Draft Citizenship Charter Will Allow Continued Rights Violations say Human Rights Groups
In a letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani, Iran's President, Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in ...
Issues
Cartoon 72: Collective Punishment
The wife and the mother of an exiled political prisoner died in a car crash as they were on their way back from visiting their relative in Masjed-e Soleyman Prison. Nahid Rahmani, mother, and Ziba Sadeghzadeh, wife, of Amir Reza ...
Cartoon 71: “Dialogue Among Civilizati—!”
Former Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami's foreign travel ban has received fresh attention since Nelson Mandela's funeral. Mohammad Khatami, president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, introduced the ...
Ebadi: Citizenship Charter Is Redundant Distraction from Justice
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights lawyer, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in an exclusive interview that the draft Citizenship Rights Charter published by Hassan Rouhani in November to solicit input from ...
Wife and Mother of Illegally Exiled Political Prisoner Die in Car Crash After Prison Visit
Tragic news about the deaths of the wife and the mother of an exiled political prisoner as they were on their way back from visiting him in Masjed-e Soleyman Prison has shocked Iranians worldwide. Nahid Rahmani, mother, and Ziba Sadeghzadeh, ...
More Detained Social Network Users: Forced Confessions Feared
The IRGC Intelligence Unit has arrested two individuals active on Facebook, in a continuing wave of arrests against Internet and social media users and professionals. Mohammad Amin Akrami and Mehdi Rayshahri Tangestani are the latest detainees of IRGC, according to ...
Iranian Artists Launch Online Petition to Minister of Culture Denouncing Crackdown
In a letter addressed to Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, a group of Iranian musicians, music principals, and supporters have asked him to end the suppression of musicians and music professionals and to ensure that artists ...
Iranian Professor Publicly Refutes Government Claims on Human Rights
Tehran University Political Science Professor Sadegh Zibakalam publicly challenged Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani’s recent remarks stating that Western countries’ criticism of Iran’s human rights record is in opposition to Islam. “Contrary to what is routinely said, ...
Cartoon 70: The Judiciary and Execution
The Head of Iran's Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, speaking about human rights earlier this week on Human Rights Day, said, "As I've said before, many of the issues ...
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 ...
Head of Judiciary Challenges Human Rights
On the occasion of Human Rights Day, the Head of Iran’s Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani told high-ranking Judiciary officials yesterday, “The Judiciary will not take notice of irrational words and lies and will resolutely continue its work, because we believe ...
IRGC Forces Arrest Music Distributors, Pressure Them to Confess on Television
IRGC forces arrested three men involved in the production, distribution, and promotion of Iranian underground music in October, a source with knowledge of the arrest told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Musician Mehdi Rajabian, his brother, and ...
Amid Escalating Threats, More Iranian Officials Join Facebook
Just days after Iran’s Police Chief threatened the country’s officials with “legal and judicial consequences” if they continue to cross the regime’s red lines by using Facebook, a governor in the southeastern province of Fars has opened his own Facebook ...
9 Reformists Tell Rouhani to Respect Voters’ Demands to Release Political Prisoners
In an open letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, nine prominent reformist figures have asked for his immediate action to end “the misunderstandings left over from the 2009 elections.” The letter emphasizes the importance of forgiveness by both sides of ...
Podcast 63: Ramin Jahanbegloo on a Culture of Nonviolence
“Capital punishment itself is a form of premeditated murder,” Ramin Jahanbegloo tells us in today’s podcast. Today we discuss a culture of violence that’s become deeply entrenched in Iranian society. State violence in the form of inhumane executions, cruel and ...
One Week After Arrest, Detained Internet Technologists Appear Handcuffed on TV
Iranian state television has shown images of several men they claim have been in contact with and funded by “espionage networks,” charged with “offering reporter training seminars in Turkey and Malaysia,” “internet activities aiming for a ‘soft overthrow’ of the ...
Iranian Police Boast Presence Monitoring Social Media
Iran’s Cyber Police is actively monitoring Iranians’ activity on the internet, Colonel Massoud Zahedian, Commander of the Morality Police, told ISNA today. “The Police are present on the Internet and are monitoring environments such as Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, etc.,” he ...
Sattar Beheshti Murder Case Closed
A Tehran court has closed the case against the interrogator accused of murdering blogger Sattar Beheshti, determining it was not murder but rather “quasi-murder.” Gohar Eshghi, Beheshti’s mother, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she is ...
Death Row Inmates Threaten Imprisoned Iranian-American Pastor
The cellmates of imprisoned Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini have repeatedly threatened him with knives while in Rajaee Shahr Prison, his wife Naghmeh Abedini told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. During his last visitation with his family, he ...
Iran’s Minister of Communications Says He Will Oppose Stringent Internet Blocking
Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology told a group of reporters today that his Ministry is not interested in continuing the extreme controls the Iranian government has exercised over the past eight years, but rather wishes to see a ...
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 ...
Podcast 62: Persis Karim on Literature of the Iranian Diaspora
In today’s podcast, Persis Karim talks about the literature of the Iranian diaspora and the creative restrictions on writers within Iran. ...
Iranian Morality Police Arrest Popular Underground Musician Amir Tataloo
Iran’s Morality Police have arrested popular rapper Amir Tataloo. Colonel Massoud Zahedian, Chief of the Morality Police, told ISNA that his unit is actively identifying and confronting Iranian underground musicians who produce their work inside Iran and distribute it on ...
Iranian Judiciary Seeks China Model of State Censorship for Facebook
In a direct warning to cabinet officials in the Rouhani administration who openly use Facebook and other social media sites that are officially forbidden to the Iranian citizenry, Iran’s Police Commander Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghaddam criticized “certain government officials” today, telling ...