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 ...