List of Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran for Defending Human Rights (Updated)
At least five defense lawyers are currently imprisoned in Iran for supporting human rights ...
Assembly / Association
World Refugee Day: Watch Nazanin Boniadi’s New DocuFilm “Stateless”
June 18, 2020 -- Last summer, the actress and human rights activist Nazanin Boniadi visited the Northern french cities of Calais and Dunkirk where she met asylum seekers from around the ...
Father of Female Political Prisoner Worries She Has COVID-19 Without Access to Treatment
Fears that the ethnic Kurdish Iranian political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian (also spelled Zeynab) could have contracted COVID-19 in Tehran Province’s Gharchak Prison have deeply worried her family, the Center for Human Rights in ...
Mother of Jailed Anti-Compulsory Hijab Activist Calls for Legal Reform
*Update: On November 9, 2020, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Kord-Afshari’s lawyer, Hosein Taj, to review the 24-year prison sentence against Saba Kord-Afshari for her peaceful campaign against compulsory hijab. Based on Article ...
Get Up, Stand Up: Protest and the Struggle for Justice
The murder of George Floyd was not just the killing of one man, it was an assault on justice and the rule of law. It is one instance of many in which ...
“They Aimed at My Son’s Head”: Report Reveals Carnage in Crushed Iran Protests
May 27, 2020 — A new report released today by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) documents the extraordinary state violence that was used against protesters in Iran during the ...
Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Prison Without Access to Counsel
Four Defense Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran in Less Than Two Years Human rights attorney Payam Derafshan was denied access to counsel while being tried for the charge of “insulting the supreme leader,” ...
Jailed Activist’s Son Threatened with Imprisonment to Silence Dissent
Three Relatives of Iranian Dissidents Arbitrarily Prosecuted in One Month Amid a renewed crackdown on peaceful criticism of Iranian state policies, the son of imprisoned filmmaker and journalist Mohammad Nourizad is being ...
Novelist Brother of “Iran’s Bob Dylan” Loses Appeal Against Politically Motivated Prison Sentence
Iranian Judiciary Contiguously Targeting Dissidents’ Family Members Iran’s Appeals Court upheld a one-year prison sentence against novelist Hamid Namjoo for the content of his writings and because he published work abroad, ...
UN Human Rights Chief: Ease Sanctions Against Countries Fighting COVID-19
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called for easing or suspension of "sectoral sanctions" against countries including Iran to allow their medical systems to fight the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and limit its global spread. Following is a reprint of ...
Nasrin Sotoudeh: “If We’re Going to Die, Let Us Be by Our Families’ Sides”
Jailed Attorney, Fellow Political Prisoners Hunger Strike for Freedom Amid COVID-19 Outbreak March 17, 2020 -- At least three political activists in Tehran’s Evin Prison have joined prominent imprisoned human rights attorney ...
Several Detained, Summoned in Iran After Publicly Criticizing State’s COVID-19 Response
Members of civil society in Iran including a city councilman, soccer player, and journalists were detained or summoned for questioning after criticizing the Iranian government’s management of the country’s widening COVID-19 outbreak ...
“They Want to Create Fear” More Artists Summoned to Prison Amid Iran’s Rising COVID-19 Death Toll
In addition to renowned filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, three members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA)—Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan—have been summoned to prison as other inmates are ...
UN Expert Alarmed by Detention Conditions in the Wake of Recent Protests
UN Press Release GENEVA (9 March 2020) – Individuals detained in Iranian detention facilities are suffering from serious human rights violations and the situation of those arrested during the November ...
Political Prisoners Excluded from Mass Release as COVID-19 Spreads
Iranian authorities have excluded peaceful political prisoners from the mass prisoner release that was announced by Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi in late February 2020 to control the growing COVID-19 ...
Families Urge Judiciary Chief to Include Jailed Conservationists In Mass Prisoner Release
56,000 Temporarily Freed from Iran's Overcrowded Prisons Amid Coronavirus Outbreak The families of eight conservationists imprisoned in Iran on trumped-up charges have called on Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi to release them on furlough along ...
Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Renowned Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof Summoned to Prison
Rasoulof’s Film About Iran’s Death Penalty Recently Won Top Prize at Berlin Film Festival March 4, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) strongly condemns the Iranian judiciary’s decision to put ...
Coronavirus: Citing Crowded Prisons, Renowned Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Husband Calls for Release of Political Prisoners
Reza Khandan, a women's rights activist and the husband of prominent imprisoned human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, has called on Iranian authorities to release his wife and other prisoners to the extent ...
“Torture” and “Sexual Threats” Detailed in Letters by Jailed Former UN Environment Consultant
Conservation Scientist Niloufar Bayani: "Every time I... sought help from the authorities, the pressures, threats, and acts of torture increased." Appeals Court Upheld Prison Sentences Against Conservationists on Baseless Charges and Coerced “Confessions” February 20, 2020 – A female former UN Environment consultant’s complaints of physical and ...
Appeals Court Upholds Baseless Prison Sentences Against Wildlife Conservationists
Prison Terms Range from 4-10 Years Based on No Evidence and False "Confessions" February 18, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) condemns the Iranian appeals court’s decision to uphold lengthy prison ...
Evin Prison Sees Inmate Transfers, Construction as Authorities Prep for More Protest Crackdowns
Iranian authorities have transferred a large number of inmates out of Evin Prison in Tehran—notorious for holding political prisoners—to other prisons and implemented further security measures in Evin in preparation for more sudden ...
Iran Moves to Silence Journalists, Activists Ahead of Parliamentary Elections
Tehran-Based Reporter: “They Want Us to Stop Writing” February 11, 2020 – The intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is summoning journalists, raiding their homes and confiscating their electronic devices ...
Detained Protestors in Iran: Beaten, Tortured, Forced to “Confess”
February 10, 2020 – Detainees held in Iran since the November 2019 street protests—including juveniles—are being beaten, forced to make self-incriminating statements and held in inhumane incarceration conditions, and their families are ...
Dissidents Sentenced to Prison for “Insulting” Supreme Leader Facing Additional Charges
Dissidents who were sentenced to prison in Iran after calling for the resignation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are facing additional charges, an attorney representing some of them told the Center for ...
Slain Protester’s Family Refuses to Give Iranian Government “Propaganda Coup”
Iranian authorities are continuing to pressure the family of Borhan Mansournia, who died from a bullet wound in the back when state forces violently cracked down on the street protest ...