Prisoners / Arrests
Staged Visit by Foreign Ambassadors to Iran’s Evin Prison Condemned by Rights Activists
A member of the German embassy enters Evin Prison on a red carpet. Abusive Conditions and Political Prisoners Hidden from Visitors A state-choreographed ...
Political Prisoner Ali Shariati Tricked Into Ending Hunger Strike With False Promise by Judiciary
Imprisoned civil rights activist Ali Shariati has been denied conditional release despite an earlier promise by judicial officials issued in exchange for him ending his hunger strike ...
Rights Activists Urge Rouhani to Nominate Women to His Cabinet
Asieh Amini, journalist and women’s rights activist. Photo by Javad Montazeri. “If women were given the opportunity, ...
MPs Urge Judiciary to Halt Executions for Minor Drug Convictions Until Death Penalty Law is Amended
The Iranian Parliament’s Legal and Judicial Affairs Committee is calling on the judiciary to halt executions of prisoners convicted of petty drug offenses until a pending amendment to the law that could save ...
Azeri Ethnic Rights Activists Beaten at Peaceful Protest Remain Detained Without Access to Legal Counsel
Iranian police units arrested several ethnic Azerbaijani rights activists at a peaceful protest gathering in Ghaleh Babak in East Azerbaijan Province on June 30, 2017, the Center for Human Rights (CHRI) in Iran has learned. An eyewitness, who ...
Four Christian Converts Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment in Trial Lacking Due Process
Three Azeri men from the Republic of Azerbaijan, and one Iranian man--all Protestant Christian converts--have been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Iran, according to Mansour Borji, the ...
Iranian Supreme Court Judge Describes 1988 Mass Executions of Political Prisoners as “Fair and Lawful”
A senior Iranian judicial official has publicly defended the state’s mass executions of political prisoners and extended incarcerations of dissidents in the 1980s. In an interview on July 2, 2017 ...
Iran Death Penalty Bill Could Save Thousands on Death Row
Despite resistance from security organizations, a bill that could drastically reduce death penalty sentences for petty drug-trafficking crimes in Iran is scheduled to be debated in Parliament in July 2017. If passed, it could save thousands of prisoners currently on death row....
Detained Pro-Rouhani Telegram Channel Admins Repeatedly Denied Legal Counsel Three Months After Arrests
Mohammad Taher Kanani, the lawyer representing Nima Keshvari, a Telegram channel ...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Comes to Judiciary’s Defense After Rouhani Criticizes Problematic Arrests
Iran’s supreme leader is continuing his public criticism of newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, this time accusing him of not doing enough to aid the judiciary in protecting ...
Elderly Political Prisoner Repeatedly Issued More Prison Time After Completing Sentences
Iranian judicial authorities are refusing to free an elderly political prisoner who was incarcerated for visiting close family members that are members of a banned opposition group. Ali Moezzi, a 65-year-old ...
Persistent Iranian Women’s Movement Chipping Away at State Ban on Females in Sports Stadiums
The peaceful battle by women’s rights activists geared towards ending the ban on female spectators in Iranian sports stadiums is inching forward despite ongoing opposition by religious conservatives. “Women’s rights ...
Two Imprisoned Azeri Rights Activists on Hunger Strike in Iran
After being detained for more than one year on unsubstantiated espionage charges, Azeri political activist Habib Sasanian began a hunger strike on June 13, 2017, according to his wife. “They ...
Thirteen People Arrested Amid Arab Ethnic Rights Protests in Iran’s Khuzestan Province
Thirteen people, including Arab ethnic rights activists and poets, were arrested in Ahwaz, the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan Province, on June 25, 2017, local activist Karim Dahimi ...
Reformist Politician: President Rouhani Must Stand Up to Supreme Leader Khamenei’s Hardline Policies
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s ongoing public criticism of President Hassan Rouhani is “rooted in the fact that the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the people’s vote,” ...
Azeri Rights Activist Imprisoned Despite Posting Bail One Year Ago Begins Hunger Strike
Siamak Mirzaei, an Azeri ethnic rights activist, started a hunger strike on June 25, 2017 in Tehran’s Evin Prison to convince judicial authorities to end his yearlong legal limbo, a source ...
Reformist Journalist, Activist Arrested in Run-Up to Iran’s 2017 Election Post Bail
Ailing Human Rights Lawyer Granted Brief Furlough Journalist Tahereh Riahi and civil rights activist Mona Moafi, both reformists, were released on bail ...
Prominent Imprisoned Activist Who Voted for Rouhani: My Vote Was For Iran’s Civil Society
Narges Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist serving a 16-year prison sentence for her peaceful advocacy efforts, is publicly urging newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani to build the foundations for ...
Iranian Nobel Laureate Blasts Khamenei’s “Fire at Will” Policy Against Domestic Opponents
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s recent declaration that his supporters should “fire at will” against presumed enemies of the state is an established policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told ...
Photojournalist Who Worked for Rouhani’s Presidential Campaign Arrested Without Charge
Husband Pressured to Confess to Espionage Formerly imprisoned photojournalist Asal Esmailzadeh was “suddenly” arrested without charge while accompanying her husband to the Culture and Media Court in Tehran on June 19, 2017, Saeed Seif ...
Prominent Civil Rights Activists Urge Iran’s Parliament to Ban Use of Deadly Force Against Border Couriers
The killing, by border guards, of another kulbar—the Persian word for the border-crossing couriers who transport illegally imported goods into Iran—has prompted 250 Iranian civil rights ...
Judiciary Chief Threatens Domestic Proponents of US-Instigated Regime Change With Death Penalty
The chief of Iran’s judiciary has responded to recent comments by the US secretary of state describing the Trump administration’s policy of regime change in Iran by threatening domestic ...
Denied Due Process, Detained Telegram Channel Admins Go on Hunger Strike
Telegram channel admin Nima Keshvari was detained in mid-March 2017 by the IRGC's Intelligence Organization. Six administrators of channels on the ...
Ailing Political Activist Detained Without Charge Subjected to Three-Month Solitary Confinement and Renewed Interrogations
Hengameh Shahidi’s Family Under Media Ban More than three months after her arrest and detainment, ailing political activist Hengameh Shahidi has not been charged and is in poor ...