Intelligence Ministry Denies Labor Activists Qoliyan and Bakhshi Medical Treatment
Supporters of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan hold up a sign demanding that the labor activists be released. Detainees Remain in Custody of Same ...
Labor Rights
Intelligence Ministry Threatens Families of Labor Activists Bakhsi, Qoliyan With Prosecution
The Intelligence Ministry in the city of Shush, southwestern Iran, summoned the families of detained labor activist Esmail Bakhshi and freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan and warned them not to speak to the media, the worker’s union of the nearby Haft ...
Sugar Mill Workers Call for International Action to Free Detained Colleagues Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan
Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Pressured to Retract Torture Allegations A union representing workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in the Iranian city of Shush, Khuzestan Province, has called on individuals and international organizations to demand the release of union representative Esmail ...
Labor Activist Ali Nejati Denied Medical Treatment Against Doctor’s Orders
Petition Signed by 800 People Calls on Iran to Release Striking Haft Tappeh Workers Detained labor rights activist Ali Nejati is being denied medical treatment for heart disease and kidney and prostate problems in Shush Prison in the city of Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, against the prison clinic ...
Renewed Pressure in Iran to Block Instagram After Activist’s Post About Torture Makes Headlines
A labor activist’s widely read Instagram post alleging he was tortured while in the custody of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry was never fully investigated but one judicial official did respond by suggesting that the app ...
Iran: Release Labor Activists Re-Arrested For Revealing They’d Been Tortured
Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Both At Risk of Serious Harm January 22, 2019—The arrests of labor activist Esmail Bakhshi and freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan (also spelled Sepideh Gholian) on January 20, in Shush, Khuzestan Province, by agents ...
Sham Investigation of Labor Activist’s Alleged Torture Lacks Impartiality, Ignores Witnesses
Iran Must Re-Open an Independent and Impartial Investigation into Labor Activist’s Abuse Multiple Cases of Alleged Torture Must Be Thoroughly Investigated January 17, 2018—After a brief and deeply flawed investigation lacking any semblance of impartiality, the authorities in Iran have denied that labor activist ...
Labor Activist’s Revelation of Torture During Detention Prompts Wave of Reports of Abuse in Iran’s Prisons
Esmail Bakhshi’s lawyer says her client is under intense pressure to retract statements about his torture Labor activist Esmail Bakhshi’s public letter in which he revealed his torture in an Intelligence Ministry detention center in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, has generated a wave ...
Labor Activist Smaeil Bakhshi Tortured by Agents of Rouhani’s Intelligence Ministry
Held Without Access to Lawyer, Bakhshi Beaten During 25-Day Detention January 4, 2018—The beating and torture of the labor activist Smaeil Bakhshi (also spelled Esmail Bakhshi), while he was in detention by agents of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, is a blatant violation of international ...
Iranian MP Calls Arrests of Protesting Ahvaz Workers “Violation of the Constitution”
At Least 31 Steel Workers Remain Detained Eleven workers detained during protests by employees of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) in southwestern Iran between December 17-18, 2018, were released on bail December 19, but at least 31 others remain behind bars, ...
Family “Worried” About Ailing, Elderly Labor Activist Held Incommunicado
The family of ailing labor activist Asghar Firouzi has been extremely “worried” about his condition since he was detained by unidentified security agents, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Firouzi, 70, was taken into custody in the presence of ...
Iran Must Address Crisis of Unpaid Wages, Not Prosecute People Who Demand Their Pay
15 Petrochemical Workers Sentenced to Prison, Flogging for Protesting Unpaid Wages in Latest Ruling Unpaid Wages Violates Iranian Law, Flogging Violates International Law December 13, 2018—In yet another ruling punishing workers for peacefully demanding payment for work done, fifteen petrochemical workers in Ilam, southwest Iran, have been issued prison ...
Haft Tappeh Labor Activists Beaten at Khuzestan Intelligence Ministry Center, Say Relatives
Editor's Update: Esmail Bakhshi was released on bail on November 21, 2018, and Sepideh Gholian on December 18. Both were freed on bail. Detained labor activists Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian were beaten during interrogations at the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in the Iranian ...
Detained Protester Reportedly Tortured as Iranian Sugar Mill Workers Demand Unpaid Wages
Detained labor activist Esmail Bakhshi was hospitalized after being tortured under interrogation, according to Iranian labor sources. Bakhshi’s colleague Ali Nejati was also arrested by security forces on the 25th day of protests by hundreds of Haft Tappeh workers demanding months ...
Second Peaceful Teachers’ Strike in Iran Met With Arrests, Summons and Threats
Iranian security and judicial authorities responded to the second round of peaceful teachers' rights strikes by arresting and summoning alleged participants in several cities across the nation. The Teachers’ Trade Organizations’ Coordination Council (TTOCC) reported that following the strike on ...
Steel and Sugarcane Workers Rally in Ahvaz to Demand Unpaid Wages
Workers from the Iran National Steel Industrial Group (NSIG) in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, held rallies November 10-14, 2018, demanding two months of unpaid salaries and in protest against the unannounced and sudden halt of production at the plant. Iran’s ...
Forced Psychiatric Hospitalization Cannot Become New Means of Silencing Dissent in Iran
*Editor's Update: Teachers’ rights activist HashemKhastar was released November 10, 2018, from the psychiatric facility in Mashhad where he had been illegally held since October 23. Teachers’ Rights Activist, Held Against His Will at Psychiatric Hospital in Iran and Forcibly Given Medications, Must Be Released Immediately Wife and Son ...
“Cookie Distribution,” Other Peaceful Activities Get Elderly Tehran Bus Driver 5+ Years in Prison
Tehran-based trade union activists Ebrahim Madadi (right) and Davoud Razavi have both been sentenced to five years in prison for engaging in ...
15 HEPCO Workers in Iran Issued Suspended Prison, Lashing Sentences For Demanding Unpaid Wages
Fifteen staff members of the HEPCO manufacturing company in Markazi Province, Iran, have been issued suspended prison and lashing sentences for striking for unpaid wages, reported the state-funded Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on October 28, 2018. Suspended sentences ...
Why Was Teachers’ Rights Activist Hashem Khastar Sent to a Mental Hospital With No Signs of Illness?
Khastar Was Tending to a Garden When “Plainclothes” Agents Arrested Him *Editor's Update: Teachers’ rights activist HashemKhastar was released November 10, 2018, from the psychiatric facility in Mashhad where he had been illegally held since October 23. Teachers’ rights activist Hashem Khastar was having ...
Iran Authorities Won’t Explain Why Teachers’ Rights Activist is Being Held Incommunicado in Mental Hospital
Iranian authorities have refused to allow the family of a teacher’s rights activist any access to him or provide them with any information about his condition or case after he was arrested and admitted to a psychiatric hospital, the Center for Human Rights in ...
Four Teachers Detained in Iran and Several Others Summoned to Court After Peaceful Sit-In
Security Forces Hijack Teachers’ Union Telegram Channel Four teachers who participated in a peaceful sit-in for teachers’ and education rights in Iran this week remain behind bars five days after they were arrested. The Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA) reported on ...
Teachers Strike Across Iran Demanding Education Reformation
Classes were cancelled in several cities across Iran this week as teachers demanded the reformation ...
Iranian Merchants Close Down Shops in Silent Strike Against Hyperinflation
Merchants and business owners went on strike in several Iranian cities on October 8, 2018, to protest against hyperinflation and economic instability. Images and video footage posted on social media networks showed many shops closed that day in the ...
These Four Educators Were Behind Bars in Iran on World Teachers’ Day 2018
Four teachers are currently behind bars in Iranian prisons for engaging in peaceful trade union activities, according to Rassoul Bodaghi, a formerly imprisoned labor activist and senior member of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA). Speaking to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on the ...