Kurdish Activists Detained for Protesting Killing of Border Couriers
Six Kurdish artists and activists are being detained in Dizelabad Prison in Iran’s Kermanshah Province for protesting the latest killing by Iranian border guards ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Pro-Rouhani Activist Arrested on Heels as Iranian President’s Trip to New York for the UNGA
Update: Siavash Hatam was released on bail on September 27, 2017, 10 days after he was detained. Siavash Hatam, who has served time as a political prisoner for engaging ...
Free Iranian Dual National Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to 5 YEARS in prison in Tehran in a secret trial without due process. This is her story....
Baha’i Leader Released from Prison in Iran After 10 Years; Six Other Baha’i Leaders Remain Behind Bars
Mahvash Sabet Finally Free But State-led Persecution of Baha’i Community Continues September 18, 2017—The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) welcomes the release of the Baha’i leader, Mahvash Sabet, who was unjustly imprisoned in Iran ...
Rouhani’s Broken Promises
Iranian President Rouhani is scheduled to speak this week at the 2017 UNGA in New York, but he won't mention his Broken Promises....
Two Political Prisoners on 48th Day of Hunger Strike at Rajaee Shahr Prison as Others Shift to Fast
Peaceful Protestors With Roses Arrested Outside Prison At least two political prisoners remain on the hunger strike they began on July 30, 2017, along with more than a dozen ...
Intelligence Ministry Arrests Woman For Asking About Brother and Infant Niece’s Disappearance
Raheleh Rahemipour has been arrested by the Intelligence Ministry in Iran for refusing to give up her search for answers about ...
Iranian Journalist Gets Cancer After Being Denied Medical Care in Evin Prison
Iranian journalist Alireza Rajaee lost an eye and part of his face after his sinus cancer was left untreated as a political prisoner in Evin Prison....
Imprisoned for Producing Music, Yousef Emadi Sentenced to Another Year Behind Bars
An imprisoned music producer has been sentenced to an additional year in prison on new charges brought by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. ...
Iranian-Kurdish Political Prisoner’s Health Suffers Amid Ongoing Denial of Medical Treatment
After nearly a decade behind bars, prisoner of conscience Zeinab Jalalian has developed intestinal problems, yet the authorities continue to deny her specialist treatment, her father told the Center ...
Rouhani’s Intelligence Ministry is Keeping Prominent Rights Lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani in Prison, Says Daughter
Abdolfattah Soltani's daughter, Maede Soltani. Abdolfattah Soltani, who spent most of his legal career defending political prisoners before becoming one ...
Imprisoned Teacher’s Rights Activist: I am Legally Entitled to a Public Trial
Iranian labor rights activist Mahmoud Beheshti-Langroudi. An Iranian imprisoned teachers’ rights activist is pledging to go on hunger strike until his nine-year ...
Iranian Labor Activist Peacefully Rejects New Prison Sentence
Labor activist Ali Nejati is refusing to serve a six-month prison sentence for engaging in lawful protests against one of Iran’s largest agro-industrial companies near the city of Shush in Khuzestan ...
Maryam Akbari-Monfared: Political Prisoner and Mother in Evin Prison Iran
Maryam Akbari-Monfared was forced to spend her childhood visiting family members in state prisons and cemeteries. Her three brothers and sister, all political prisoners, were executed without trial in the 1980s, and now Maryam is a political prisoner herself. If her case were reviewed, she would be eligible ...
Iranian Union Considers Mass Strike as Imprisoned Labor Activist’s Condition Deteriorates
An Iranian union is considering a mass strike to protest a prominent labor activist being returned to prison to serve an additional year behind bars two years after he ...
Iran’s IRGC Brings “Revenge” Charges Against Man Imprisoned for Facebook Posts and His Wife
An Iranian man imprisoned for his social media postings could face several more years behind bars if he is convicted of new charges brought against him by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). ...
Evin Prison Director Accused of Denying Outside Medical Care For Imprisoned US Resident Nizar Zakka
Zakka Pressured to Sign Farsi-Language Documents The director of Evin Prison in Tehran, Ali Chaharmahali, is refusing to allow outside medical treatment for imprisoned US permanent resident Nizar Zakka, ...
Authorities Ignore Starving Political Prisoners at Rajaee Shahr Prison, Restrict Family Visitations
Former Political Prisoners Implore Judiciary To Consider Prisoners’ Demands Forty days after more than 15 political prisoners went on a mass hunger strike in Iran’s Rajaee ...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Forbids Discrimination Against Minorities in Rare Outreach to Sunnis
Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has expressed opposition to “discrimination and inequality” against Iranian ...
Rouhani Government Remains on Sidelines Amid House Arrest Controversy
The government of President Hassan Rouhani continues to avoid taking the initiative to resolve the six-and-a-half-year extrajudicial house arrests of ailing opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir ...
Protest Against Killing of Couriers in Iran’s Kurdistan Province Attacked by Security Forces
Local MP Calls for Investigation A protest was met with tear gas in the city of Baneh in northwestern Iran on September 5, 2017, after people gathered in front of the local governor’s ...
Iran Columnist Serving 10 Years Protests Illegal Prison Sentence Extension
Afarin Chitsaz’s Mother Also Receives Prison Sentence Imprisoned newspaper columnist Afarin Chitsaz has gone on hunger strike to protest the illegal extension of her two-year prison sentence that was scheduled to end ...
UK-Iranian Grandfather Marks 78th Birthday in Tehran’s Evin Prison
Iranian-British grandfather Kamal Foroughi saw his 78th birthday pass on September 3, 2017, in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where he has been serving a ...
Journalist Loses Eye and Part of His Face to Cancer Untreated While in Prison
Journalist Alireza Rajaee loses an eye due to denied medical treatment for cancer during imprisonment. Iran’s Systematic ...
Imprisoned Labor Activist on Hunger Strike Needs Hospital Treatment, Wife Says
Reza Shahabi and his wife in their home grocery store. Three weeks on hunger strike in Rajaee Shahr ...