Jafarlou and Akbar Gholizadeh were summoned to the Revolutionary Court of Urmia.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 17, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 17th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency(HRANA).

(1) On the 38th day of the National Steel Company workers protest, more than 32 of them have been arrested: Meisam Ali Ghanavati, Issa Marai, Amin Alavani, Morteza Akbarian,Tarogh Khalafi, Masoud Afri, Jafar Sobhani, Mostafa Abayat, Gharib Hoyzavi,Hossein Davoudi, Karim Siahi, Hamed Baseri, Hafez Kanaani, Hamed Joudaki, Kazem Heydari, Yaser Ebrahimian, Majid Janadeleh, Kourosh Emaeili, Ali Oghaba, Mohsen Balouti, Mohammad Pourhassan, Mohsen Behbahani, Seyed Habib Tabatabaei, Jasem Roumzei, Ali Etmami, Seyed Ali Javadpour, Javad Gholami, Abdolreza Dasti, Seyed Ahmad Seyednour, Fariborz Sheikhrobat, Ehsan Yousefi.

(2) Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist who is currently serving a 16 year prison sentence, was transferred to the Legal Medicine Organization office to verify the necessity of her hospitalization.

(3) The workers of five government-owned corporations, National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Bavers Steel Company, Electricity Meter Manufacturing Company, the caviar fishery department of the Iran Fisheries Organization of Golestan province, and Sepehr Windshield Manufacturer, are demanding their 16 months unpaid wages. The unpaid wages has been continuous issue in Iran over the last year.

(4) Two workers were injured today in Tehran, due to unsafe workplaces. Moreover, Tehran Metro Company has notprovided safety work clothing and workwear for their employees in past three years. Iran holds the dubious record for the highest number of deaths and injuries in workplaces.

(5) Another social deprivation case from Iran: this year, approximately 100 thousand children are deprived from going to school.

(6) A child abuse case was reported in Mahabad. The child’s abuse was identified to have taken place by his father that is a drug addict and has abnormal psychological condition. The victim was transferred to the city’s State Welfare organization.

(7) Another 17-year-old girl committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Isfahan. More than 7% of suicides in Iran are committed by teenagers.

(8) Civil rights activist, Amir Chamani was arrested and transferred to Tabriz prison to begin serving his sentence.  According to Hrana, he has been sentenced to a six-month prison term on charges of “Propaganda against the regime” and “Cooperation with opposition groups”. Chamani has previously been pursued on similar charges. On July 5th, 2012, Chamani received a sentenced of six months’ imprisonment for “insulting both Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the late Ayatollah Khomeini”and “propaganda against the regime”. In another instance, after turning himself in for charges of insulting the President, Chamani was sentenced on January 13,2013, to 40 lashes by the Tabriz Criminal Court. He was dealt with the lashes on June 5, 2013 and was not released from custody until October 2nd of the same year.

(9) After four years, the petition of a Baha’i citizen, Taraneh Ghiami who has been barred from entering university due to her religious beliefs, was denied by the supreme court.

(10) According to the issued verdict in the appeal court of West Azerbaijan province, Eghbal Ahmadpour sentence on a charge of “acting against national security through membership inKurdish opposition parties” has been reduced from five years to six months.According to Hrana, the Urmia Revolutionary Court sentenced Eghbal Ahmadpour tofive years in prison on a charge of “acting against national security through membership in Kurdish opposition parties” on Thursday, October 4, 2018. He was denied access to a trial lawyer. Security forces arrested Ahmadpour on September 11, 2018. He was interrogated and held in solitary confinement for 12 days before being sent to Urmia Prison.