Free Expression
UN Experts Call for an Independent Investigation into the Death of Sattar Beheshti
GENEVA (15 November 2012) – A group of United Nations experts today urged the Government of Iran to undertake a thorough, independent and impartial investigation of the death in custody of Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti, particularly the allegations of torture, and to make the result of such an investigation public. ...
Sattar Beheshti’s Family Ask for Protection To Come Forward With Lawsuit Against Torture Culprits
A source close to the family of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger whose family was informed of his death in custody on November 6, told the International Campaign that “If we know that we are supported by an organization and that our lives are safe and that they will not take us like Sattar to beat, ...
Iranian Judiciary’s High Council of Human Rights Reacts to Sattar Beheshti’s Prison Death
After several days of silence on the prison death of blogger Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council stated in a press release today, November 11, 2012, that by special order of Sadeq Larijani, Head of the Judiciary, “all aspects of the issue have come under careful review, and the Judiciary Spokesperson and other ...
Cartoon 31: Never-ending Death in Prisons
Sattar Beheshti, 35, a laborer who criticzed the Iranian government for its oppressive policies in his blogs, was arrested on Tuesday, October 30. His arrest came after several warnings and summonses by Iran’s Cyber Police who had at one point threatened Beheshti that if he kept writing his critical blogs, they would “make his mother ...
Signs of Torture on Body of Deceased Blogger, Family Under Pressure to Keep Silent
A source close to the family of Sattar Behesthi, a blogger whose family was told on November 6 that he had died in a detention center, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the blogger’s family was threatened with arrest if they spoke with the media. The source told the Campaign that ...
Blogger Dies in Detention, Torture Suspected
(November 8, 2012) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately investigate the death of a young blogger, Sattar Beheshti, during interrogations and hold the responsible officials accountable, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Beheshti’s death in custody raises serious concerns about the ongoing ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience in Iran while security and ...
Sakharov Prize-winner Sotoudeh’s Detention Highlights Denial of Basic Rights
(Paris, London, New York, October 31, 2012) Iran’s judiciary and prison authorities should end mistreatment of the prominent rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and six human rights organizations said today. Ebadi and the rights groups also called on Iran’s authorities to allow all prisoners access to necessary medical care and ...
UN Special Rapporteur: Iran’s Reputation Worsens Every Day Journalists Spend in Jail
“For every day [journalists] spend in jail, Iran suffers a reputational problem somewhere in the world,” UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed said in an exclusive interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “I signify … a heightened sense of caring by the international community about the plight of people in Iran.” ...
Cartoon 29: Persevering Even in Prison
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian lawyer, has dedicated her life to fighting for human rights and defending prisoners of conscience in Iran. For her work, she was recently awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. For her work, she is serving a six-year prison sentence on charges of “acting against national ...
Imprisoned Iranian Lawyer Awarded Sakharov Prize, Family Says She Is in Critical Condition
The European Parliament today awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for human rights and freedom of thought to imprisoned Iranian lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and prominent filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Both awardees have been sentenced to long prison sentences in Iran and bans on travel and their careers because of their opposition to the ...
Student Activist’s Psychological Health Suffers at Evin
“Siavash has lost a lot of weight and does not have a good psychological state. He is 24. He was a graduate student when he was abruptly banned from continuing his education, and then he was imprisoned. The month-long solitary confinement, loneliness, his education ban, and his uncertain future have all made him depressed. He ...
Cartoon (27): When Ahmadinejad Visits Evin
Iranian media reported on October 4 that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was planning to visit the entirety of Evin Prison, including parts under the control of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Since June 2012, Ahmadinejad’s media advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr has been imprisoned at Evin, a case Ahmadinejad noted he would pursue. Dozens of prisoners of conscience ...
UN Human Rights Office Calls Out Iranian Crackdown on Critical Voices
In a statement released October 2, 2012, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations expressed its concern over “the arrest and imprisonment of several prominent human rights defenders, journalists and political activists in … Iran in the past two weeks.” The OHCHR warned of “a further severe clamp down ...
Nobel Laureate Stresses the Plight of Imprisoned Teachers in Exclusive Interview
In an exclusive interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, 2003 Nobel laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi spoke about a new teachers’ rights initiative and called on the Iranian government to “listen to the legitimate demands of the teachers and to act on them.” ...
Podcast 50: Interviewing Sarah Shourd About her Time in Prison
Just over three years ago, three young Americans—Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal—were taken into custody by Iranian border guards while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. Though the young Americans’ case was widely believed to be political theater, Iranian authorities insisted they had illegally crossed over into Iranian territory in order to commit espionage; charges ...
Sotoudeh Nominated for Sakharov Prize, Denied In-person Visitation for Writing Defense on Tissue
Nasrin Sotoudeh, imprisoned lawyer and human rights activist, was nominated this week for the prestigious European Union Sakharov Human Rights Prize. News of her nomination arrived just as she has been deprived of in-person visitation because she wrote her defense bill on a tissue paper. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights ...
Saeed Matinpour’s Requests Conditional Release and Furlough
In a September 22 interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the wife of Saeed Matinpour, a civil activist and journalist from Azerbaijan Province currently serving an eight-year prison term, said that she had submitted her husband’s latest request for conditional release and furlough to the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office that day. Saeed ...
Sharq Newspaper Banned, Manager Imprisoned, Cartoonist Summoned
Following publication of a cartoon entitled “The Blindfolded Men,” Sharq Newspaper was banned on September 26. In a concerted effort by 150 Members of the Parliament, state authorities, and clerics, the newspaper was banned a day after the cartoon was published and the cartoonist, Hadi Heydari, was summoned to court. Mehdi Rahmanian, the newspapers manager ...
Dissident Cleric Suffers Seizures And Heart Attack In Prison
Farideh Honarvar Shojayee told the Campaign she that during her booth visit with her son on June 30, “Arash’s health was very bad. Though they have been giving him his medicine, more or less, for the last few days, but he is not well yet. The hunger strike has also affected his health. He has ...
Father of Facebook Page Contributor Arrested, Threatened to Execution
Yashar Khameneh, known in the cyber world as “Naghi Pajooh” for his contributions to the Facebook page “Campaign to Remind the Shias of Imam Naghi,” told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that his father, who was arrested because of his son’s activities, is being threatened in prison. ...
The Campaign and 12 NGOs Call on Companies to Lift Blockade on Internet Technology
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, in coalition with 12 other rights organizations and policy organizations, is calling on leading tech companies including, Apple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle and Go Daddy to stop blocking internet technology to citizens living in repressive countries like Iran. The Campaign and its collaborators pointed out that these industry ...
Iran Tries to Neuter Foreign Media and International Press Freedoms
Iranian authorities should end their undue restrictions on and intimidation of foreign-based journalists and media outlets, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. “Iranian authorities have long been repressing domestic journalists. Now it’s clear that they have turned an eye to neutering international press freedoms also,” said Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi. “We ...
Podcast 48: Underground Rock in Iran with Arash Sobhani, Pooya Hosseini, and Arash Farazman
For most of us, listening to any music that we want is just a way of life. But in Iran, musicians face censorship and Iranians cannot listen to anything they want. In this week’s Weekly Rights Podcast, we talk to Arash Sobhani of Kiosk and Pooya Hosseini and Arash Farazman of Free Keys about the ...