Unfair Trials
Ghoncheh Ghavami’s Lawyer Says New Charges Looming Against Her Are Illegal
New charges may be brought against Ghoncheh Ghavami, the young woman who was arrested outside a sports stadium in Tehran in June 2014 for trying to attend a volleyball match and who remains in prison. ...
Narges Mohammadi Summoned to Evin Prison Court on Unspecified Charges
Narges Mohammadi, the prominent human rights defender and Deputy Head of the now shuttered Defenders of Human Rights Center, has been summoned to the Evin Prison Court following a moving speech she made at the grave site of Sattar Beheshti, the 35-year-old blogger who died under torture at a police detention center in November 2012. ...
New Hope for Revocation of Death Sentence for Insulting Prophet on Facebook
A Supreme Court branch reviewing the appeal request in the case of Soheil Arabi, a man convicted of “sabb al-nabi” (insulting the Prophet) and sentenced to death, will soon announce its ruling, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
The Campaign’s 2014 UPR Pre-Session Statement
This statement by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran to the UN’s 2014 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Pre-Session on the Islamic Republic of Iran addresses the Government of Iran’s lack of implementation of ...
31 Nobel Physics Prize Laureates Join Thousands of Activists to Call for the Release of Iranian Physicist
(October 22, 2014) – A delegation consisting of Amnesty International, the Committee of Concerned Scientists, and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran will deliver thousands of petitions and letters collected by these organizations and the American Physical Society calling for the release of Omid Kokabee to the Iran UN Mission in New ...
Sotoudeh Stages Sit-in to Protest Ban on Her Legal Practice
Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh began a sit-in on October 21, 2014, at the Iranian Bar Association in Tehran to protest a ruling that puts a three-year ban on her legal practice, and in protest against the general state of legal representation in Iran. One day before starting the sit-in, in an interview with the ...
Maz Jobrani Joins Campaign for Release of Omid Kokabee
Maz Jobrani, the prominent Iranian-American actor and comedian, joins 28 Nobel laureates to call for the Iranian Judiciary’s immediate release of Omid Kokabee, the imprisoned Iranian physicist. Jobrani calls attention to Kokabee’s imprisonment on false charges after an unfair trial, and the multiple and serious health ailments Kokabee is suffering from that have gone untreated ...
Lawyer Says Jason Rezaian Not Allowed Legal Representation
Prominent Iranian lawyer Mohammad Saleh Nikbakht told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that his request to represent Jason Rezaian, the imprisoned Washington Post correspondent, has not been accepted. Nikbakht said that he had asked for permission to represent Rezaian a few weeks ago, but that “They did not accept my request to ...
New Videos Confront Iran’s Rights Violations through Personal Stories of Persecution
New York, New York – Impact Iran, a coalition of human rights organizations, in partnership with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, today launched a new video, “Promises Made, Promises Broken.” The video is part of a series aimed at drawing attention to Iran’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN ...
Retrial Granted for Omid Kokabee, Raising Hope for His Release
The request for a retrial for the imprisoned young scientist, Omid Kokabee, has been accepted by Branch 36 of the Supreme Court, according to Kokabee’s lawyer, Saeed Khalili, who posted the update on his Facebook page. “Acceptance of the retrial request means that the top judicial authority has deemed Dr. Omid Kokabee’s [initial] verdict against ...
Imprisoned Iranian Scientist Congratulates Winner of Prestigious Math Award
In a letter from prison to Maryam Mirzakhani, winner of the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics, Omid Kokabee, the imprisoned Iranian physicist, congratulated her and hoped “all young talents in all corners of the world can blossom, away from any discriminatory views and pressure from security or ideological organizations, to freely grow in the field ...
Sit-in by Political Prisoner’s Mother to Protest Lack of Due Process
The mother of Ghoncheh Ghavami, a prisoner on hunger strike since October 1, has started a sit-in outside Evin Prison to protest her daughter’s detention for more than 100 days without access to her lawyer. “Today is one hundred days since my daughter’s arrest. None of the authorities seem to have heard us during this ...
Cartoon 95: No Journalists in Prison
“I do not believe that an individual would be detained or put in prison for being a journalist. An individual can be a reporter, a journalist, and have committed a crime. But that crime is not necessarily always related to their profession, to the profession that they’re practicing,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told CNN’s Christiane ...
Eighteen Nobel Laureates Call for Immediate Release of Iranian Physicist
(September 29, 2014) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release the Iranian physicist and prisoner of conscience, Omid Kokabee, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. ...
Cartoon 94: Man Hanged for Innovation in Islamic Principles and Insulting Jonah
Mohsen Amiraslani, 37, was hanged at Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 on charges of "corruption on earth, innovation in primary and secondary principles of Islam, and new interpretation of the Qur'an," including "insulting Prophet Jonah." "A Rajaee Shahr ...
Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian Suffers Severe Weight Loss in Prison
Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi have lost a “shocking” amount of weight in prison, an informed source has told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. According to this source, the family of the imprisoned Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi was allowed to have their first visit with her and her Washington Post reporter husband ...
Cartoon 93: Rouhani in New York
As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepares to come to New York next week to attend the UN General Assembly and other meetings, there is a lot of anticipation for how he would answer questions in the US media interviews that aim to polish ...
Happy Video Youths Receive Suspended Flogging and Prison Sentences
The youths involved in the making of the “Happy in Tehran” dance video set to Pharrell Williams hit song “Happy” have all been sentenced, receiving suspended sentences of 91 lashes and six months in prison, with the exception of Reyhaneh Taravati, who received a suspended twelve-month prison sentence in addition to the suspended lashes, provided ...
As Rouhani Comes to NY, Domestic Repression in Iran Remains Unabated
(September 17, 2014) Ahead of President Rouhani’s visit to New York next week, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran released a video today, bringing into sharp focus the disconnect between Rouhani’s rhetoric on domestic affairs and the reality on the ground. ...
Death Sentence for “Insulting the Prophet” on Facebook
A blogger found guilty of insulting the Prophet Mohammad in his postings on Facebook has been sentenced to death. An informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the blogger, Soheil Arabi, will be able to appeal the decision until September 20, 2014. ...
Cartoon 92: “Happy” Youths Charged With Illicit Relations
The Iranian youths who produced the dance video “Happy in Tehran” set to the Pharrell Williams hit song “Happy” were put on trial0 in Tehran on September 9, 2014, where they were charged with “participation in producing a vulgar video clip” ...
“Happy” Youths Go on Trial in Tehran
The Iranian youths who produced the dance video “Happy in Tehran” set to the Pharrell Williams hit song “Happy” were put on trial in Tehran on September 9, 2014, where they were charged with “participation in producing a vulgar video clip” and conducting “illicit relations” with one another, an informed source told the International Campaign ...
Imprisoned Baha’is Refused Early Release Unless They Repent
Three imprisoned Baha’is have been refused early release and furlough to visit their small children unless they recant their faith and pledge not to teach at the Baha’i university, a relative told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...