Cartoon 77: Three Years of House Arrest
February 14, 2014, marked three years since Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard were placed under a de facto and illegal house arrest in Tehran. ...
Prisoners of Conscience
February 14, 2014
Release Government Critics from Three-Year House Arrest
The Iranian government must end the inhumane practice of holding its critics under house arrest for years without due process, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. February 14, 2014, marks three years since Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard ...
February 11, 2014
President Rouhani’s New Rights Charter
On November 26, 2013, President Rouhani’s government published a draft Citizens’ Rights Charter and solicited public reaction. The publication of this draft within the first 100 days of his presidency was widely seen as a major step by his administration to address his promises to ...
January 31, 2014
Kurdish Prisoners Still Face Execution, Despite Possible Retrial
A new case with a new charge has been established at the Penal Court against Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, two Kurdish prisoners sentenced to death on “moharebeh (enmity with God)” charges, Zanyar Moradi’s father told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Eghbal ...
January 30, 2014
“Drawing Repression”: New Book Illustrates 52 Weeks of Human Rights in Iran
This new book of editorial cartoons by leading Iranian artist Touka Neyestani chronicles one year of human rights issues in Iran. ...
January 24, 2014
Imprisoned Human Rights Lawyer Eligible for Release If New Code Enforced
The daughter of imprisoned Iranian lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, who is serving a 13-year prison sentence, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that if the new Islamic Penal Code is implemented, her father will be eligible for release, along with several other prisoners ...
January 23, 2014
Ill Journalist Could Be Released from Prison Under New Penal Code
A source close to the family of imprisoned Iranian journalist Kayvan Samimi, 65, who has been hospitalized since November, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the new Islamic Penal Code allows for his release, adding that his family hopes he can ...
January 22, 2014
Student Activist Released for Five-Day Furlough After 55 Months in Jail
After 55 months in prison, most of which has been spent in exile, Iranian student activist Zia Nabavi was released on bail of approximately $168,000 for a five-day furlough today, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
January 17, 2014
Iran’s Justice Minister Says Detained Opposition Leaders Should Receive No Trial
Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi In statements during a speech in the city of Mashhad, Iran's Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi ...
January 17, 2014
Cartoon 76: Punishing Families
Imprisoned activist Bahareh Hedayat has been experiencing serious health issues that could potentially leave her sterile if left untreated, her husband told the ...
January 17, 2014
Iran Should Release Imprisoned Activist for Urgent Medical Treatment
The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release imprisoned student activist Bahareh Hedayat before continued imprisonment and lack of adequate medical treatment for her chronic reproductive system problems cause irreversible damage to her health, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Judiciary and ...
January 15, 2014
Culture Minister Asks Judiciary to Provide More Freedom of Expression
Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati publicly stated that the Iranian Judiciary should join the Rouhani administration in providing more freedom of expression to Iranian media and artists, drawing strong criticism from Iran’s Prosecutor General and Spokesperson for the Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni ...
January 10, 2014
Four Christian Converts Arrested in Karaj on New Year’s Eve
Plainclothes officers arrested four Christian converts in a village outside of Tehran on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, a source close to Iran’s Christian converts told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Sara Rahiminejad, Majid Sheidaee, Mostafa Nadri, and George Issaian were violently arrested ...
January 8, 2014
Judiciary Official Urges “Maximum Punishment” for Detained IT Professionals Even Before Trial
The Iranian Judiciary has announced charges against the seven Internet specialists arrested in December 2013, accusing them of collaborating with hostile foreigners and insisting on the harshest punishment available. One month after the IRGC Intelligence Unit arrested several Internet specialists in the city of Kerman, ...
January 3, 2014
Religious Scholar Ali Asghar Gharavi Awaits Trial in Dire Health
Forty days after the arrest of Qoran scholar Seyed Ali Asghar Gharavi, 68, his family was allowed to visit with him at Tehran’s Evin Prison. Gharavi has been in solitary confinement since his November 10, 2013, arrest, after Bahar Newspaper published his article, “Imam: Political ...
January 2, 2014
Officals and Clerics Verbally Attack and Threaten 2009 Protestors and Leaders
Over the past few days, influential Iranian leaders have unleashed a fresh wave of verbal attacks and threats against the 2009 post-election protesters and their leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The threats and attacks have included a hardliner cleric’s volunteering to hang Mousavi ...
December 22, 2013
Cartoon 72: Collective Punishment
The wife and the mother of an exiled political prisoner died in a car crash as they were on their way back from visiting their relative in Masjed-e Soleyman Prison. Nahid Rahmani, mother, and Ziba Sadeghzadeh, wife, of Amir Reza (Payman) Arefi, were returning from ...
December 19, 2013
Ebadi: Citizenship Charter Is Redundant Distraction from Justice
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights lawyer, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in an exclusive interview that the draft Citizenship Rights Charter published by Hassan Rouhani in November to solicit input from analysts is redundant and ineffectual, ...
December 18, 2013
Wife and Mother of Illegally Exiled Political Prisoner Die in Car Crash After Prison Visit
Tragic news about the deaths of the wife and the mother of an exiled political prisoner as they were on their way back from visiting him in Masjed-e Soleyman Prison has shocked Iranians worldwide. Nahid Rahmani, mother, and Ziba Sadeghzadeh, wife, of Amir Reza (Payman) ...
December 16, 2013
Iranian Artists Launch Online Petition to Minister of Culture Denouncing Crackdown
In a letter addressed to Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, a group of Iranian musicians, music principals, and supporters have asked him to end the suppression of musicians and music professionals and to ensure that artists are not imprisoned for producing ...
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 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 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 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
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 ...