Prisoners of Conscience

February 23, 2021

84-Year-Old U.S. Detainee Baquer Namazi Suffering “Severe Health Conditions” in Iran

In a statement published on February 22, 2021, a relative of two U.S. citizens detained in Iran on trumped-up charges--Baquer Namazi and ...

February 22, 2021

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 ...

February 11, 2021

Female Activists Imprisoned for Attending Protests, Refusing “Virginity Test”

Two imprisoned student activists continue to be persecuted for peacefully protesting unjust policies and practices in Iran, including so-called "virginity tests." Charged with “assembly and collusion against ...

February 4, 2021

36 Human Rights Groups Appeal for Release of Kurdish Detainees and Other Minorities in Iran

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has joined 35 fellow civil society and human rights organizations to make the following urgent appeal and end the ongoing intimidation and arrest campaign against Kurdish and other minority activists ...

February 4, 2021

UN Experts Condemn Iran’s Executions of Baloch Minority Prisoners

Following is the UN statement issued today condemning the Iranian judiciary's hanging of Javid Dehghan, a member of the country's Baloch minority, ...

January 15, 2021

Freemuse and Center for Human Rights in Iran Call on Iran to Free Writer Arash Ganji, Stop Prosecuting Free Speech

Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Iran sentenced writer, translator, and the secretary of the board of directors of the Iranian Writers' ...

December 23, 2020

Three Baluch Prisoners Executed, Three Others in Imminent Danger of Execution

At Least 10 Prisoners on Death Row in Zahedan, Accused of Membership in Militant Groups Application of Death Penalty in Political Cases Continues ...

December 23, 2020

Abducted German-Iranian Denied Choice of Attorney, Whereabouts Still Unknown

Jamshid Sharmahd Assigned Lawyer Who “Defended” Executed Dissident Ruhollah Zam The exact whereabouts of Jamshid Sharmahd, the German-Iranian dissident who was ...

December 15, 2020

Comment by UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on the Execution in Iran of Ruhollah Zam

Geneva, 14 December 2020 I am appalled at the execution in Iran on 12 December of Ruhollah Zam, activist and founder of the AmadNews Telegram ...

December 14, 2020

Europe Says “No Business as Usual” with Iran After Hanging of Dissident Journalist

EU Countries Withdraw from Iran Business Forum in Protest Over Execution France Tweets Outrage over “Barbaric and Unacceptable” Execution of Rouhollah Zam December 14, ...

December 4, 2020

Iranian Authorities Go After More Members of Writers Association

Poet Amin Moradi Detained, Arash Ganji Released on Bail Manufactured National Security Charges Used to Silence Free Expression In yet another blow to the ...

December 2, 2020

Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Being Returned to Gharchak Prison

Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has already previously served three ...

December 2, 2020

Rights Groups Call on Supreme Leader to Release Sotoudeh, Stop Persecution of Lawyers

A group of human rights organizations including the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) have penned an open letter ...

November 13, 2020

Two Students Sentenced to Prison for Peaceful Protest During November 2019

Issued on Anniversary of Protests, Six-Year and One-Year Sentences May Be Warnings to Others 24-Year Prison Sentence Upheld for Peaceful Campaigner against Compulsory ...

November 13, 2020

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 ...

November 7, 2020

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 ...

October 27, 2020

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 ...

October 27, 2020

Book Review: Nasser Mohajer, Voices of a Massacre: Untold Stories of Life and Death in Iran, 1988

Book Review Nasser Mohajer, Voices of a Massacre: Untold Stories of Life and Death in Iran, 1988 Oneworld Publications, 2020 Mansour Farhang In 1988, the ...

October 23, 2020

Iran Moving Women Political Prisoners to Jails with “Common Criminals”

Sotoudeh and Three Other Activists Transferred Out of Evin’s Women’s Ward to Other Prisons As part of a new policy to isolate political ...

October 22, 2020

Two Honor Students, Violently Arrested, Still Detained Without Charge Six Months Later

Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi Under Pressure to Make Forced “Confessions” Student Groups: Allegations Unfounded, State Building False Case Without Evidence Two honor students ...

October 21, 2020

More Baha’is Begin Serving Prison Sentences in Iran Simply for Their Beliefs

Farid Zirgi Moghaddam began serving his five-year sentence in the central prison in the city of Birjand, in South Khorasan province in ...

October 20, 2020

Nasrin Sotoudeh Transferred to Notorious Gharchak Prison

Doctors Say Hospitalization Required, Instead Sotoudeh Moved to Iran’s Most Dangerous Prison Human Rights Lawyer’s Health in Serious Danger October 20, 2020 -- ...

October 13, 2020

Nasrin Sotoudeh: Grave Deterioration in Health, Exposed to COVID-19 at Hospital

Doctors: Her Return to Prison Was “A deliberate attempt to put her life in danger” Family’s Repeated Requests for Medical Furlough and Hospitalization Denied October 13, ...

October 7, 2020

Prominent Iranian Writers Sent to Prison for Peaceful Dissent

Six-year and Three-year Sentences Begin for Senior Iranian Writers Association Members Lawyer: “These sentences are without legal and judicial merit. They are only ...

October 7, 2020