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 ...
Right to Health
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 ...
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 trying ...
“They’re Torturing Me Without Touching Me” Says Unarmed Protester Shot by Iranian Security Forces
Two years after Iran’s massive November 2019 protests, the government has yet to respond to questions about its deadly use of force to suppress the demonstrations, which occurred in more than 200 cities, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured ...
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 ...
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 ...
President Biden Should Offer Vaccines to the People of Iran
U.S. Leadership on Global Pandemic Response Should Not Be Tied to Politics Iranian American Groups Call for Aid to “Brave and Resilient” Iranian People August 18, 2021 – A coalition of major Iranian American organizations ...
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 ...
Iran Should Lift Deadly Ban on Foreign COVID Vaccines
Iran Refusing COVAX Offers as Infections, Deaths Surge Biden Administration Should Include Iran in Global Vaccination Campaign August 11, 2021–Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei should immediately lift his ban on foreign COVID-19 vaccines, ...
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 ...
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 ...
Joint Letter: Biden Admin Urged to Prioritize Iranian Human Rights Concerns
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 ...
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 ...
Iranian Government Responsible to Protect Prisoners against Fourth Wave of COVID
Prisoners Trapped in Overcrowded, Unhygienic Prisons without Adequate Medical Care April 14, 2021—The start of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran has increased concerns about the spread of the ...
Traditional New Year Furloughs and Other Privileges Denied to Iran’s Political Prisoners
Lawyer: “Humanity, in addition to the rule of law, has vanished” Political prisoners in Iran, long subjected to especially harsh treatment in Iran’s prisons, have been largely left out of the furloughs (temporary ...
Iran’s Political Prisoners Are Dying Due to Denial of Medical Care
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 ...
Critically Ill Political Prisoner Should be Freed, Receive Life-Saving Medical Care
Iran Must End Systematic Denial of Healthcare in Prisons February 16, 2021 – Prisoner of conscience Behnam Mahjoubi could die if he is not provided the immediate and comprehensive medical treatment that he ...
New UN Report Assails Iran for Persistent Discrimination against Women
Juvenile Executions, Persecution of Human Rights Defenders Also Condemned In the latest report issued by the UN’s top expert on Iran, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran ...
Iran Touts Unverified Domestic Vaccines, Ignores International Condemnation of Non-Scientific Policy
When the World Health Organization approved vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries began planning for mass immunizations. Yet the Iranian supreme leader’s televised speech on January 8--where he announced that “importing American and English vaccines into the country is forbidden”--dimmed hopes for an effective and rapid ...
Iranian Rights Groups Call on Khamenei to Allow Purchase of U.S. and UK COVID-19 Vaccines
Iran Should Base COVID-19 Vaccine Decisions on Science January 20, 2021 -- In light of the statement by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 8, 2021, that the Islamic Republic will ...
Major Humanitarian Organizations Call for Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Iranians
US Government Must Provide Assurances that Sanctions Will Not Impede Purchases A coalition of major human rights and humanitarian organizations released a statement today, calling on the US government to ensure that ...
Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Being Returned to Gharchak Prison
Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has already previously served three years in prison for her defense of dissidents, activists, journalists ...
UN: Iran Must Quash Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Convictions and Ensure Her Permanent Release
Top Experts Say Her COVID-19 Diagnosis “Shows the real risks for those in detention in Iran” Top UN experts* released a statement today, welcoming the temporary release of human rights attorney ...
Nasrin Sotoudeh Released on Temporary Leave from Prison
Human Rights Lawyer, Weakened from Lack of Proper Medical Care, Now Home in Tehran November 7, 2020—Imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was released on temporary furlough today from Gharchak Prison in the ...
Sotoudeh’s Daughter Defends Herself in Court against Bogus Charges
Harassment of Family Members of Imprisoned Human Rights Attorney Intensifies As part of a continuing campaign of harassment and manufactured prosecutions against the families of political prisoners and activists in Iran, Mehraveh ...