Former Political Prisoner Arrested at “Cyrus Day” Celebration
The tomb of Cyrus the Great, a UNESCO protected world heritage site, is located southwest of the palaces of Pasargadae in Shiraz, Fars Province. Unofficial Commemoration Growing ...
Assembly / Association
Death Penalty-Carrying Charge Dropped Against Four Conservationists After Supreme Leader Intervened
The charge of “corruption on earth,” which can lead to the death penalty under Iranian law, has been dropped against four detained conservationists following intervention by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Center for Human Rights ...
Women Football Fans Decry Restrictions: “Why Didn’t They Let Us All In?”
Women's Tickets Capped at 4,000 Out of 75,000 The soccer match between Iran and Cambodia on October 10, 2019, in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium included the historic presence of thousands of women. However, although the stadium was more than half empty, the authorities capped the number of tickets ...
Mother of Slain Son to Serve One Year in Prison for Seeking Justice
Appeals Court Upholds Sentence against Shahnaz Akmali Shahnaz Akmali, the mother of a protester who was killed in a pro-democracy rally, must serve a year in prison, an Appeals Court in Iran has decided, ...
Iranian Stadium Ban Activists Honored in Wake of “Blue Girl” Tragedy
Minute of Silence Observed for "Blue Girl" Stadium Ban Resister Who Died by Self-Immolation Activists leading the struggle against Iran's ban on women in stadiums were honored with the "Sport for Human Rights" award sponsored ...
Death of Iran’s “Blue Girl” Spotlights Senseless Ban on Women in Stadiums
No More Empty Promises: FIFA Should Call on Iran to Lift Ban Once and For All September 10, 2019 – The death of Sahar Khodayari, a woman who set herself on fire in Tehran because she thought she would have to serve jail time ...
Mass Sentencing of Labor Activists, Journalists Prelude to Reign of Repression Under New Judiciary Chief
Seven Sentenced to Lengthy Jail Terms in Connection with Peaceful Protests September 9, 2019—Less than a year after workers’ rights activists in southwestern Iran publicized evidence that Intelligence Ministry agents had tortured detainees, those same activists and four independent journalists who covered their cases ...
Judge Moghiseh Accused of Cursing at Magazine Editor During Bail Hearing
The former editor-in-chief of the Sedaye Parsi (Persian Voice) political magazine, Masoud Kazemi, was detained on May 22, 2019, after being unable to post bail, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has ...
Seven to Face Trial in Connection with Labor Protests
Many Denied Access to Counsel, Families Warned to Stay Quiet After months of unlawful prosecution in connection with workers’ rights protests in southwestern Iran, five journalists and two labor activists are due to go on trial at Branch 15 of the revolutionary court in Tehran presided ...
Second Women’s Charity Group Member Who Assisted Flood Victims Is Arrested
Both Women Being Held for Unknown Reasons at Evin Prison A second senior member of the charity group Voice of Iranian Women (VIW), which has been involved in aid and rescue operations during ...
Iran: Harsh Sentence for Rights Lawyer Threatens Activism
Lengthy Prison Terms Shows Effort to Deter Rights Advocacy (New York, March 20, 2019) – The prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh’s draconian sentence for her peaceful activism shows the ...
Intelligence Ministry Denies Labor Activists Qoliyan and Bakhshi Medical Treatment
Supporters of Esmail Bakhshi ...
Sugar Mill Workers Call for International Action to Free Detained Colleagues Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan
Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Pressured to Retract Torture Allegations A union representing workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in the Iranian city of Shush, Khuzestan Province, has called on individuals and international organizations to demand the release of union representative ...
Eight Conservationists Tried in Iran on Basis of Retracted False “Confessions”
First Half of Indictment Lacks Evidence, Relies on Statements Made Under Extreme Duress January 30, 2019 – In their first trial session since being detained in Iran one year ago, eight conservationists learned today ...
Three Members of Iran’s Writers Association Charged With National Security Crimes for Opposing Censorship
Three senior members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) have been charged with national security crimes for peacefully protesting state censorship policies, according to a ...
Iran: Release Labor Activists Re-Arrested For Revealing They’d Been Tortured
Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Both At Risk of Serious Harm January 22, 2019—The arrests of labor activist Esmail Bakhshi and freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan...
Sham Investigation of Labor Activist’s Alleged Torture Lacks Impartiality, Ignores Witnesses
Iran Must Re-Open an Independent and Impartial Investigation into Labor Activist’s Abuse Multiple Cases of Alleged Torture Must Be Thoroughly Investigated January 17, 2018—After a brief and deeply flawed investigation lacking ...
Labor Activist’s Revelation of Torture During Detention Prompts Wave of Reports of Abuse in Iran’s Prisons
Esmail Bakhshi’s lawyer says her client is under intense pressure to retract statements about his torture Labor activist Esmail Bakhshi’s public letter in which he revealed his ...
Food With “Rodent Feces” Served to Political Prisoners in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary
The food served at the Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) is unsanitary and has been found to contain rodent feces, making some prisoners sick, the wife of a political ...
Peaceful Teachers Protesting Heavy Sentence Against Mohammad Habibi Met With Tear Gas, Arrests
Teachers who were peacefully protesting a fellow colleague’s heavy prison sentence were met with tear gas by anti-riot units who made “several arrests” in the Iranian city of Isfahan on December 27, 2018, a trade unionist told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). On ...
Iranian MP Calls Arrests of Protesting Ahvaz Workers “Violation of the Constitution”
At Least 31 Steel Workers Remain Detained Eleven workers detained during protests by employees of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) in southwestern Iran between December 17-18, 2018, were released on bail December 19, but at least 31 others remain behind ...
Family “Worried” About Ailing, Elderly Labor Activist Held Incommunicado
The family of ailing labor activist Asghar Firouzi has been extremely “worried” about his condition since he was detained by unidentified security agents, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. ...
Iran Must Address Crisis of Unpaid Wages, Not Prosecute People Who Demand Their Pay
15 Petrochemical Workers Sentenced to Prison, Flogging for Protesting Unpaid Wages in Latest Ruling Unpaid Wages Violates Iranian Law, Flogging Violates International Law December 13, 2018—In yet another ruling punishing workers for ...