Azerbaijani Turk Activists Meysam and Mohammad Julani Arrested 

On September 22, security forces arrested Azerbaijani Turk activists Meysam Julani and Mohammad Julani and transferred them to an unidentified location.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on September 22, two Turk activists Meysam Julani and Mohammad  Julani were arrested in Ardabil.

Their whereabouts and the charges against these individuals are still unknown.

HRANA has also reported the arrest of two other Azerbaijani Turk activists Asgar Akbarzadeh and Saeed Sadeghifar in Ardabil on the same day.

Azerbaijani Turk Activists Asgar Akbarzadeh and Saeed Sadeghifar Arrested

On September 22, security forces arrested Azerbaijani Turk activists Asgar Akbarzadeh and Saeed Sadeghifar and transferred them to an unidentified location.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on September 22, two Turk activists Asgar Akbarzadeh and Saeed Sadeghifar were arrested in Ardabil.

The agents search Akbarzadeh’s house at the time of the arrest. Sadeghifar was arrested at his workplace.

Both of these activists face arrests and convictions on prior occasions.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 31, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 31st, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Arash Sadeghi, a detained civil rights activist, was deprived from medical care which health professionals have said he desperately requires. He is suffering from bone cancer and infection in a surgical wound on his arm. Also, he has an urgent need for chemotherapy.

(2) Of the one million phone calls the Emergency Social Services Hotline received last year, 21 thousand were regarding child abuse and domestic violence.

(3) Saba Kord-Afshar and Yasaman Aryani, political prisoners, wrote an open letter reacting to a newspaper article that described the political prisoners’ conditions ‘favorable’, giving an overview of the hardship they face in the Evin’s women’s ward.

(4) The director of the Department of Environment of Tabas announced that two poachers were arrested in Tabas city along with a carcass of a chinkara.

(5) Parvin Mohammadi, a labor activist and the vice-president of the Free Union of Workers in Iran, was transferred to the Kachoui prison in Karaj to serve her one-month detention. She was arrested on January 29.

(6) Mohammad Ali Zahmatkesh, a teacher’s rights activist in Shiraz, was sentenced to two years imprisonment and one year of exile. His accusations are  “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the Founder of the Islamic Republic”.

(7) Shahin Barzegar, an Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, began his three-months imprisonment sentence in the Tabriz prison. His charge was attending the funeral ceremony of a former prisoner, Hasan Damirchi.

(8) Soroush Agahi, a Baha’i prisoner of the Evin prison, was released on bail. He and Neda Shabani, another Baha’i citizen, have been arrested in Karaj on November 28, 2018.

(9) Amnesty International requested the release of Iranian labor activists Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian who spoke out about abuse and torture they suffered in detention. They have been rearrested and are at risk of severe torture.

(10) A prisoner was executed in Nowshahr and a 24-year old was sentenced to death in Birjand. A prisoner who was accused of murder, was spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Karun after 12-year in prison.

(11) A member of Iranian Parliament representing Nishabur, Hajar Chenarani, confirmed that 200 workers of Khorasan Exhaust Manufacturing Company have been laid off.

(12) A 66-year old Christian converted, Esmail Maghrebi-Nejad, was arrested by security forces in Shiraz on January 15 and his whereabouts is still unknown. His home was raided, and his belongings confiscated.

(13) Saeed Sadeghifar ,an Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, was released on bail. The security forces on Tuesday, arrested him in Ardabil. His court was on January 24, on the charge of “establishing illegal groups with the intention to disturbing national security”.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 29, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 29th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) More than nine protests were organized across the country. The truck drivers in Tehran, preschool teachers in Bagh-e Malek in Khuzestan province, the shareholders of Caspian financial institution in Mashhad and Rasht, several people with law degree in Tehran, the residents of Jalalabad, the truck drivers of Bojnourd Cement, the students of Academy of Gondishapur in Ahvaz, and the flood victims in Rafi city in Khuzestan province have held separate protests to request their demands.

(2) The security forces on Tuesday, arrested Saeed Sadeghifar in Ardabil. His and four other Turkic minority rights activists’ court was on January 24, on the charge of “establishing illegal groups with the intention to disturbing national security”.

(3) Jafar Azimzadeh and Parvin Mohammadi the leading member and the vice president of the Free Union of Workers in Iran , were arrested for unknown reasons. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Moreover, Azimzadeh and Shapour Ehsanirad have been acquitted of charges of “acting against national security” in June 2018. In 2016 he was sentenced to 17 years in prison over charges of “propaganda against the state” and “assembly and collusion against national security through organizing an illegal group’.

(4) Mohammad Khanifar, a Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company worker, was released on 500 million [approximately 50 thousand USD] bail. He was arrested on Sunday by the intelligence agents in Shush.

(5) Sunni Friday Prayer Leader, Molavi Mohammad Hossein Gorgij, was summoned and interrogated in the Special Clerical Court for seven hours on Monday. In July, he was banned from traveling when he was going to visit Iranshahr Friday prayer Leader about rapes of women in Iranshahr.

(6) Hadi Salehpour, a 29-year-old resident of Ahvaz, was arrested and transferred to the intelligence office detention center in Ahvaz, one and a half month ago. His condition is unknown.

(7) Alireza Moinian’s request of furlough was denied. He was serving his eight months sentence since December and legally, he should have been granted furlough on bail.

(8) A school vehicle crashed into a pickup truck which injured five students in Babolsar, Mazandaran province. They were transferred to the hospital in Babol.

(9) A school vehicle rolled over in Kabudarahang, Hamadan province. Two of the seven students on-board were injured and transferred to the hospital.

(10) Natural gas leakage, poisoned 25 students in a girls’ elementary school in Bam, Kerman province.  A classroom heater’s gas leakage severely poisoned nine of the students. They were transferred to the hospital.

(11) The workers of Zarabad municipality in Sistan and Baluchestan province, have at least seven months unpaid wages.

(12) Mahmoud Naji ended his hunger strike after prison officials promise to fulfill his demands regarding his parole request. He went on a hunger strike for the same cause earlier on December 11, 2018 and ended it on December 25.

(13) Sina Moloudian, a Christian converted, was arrested by security forces in Isfahan and was transferred to an unknown place. His house was searched, and his belongings was confiscated.

(14) Namegh Deldel, a Sunni prisoner of conscience was returned to Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj from the intelligence detention center in Sanandaj. He is serving his sentence of six-year prison term, on the national security related charges.

(15) Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, the lawyer of two detained environmentalists reported that his clients were summoned to the court again. Five of the detained environmental activists were charged with “corruption on earth”. The environmentalists who were arrested last year are Houman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghadirian, Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, Morad Tahbaz, Hasan Zareh, Aref Zareh, Morteza Aryanejad, Alireza Farhadzadeh, and Kavous Seyed Emami. Seyed Emami, an environmentalist and professor, was arrested as part of this crackdown and reportedly died in detention under unknown circumstances two weeks after his arrest.

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.

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A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 14, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 14th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Five Kulbars (Kurdish back carriers) have been shot by border patrol in Sardasht and Baneh. Namagh Gholami died and Sirvan Hassanzadeh, Jabbar Ahmadi, Karzan Aminzadeh, and Shahryar Khezri were injured in this incident. Moreover, three other Kulbars died or were injured in Salmas and Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province. Ayob Amini died and Hashem lost his hands due to hypothermia. In addition, Osman Ramezani died of drowning in the river.

(2) Ali Rabiei, the former labor minister, shows concerns about protests in 160 cities in January 2018. He added that people’s dissatisfaction, injustice, and dysfunctional politics caused these uprisings.

(3) At least five protests were organized on January 14, 2019. Educators in Tehran, the workers of inter-city rail in Ahvaz, the customers of SAIPA Company in Tehran, the shareholders of the bankrupt financial institution of Caspian, and the customers of Sekeh Samen website in Tehran have been demanding their requests in separate protests.

(4) A worker of Iran National Steel Industrial Group (NSIG) in Ahvaz, Behzad Alikhani, was released today. Three workers of NSIG are still in prison. More than 43 workers of NSIG have been arrested on December 16, 2018.

(5) At least four prisoners were executed in Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj. Mohsen Rezaei, Reza Farmanjou, and Baratali Rahimi were executed on Wednesday. They were transferred to solitary confinement on Monday.

(6) 219 poachers have been arrested in the South Khorasan Province in the last 10 months. More than one thousand and 573 animals and their carcasses were confiscated from them.

(7) Yazd court of appeals sentenced two Baha’i citizens to two years imprisonment, combined. Mehran Bandi Amirabadi and Mehran Eslami Amirabadi were sentenced to prison terms and exile on the charge of ‘propaganda against the state’ earlier.

(8) Alireza Golipour has not received access to medical care in Evin prison. Although he has severe seizures and a prison doctor requested his transfer to the hospital due to his deteriorating health condition, he was not transferred to the hospital.

(9) Nazanin Zaghari and Narges Mohammadi , prisoners of conscience, began three-day hunger strike in protest of denial of medical care. They suffer from serious health conditions which have been exacerbated in prison due to authorities’ refusal of medical care to them.

(10) Iraj Mohammadi was summoned to the intelligence office and was arrested in Miandoab on January 13, 2019. He had been released from prison after completing a ten-year sentence, in October.

(11) Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian human rights lawyer, was being banned from having visitors. She is imprisoned on   security-related charges.

(12) Expulsion of Shirin Baninejad, a Baha’i Computer Science student, from Azad University of Andisheh (Sama) due to her faith. Bahai students in Iran routinely experience denial of entrance to university or expulsion during their studies.

(13) Saeed Sadeghifar, Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activist, is summoned to the Ardabil Revolutionary Court on January 23. He was charged with ‘forming an illegal group to disrupt national security’. Asgar Akbarzadeh, Rahim Gholami, and Ali Vaseghi, Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists, have been also summoned to the Ardabil court.

(14) A 36-year old prisoner accused of murder, was spared from hanging on gallows by paying the blood money and consent of next of kin. He was spending 12 years in prison.

(15) A worker and a firefighter were injured in Tehran because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in workplaces.

(16) The workers of Farnakh and Mahnakh Company have 180 billion Rial [approximately one million and 80 thousand USD] unpaid wages.

(17) Mohammad Karimi, a labor activist, was released from Bukan prison after 13 months of imprisonment. He was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison in November 2018.

14 Civil Rights Activists Acquitted in the Court of Ardabil

HRANA News Agency – Fourteen civilians from Ardabil who due to lighting candles for the victims of Tabriz-Mashhad train accident had been prosecuted by the police, were acquitted by emphasis on the lack of sufficient evidences for the accusations in branch twelve of General and Revolutionary Courts in Ardabil.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), according to the verdict of branch twelve of General and Revolutionary Courts in Ardabil, Mohammad Jollani, Mohammad Khakpour, Saeed Sadeghifar, Morteza Parvin, Tohid Amir Amini, Mehdi Hoshmand, Meysam Jollani, Asgar Akbarzade, Ali Kheirjo, Ali Vaseghi, Hamid Adib, Bahram Noien, Mosa Sori and Mustafa Parvin, were acquitted due to insufficient evidences of the charge of propaganda against the system by lighting candles for the victims of Tabriz-Mashhad train accident. Continue reading “14 Civil Rights Activists Acquitted in the Court of Ardabil”

The Arrested Civilians in Ardabil Released after 24 Hours

HRANA News Agency – More than 25 activists from Ardabil, who had been arrested by the police on July 8, were released on July 9.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), all the activists from Ardabil who had been arrested after departure to Sabalan area by the police on July 8, were released on July 9. Continue reading “The Arrested Civilians in Ardabil Released after 24 Hours”

25 Civilians Arrested in Ardabil

HRANA News Agency – On July 8, more than 25 Turkish (Azeri) activists were arrested by the police in the city of Ardabil. It is said that they wanted to hold a ceremony called ecotourism in Sabalan mountain slopes and in Shervan valleys.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), more than 25 Turkish (Azeri) activists who wanted to hold a ceremony called ecotourism in Sabalan mountain slopes and in Shervan valleys, were arrested by intelligence forces of the police in Meshkinshar and were taken to a police detention center in the city, on July 8. Continue reading “25 Civilians Arrested in Ardabil”

4 Prisoners Ended their Hunger Strike in Ardebil Prison

HRANA News Agency – By improvement in the situation and promises by the Ardebil prison authorities, four prisoners of conscience detained in this prison ended their hunger strike.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Morteza Parvin, Mustafa Parvin, Saeed Sadeghifar and Saleh Pichganloo, four Turkish activist who were on the 6th day of their hunger strike in separate calls with their families said that their condition had modestly improved and they were transferred to the general ward’s rooms and prison authorities had promised improvements in their situation so they have ended their hunger strike. Continue reading “4 Prisoners Ended their Hunger Strike in Ardebil Prison”