MPs Move to Permanently Ban Journalists Connected to Shuttered Publications
Hamid Rasaie (left) and Mohammad Ghoochani. A few days after the Iranian Judiciary ...
January 17, 2015
Iranian Judiciary Shuts Down Newspaper for Publishing “I am Charlie Too” Quote
Two days after the conservative Iranian newspaper Kayhan demanded judicial authorities close down reformist newspaper Mardom-e Emrooz newspaper, the newspaper, in operation for only 16 days, was shut down by orders from Branch 2 of Media Court of the Iranan Judiciary. ...
January 14, 2015
Video: Iranian Cartoonists and Satirists Speak Out on Charlie Hebdo
January 14, 2015—In the wake of the January 7 attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran released a video today, featuring nine prominent Iranian cartoonists, satirists and comedians expressing their solidarity with the victims of ...
January 14, 2015
Jason Rezaian Indicted by Tehran Revolutionary Court, Says Prosecutor
During a press conference today, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told reporters that the imprisoned Washington Post correspondent, Jason Rezaian, has been indicted and that his case has been forwarded to a Tehran Revolutionary Court. The Prosecutor’s announcement, after 170 days of “temporary detention” of ...
January 14, 2015
UN Body Warns Governments about Health Hazards of Jamming Signals
A new United Nations resolution warning member states about their responsibility to protect the health of their citizens against electromagnetic waves, including satellite jamming signals, was approved at the UN’s Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s Plenipotentiary Conference which took place between October 20 and November 7, 2014, ...
January 12, 2015
Official Claims of Smart Internet Filtering Overblown, but Efforts to Monitor Users Grow
In the continuing battle over control over the Internet in Iran, a new salvo was recently issued—the announcement by state officials that smart filtering would be installed on the country’s Internet gateways as the authorities had now developed the ability to selectively block “inappropriate ...
January 9, 2015
185 Iranian Journalists Condemn Charlie Hebdo Terrorist Attack
One Hundred eighty-five Iranian journalists condemned the January 7, 2015 terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris, which led to the deaths of 12 individuals. “We, Iranian journalists, condemn the January 7 terrorist attack that took the lives of several journalists and ...
January 9, 2015
Cartoon 104: I am Charlie
One Hundred eighty-five Iranian journalists condemned the January 7, 2015 terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris, which led to the deaths of 12 individuals. “We, Iranian journalists, condemn the January ...
January 8, 2015
Young Scientist’s Ten-Year Sentence Upheld despite Supreme Court’s Rejection of Legality of His Case
An appeals court in Tehran has upheld the ten-year prison sentence of the young scientist Omid Kokabee without regard for the earlier opinion of the Supreme Court or the reasoning set forth in their ruling on the case. ...
January 7, 2015
Iranian Judiciary Defends Continued House Arrest of Green Movement Leaders
In yet another vague statement effectively signaling support by the Iranian Judiciary for the continuation of the four-year-long house arrest of Iran’s Green Movement leaders, Iranian Judiciary Spokesperson Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said during his weekly press conference on January 5 that “If one day the ...
January 7, 2015
Former Assyrian Church Leader and Two Christian Converts Arrested
Iranian security agents arrested an Assyrian pastor and two Christian converts who were his guests at his Tehran residence on December 26, 2014, according to Mansour Borji, Spokesperson for the Alliance of Iranian Churches. ...
December 24, 2014
Female Prisoner of Conscience Transferred to Deplorable Gharchak Prison
Female prisoner of conscience Hakimeh Shokri was abruptly transferred from Evin Prison to the Gharchak Prison in Varamin on December 15, 2014, Shokri’s sister told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
December 22, 2014
Prison Sentence for Young Facebook User Increased from 15 to 20 Years
A Tehran Revolutionary Court has increased the sentence of a 21-year-old Facebook user from 15 to 20 years in prison for his postings on Facebook. The case was originally appealed in the hope that the severe 15-year sentence would be reduced. However, the appeals court ...
December 22, 2014
Remove Sanctions on Communications Infrastructure in Closed Societies to Empower Civil Society
The Obama administration should follow its historic move to normalize diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and its concurrent initiatives to increase Cuban citizens’ access to communications and their ability to communicate freely, with parallel initiatives for other closed countries, the International Campaign ...
December 22, 2014
Baha’is Have No Citizenship Rights, Says Grand Ayatollah
A high-ranking cleric and Khomeini-era member of the Supreme Judicial Council has told Fars News Agency that Baha’is are not entitled to citizenship rights. The statement was made only weeks after Mohammad Javad Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council, denied the systematic ...
December 19, 2014
Kurdish Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike Threatened with Further Prosecution and Execution
Nearly a month into their hunger strike inside the Orumiyeh Central Prison to protest dangerous and inhumane prison conditions, 27 Kurdish political prisoners have been summoned and threatened with new judicial cases if they don’t cease their hunger strike, a source told the International Campaign ...
December 19, 2014
Ending House Arrest of Dissident Leaders Not on Administration’s Agenda, Says Justice Minister
In a startling statement during an interview with the Iran Labor News agency (ILNA) about the house arrests imposed on the Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein ...
December 19, 2014
Imprisoned Lawyer Denied Urgently Needed Medical Treatment
Despite the severely deteriorating health of imprisoned Iranian lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, the Tehran Prosecutor refuses to grant him permission to receive medical care outside the prison, due to the prominent lawyer’s steadfastness about his beliefs, Soltani’s daughter told the International Campaign for Human Rights in ...
December 18, 2014
Cartoon 103: Jason Rezaian’s Continuos Detention
"Temporary detention orders" for Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post's Tehran correspondent, have been extended for two more months. Jason Rezaian, 38, holds dual Iranian ...
December 17, 2014
161 PhD Students Demand Immediate Medical Attention and Judicial Review for Omid Kokabee
In a statement of solidarity with the imprisoned Iranian scientist Omid Kokabee, 161 doctoral students and graduates from universities around the world have released an open letter, demanding medical attention and due process for him. “We, a group of 161 Iranian PhD students and graduates, ...
December 17, 2014
Mahdieh Golroo Remains in Solitary Confinement Two Months After Arrest, Charges Unclear
Despite completion of interrogations for Mahdieh Golroo, a women’s rights activist who was arrested on October 23, 2014, a day after she attended a gathering in Tehran to protest acid attacks on several women in Isfahan, her judicial case has not moved forward and her ...
December 15, 2014
Cartoon 102: The Breadwinner’s Plight
Bread Prices rose 30% nationwide this week. Cartoonist Touka Neyestani's take on the plight of family "breadwinners" in Iran....
December 10, 2014
Nasrin Sotoudeh Detained for Several Hours on Human Rights Day
On December 10, 2014, Iranian intelligence agents detained renowned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, before releasing her several hours later. The detention marks the second time in less than two months that Sotoudeh has been detained for her activities in protest of the Iranian Bar ...
December 9, 2014
Supreme Court Rejects Legality of Kokabee’s Sentencing
Iran’s Supreme Court has explicitly rejected the legal basis of Omid Kokabee’s prosecution and sentencing. Branch 36 of Iran’s Supreme Court ordered the review of Omid Kokabee’s case, according to a ruling it issued on October 11, 2014 and recently made public by his lawyer. ...
December 3, 2014
Cartoon 101: Please Put Me On Trial
An open letter signed by the Karroubi family and published on November 29, 2014, states that during their last meeting with Green Movement leader Mehdi Karroubi, he “explicitly and clearly criticized the ...