Session of the UN's Human Rights Council. Another juvenile offender, Hossein Shahbazi, is in imminent danger of being executed in Iran after being sentenced to death as a child at the age of 17. "The court relied in part on confessions ...
UN human rights experts today strongly condemned the execution in Iran of political prisoner Heydar (or Heidar) Ghorbani, who was tortured and sentenced to death without a lawyer. Following is the complete UN press release. GENEVA, UN Press Release (22 December 2021) - UN ...
On December 16, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted draft resolution II, “Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” with 78 votes in favor, 31 against and 69 abstentions. The resolution expressed serious concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the death penalty, including against ...
Abbas and Mohsen Deris, both members of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority in Khuzestan Province, were arrested during the country’s violently repressed November 2019 protests, which broke out across the country that month and which saw an estimated 100 protesters killed in Khuzestan alone ...
The United Nations has strongly condemned the execution of child offender Arman Abdolali in a press release republished below. Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Liz Throssell on execution of juvenile offender Arman Abdolali in Iran GENEVA (24 November 2021) – We condemn the ...
The right to mourn is a human right, yet totalitarian regimes have long tried to deny this right to families who’ve lost loved ones from state oppression. Public mourning can expose and embarrass regimes that seek to silence dissent, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is no ...
In a speech to the UN General Assembly for his fourth annual report, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, criticized three vague criminal charges in Iran that carry the death penalty and are often used against political opponents ...
The torture and inhuman mistreatment of detainees and prisoners in Iran are among the most serious violations of human rights in the country’s prisons. In many cases, prisoners or detainees have died from injuries inflicted upon them in custody and yet the government has never acknowledged responsibility on ...
Video footage showing a policeman unlawfully shooting a suspect in the Mehrshahr district of Karaj, a city west of Tehran, was met with widespread condemnation on social media networks by Persian speakers who condemned the use of excessive force. A video clip shared on Twitter shows a ...
Investigation Marked by Torture, Witness Tampering and Contradictions August 26, 2021—The refusal by Iran’s Supreme Court to allow a judicial review of the 25-year prison sentence for Vahid Afkari, the brother of wrestling champion Navid Afkari who was unlawfully executed last year, despite evidence of torture, ...
Lawyer: The Ruling against Vahid Afkari had “24 Contradictions and 3 Lies” Despite Inconsistencies and Torture, Supreme Court Refuses to Review 25-year Prison Sentence Nearly a year after the unlawful execution of wrestling champion Navid Afkari, a request by his brother Vahid, who along with a third Afkari ...
The historic trial against Nouri, which will hear testimonies from dozens of witnesses in 72 sessions, will be the first time that one of the worst crimes committed in the Islamic Republic of Iran will be thoroughly examined and exposed in a court of law ...
Upcoming Trial of Hamid Nouri May Reveal Details of Executions of Thousands of Prisoners and Role of Incoming President Raisi August 4, 2021—The upcoming trial of a former assistant prosecutor in Iran, Hamid Nouri, in a Swedish court on charges of committing war crimes and murder for ...
The following interview with Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, was conducted and published by Iran Primer and republished here with permission. What role did Raisi play in the 1988 executions of thousands of Iranian political prisoners? How important or ...
Top UN Expert Ready to Share Testimonies, Evidence for Impartial Inquiry July 6, 2021 – The UN Human Rights Council should act upon the call by UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman for an impartial inquiry into the state-ordered mass executions of thousands of prisoners in Iran ...
Secretary-General Cites Impunity for Rights Violations and Increase Risk of Future Violations *Read the full UN Secretary-General report here. In the latest report on Iran by the UN Secretary-General, the world’s top diplomat stated that the rights situation in Iran “remains of serious concern” and that “impediments to the rule ...
Ghost of Navid Afkari Haunts Judiciary Chief’s Election Bid June 15, 2021 – One week before Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi runs virtually uncontested for president, the family of Navid Afkari—a wrestler who was executed under Raisi’s watch—has filed a supreme court petition seeking a ...
In 2017, when Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi launched his first presidential campaign, Effat Mahbaz–the widow of a political prisoner killed during mass executions in the 1980s–published an open letter to Raisi’s wife highlighting Raisi’s role in what the UN says should be investigated as “crimes against humanity” ...
At Least Two Political Prisoners Have Died in Past Four Months Niknafs Was Jailed Despite Health Conditions That Made Him Unfit for Prison June 7, 2021 – Another political prisoner has died in state custody two weeks before Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, who is ultimately responsible for ...
Judiciary Chief’s Presidential Bid Reignites Calls for Accountability June 3, 2021 – Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi should be investigated for crimes against humanity, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today. “Raisi is a pillar of a system that jails, tortures, and ...
The Center for Human Rights in Iran, along with eight other organizations, today sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration calling for human rights to be advanced parallel to other matters with Iran May 10, 2021 -- Today PEN America and the Center for Human Rights in ...
May 10, 2021 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge you to prioritize human rights as you shape your administration’s foreign policy toward Iran. As the United States works to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of ...
"They Learned of the Executions When the Bodies of Their Children Were Delivered to Them" Ethnically Arab political prisoners Jasem Heidary, Hossein Silawi, Ali Khasraji, and Nasser Khafajian (Khafaji) were executed inside Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan Province, on February 28, 2021, without ...
45-Page Letter by Top Experts Details Harassment of Victims’ Families and Violent Suppression of Protests In a 45-page official letter to the government of Iran by Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Javaid Rehman, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the ...
Death of Behnam Mahjoubi Will Be Followed by Others without Urgent Action February 22, 2021—The death of prisoner of conscience Behnam Mahjoubi, who died on February 21, 2021, after untreated medical conditions that included serious neurological issues, reflects the continued crisis in Iran’s prisons, where prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience ...