UN Condemns Iran’s Secret Execution of Kurdish Political Prisoner
“I will pay the price of freedom with my life so that my memory stays in the hearts of freedom seekers and my people.” UN human ...
Unfair Trials
Kurdish Prisoner, 27, Secretly Executed Despite Judge Agreeing He Was Innocent
Death Sentence Was Result Pressure from Revolutionary Guards The family of Hedayatollah (Hedayat) Abdollahpour, a 27-year-old Kurdish-Iranian father of two who was on death row ...
Sepideh Qoliyan Refuses to Beg for Pardon, Goes Back to Prison
She Must Serve Five-year Sentence for Reporting on Peaceful Labor Rally Freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan, issued a five-year sentence for reporting on a peaceful rally by sugar mill workers for unpaid wages, has had ...
No Lawyers, No Justice: Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran for Defending Human Rights
At Least Nine Defense Attorneys Sentenced to Prison Since 2018 June 23, 2020 – Two years after the prominent human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran, the Iranian ...
List of Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran for Defending Human Rights (Updated)
At least five defense lawyers are currently imprisoned in Iran for supporting human rights ...
Mother of Jailed Anti-Compulsory Hijab Activist Calls for Legal Reform
*Update: On November 9, 2020, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Kord-Afshari’s lawyer, Hosein Taj, to review the 24-year prison sentence against Saba Kord-Afshari for her peaceful campaign against compulsory hijab. Based ...
“They Aimed at My Son’s Head”: Report Reveals Carnage in Crushed Iran Protests
May 27, 2020 — A new report released today by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) documents the extraordinary state violence that was used against protesters in Iran during the ...
Prison, Flogging for Protesters Who Gathered to Commemorate Victims of Plane Crash
“The trial did not last even a minute,” Legal Counsel Denied Civil rights activist Shora Fekri was taken to prison in Amol, Mazandaran Province, on May 18, 2020, to begin serving a five-month ...
French Academic Fariba Adelkhah Sentenced to Six Years Imprisonment in Iran
Nearly one year after she was detained in Tehran, Iranian-born French anthropologist Fariba Adelkhah was sentenced to a total of six years in prison under "national security" charges that ...
Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Prison Without Access to Counsel
Four Defense Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran in Less Than Two Years Human rights attorney Payam Derafshan was denied access to counsel while being tried for the charge of “insulting the supreme leader,” ...
Australian Academic Who Attempted Suicide Should be Freed from Unlawful Confinement in Iran
Scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert Kept in Bathroom-Like Temporary Holding Cell Since 2018 May 7, 2020 – A British-Australian academic held in isolation in Iran since September 2018, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has repeatedly attempted suicide ...
Jailed Activist’s Son Threatened with Imprisonment to Silence Dissent
Three Relatives of Iranian Dissidents Arbitrarily Prosecuted in One Month Amid a renewed crackdown on peaceful criticism of Iranian state policies, the son of imprisoned filmmaker and journalist Mohammad Nourizad is being ...
Novelist Brother of “Iran’s Bob Dylan” Loses Appeal Against Politically Motivated Prison Sentence
Iranian Judiciary Contiguously Targeting Dissidents’ Family Members Iran’s Appeals Court upheld a one-year prison sentence against novelist Hamid Namjoo for the content of his writings and because he published work abroad, ...
Masih Alinejad: My Brother is Facing Prison Time for Being Related to Me
The brother of activist Masih Alinejad is being prosecuted in Tehran to “pressure” her to end her campaign against the compulsory hijab, she said in a press release calling for his release. A ...
COVID-19 Poses Extreme Danger to Arbitrarily Jailed Conservationists, Dual Nationals
Infected Wildlife Conservationist Sam Rajabi Refused Hospitalization, Cellmates Untested American Citizen Siamak Namazi Held in Same “Cell and Bunk Bed Row” as Rajabi Prisoners Held on Politically Motivated Charges Excluded from Reported ...
Political Prisoner with COVID-19 Symptoms Denied Treatment, Transferred to Solitary Confinement
Peaceful prisoner of conscience Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, who was imprisoned in the Iranian city of Mashhad after signing an open letter calling on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to resign, was denied hospital treatment and transferred to solitary confinement without his medication after exhibiting COVID-19 ...
“They Want to Create Fear” More Artists Summoned to Prison Amid Iran’s Rising COVID-19 Death Toll
In addition to renowned filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, three members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA)—Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan—have been summoned to prison as other inmates are ...
Political Prisoners Remain in “Limbo,” Untested for Coronavirus Despite Symptoms
Peaceful Activists in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison Left Vulnerable to Infection One week after judicial officials announced they had released tens of thousands of prisoners to prevent more coronavirus outbreaks, peaceful political prisoners ...
UN Expert Alarmed by Detention Conditions in the Wake of Recent Protests
UN Press Release GENEVA (9 March 2020) – Individuals detained in Iranian detention facilities are suffering from serious human rights violations and the situation of those arrested during the November ...
Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Renowned Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof Summoned to Prison
Rasoulof’s Film About Iran’s Death Penalty Recently Won Top Prize at Berlin Film Festival March 4, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) strongly condemns the Iranian judiciary’s decision to put ...
“Torture” and “Sexual Threats” Detailed in Letters by Jailed Former UN Environment Consultant
Conservation Scientist Niloufar Bayani: "Every time I... sought help from the authorities, the pressures, threats, and acts of torture increased." Appeals Court Upheld Prison Sentences Against Conservationists on Baseless Charges and Coerced “Confessions” February 20, 2020 – A female former UN Environment consultant’s complaints of physical and ...
Appeals Court Upholds Baseless Prison Sentences Against Wildlife Conservationists
Prison Terms Range from 4-10 Years Based on No Evidence and False "Confessions" February 18, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) condemns the Iranian appeals court’s decision to uphold lengthy prison ...
Detained Protestors in Iran: Beaten, Tortured, Forced to “Confess”
February 10, 2020 – Detainees held in Iran since the November 2019 street protests—including juveniles—are being beaten, forced to make self-incriminating statements and held in inhumane incarceration conditions, and their families are ...
“Stop Trying to Destroy Me and My Family” Writes Iranian American Businessman from Tehran’s Evin Prison
In a letter from Evin Prison in Tehran where he has been held since October 2015, Iranian American businessman Siamak Namazi asked Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi why his requests for furlough have been repeatedly denied while those around him continue to be allowed to go on temporary leave… ...
UN Experts Call on Iran to Release Detained Protesters
Iran's judiciary should free all women and men who were arbitrarily detained as state forces violently repressed street protests this past November, said a group of UN human rights experts* on December 20, 2019. Up ...