Iran Asks Pakistan for Help in Political Hostage Crisis
The abduction of five Iranian border guards by a violent political group in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province last week is growing beyond Iran’s borders into an international issue. ...
Ethnic Discrimination
President Rouhani’s New Rights Charter
On November 26, 2013, President Rouhani’s government published a draft Citizens’ Rights Charter and solicited public reaction. The publication of this draft within the first 100 days of his presidency was widely seen as a major step by his administration to address his promises to improve the state of human rights in Iran. ...
“Drawing Repression”: New Book Illustrates 52 Weeks of Human Rights in Iran
This new book of editorial cartoons by leading Iranian artist Touka Neyestani chronicles one year of human rights issues in Iran. ...
President Rouhani’s Draft Citizenship Rights Charter: English Translation
The full English text of the Draft Citizenship Rights Charter proposed by President Hassan Rouhani and widely circulated for feedback, is available thanks to UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed and the Human Rights in Iran Unit at the City University of New York – Brooklyn College. ...
Culture Minister Asks Judiciary to Provide More Freedom of Expression
Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati publicly stated that the Iranian Judiciary should join the Rouhani administration in providing more freedom of expression to Iranian media and artists, drawing strong criticism from Iran’s Prosecutor General and Spokesperson for the Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi for his remarks to Al Jazeera. ...
Rouhani’s Citizenship Rights Charter Contradicts Constitution, Says Iranian Lawyer
In an exclusive interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer and human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar analyzed the various problems with the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by Hassan Rouhani last November, saying it is a “hodge podge of things” that both repeats and contradicts the Constitution, and it needs a ...
Intelligence Ministry May Be More “Flexible” in Respecting Human Rights, Says Lawyer
Ghasem Sholeh Sadi, lawyer and former Member of the Parliament and political prisoner, told the International Campaign for Human Rights that he is somewhat optimistic about the consequences of the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by President Hassan Rouhani in November. ...
Rights Lawyer Says Iran Needs Existing Laws Enforced, not a New Charter
Lawyer and member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center Mahnaz Parakand discussed necessary steps for implementing human rights protections in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “Before thinking to design a Citizenship Rights Charter, we must implement the Iranian Constitution, even with all its shortcomings. Many of the articles ...
Rights Lawyer Says Citizenship Rights Charter Is “Distraction”
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer Khalil Bahramian, who has represented many political prisoners, said the draft Citizenship Rights Charter is just a distraction for the public. ...
Rouhani Delivered on Rights Charter Promise “Immediately,” but Issue Is with Implementation, Says Lawyer
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer Farideh Gheirat said that the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by Hassan Rouhani in November is almost exactly like the Iranian Constitution in substance, just with different phrasing. Gheirat added that there was no need to draft a new Charter that was ...
Guardian Council May Approve Citizenship Rights Charter, Says Lawyer
President Hassan Rouhani’s draft Citizenship Rights Charter, currently before the Guardian Council, may win approval, lawyer and head of the National Iranian Bar Associations Union Bahman Keshavarz told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
Prominent Activist Cites Numerous Omissions in Citizen Rights Charter
In a interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist and spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Center, acknowledged that the Citizen Rights Charter was a positive step, but noted that the draft document contained many serious shortcomings that needed to be addressed. ...
Despite Promises, Starred Students Keep Waiting to Return to Classrooms
"Starred students" are individuals who passed the university entrance examination, or even attended classes after admission to the university, but who were banned from the universities due to their peaceful civil or political activities or their ...
Kurdish Sunni Prisoners in Critical Health After 30 Days on Hunger Strike
Six Kurdish Sunni prisoners on death rowat Ghezel Hessar Prison in Karaj have been on a hunger strike since Monday, November 4, a human rights activist told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Molaei, Jamshid Dehghnai, Jahangir Dehghani, Seyed Hadi Hossein, and Seddigh Mohammadi, all being kept in Unit 3 ...
Police Shoot and Kill Two Kurdish Citizens, Injure a Third
In the week between November 8 and November 15, Iranian police killed two Kurdish citizens in the border region areas of Nosood in Kermanshah Province and Baneh in Kurdistan Province, allegedly as part of an effort to fight the smuggling of goods. Some residents of the region have expressed their outrage by closing their businesses, ...
UN Shows Strong Support for Human Rights in Iran with 83-to-36 Vote
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomes the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee vote today overwhelmingly supporting human rights in Iran, and urges the Iranian government to comply with UN human rights mechanisms and take concrete steps to address the ongoing violations in the country. ...
25 NGOs Urge UN Third Committee to Pass Iran Human Rights Resolution
As the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee prepares to vote on the resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran, 25 human rights organizations have joined together to urge member states to vote in favor of the resolution. ...
Iranian Government Official Dismayed at Rise in Executions
Iran has executed more than 200 people in the three months since President Hassan Rouhani took office. According to a former reformist Member of Parliament, Rouhani’s Special Assistant in Ethnic and Minority Affairs Ali Younesi expressed his dismay at the recent executions in Kurdistan and said that “extremist elements” were responsible for them. ...
Cartoon 63: “Prevent the Murder of an Innocent Man”
“I ask all judicial and legal officials in Iran and abroad, as well as officials of human rights organizations inside and abroad, to pursue this subject [my case] in the region in order to prevent the murder of an innocent man. I hope for a day when we would not witness executions in Kurdistan and ...
Executed Prisoner Habibollah Golparipour Asked Judicial and Human Rights Officials to Stop His Execution (Audio)
Iranian authorities executed Kurdish political prisoner Habibollah Golparipour on October 26 without conducting any independent investigation into claims of torture, his family learned later that day. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has obtained an audio recording of a letter Golparipour wrote a few weeks before his execution pleading for an investigation and ...
Repression Intensifies Despite Rouhani’s Promises
The Iranian Judiciary should immediately halt its new wave of repression of the media and civil society and stop its numerous rushed executions, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. ...
Kurdistan Authorities Push to Execute Two Kurdish Political Prisoners
Zanyar Moradi (right) and Loghman Moradi (left)The Kurdistan Province judicial and security officials have launched an effort in recent days to enforce the confirmed death sentences of two Kurdish prisoners of conscience, Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, who are ...
XIII International Human Rights Colloquium
Over 100 human rights advocates from 40 countries are convening in São Paulo, Brazi, from October 12 to 19, to discuss “A New Global Order in Human Rights? Actors, Challenges and Opportunities” at the 13th International Human Rights Colloquium organized by Conectas Human Rights. This post will be updated regularly throughout the conference. ...
Khuzestan Teachers Say Disallowing Mother Tongue in Schools Is Causing High Dropout Rate
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, two former Khuzestan Province teachers who currently live outside Iran said that the government’s refusal to allow the teaching and speaking of Arabic in schools has led to poor grades and an increase in dropout rates among Khuzestan students. According to these teachers, ...
Judge Claims Baha’i’s Death Was Suicide, Not Murder
Ataollah Rezvani, 52, was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head in his car on August 24. He was an active member of the Bandar Abbas ...