Iranian Poet Baktash Abtin Dies After Being Arbitrarily Detained in Iran
Abtin, Jailed for Dissent, is Second Political Prisoner to Die in Iran in First Week of 2022 January 8, 2022 – The death of Iranian poet Baktash Abtin today in Tehran ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Writer in Coma, Another Political Prisoner Dead after Unjust Imprisonment in Iran
Baktash Abtin (left) and Adel Kianpour (right). Concerns Mount for Prisoners Under Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i COVID-19 in Crowded Jails and Routine Denial of Medical Treatment Put All at ...
UN Experts Condemn Secret Execution of Kurdish Prisoner in Iran
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 ...
Joint Statement: Free Arbitrarily Detained Right to Health Defenders in Iran
The following joint statement, signed by 23 international human rights organizations including the Center for Human Rights in Iran, calls on Iranian judicial authorities to release the activist Mehdi Mahmoudian and defense attorneys Arash Keykhosravi and Mostafa Nili. These peaceful human rights defenders, who were arbitrarily arrested while ...
Khuzestan Kangaroo Court Sentences Two Protesters to Death, Life in Prison
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 ...
Renowned Activist Narges Mohammadi Arrested on Anniversary of Historic Protests
Mother of Two Facing Flogging, Prison—Two Years After Completing 5.5-Year Sentence November 17, 2021 – The prominent rights advocate Narges Mohammadi was detained on the anniversary of the country’s violently repressed November ...
Relatives of UK Hostages in Iran Spend Cold Night Outside Foreign Office
Two British citizens spent the night in frigid temperatures outside the Foreign Office in London on November 2, 2021, in a bid to gain freedom for their loved ones who are unjustly jailed in Iran ...
Iranian Political Prisoner Sets Himself on Fire to Be Heard
Mehdi Darini, a political prisoner in Tehran’s Evin Prison, set himself on fire on October 27, 2021, after his lawful requests for parole were repeatedly rejected, independent journalist Keyvan Samimi reported. The event ...
Detained Lawyer of Iranian Instagram Star Tortured, Bit Off Tongue After Unidentified Injection
More Political Prisoners Could Die in Custody without Urgent International Action October 20, 2021 – A prominent defense attorney in Iran bit off part of his tongue after being forcibly given an injection that ...
Human Rights Lawyers, Activist to Be Illegally Tried as Their Legal Team is Denied Case Files
Group was Arrested Ahead of Filing Lawsuit Against State Officials for Disastrous Pandemic Response Legal Teams of Defendants Denied Access to Case Files, Homes Raided Detainees Were Pressured to Sign Pledges Promising ...
Hacked Iranian Prison Footage Provides Limited Glimpse of Right of Abuses
Hacked footage from security cameras in Iran’s Evin Prison and the publication of some of the prison’s documents published online by a group calling itself “Edalat-e Ali” (Ali's Justice) has provided a ...
Supreme Court Refusal to Review 25-year Sentence for Afkari Brother is Travesty of Justice
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 ...
Detained Rights Lawyers’ Homes Raided Without Warrant
Agents Confiscate Personal Security Cameras to Hide Evidence of Unlawful Raid State security agents carried out unlawful search operations in the homes of two detained human rights lawyers, Arash Keykhosravi and Mohammad ...
Analysis: Falsehoods and Contradictions in the Rulings against the Afkari Brothers
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 ...
Lawyers, Activists Arrested as they Attempt to Sue State for Failed COVID Response
Six Arbitrarily Detained as State Tries to Block Attempt to Seek Justice August 17, 2021—The unlawful arrests of six prominent lawyers and civil rights activists in Tehran as they were preparing to file a ...
Q&A with Musician Marjan Farsad: “My Hope is for All Political Prisoners to Be Freed”
Editor’s Note: The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) conducted the following interview with Iranian American musician Marjan Farsad ahead of the release of her new song, “Mahtab” (Moonlight), which was produced by CHRI. Listen to “Mahtab” on Apple Music, Spotify, ...
Two Elderly Dual Nationals Among Five Sentenced to Prison in Iran
Prisons Pose High Risks to Inmates Amid the Country’s Surging Covid-19 Pandemic August 4, 2021 – Elderly dual national prisoners Mehran Raoof, 66, and Nahid Taghavi, 64, were among five prisoners held on ...
Rising COVID Infections, Unhygienic Conditions Raise Fears of More Deaths in Iranian Prisons
The start of a fifth COVID-19 wave in Iran, amidst national water and electricity shortages and unhygienic prison conditions, has greatly increased the risks of outbreaks among prisoners, some of whom have ...
14 Academic, Rights Groups Call for Release of Iranian Swedish Scholar Ahmadreza Djalali
In a joint statement issued today, 14 international academic and human rights groups including Scholars at Risk and the Center for Human Rights in Iran called on the U.S. and European governments to secure the release of Iranian-born Swedish scholar Ahmadreza Djalali, who ...
Family of Executed Wrestler Seeks Supreme Court Review
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 ...
Ailing German National Remains Detained in Iran Without Access to Counsel
Jamshid Sharmahd (center) smiles for a family photo beside his wife (left) and daughter. Iranian authorities are blocking Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-born German man ...
Iran Election: Political Prisoners Dying Under Candidate Raisi’s Watch
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 ...
More Defense Attorneys Prosecuted in Iran for Defending Human Rights
The state policy of persecuting and imprisoning independent defense lawyers under false charges for doing their jobs is continuing under Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, who is running for the presidency in ...
Two Brothers of Executed Iranian Wrestler Fear Same Fate
May 5, 2021 – Eight months after an Iranian wrestler was unjustly executed in Shiraz, his brothers Vahid and Habib Afkari remain in prolonged solitary confinement in the same prison where ...
UN to Iran: Grave Concerns for Jailed Dissident Mohammad Nourizad
Mohammad Nourizad appears with a bloody face after protesting outside the home of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khaminei, October 14, 2014 (photo credit: ...