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 ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Three Members of Iran’s Writers Association Charged With National Security Crimes for Opposing Censorship
Three senior members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA) have been charged with national security crimes for peacefully protesting state censorship policies, according to a ...
Human Rights Lawyer Mohammad Najafi Facing 19 Years Behind Bars in Iran
Najafi Jailed for Demanding Justice for Detainee Who Died in State Custody Imprisoned human rights attorney Mohammad Najafi was sentenced to two more years in prison in Iran on January 22, 2019—bringing the total number of years he has been condemned to serve to 19. The sentences have been issued over ...
Concealing Details, Prosecutor Says US Veteran Jailed in Iran Based on “Private” Complaint
Seven months after American citizen Michael White was imprisoned in Iran, the prosecutor of the city of Mashhad told a state-funded media agency that he is being held here based on a private ...
Sufi Prisoners Denied Medical Treatment for Painful Pellet Wounds
Prison Official: “We shot to kill you, not to treat you” Two Sufi Muslims imprisoned in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) are being denied medical treatment for ...
Iran is Using False “Confessions” to Manufacture Cases Against Detained Conservationists
One Dead, Eight Others At Grave Risk for Harm Detainees, Jailed for 12 Months, Denied Counsel, Could Face Death Penalty January 24, 2019 – Some of the conservationists who have been imprisoned incommunicado in Iran for the past year have been forced to confess under the threat of ...
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...
Four Independent News Journalists Arrested in Iran in Less Than a Month
Former political prisoner Ali (Amir) Amirgholi has become the fourth journalist working for the Gam independent online news outlet to be arrested in Iran in recent weeks. A ...
Satirist Keyomars Marzban to Be Tried in Iran Under Hardline Judge Salavati
Iranian satirist Keyomars Marzban, who has been detained in Iran since August 2018, is due to face trial for the charges of “propaganda against the state” and ...
Evin Prison Repeatedly Blocking Nasrin Sotoudeh From Seeing Her Children
Defense attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh continues to be denied family visits in Iran’s Evin Prison where she has been held on trumped-up ...
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 ...
UN Calls on Iran to Give Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mohammadi Urgent Medical Care, Release Them Immediately
UN human rights experts* have today called on Iran to urgently provide Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Narges Mohammadi access to appropriate health care, and reiterated calls for their immediate release. “We urge the Government ...
UK Foreign Secretary: Iran’s Treatment of Zaghari-Ratcliffe “Breach of Human Rights”
Jeremy Hunt Summons Ambassador to Tehran Following Revelations Iran Pressured Dual National to Spy UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt summoned Iran’s ambassador to Tehran on January ...
Sufi Woman Jailed in Iran Sentenced to 148 Lashes For Criticizing Gharchak Prison Conditions
Elham Ahmadi, an imprisoned member of the Sufi Gonabadi Order in Iran, has been sentenced to 148 lashes for speaking out about the denial of medical treatment and ...
Former Presidential Candidate Karroubi Did Not Receive Saudi Money, Son Says
False Claims Meant to Divert Attention from “Shame” of Eight Years of House Arrest Without Trial A son of the 2009 presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi...
Nasrin Sotoudeh and Baha’i Political Prisoner Refuse Phone Calls in Solidarity With Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Authorities Revoke Phone Privileges, Reduce Food Rations in Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward Two political prisoners held in the same ward as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran’s Evin Prison have given up ...
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 ...
Mother of Imprisoned Activist Describes Beatings and Threats by Interrogators to Kill Family
Atena Daemi’s Mother: “[Torture] is not just Mr. Bakhshi’s story. It’s my daughter’s story, too.” In the wake of revelations of the torture of labor activist Esmail Bakhshi, others have stepped forward to join the public outcry over abuses committed against detainees in Iran by ...
Iranian Journalist Sentenced to Six Years in Prison Without Lawyer
Revolutionary Court Blocked Hamed Aynehvand From Using Lawyer of His Choice Political journalist Hamed Aynehvand has been sentenced to six years in prison without the presence of his ...
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), ...
Stricken With Chicken Pox, Political Prisoner Alireza Tavakoli Hunger Strikes for Medical Treatment
Prisoner of conscience Alireza Tavakoli, currently imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison for his social media postings, is hunger striking to be “transferred ...
Open Letter: Mohammadi and Zaghari-Ratcliffe to Hunger Strike for Access to Medical Treatment
Will Take “Other Steps” if Authorities Continue to “Endanger” Their Health Political prisoners Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have written an open letter warning that they will go on hunger strike if the authorities continue to deny their requests for medical treatment. The letter, dated December ...
Political Activist Hengameh Shahidi Held for Six Months in Solitary Without Access to Lawyer
Imprisoned political activist Hengameh Shahidi has been held in solitary confinement for six months with extremely limited access to a lawyer since June 26, 2018, the day she ...
Food With “Rodent Feces” Served to Political Prisoners in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary
The food served at the Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) is unsanitary and has been found to contain rodent feces, making some prisoners sick, the wife of a political ...
Peaceful Teachers Protesting Heavy Sentence Against Mohammad Habibi Met With Tear Gas, Arrests
Teachers who were peacefully protesting a fellow colleague’s heavy prison sentence were met with tear gas by anti-riot units who made “several arrests” in the Iranian city of Isfahan on December 27, 2018, a trade unionist told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). On ...