Ethnic Discrimination
Former MP: Guardian Council Has “No Legal Authority” to Exclude Religious Minorities From Elections
The Guardian Council’s attempt to ban religious minorities from running in Iran’s nationwide local council elections on May 19, 2017 is unlawful and infringes on their constitutional rights, a former reformist member ...
Eight Baha’is Arrested Without a Warrant by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and Denied Legal Counsel
Seven Baha’i citizens were arrested by the Intelligence Ministry in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, southern Iran, on April 18, 2017, an informed source told the Center for Human Rights ...
Former MP Urges Iranian Government to “Trust” and Allow Sunnis to Run For President
In the run-up to Iran’s May 19, 2017 presidential election, a Sunni Muslim former member of Parliament has renewed his call for members of his faith to be allowed to run ...
Iranian Sunni Cleric and Critic of Iran’s Involvement in Syria Released From Detention
Molavi Fazl al-Rahman Kouhi, an outspoken Sunni cleric in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province, was released from detention on $31,000 USD bail on April 10, 2017 after being questioned for a ...
Five Iranian Baha’is Arrested in Isfahan Without Warrant on Unknown Charges
Five Baha’is were arrested at their homes in the city of Isfahan on March 28, 2017, Simin Fahandej, the faith’s spokesperson at the United Nations in Geneva confirmed to the Center for Human ...
Baha’is Imprisoned in Iran for Religious Beliefs Singled Out for Cruel Treatment
A member of Iran’s perseacuted Baha’i faith has expressed serious concerns about two imprisoned ailing family members who are being denied early release despite being legally eligible. The Intelligence ...
Amendment Could Save Thousands of Drug Traffickers on Death Row in Iran
If passed by Parliament and the Council of Guardians, an amendment to Iran’s death penalty law could save thousands of drug traffickers currently facing execution. ...
Cartoon 163: Rouhani Protecting Citizen’s Rights
President Hassan Rouhani stands between Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a political prisoner, ostensibly to protect the prisoner from Khamenei's bat, a metaphor for the Revolutionary Guards, while himself threatening the prisoner with a bat, representing his Intelligence Ministry....
Judiciary Refusing to Release Ailing Baha’i Leader Imprisoned in Iran for Nine Years
Behrouz Tavakkoli, an elderly former Baha’i community leader who has spent nearly nine years in prison for his faith, is legally eligible for early release, but his requests for a case review are being ignored. His ...
Former MP Demands That Iran Implement Right of Ethnic Minorities to Preserve Languages
A former member of Parliament and Iranian-Kurdish rights activist, Jalal Jalalizadeh, has strongly criticized the Islamic Republic’s refusal to recognize the constitutional right of ethnic minorities to preserve their languages. Eighty-eight ...
Four Azeri Rights Activists Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison for Peaceful Activism
Four Iranian ethnic Azerbaijanis have been issued long prison sentences for peacefully defending their rights, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has learned. One defendant, Alireza Farshi, told the Campaign that Branch 1 of ...
Sunni Leader Calls on Khamenei to Investigate Reports of Expedited Executions of Sunni Prisoners
Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi (right) greets Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (left). Iran’s most senior Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, has written to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali ...
Briefing: Tracking Twitter’s Growing Popularity in Iran
Twitter’s growth in Iran can be tracked through three distinct stages; when it was banned in 2009, during the nuclear talks in 2013-15, and after the ban was ...
Intelligence Ministry Violently Arrests Teenage Ethnic Arab Activist in Khuzestan
Ali Kab-Aomair, a 17-year-old ethnic Arab activist, has been held incommunicado since he was violently arrested on February 8, 2017 by agents of the Intelligence Ministry in Ahwaz, ...
Political Prisoners on Death Row in Iran Fear Reinstatement of Long-Term Visitations Ban
Political prisoners Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, both ethnic Kurds on death row in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, have been denied visitations since mid-December 2016 without ...
Five Political Prisoners in Iran on Life-Threatening Hunger Strikes in Desperate Bid for Case Reviews
The lives of at least three imprisoned civil rights activists in Iran are perilously in danger after suffering health complications from weeks on hunger strike, while another has sewn his lips shut, ...
85 UN Member States Say Iran Must Improve Its Human Rights
Resolution Passes UN General Assembly Third Committee November 16, 2016—The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomes the United Nations’ adoption of a resolution expressing serious concern ...
Azeri Rights Activist in Critical Condition After Starting Second Hunger Strike in Tabriz Prison
Imprisoned Azeri rights activist Rasoul Razavi has received emergency medical treatment on several occasions since he started a hunger strike in Tabriz Prison on October 3, 2016, an informed source told the ...
Baha’i Student Expelled and Banned from University for His Faith
Iranian authorities have ignored requests to reinstate a student expelled from a university because of his faith. Nineteen-year-old Faraz Karin-Kani Sisan was expelled from Ghiyaseddin Jamshid Kashani Institute for Higher Education (GJKI) in Abyek, ...
Hospitalized Christian Convert Ordered Back to Prison
Imprisoned Christian convert Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran, who has been hospitalized since August 21, 2016 for heart problems, has been denied an extension of her medical ...
Sunni Cleric Charged with Anti-State Activities for Criticizing Mass Execution
Hassan Amini, a Sunni cleric and Islamic judge based in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan Province, has been interrogated and charged for criticizing the recent mass ...
Five Prisoners Hanged in Iran in Accelerating Rate of Executions
Hangings Follow Twenty Prisoners Executed Last Week Five prisoners were hanged inside Iran’s Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province on the morning of August 8, ...
Names of Mass Execution Victims in Iran Still Not Released
Only 10 of the 20 Sunni Prisoners Killed Are Identified by Authorities Iran is withholding the names of ten of the twenty Sunni prisoners who were executed in Rajaee Shahr Prison in ...
Lawyers Still Languishing in Jails in Iran for Defending Dissidents Under Rouhani’s Watch
Campaign Pledges Three Years Ago to Free Political Prisoners Now Ring Hollow Dozens of human rights lawyers who have been imprisoned for years in Iran for defending civil rights and political prisoners, remain behind bars three years ...