Nasrin Sotoudeh: Investigate Iranian Presidential Hopeful Ebrahim Raisi for 1988 Mass Executions
Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and former political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh has strongly criticized the candidacy of Ebrahim Raisi...
Executions / Life
Crimes Against Humanity in Iran Thrust Into Limelight With Raisi’s Presidential Bid
Ebrahim Raisi Was Member of “Death Commissions” that Ordered Extrajudicial Killings of Thousands of Prisoners in 1988 April 14, 2017–The candidacy in Iran’s upcoming presidential election of Ebrahim Raisi, who played ...
Iranian Azeri Rights Activist on Trial for Advocating Mother Language
Abbas Lesani, an Azeri ethnic rights activist, is being tried for advocating state recognition of his mother tongue and making a speech at his friend’s wedding calling for an end to ...
Son of Grand Ayatollah Blasts Presidential Bid of Human Rights Violator Ebrahim Raisi
The son of late Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who publicly condemned the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, has criticized the newly announced presidential candidacy ...
Young Iranian Death Row Inmate May Soon Receive Sentence Review
The request for a judicial review of the death sentence against 21-year-old Sina Dehghan for “insulting the prophet” of Islam is being processed, his lawyer told the Center for Human Rights ...
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 ...
Young Man Facing Death for Insulting Islam Online Tricked into Signing Confession
Sina Dehghan, sentenced to death for “insulting the prophet” of Islam when he was 19-years-old, was tricked into signing his confession, an informed source told the Center ...
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....
Iran: Repression of those seeking truth and justice for 1980s killings needs to stop
In a joint statement 20 human rights organizations urged the Iranian authorities to stop their attempts to silence human rights defenders and others seeking to shed light on past atrocities. ...
Imprisoned Spiritual Leader Facing the Death Penalty Again for His Personal Beliefs
Imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri has again been tried for the charge of “corruption on earth” despite being cleared of the same charge in 2015, his sister Azardokht Taheri told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). If convicted, the founder of the banned Erfan-e ...
Arrest of Cleric Imprisoned for Highlighting 1988 Political Prisoners Massacre “Like a Kidnapping”
Ahmad Montazeri (right) with his wife Zahra Amlashi. The wife of Ahmad Montazeri, sentenced to six years in prison for publishing an ...
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 Khamenei ...
Iran’s Judiciary Commutes Death Sentences of Some Juvenile Offenders
The Iranian judiciary has agreed to commute the death sentences of six people who were sentenced to death while they were juveniles while refusing the requests of four others, Tehran’s Prosecutor Abbas Jafari ...
Judge Salavati Threatens Iranian-Born Swedish Resident With Death Penalty On Day One of Trial
Iranian-born Swedish resident Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been detained in Tehran without due process since April 2016, was threatened with the death penalty on the first day of his trial ...
Trump’s travel ban is a gift to Iran’s rulers
Marian Vayghan reacts after her uncle is released from a detention center for deportation back to Iran as people protest President Trump’s travel ban from Muslim-majority countries ...
Imprisoned Civil Rights Activist Released After 65-Day Hunger Strike—With a Catch
Azeri rights advocate Morteza Moradpour has been hospitalized in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, while he recovers from the 65-day hunger strike that led to his conditional release from prison. However, his legal battle is far from over because ...
Iranian Lawyer and Writers Beaten and Arrested at Commeration of Murders of Political Dissidents in 1990s
Police and plainclothes security agents arrested a prominent human rights lawyer and several members of the Writers Association of Iran at a commemoration event for victims of the “chain murders...
Momentum Growing to End Iran’s Death Sentences for Drug Offenses
Fast-Tracked Amendment Pending in Parliament, Must Still be Approved by Guardian Council On November 23, 2016, Iran’s Parliament agreed to speed up deliberation on an amendment which, if passed, would drastically decrease the number of executions for drug-related ...
Iran Draws “Red Lines” Before Talks With EU on Human Rights
Ahead of high-level talks between Iran and the European Union on human rights, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has declared certain topics, including the death penalty, off limits. The “red lines” were drawn shortly after ...
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 ...
Elderly Baha’i Man Brutally Murdered Amid Islamic Republic’s “Systematic Hatred” of Baha’is
Sixty-three-year old Farhang Amiri, a Baha’i man that was well-known in his community, was stabbed to death outside his home in the city of Yazd, 312 miles southeast of Tehran, on September 26, 2016, the ...
Mother Who Founded Group Memorializing Massacred Political Prisoners of 1988 Summoned to Court After Flight Ban
“They are the ones who have to answer questions, not us.” Mansoureh Behkish has been banned from leaving Iran and summoned to court for her role in founding the “Mothers of Laleh Park...
Authorities Conceal Location of Imprisoned Hunger-Striking Spiritual Thinker After He Slips Into a Coma
After three weeks on hunger strike, imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri went into a coma and underwent emergency medical treatment on October 18, 2016, but the authorities ...