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 raised on the pretext ...
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December 12, 2013
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 were banned from the universities due ...
December 12, 2013
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 that the highest human rights ...
December 11, 2013
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 Yousef Emadi, who managed BargMusic, ...
December 11, 2013
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 page. With only 326 followers, ...
December 10, 2013
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 the disputed election, the release ...
December 10, 2013
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 unusual punishments, brutality in response ...
December 9, 2013
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 regime,” and “contact with ...
December 9, 2013
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 said. ...
December 9, 2013
Cartoon 69: Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
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December 6, 2013
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 protesting the court’s decision to ...
December 5, 2013
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 more relaxed approach to internet ...
December 5, 2013
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 Dehghnai, Jahangir Dehghani, Seyed Hadi ...
December 4, 2013
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. ...
December 3, 2013
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 television satellite channels abroad. Zahedian ...
December 2, 2013
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 a group of reporters that ...
November 26, 2013
Eight Netizens Arrested While Iran Contemplates Unblocking Facebook and Twitter
According to a Kerman Province Judiciary statement, the Prosecutor for the General and Revolutionary Courts of Rafsanjan has said that eight individuals have been arrested for publishing “blasphemous content in cyberspace.” ...
November 25, 2013
Cartoon 68: Chain Murders: 15 Years Later
Fifteen years after the chain murders of Iran, which began with the killings of Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar, their daughter Parastou Forouhar hoped to hold a memorial ceremony at her house in Tehran this week. The Iranian authorities, however, prevented people from entering her home, ...
November 22, 2013
Police Commander and Former Detainee Divulge Details About Kahrizak
In a November 18 interview with semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Iran’s Police Commander Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam shared unprecedented insights into several different human rights issues that over the past few years have faced the Iranian authorities, and specifically the Iranian police. ...
November 22, 2013
Mansour Farhang: Zarif and the Pursuit of Rights and Respect (Commentary)
Mr. Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, has produced a YouTube video in which he asks all countries, particularly his negotiating partners in Geneva, to trust the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. To the extent that this appeal is viewed as public diplomacy intended to ...
November 20, 2013
Police Shoot and Kill Two Kurdish Citizens, Injure a Third
In the week between November 8 and November 15, Iranian police killed two Kurdish citizens in the border region areas of Nosood in Kermanshah Province and Baneh in Kurdistan Province, allegedly as part of an effort to fight the smuggling of goods. Some residents of ...
November 19, 2013
UN Shows Strong Support for Human Rights in Iran with 83-to-36 Vote
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomes the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee vote today overwhelmingly supporting human rights in Iran, and urges the Iranian government to comply with UN human rights mechanisms and take concrete steps to address the ongoing violations ...
November 19, 2013
Doctors Call on Rouhani to End House Arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, Rahnavard
In an open letter addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, 193 faculty members of Iranian medical universities have demanded his serious efforts to end the house arrests of Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi. ...
November 18, 2013
Evin Prisoners Need Medical Care
After months of effort by imprisoned journalist Saeed Matinpour’s family to obtain medical treatment for him, the Prosecutor’s Office has maintained its silence, his wife told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “The prisoners at Evin face gradual death conditions and the officials ...
November 15, 2013
25 NGOs Urge UN Third Committee to Pass Iran Human Rights Resolution
As the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee prepares to vote on the resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran, 25 human rights organizations have joined together to urge member states to vote in favor of the resolution. ...