Iran’s Government Should Respect—Not Crush—Workers’ Rights
On the eve of International Workers’ Day, state security forces in Iran have been summoning, arresting and harassing activists to prevent them from protesting on May Day ...
Tag : Haft tappeh
February 15, 2022
Crackdown on Labor Activists in Iran
Amid an intensifying campaign of political repression in Iran, state authorities have been summoning, detaining, and imprisoning peaceful labor rights activists and a journalist in various cities throughout the country. A lawyer who has represented several ...
November 11, 2021
Iran Rights Lawyer: Judicial Process is a “Means to Settle Political Scores”
One of the few remaining defense lawyers in Iran willing to take on human rights cases, Nasser Zarafshan is an expert at navigating the Islamic Republic’s judicial system, which criminalizes dissent and imprisons lawyers like ...
June 1, 2021
More Defense Attorneys Prosecuted in Iran for Defending Human Rights
The state policy of persecuting and imprisoning independent defense lawyers under false charges for doing their jobs is continuing under Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, who is running for the presidency in June 2021. In addition to ...
April 28, 2021
Crippling Economic Hardship Enflames Iranian Protests
Protests in Iran over high inflation and unpaid wages are spreading in Iran as the working class and retirees struggle to make ends meet. The largest organized rallies were held by retirees who are unable ...
March 24, 2021
Traditional New Year Furloughs and Other Privileges Denied to Iran’s Political Prisoners
Lawyer: “Humanity, in addition to the rule of law, has vanished” Political prisoners in Iran, long subjected to especially harsh treatment in Iran’s prisons, have been largely left out of the furloughs (temporary leaves from prison) typically granted ...
September 30, 2020
Showdown at Haft Tappeh Sugar Factory: Minor Win for Workers, Larger Abuses Left Unchecked
Court Annuls Privatization of Company but Unpaid Wages and Withheld Insurance Benefits Persist “We are going to witness a big wave of labor protests spreading from the south to other parts of the country” It has been almost three ...
August 4, 2020
Strikes Break Out in Iran’s Critical Oil Industry Amid Continuing Labor Unrest
New Fact Sheet Highlights Widespread Rights Abuses, Protests Likely to Continue August 4, 2020—With workers in Iran’s critical oil refining, petrochemicals and drilling industries striking in southern Iran over working conditions and unpaid wages since July 31, and ...
June 25, 2020
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 to report to ...
December 20, 2019
“This Verdict Means Any Protest Will Be Considered an Act of Violence”
Nine Labor Rights Activists and Journalists Sentenced to Prison Without Right to Appeal Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi Eliminated Appeal Process with Supreme Leader’s Blessing Nine labor activists were each sentenced to five years in prison on December 14, 2019, on the ...
October 7, 2019
Sepideh Qoliyan Said She Was Tortured in Iran, Now She’s Serving an 18-Year Prison Sentence
Female Activist Described Inhumane Conditions of Detention in Video Statement *Warning: This article contains content that could be upsetting or disturbing for some readers. Sepideh Qoliyan is currently serving an 18.6-year prison sentence in Iran’s ...
September 9, 2019
Mass Sentencing of Labor Activists, Journalists Prelude to Reign of Repression Under New Judiciary Chief
Seven Sentenced to Lengthy Jail Terms in Connection with Peaceful Protests September 9, 2019—Less than a year after workers’ rights activists in southwestern Iran publicized evidence that Intelligence Ministry agents had tortured detainees, those same activists ...
August 12, 2019
Supporters of Detained Workers’ Rights Activists Arrested Outside Courthouse
The family of labor activist Roham Yeganeh has not heard from him since he was arrested in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on August 3, 2019, his mother, Atieh Nouri, told the Center for Human Rights ...
August 8, 2019
Major Trade Union Federations Call on Iran to Release Detained Workers’ Rights Activists
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) have called on Iranian authorities to release detained workers' rights activists including Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan. *Letters ...
August 8, 2019
Three Women Issued Lengthy Prison Sentences for Peacefully Protesting Iran’s Mandatory Hijab Law
Mojgan Keshavarz has been sentenced to 23.6 years in prison while Monireh Arabshahi and her daughter Yasaman Ariyani have each been sentenced to 16 years in prison for peacefully campaigning against Iran’s mandatory hijab law. All three women ...
June 7, 2019
Haft Tappeh Workers Urge International Labor Organization to Investigate Suppression of Labor Protests
*A group of workers in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, have published an open letter calling on the International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate state suppression of workers' rights protests at the local Half Tappeh ...
May 22, 2019
Seven to Face Trial in Connection with Labor Protests
Many Denied Access to Counsel, Families Warned to Stay Quiet After months of unlawful prosecution in connection with workers’ rights protests in southwestern Iran, five journalists and two labor activists are due to go on trial at Branch ...
March 21, 2019
Peaceful Labor Rights Activist Sentenced to Prison in 10-Minute Trial
Labor activist As’ad Behnam Ebrahimzadeh has been sentenced to five years in prison without due process. Another Workers' Rights Activist Appeals Flogging Sentence Labor rights activist As’ad Behnam Ebrahimzadeh has been ...
February 26, 2019
Intelligence Ministry Denies Labor Activists Qoliyan and Bakhshi Medical Treatment
Supporters of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan hold up a sign demanding that ...
January 10, 2019
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 torture in an Intelligence Ministry ...
September 13, 2017
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 Province. ...
July 31, 2017
Iranian Sugar Plant Workers Detained Without Bail After Protesting Unpaid Wages and Benefits
Eight workers at one of Iran’s largest and oldest agricultural companies remain detained without bail after being arrested for demanding unpaid wages and benefits. At least 13 workers who had been protesting since mid-July 2017 after not being ...