For Translating a Book About Syria, Arash Ganji Must Serve 5 Years in an Iranian Prison
Arash Ganji, a translator and secretary of the board of directors of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA), must serve five years of an 11-year ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Relatives Visit Ethnic Arab Prisoners in Khuzestan Jail Only to Be Handed Corpses Minutes Later
"They Learned of the Executions When the Bodies of Their Children Were Delivered to Them" Ethnically Arab political prisoners Jasem Heidary, Hossein Silawi, Ali Khasraji, and Nasser Khafajian (Khafaji) were executed inside Sepidar Prison ...
Security Establishment and Judiciary Collude in Disbandment of Iran’s Largest NGO
Imam Ali Popular Students Relief Society Shuttered after Tehran Court Grants Motion by Interior Ministry March 4, 2021—An Interior Ministry motion to disband the Imam Ali Popular Students Relief ...
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 his son, Siamak Namazi--called on President Joe Biden ...
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 continued crisis in Iran’s prisons, where prisoners, especially prisoners ...
Critically Ill Political Prisoner Should be Freed, Receive Life-Saving Medical Care
Iran Must End Systematic Denial of Healthcare in Prisons February 16, 2021 – Prisoner of conscience Behnam Mahjoubi could die if he is not provided the immediate and comprehensive medical treatment that he ...
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 national security” for peacefully participating in protests, ...
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 and individuals in Iran. URGENT INTERNATIONAL ACTION NEEDED TO SECURE ...
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, amid a recent increase in executions of Baloch minority prisoners ...
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' Association, Arash Ganji, to 11 years in prison. Ganji ...
Athletes Appeal to Save Life of Wrestler on Death Row
On January 9, 2021, a press report was published in Iran about the imminent execution of 29-year-old wrestler Mehdi Ali-Hosseini for a murder he allegedly committed five ...
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 to Increase Three prisoners were recently executed in Iran, two in ...
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 arrested and apparently abducted by Iranian intelligence agents in July ...
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 Iranian Writers Association, an independent group formed in ...
Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Being Returned to Gharchak Prison
Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has already previously served three years in prison for her defense of dissidents, activists, journalists ...
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 to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling on him to ...
Iran Must Not Execute Ahmadreza Djalali
Execution Reported to Be Imminent, Wife Has Received Farewell Call Swedish-Iranian Doctor Was Convicted on Spurious Charges After Unfair Trial November 25, 2020—The reported imminent execution of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian doctor ...
Top UN Experts: Iran Must Halt Execution of Ahmadreza Djalali
Execution of Swedish Doctor “would be a clear and serious violation” of law The UN issued a statement today calling for an immediate halt to the execution of Ahmadreza Djalali, which is reportedly imminent. The Swedish-Iranian medical scholar was convicted on spurious charges in 2017 after ...
Concern Grows Over German-Iranian Women Held in Solitary at Evin Prison
Authorities Refuse to Give Any Information Nearly Six Weeks After Her Arrest Except for one short phone call, 66-year-old German-Iranian dual national Nahid Taghavi has not been heard from since her arrest ...
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 Hijab University of Tehran student Marjan Eshaghi has been slapped with ...
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 today, welcoming the temporary release of human rights attorney ...
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 released on temporary furlough today from Gharchak Prison in the ...
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 families of political prisoners and activists in Iran, Mehraveh ...
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 prisoners by incarcerating them alongside common criminals at various prisons ...
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 at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, who were ...