International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran...

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 8, 2012

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has organized an interesting Protest page:
Call for the Release of Political Leaders under House Arrest

http://action.iranhumanrights.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7060

Anyone can join the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran to call for the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, who are under house arrest without legal process because they called for democratic rights and peaceful protests.

The Harpoon process is easy, and the pre-written letters will be sent to:

Kōichirō Gemba
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Dato' Sri Anifah Hj. Aman
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia
Antonio de Aguiar Patriota
Minister of External Relations of Brazil
Héctor Marcos Timerman
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Argentina
Kostyantyn Gryshchenko
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Maged Abdelaziz
Ambassador to the United Nations for Egypt
Yang Jiechi
Minister of Foreign Affairs of China
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Minister of International Relations of South Africa
Shri S.M. Krishna
External Affairs Minister of India
Ahmet Davutoglu
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
Kim Sung-Hwan
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for South Korea
Mouldi Kefi
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia
Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
Sven Alkalaj
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia-Herzegovina
Maître Madické Niang
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal
Stavros Lambrinidis
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece
Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
Abdel Rahman Shalgam
Ambassador to the United Nations for Libya
Guido Westerwelle
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany
Sergey Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia
Trinidad Jiménez García-Herrera
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain
Hoshyar Zibari
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq
Nicolas Maduro
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela
Ricardo Patiño
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Integration of Ecuador
Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader, the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Head of Iran's High Council for Human Rights
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Head of the Judiciary, the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ali Akbar Salehi
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran

JohnDoe · Feb 8, 2012

Something we can all do

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 8, 2012

Yeah! Let's do this, WWP!

iraniam · Feb 8, 2012

Thank You my friend.

iraniam · Feb 8, 2012

Anonymous · Feb 8, 2012

Bump!

Anonymous · Feb 8, 2012

Let's do it!

JohnDoe · Feb 9, 2012

Bump.

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 9, 2012

JohnDoe said: ↑

Bump.

And again...

iraniam · Feb 9, 2012

Iran Human Rights Violations in January 2012

The Iranian regime announced publicly the executions of 45 people in the in January 2012. That number included 16 public executions.

According to state-run media, the Iranian regime hanged a total of 11 people in various cities on January 4, 2012. Just Eleven days later, on January 15, twelve other prisoners were hanged.
There are reports of 24 other executions inside Iranian prisons without public announcements.

The Iranian regime arbitrarily killed seven people during January. Five women prisoners were suspiciously killed in the course of a few days in Qarchak Prison. Officials announced that the women committed suicide. 5 suicides in one prison in just a few days calls for real concern.

A 21-year-old political prisoner passed away suffering from a heart attack in Khoy Prison. He was reportedly denied any medical treatment.

Also reports from various Iranian state-run media indicate that 42 people were sentenced to death in January. That number includes seven political prisoners charged with cyber crimes. They were forced under torture to make confessions against themselves committing alleged crimes, says Reporters without Borders. Two prisoners named to have received death sentences, Saied Malekpour and Amir Mirzayi, are said to have dual citizenships.

State- run media also have reported that two prisoners received lashes just before being executed.

The above information has mostly been gathered from Iranian state-run media during the month of January and show, to a degree of accuracy, only the portion of executions and other inhuman treatments of prisoners in Iran that has been published. A great number of executions in Iran go unreported.

http://www.stopfundamentalism.com/i...-january-2012&catid=44:human-rights&Itemid=39

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 10, 2012

Thread moved to News And Current Events.

JohnDoe · Feb 10, 2012

Good move JBN,

Now let's hope lots and lots and lots of people take action on this.

The regime IS crumbling from the inside, so all added pressure we can put on it, will help bring its demise sooner rather than later!

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 10, 2012

Precisely!

lillylou · Feb 10, 2012

Jacky Blue Note · Feb 12, 2012

Bump!

iraniam · Feb 14, 2012

Joint appeal Rights groups urge international community to press Iran to end violations

Paris, 3 February 2012 – Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights urge the international community to take a much firmer stance on respect for human rights in Iran by raising this essential issue in the talks currently under way with the country’s authorities.

These three human rights organizations also urge the EU and international community to publicly condemn the unacceptable treatment that imprisoned journalists and netizens receive at the hands of the Revolutionary Guards.

Farsnews, an Iranian news agency that is close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported on 29 January that the supreme court had upheld the death sentence that was passed on Saeed Malekpour, a computer specialist and Canadian resident. Farsnews also published a communiqué by the Centre for the Surveillance of Organized Crime expressing “satisfaction” with the supreme court’s decision. Malekpour’s execution is believed to be imminent.

Two other netizens, information technology student Vahid Asghari and website administrator Ahmadreza Hashempour have also had their death sentences confirmed by the supreme court in the past few days.
A fourth netizen, Mehdi Alizadeh, a website developer and humorist who was arrested for the second time in March 2011 in connection with his satirical posts, has just learned that he has been sentenced to death by Abolghasem Salevati, the head of a revolutionary court.

“We call on the international community to intercede directly with the Iranian authorities on behalf of these four netizens and to request the acquittal and release of all imprisoned journalists and bloggers,” the three human rights organizations said. “The issue of respect for fundamental rights must at the same time be raised during the ongoing economic and scientific discussions”.

These four netizens, aged from 25 to 40, are the victims of machinations by the Centre for the Surveillance of Organized Crime, an entity that was created illegally by the Revolutionary Guards in 2008. In March 2009, this centre announced the dismantling of a “malevolent” Internet network and the arrests of several website moderators, whose photos and “confessions” were published a few days later by the Gerdab website and other outlets.

Under torture, they admitted to having links with websites that criticize Islam and the Iranian government and to having intended to “mislead” Iranian youth by distributing pornographic content. They were also forced to confess to participating in a plot backed by the United States and Israel.

The detainees were placed in solitary confinement for long periods – more than a year in some cases – and the confessions obtained under torture were used against them at their trials. Malekpour and Asghari described how they were tortured during interrogation in letters to the judges in charge of their cases. At the same time, their defence lawyers were unable to meet with them or have access to their case files.

The three human rights organizations support the appeal that 39 political prisoners, journalists and intellectuals issued on 25 January, calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience including the leaders of the protests against President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad’s disputed reelection.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former Prime minister and owner of the closed newspaper Kalameh Sabaz, his wife, the bestselling writer and intellectual Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karoubi, the former President of Parliament and owner of the closed newspaper Etemad Melli, have been under house arrest since 24 February 2011.

Karoubi’s wife, Fatemeh Karoubi (the editor of the magazine Iran Dokhte), who was arrested at the same time as him, was finally released in September.
Mousavi, Rahnavard and Mehdi Karoubi have been deprived of all their rights for nearly a year. Their relatives have not been able to visit them for months and are very worried about their state of health.

The Islamic Republic must bring this unacceptable state of affairs to an end. Arbitrary arrest and the holding of political prisoners incommunicado violate international law. Such practices are tantamount to enforced disappearance, yet are widely and frequently used by the authorities. (Reporters Without Borders – Feb. 3, 2012)

http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/46739

Anonymous · Feb 14, 2012

Re-Bamp. I did my part. DO yours!

Anonymous · Feb 17, 2012

And another bump!

Anonymous · Feb 21, 2012

Bumpity bump bump bump...

iraniam · Feb 21, 2012

Rights group calls for accountability in Khuzestan deaths

The group Justice for Iran has issued a statement denouncing the crackdown on protesters in Khuzestan that saw two detainees killed while in custody.

Justice for Iran claims that the people responsible for these deaths appear to enjoy immunity from prosecution in Iran. It has called on anyone who has any information about these incidents to share it with Justice for Iran for use in its database of human-rights violators.

More than a month ago, the authorities in Shoush, Hamidiyeh and Ahvaz arrested more than 60 protesters who were calling for a boycott of the parliamentary elections. Two of the detainees, Mohammad Ka’abi and Nasser Alboshokeh, have been pronounced dead by the authorities, and so far no one has been held accountable for their deaths.

Human Rights Watch says 65 people were detained in Khuzestan in the past month, also reporting that Alboshokeh and Ka’abi appeared to have been killed under torture.

Authorities informed the family of Mohammad Ka’abi that he had been killed and buried. They warned the family against holding any commemoration services and even refused to tell the family where the body is buried.
Ka’abi, a 35-year-old law student at Dezfool University, has left behind a pregnant wife and two children, aged eight and five. His wife is currently being held incommunicado at her home.

Nasser Alboshokeh, who was 19, was arrested at the clothing store where he worked for writing graffiti and slogans on city walls.

Justice for Iran reports that Alboshokeh was arrested on January 26 and died four days later. His body was held for more than 11 days, delaying the announcement of his death.

The family reports that the authorities forbade them from holding a burial in Ahvaz so they laid him to rest in a neighbouring city. They also report that telltale marks of beatings and physical abuse were evident on his body.

Khuzestan Province has faced repeated outbreaks of protests against “unfavourable and discriminatory conditions” but Islamic Republic authorities have consistently put down the protests by force.

http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/rights-group-calls-accountability-khuzestan-deaths

Anonymous · Feb 21, 2012

Maybe we should take away from the governments the privilege they have arrogated themselves: to kill people of any nation.

iraniam · Feb 22, 2012

UN Islamic Bloc Officially Rejects Gay Rights as Human Rights

by SofiaM
22-Feb-2012
Gay Rights threaten and “seriously jeopardize the entire international human rights framework”, according to Zamir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, and the official representative of the greater Islamic Bloc of Nations, in such matters.

This week, Ambassador Akram made this statement in response to U.S. Secretary of State’s statement that “gay rights are human rights.” The Islamic Bloc, which includes countries like Iran and Syria, among other oppressive regimes, immediately sought to oppose this notion, arguing that the US is, “misinterpreting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” by creating these “new standards.”

However controversial the Islamic Bloc’s position is on gay rights, this statement doesn’t come as a shock to anyone well-acquainted with the Muslim world’s treatment of homosexuality. While there are an array of punishments for homosexuality in the Muslim world, no Muslim country sees the sexual orientation as legal, rather un-Islamic or lewd sexual conduct. While some Muslim states punish homosexuality with short prison terms, others, like Iran, chose the death sentence. Under Iranian law, homosexuality in punishable by death – a harsh reality for Iran’s often closeted gay community and their families.

This is yet another issue of contention for Iran – while the overwhelming and ever-growing oppression of Iran’s citizenry, and rampant human rights abuses, has been grounds for the mounting criticism against the Iranian Regime, it also further fuels the anti-nuclear movement. The argument? While a nuclear Iran may be a threat to world stability, first and foremost, it is a threat to the prosperity and human rights of the Iranian people looking to break the shackles of the deadly Regime.

http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/sofiam/un-islamic-bloc-officially-rejects-gay-rights-human-rights

iraniam · Feb 22, 2012

UN Telecommunications Body Requires Iran to Stop Satellite Jamming

Rights Groups Prompt Tougher International Laws Regarding Jamming
View attachment Poster_censorship_ICHRI_final_EN_OM_short-214x300. (22 February 2012) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today welcomed a new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulation requiring governments take “necessary action” to stop jamming of satellite broadcasts from within their jurisdiction.

The ITU and its member states should immediately start monitoring Iran’s compliance with the new regulation and take any additional steps needed to ensure Iranian authorities stop interfering with satellite broadcasts, the Campaign added.

“This is the first meaningful action taken by the ITU and the UN to make legal provisions to counter censorship of satellite programs within various countries,” said Aliakbar Mousavi, former Iranian MP who served as deputy head of the Parliamentary Telecommunications Committee.

At the ITU’s 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) last week, 153 of the 165 member states in attendance voted to amend their telecommunication regulations. The new amendment regarding jamming reads, “If an administration has information of an infringement [of the governing telecommunications regulations] committed by a station under its jurisdiction the administration shall ascertain the facts and take the necessary actions.”

WRC regulations constitute a legally binding international treaty on radio-frequency and satellite broadcasts. The amendment, approved on 17 February 2012 in Geneva, makes particular reference to infringements of Article 45 of the ITU’s Constitution, which prohibits “harmful interference” with broadcasts.

“The Iranian regime will have no more excuses to breach these regulations. I hope similar steps will be taken by the ITU regarding Internet censorship in countries like Iran as well,” said Mousavi, a longtime advocate of freedom of information and expression.

The WRC-12’s decision came after the Campaign, other human rights organizations, and broadcasters called on governments, corporations, and international telecommunication bodies to take action to stop satellite jamming. Just last month, the Campaign urged the WRC-12 to take decisive steps to end the Iranian government’s illegal and widespread jamming of satellite signals.

Satellite jamming and Internet censorship in Iran has increased dramatically since 2009. Targeted satellite stations such as BBC Persian, VOA, and other Persian-language news outlets operating outside Iran have become an important source of information for millions of Iranians inside the country, where independent media outlets are severely censored and repeatedly shutdown.

The ITU, the telecommunications arm of the United Nations, has received numerous complaints about the jamming of Persian and Arabic broadcasts in Iran and Syria on satellites carried by Eutelsat and Arabsat.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and the Campaign’s spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi expressed concern that Eutelsat, whose satellites host Iran’s state media network the IRIB, and other telecommunications companies have done little or nothing to hold Iran accountable for its censorship. Eutelsat’s failure comes despite the fact that much of the Islamic Republic’s jamming is aimed at other Eutelsat clients, BBC Persian and Voice of America (VOA), and the IRIB has itself been implicated in gross human rights violations for producing televised forced confessions of prisoners of conscience.

“The ITU has now made Iran’s legal obligations perfectly clear. But the international community, including telecommunications corporations like Eutelsat, needs to sustain its efforts to make sure Iran stops jamming satellite broadcasts,” said Ghaemi.

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/wrc-12/

Anonymous · Feb 24, 2012

Bump!

iraniam · Feb 28, 2012

Iran: New report finds surge in repression of dissent

Iran’s crackdown on freedom of expression has dramatically escalated in the run up to this week’s parliamentary elections, Amnesty International said today.

The 71-page “We are ordered to crush you”: Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran details how, in the wake of protests called by opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in February 2011, the Iranian authorities have steadily cranked up repression of dissent in law and practice, launching a wave of arrests in recent months.

Amnesty International said the continuing crackdown laid bare the hollowness of Iran’s claims to support protests in the Middle East and North Africa.

“In Iran today you put yourself at risk if you do anything that might fall outside the increasingly narrow confines of what the authorities deem socially or politically acceptable,” said Ann Harrison, Interim Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“Anything from setting up a social group on the internet, forming or joining an NGO, or expressing your opposition to the status quo can land you in prison.”

“This dreadful record really highlights the hypocrisy of the Iranian government's attempts to show solidarity with protesters in Egypt, Bahrain and other countries in the region.”

The report finds that in recent months a wave of arrests has targeted a range of groups, including lawyers, students, journalists, political activists and their relatives, religious and ethnic minorities, filmmakers, and people with international connections, particularly to media.

Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi – defeated presidential candidates in the 2009 election – have been under de facto house arrest since February 2011. While Mehdi Karroubi’s wife was released in July 2011, Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi’s wife, remains under house arrest with her husband.

In the run-up to parliamentary elections on 2 March, the situation has worsened.

The clampdown has targeted electronic media, seen by the authorities as a major threat. In January a senior police officer said Google was an “espionage tool”, not a search engine. The same month, the recently established Cyber Police required owners of internet cafés to install CCTV and to register the identity of users before allowing them to use computers.

Blogger Mehdi Khazali was this month sentenced to four and a half years in prison, followed by 10 years in “internal exile”, and a fine on charges believed to include “spreading propaganda against the system” “gathering and colluding against national security,” and “insulting officials.” It is not clear whether his “internal exile” will in fact be served in prison.

Having been originally charged in 2011 and released on bail, he was arrested again in January. He is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where he has been on hunger strike for more than 40 days in protest at his detention, raising fears for his health.

Harassment, arrest and imprisonment of human rights defenders, including women’s rights groups, has also intensified and several NGOs have been shut down.

Abdolfattah Soltani, a founder member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, was arrested in September and is held in Evin Prison awaiting the outcome of his trial on charges which include his acceptance of an international human rights prize. He has been threatened with a 20-year sentence.

The pressure on independent voices has extended to those outside Iran.

Earlier this month, the BBC said family members of its Persian language service had been subjected to harassment, including one who was arrested in January and held in solitary confinement and others whose passports were confiscated.

Amnesty International said the attacks on dissenting views come against a backdrop of a worsening overall human rights situation in Iran.

There were around four times as many public executions in 2011 as in 2010, a practice that Amnesty International said was used by the authorities to strike fear into society.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been sentenced to death in the past year, mainly for alleged drugs offences. Iran continues to execute juvenile offenders – a practice strictly prohibited under international law.

Amnesty International called on the international community not to allow tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme or events in the wider region to distract it from pressing Iran to live up to its human rights obligations.

The organization specifically urged the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iran in March.

"For Iranians facing this level of repression, it can be dispiriting that discussions about their country in diplomatic circles can seem to focus mainly on the nuclear programme at the expense of human rights," said Ann Harrison.

"Countries dealing with the Iranian government cannot neglect their responsibilities to Iran's brave rights defenders, trade unionists, minorities and journalists."

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-new-report-finds-surge-repression-dissent-2012-02-28

iraniam · Mar 1, 2012

Women’s Rights and Practices Under the Islamic Republic of Iran

by bahmani
01-Mar-2012
Women’s Rights and Practices Under the Islamic Republic of Iran:

1. The value of a woman’s life is one half of the life of a man.

2. The testimony of two women is equal to the testimony of one man.

3. Daughters get half the inheritance that the sons get.

4. A woman does not have the right to divorce her husband.

5. A man can divorce his wife any time he wishes and without her knowledge.

6. Men are allowed to marry 4 wives and as many “temporary” (or surrogate) wives as they wish.

7. Women cannot travel, work, go to school, or even leave the house without the husband’s permission.

8. A woman must live where her husband chooses.

9. Mothers do not get the custody of their children when their husbands divorce them.

10. Husbands can take the baby away from the mother and have another woman feed and raise the infant.

11. A widow does not get the custody of her children after the death of her husband. The children will be given to the paternal grand parents or relatives and the mother has no right of visitation.

12. If the husband has no family, the Mullah of the community takes the custody of the woman’s children and all the family money and belongings.

13. In the case of a husband’s death the wife will be left without her children, home and belongings.

14. The age of criminal responsibility, under article 1210(1) of Iran’s Civil code is set at 15 for boys and 9 for girls.

15. The law sanctions marriage of girls before 13 years of age and boys at 15.

16. In his book, Ayatollah Khomeini requires that young girls should be at the husband’s home before they reach puberty.

17. In the case of inheritance for an older wife, a mother whose children are grown, she receives only 1/8th of the value of the home. But none of the value of the land that the home is sitting on.

http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/bahmani/women-s-rights-and-practices-under-islamic-republic-iran

Jacky Blue Note · Mar 1, 2012

^^^^ This is so fucked up I don't even....

iraniam · Mar 4, 2012

Iranian human rights lawyer jailed for 18 years

Associated Press in Berlin

guardian.co.uk

A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Tehran revolutionary court, his daughter said on Sunday.

Abdolfattah Soltani was also banned from exercising his profession for 20 years and will be sent to a remote prison where it will be difficult for his family to visit him, Maede Soltani told the Associated Press. “It is a harsh and heinous sentence. The trial was completely politically motivated,” she added.

Soltani, 58, co-founded a human rights group with Iranian Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. He was arrested last year and has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison.

Her father’s lawyer was informed of the sentence on Sunday, but her family do not know when the court made its ruling, Maede Soltani said. The family will seek to appeal against the ruling. “We hope this unfair sentence will be overruled,” she added.

Soltani says her father was charged with co-founding the Center for Human Rights Defenders, spreading anti-government propaganda, endangering national security and accepting an illegal prize – a reference to a German human rights prize he was awarded in 2009.

Maede Soltani, who lives in Germany, said she did not know whether her father already knew about the sentence. Her mother is allowed to visit him in prison every two weeks and he did not mention it during their last encounter, she added.

The revolutionary court also ruled that Soltani will be transferred to a remote prison in the city of Borazjan, about 620 miles south-west of Tehran.

Soltani was arrested in 2005 and again during 2009′s disputed presidential elections on “politically motivated” charges, according to Amnesty International. “Abdolfattah Soltani is one of the bravest human rights defenders in Iran,” the organisation said following his detention last September.

Working alongside Ebadi, the lawyer also represented the family of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian of Iranian origin who was arrested for taking photographs in front of Evin. She died several days later in the prison, possibly after being tortured.

An investigative panel concluded Kazemi died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage caused by a physical attack, but the findings were rejected by Iran’s conservative judiciary.

http://www.freedomessenger.com/archives/47515

iraniam · Mar 5, 2012

Annual report on the death penalty in iran- 2011

Iran Human Rights: As the Iranian authorities continue the crackdown of the dissidents and the civil society, Iran Human Rights (IHR) presents its annual report on the death penalty in 2011 in Iran. The report was presented in press conferences at the Italian Senate, Paris City Hall and University of Oslo las week.

Introduction:

The execution wave that began after the June 2009 post-election protests in Iran is still going on with high frequency . According to the present report, the execution figure in 2011 was the highest reported since the beginning of 1990’s.

Iranian authorities continue executing several hundred prisoners each year in the pretext of fighting drug-trafficking. Among those executed for drug trafficking in 2011 we find alone mothers of dependent children, who were subjected to unfair trials and executed and those whose families do not even afford to pay the expenses for their funeral.

What distinguishes the 2011 report from previous years is the dramatic increase in the number of public executions. The number of executions carried out publicly in 2011 in Iran is more than three times higher than the average in the previous years.

There is no indication that the Iranian authorities’ execution machine will slow down in 2012. In the first two weeks of January 2012, an average of 3-4 people have been executed in Iran every day. By the end of January 2011, 11 executions have been carried out publicly.

At the same time, Iranian authorities are threatening to execute more people for other “crimes”. The Iranian Supreme Court has recently approved the death sentence of Iranian-born Canadian permanent resident Saeed Malekpour for running “obscene” websites. He is now at imminent danger of execution.

Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who converted to Christianity at the age of 19 and who was sentenced to death for Apostasy in 2010, might also be in danger of execution. There is serious concern that approval of the new Islamic Penal Code (IPC) by the Guardian Council might lead to more death penalties for Apostasy.

Iran Human Rights is also concerned about reports indicating Kurdish political prisoners Zanyar and Loghman Moradi might be in danger of execution.

There are also indications that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani- the 43-year-old mother of two whose stoning death sentence was stopped, thanks to a worldwide campaign- might be in danger of execution.

Recently, an Iranian judge has indicated that the stoning verdict for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani can be converted to death by hanging.

Commenting on this report, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “There is little doubt that the Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a political mean. The dramatic increase in the number of executions shows that the Iranian regime is more than ever dependent on spreading fear to prolong its survival. Death penalty in general and public executions in particular- are the Iranian regime’s most important instrument for creating fear in the society.” He added: “We urge the international community to put sustainable focus on the human rights violations and particularly on the death penalty in Iran, and take further steps to stop the Iranian regime’s execution machine.”

The figures included in this report are mainly based on information announced by the Iranian authorities. However, some figures are based on reports from reliable unofficial sources. During the past two years IHR has concluded that the number of the executions not announced by the official Iranian sources is much higher than previously anticipated. A significant portion of the unofficial figures included in this report has been prepared thanks to the individuals in Iran who, despite all the risks, have contributed with invaluable information to make the report somehow closer to the reality. IHR must emphasize that the actual number of the executions in Iran is probably much higher than the figures included in its annual report.

Sources

The present report uses the Iranian authorities as its main source. 62% of the executions reported here are based on the news published by state-run media news agencies and newspapers and the statements made by high-ranking officials within the Iranian judiciary. Like last year, IHR has received reports on large numbers of executions that have not been announced by official Iranian sources. Many cases are directly communicated to IHR (though a direct witness, family member, lawyer, or key sources within the Judiciary) or reached us through other human rights organizations. The annual report only includes non-official cases which have been confirmed by at least two different independent sources.

Some facts:

• At least 676 people were executed according to IHR’s annual report 2011

• 416 of the 676 executions (62%) were announced by the Iranian authorities

• 65 executions were carried out in public. This is the highest number of public executions in more than 10 years.

• At least 4 juvenile offenders were among those executed in Iran in 2011

• At least 15 women were executed in 2011. Executions of 13 of these women were not announced by the Iranian authorities

• 3 young men were executed convicted of sodomy

• One man was executed convicted of “apostasy”

• More than 80% of those executed were convicted of drug trafficking

• Only 9% of those officially executed for drug charges were fully identified

• IHR has received reports of secret or “un-announced” executions in more than 15 different Iranian prisons

• More than 70 additional executions reported to IHR, are not included in the annual report due to difficulties in confirming some of the details

2011: The highest number of annual executions in the past 11 years Sources: Amnesty International (AI) and Iran Human Rights (IHR):

• 2000: 165 (AI)

• 2001: 75 (AI)

• 2002: 316 (AI)

• 2003: 154 (AI)

• 2004: 108 (AI)

• 2005: 94 (AI)

• 2006: 177 (AI)

• 2007: 317 (AI)

• 2008: 350 (IHR), (346; AI)

• 2009: 402 (IHR), (388; AI)

• 2010: 546 (IHR) (adjusted to 646)*

• 2011: 676 (IHR) : Official: 416 non-official: 260

* 100 of the 140 executions in the province of South Khorasan (Birjand) that were confirmed by the Iranian officials have been added to the 2010 numbers

Read more: http://www.iranhr.net/spip.php?article2440

http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/119039.html

iraniam · Mar 6, 2012

Activist gets six years in jail

Nargess Mohammadi

The appellate court has confirmed the six-year jail sentence handed to Nargess Mohammadi, the deputy head of Iran’s Human Rights Defenders Centre.

The Human Rights Defenders Centre website reports that Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security.” She reportedly had been sentenced to another five years in jail for membership in the Human Rights Defenders Centre, an NGO of lawyers working pro bono on human rights cases, as well as an additional year in prison for “propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic.

The total sentence of 11 years in jail was reduced to six years by the appellate court, according to Mohammadi’s lawyer.

Mohammadi was fired from her position at an engineering company and summoned to the judiciary soon after, only to be released on bail.

Moihammadi was severely ill during her arrest and was hospitalized after her release. Her home was also raided in February of 2011, and her attempts to file charges against the perpetrators have been fruitless.

Members of the Human Rights Defenders Centre have been the target of continuous persecution by Islamic Republic authorities. On Sunday, Abdolfattah Soltani, another human rights lawyer linked to the centre, was sentenced to 18 years in jail and a 20-year ban from legal practice.

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace laureate and one of the founding members of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, has announced that the detained centre members are being pressured to make false statements about the centre and about Ebadi herself, in order to implicate her and their organization in seditious activities.

http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/activist-gets-six-years-jail

iraniam · Mar 12, 2012

Iran dismisses UN report as 'politicised'

An Iranian inmate at the female section of the infamous Evin prison where Nasrin Sotoudeh is currently being held.

As the UN human rights council gathered today to discuss the latest report by Ahmed Shaheed, the UN's Iran special rapporteur, senior officials in the Islamic republic dismissed allegations of "striking patterns of violations" in the country.

The report, released last week, was welcomed by human rights organisations as "a significant document that gives voice to the victims of widespread violations" but top regime supporters said it was "politicised" and "fabricated".

Kazem Jalali, an Iranian MP and member of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy was quoted by the state English-language television, Press TV, as saying that Shaheed's report was biased.
"The first problem is the structure of the human rights body, it should be known that this institution is mainly biased towards Iran and is trying to prove its [anti-Iran] claims," he said. "The second problem is that the enemies and the arrogant [powers], in order to prove their claims, try to find opposition and individuals who are prejudiced against the Islamic Republic."

Zohreh Elahian, the head of the parliamentary commission on human rights said the report was based on "politically tainted objectives and politicisation", the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"As was clear in Ahmed Shaheed's draft document, the report is biased and serves political objectives since he had visited a number of European states and had meetings with the opposition and anti-revolution forces living abroad," she said.

Tehran has not allowed Shaheed to enter the country to investiagte Iran's record on human rights. Independent NGOs and human rights organisations have been banned in recent years in Iran and many activists put in prison, including prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh.

Alistair Burt, the British foreign office minister for the Middle East today expressed concerns over human rights violations in Iran.

"In the last year, Iran has continued to execute more people per capita than any other country in the world, increased arbitrary arrest of ethnic and religious minorities, and attempted to silence dissent through control of the media and the detention of journalists, opposition leaders and human rights defenders," he said.

"Most recently, I was appalled to see reports of the sentencing of lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani to 18 years in prison. It is shocking that the charges against him of co-operation with an NGO and receiving an international human rights award should be considered offences at all," Burt added.

"It is disappointing that Iran has refused to engage with Dr Shaheed, denying him the opportunity to visit and attempting to discredit his report. I urge Iran to recognise its international obligations and co-operate with the Rapporteur's work by allowing full and unrestricted access to the country."

Read Ahmed Shaheed's full report here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran-blog/2012/mar/12/iran-dismisses-human-rights-claims

Jacky Blue Note · Mar 12, 2012

Anonymous said: ↑

Maybe we should take away from the governments the privilege they have arrogated themselves: to kill people of any nation.

There has got to be some way of terminating these theocratic crazy people.

iraniam · Mar 20, 2012

Rights groups call for renewal of rapporteur's mandate

Ahmad Shaheed

Twenty human rights groups have issued a joint statement calling for the renewal of Ahmad Shaheed’s United Nations mandate as special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

On March 21 and 22, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council will vote on renewing Shaheed’s mandate.
The rights groups’ statement says human rights are deteriorating in Iran. With the Islamic Republic’s steely refusal to cooperate with UN organizations, they say the member states’ support of Shaheed’s mission in Iran is more vital than ever.

Shaheed released his second human rights report on March 7, attaching the testimony of several self-declared victims of human rights violations and declaring that his investigations have revealed a “striking pattern of violations.”

Iranian authorities have slammed Shaheed’s report, accusing him of bias. However, the Islamic Republic has vehemently denied the rapporteur’s repeated requests to travel to Iran to further corroborate his investigations.

The joint statement cites various reports on the state of human rights in Iran published by numerous international groups. Together with Shaheed’s report, says the statement, they all paint a dark picture.

The groups write that despite the Islamic Republic’s resistance and lack of cooperation, Shaheed has been “successful” in preparing his report, documenting the testimony of more than 100 victims and their families and other reliable sources.

The joint statement maintains that the appointment of a special rapporteur for Iran has “mobilized, in an unprecedented manner, Iranians both inside and outside the country, to engage with the international community.”

The signatories call for the member states of the Human Rights Council to renew Shaheed’s mandate, saying it is “critical to allow Iranians to engage with the international community, put pressure on the Iranian government to comply with its international rights obligations, and allow international human rights bodies and mechanisms to monitor the rights situation in the country.”

The statement’s 20 signatories include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Reporters Without Borders.

http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/rights-groups-call-renewal-rapporteurs-mandate

iraniam · Mar 22, 2012

UN chief urges cooperation with UN rapporteur

Ban Ki-moon

The UN Secretary General wants the Islamic Republic to cooperate with the special UN rapporteur on Iran, Ahmad Shaheed.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that, in his latest report, Ban Ki-Moon expressed disappointment at the lack of cooperation between Islamic Republic authorities and Shaheed, the UN investigator charged with reviewing human rights conditions in Iran.

Last June, after numerous reports of human rights violations in Iran, Shaheed was given the UN mandate to probe the state of human rights in the country.

Iranian authorities have refused to grant Shaheed permission to travel to Iran.
In his report, Ban Ki-Moon expresses regret "that despite requests for a country visit, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran has not yet been admitted into the country.”

The Secretary General goes on to “call upon the government [of Iran] to strengthen collaboration with the international human rights mechanisms.”

The UN Secretary General notes that a working-level delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was denied permission to visit with the Iranian opposition leaders being held under house arrest and other political prisoners or even to meet with independent civil society representatives.

Iran maintains that the reports prepared by Shaheed and the Secretary General of the United Nations are “unprofessional, unbalanced, unreliable, politically partial, and in fact a copy-paste of one another.”

Ban Ki-Moon challenged that statement in his report, saying the Special Rapporteur has “stressed that engagement with the country mandate-holder can only lessen the potential for politicization over which Iran has repeatedly expressed concern.”

The UN chief’s report notes with concern the “increased number of executions including public executions of juvenile offenders, amputations, flogging, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, torture and ill-treatment, and the crackdown on media professionals, film makers, human rights defenders, lawyers and opposition activists.”

However, the Secretary General commends the steps taken by the Islamic Republic judiciary to “revoke stoning as a method of execution and to limit the application of the death penalty for juvenile offenders” but calls for further revision of the “Islamic Penal Code and juvenile justice laws to ensure compliance with international human rights standards.”

http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/un-chief-urges-cooperation-un-rapporteur

iraniam · Mar 22, 2012

UN Human Rights Investigator Appointed For Second Year

The United Nations has renewed the mandate of its human rights investigator for Iran.

Russia, China, and Syria were among the five countries that voted against the resolution in the Human Rights Council in Geneva that was backed by 22 countries with 20 abstentions.

During his first year in the job, former Maldives Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed was denied entry into the Islamic republic.

Earlier this month, Shaheed issued a report showing a rapidly increasing rate of executions in Iran, with some 670 people put to death last year.

According to Amnesty International, only China, with a much bigger population, executes more people.

Shaheed also voiced concern about the abuse of minorities and the persecution of homosexuals and labor unions.

Iran says his appointment was merely part of the West's maneuvers against it.

http://www.rferl.org/content/un_human_rights_investigator_reappointed/24524550.html

iraniam · Mar 23, 2012

EU adds 17 Iranian officials to human rights blacklist

GVF — The European Union has tightened restrictive measures against Iranian authorities over human rights abuses.

Following a meeting on Friday, the Foreign Ministers of the 27-nation bloc added the names of seventeen Iranian officials to an already existing asset freeze and travel ban "for serious human rights violations," bringing the total to 78.

The European Union Council also banned "exports of equipment and software intended for use in the monitoring or interception of internet and telephone communications” by the Iranian state. The EU’s High Representative Catherine Ashton said that the EU was "deeply concerned" over the worsening human rights situation in Iran.

“We deplore the continuing increase in executions and the widespread repression of Iranian citizens, including human rights defenders, journalists and members of the opposition. We renew our calls on the Iranian authorities to live up to their international human rights obligations and to protect all fundamental freedoms to which the Iranian people are entitled.”

On Thursday, the United Nations renewed the mandate of its human rights investigator Ahmad Shaheed for Iran. Following a vote at the UN Human Rights Council, Shaheed’s term as special rapporteur was extended for another year.

Up until now, the former Maldives Foreign Minister has been denied entry into Iran. "The deteriorating situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to be of great concern. We regret that the special rapporteur, Dr. Shaheed, has not been given access to the country," Swedish diplomat, Irina Schoulgin Nyoni, said at the meeting.

"We strongly encourage the Iranian authorities to engage in dialogue and cooperation with this important mechanism of the Human Rights Council."

http://en.irangreenvoice.com/articl...rangreenvoice/En (Iran Green Voice - English)

iraniam · Mar 25, 2012

List of the 17 Officials in New EU Sanctions For Human Rights Abuses:

1. ZARGHAMI Ezzatollah
As Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), he is responsible for all programming decisions. IRIB has broadcast forced confessions of detainees and a series of "show trials" in August 2009 and December 2011. These constitute a clear violation of international provisions on fair trial and the right to due process.

2. TAGHIPOUR Reza
Minister for Information and Communications. As Minister for Information, he is one of the top officials in charge of censorship and control of internet activities and also all types of communications (notably mobile phones). During interrogations of political detainees, the interrogators make use of the detainees' personal data, mail and communications. On several occasions following the last presidential election and during street demonstrations, mobile lines and text messaging were blocked, satellite TV channels were jammed and the internet locally suspended or at least slowed down.
3. KAZEMI Toraj
Colonel of the technology and communications police, he recently announced a campaign for the recruitment of government hackers in order to achieve better control of information on the internet and attack "dangerous" sites.

4. LARIJANI Sadegh
Head of the Judiciary. The Head of the Judiciary is required to consent to and sign off every qisas (retribution), hodoud (crimes against God) and ta'zirat (crimes against the state) punishment. This includes sentences attracting the death penalty, floggings and amputations. In this regard, he has personally signed off numerous death penalty sentences, contravening international standards, including stoning (16 people are currently under stoning sentence), executions by suspension strangulation, execution of juveniles, and public executions such as those where prisoners have been hung from bridges in front of crowds of thousands. He has also permitted corporal punishment sentences such as amputations and the dripping of acid into the eyes of the convicted. Since Sadeq Larijani took office, arbitrary arrests of political prisoners, human rights defenders and minorities have increased markedly. Executions have also increased sharply since 2009. Sadeq Larijani also bears responsibility for systemic failures in the Iranian judicial process to respect the right to a fair trial.

5. MIRHEJAZI Ali
Deputy Chief of the Supreme Leader's Office and Head of Security. Part of the Supreme Leader's inner circle, responsible for planning the suppression of protests which has been implemented since 2009.

6. SAEEDI Ali
Representative of the Guide for the Pasdaran since 1995 after spending his whole career within the institution of the military, and specifically in the Pasdaran intelligence service. This official role makes him the key figure in the transmission of orders emanating from the Office of the Guide to the Pasdaran's repression apparatus.

7. RAMIN Mohammad-Ali
Main figure responsible for censorship as Vice- Minister in charge of the Press up to December 2010, he was directly responsible for the closure of many reforming newspapers (Etemad, Etemad- e Melli, Shargh, etc), closure of the Independent Press Syndicate and the intimidation and arrest of journalists.

8. MORTAZAVI Solat
Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs. Responsible for directing repression of persons who speak up in defence of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression.

9. REZVANI Ghodomani
Deputy Governor of Rasht. Responsible for grave violations of the right to due process.

10. SHARIFI Malek Ajdar
Head of the judiciary in East Azerbaijan. Responsible for grave violations of the right to due process.

11. ELAHI Mousa Khalil
Prosecutor of Tabriz. Responsible for directing grave human rights violations of the right to due process.

12. FAHRADI Ali
Prosecutor of Karaj. Responsible for grave violation of human rights in demanding the death sentence for a juvenile.

13. REZVANMANESH Ali
Prosecutor. Responsible for grave violation of human rights in demanding the death sentence for a juvenile.

14. RAMAZANI Gholamhosein
Commander of IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] Intelligence. Responsible for grave human rights violation of persons who speak up in defence of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression. Heads Department responsible for the arrest and torture of bloggers/journalist.

15. SADEGHI Mohamed
Colonel and Deputy of IRGC technical and cyber intelligence. Responsible for the arrests and torture of bloggers/journalists.

16. JAFARI Reza
Head of special prosecution of cyber crime. In charge of arrests, detentions and prosecutions of bloggers and journalists.

17. RESHTE-AHMADI Bahram
Deputy Prosecutor in Tehran. Runs Evin prosecution centre. Responsible for the denial of rights, including visits and other prisoner's rights, to human rights defenders and political prisoners.

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home...leading-officials-in-new-eu-sanctions-fo.html

iraniam · Mar 29, 2012

Special Rapporteur Shaheed On Iran's Rights Violations

Photo: UN
Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (file)

The U.N. Special Rapporteur charged with examining human rights conditions in Iran has presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council findings from the first eight months of his investigation.

Ahmed Shaheed, former foreign minister of the Maldives, catalogued a “striking pattern of violations” of Iranians’ human rights. The right to life and due process is ignored with impunity by government authorities; discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, women, and other groups, is rampant; journalists, human rights defenders, union members, women’s rights activists and opposition leaders are persecuted.

The Special Rapporteur also noted the “alarming increase” in executions taking place in Iran, from fewer than 100 in 2003, to 670 in 2011, many occurring after little or no due process. Iranian authorities claim that 80 percent of capital cases last year were drug-related. But Special Rapporteur Shaheed said the regime has at times used the accusation of drug-related activities as “a pretext for other activities” it seeks to repress, like political dissent.

Although the Iranian government refused to work with the Special Rapporteur or allow him to visit Iran, Mr. Shaheed reviewed dozens of reports by non-governmental organizations and interviewed more than 160 people during his investigation. He met with members of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and the Iranian diaspora. His interviews included victims and witnesses of human rights violations in Iran, who told him of arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and widespread use of torture, including rape.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner commended Mr. Shaheed’s investigation and report:

“We welcome and support the work of the Special Rapporteur, who concluded that the Iranian government is engaged in a quote, “striking pattern of violations,” end quote, of its citizens’ human rights under international law.”

“We continue to call upon Iran’s government to end its human rights abuses, grant Dr. Shaheed access to Iran, and cooperate with his future investigations.”

http://www.voanews.com/policy/edito...eed-On-Irans-Rights-Violations-144726425.html

iraniam · Apr 6, 2012

Nasrin Sotoudeh Denied Furlough, Telephone Contact

Prominent human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh was deprived of furlough and telephone contact with her family during the Persian New Year, her husband Reza Khandan told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in an interview.

“Unfortunately, after two years of imprisonment, her leave was denied and she and the other women in her ward were not even allowed to make telephone calls to their families during the holidays. Some male political prisoners were allowed to spend Nowruz near their families, but none of the female political prisoners were allowed even hourly leave during these special days. We did not hear from Ms. Sotoudeh from 19 through 29 March. Ten days after Nowruz, they finally allowed visitation, and the kids and I were able to see her,” said Khandan.

Khandan added that this is the second year Sotoudeh’s family is spending the Persian New Year without her. “We regard Ms. Sotoudeh’s sentence as one without any legitimacy, and we also [object to] the lack of observation of her basic rights in prison. She has been denied the right to make telephone calls for almost a whole year. Many non-political prisoners have telephone sets above their beds and they can call whomever they want daily. They can even take care of their business affairs by phone. But female political prisoners, even on our most important celebration, Nowruz, were deprived from having simple phone calls to their families.”

Sotoudeh’s husband also told the Campaign that her family continues to believe she is being detained illegally and demands her prompt release.

The most important point is the illegal arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh without a crime. She is a mother of two young children who has been in prison for the past 19 months. We demand her prompt release. She and the other prisoners who have been detained for unfounded reasons and who do not have a scrap of criminal element inside their case files must be released immediately, [the Judiciary] knows this better than the rest of us,”

Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on 21 September 2010, and on 8 January 2011, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison, 20 years’ ban on her legal practice, and 20 years ban on foreign travel on charges of “acting against national security,” “collusion and propagation against the Islamic Republic,” and “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center.” Her sentence was subsequently upheld in its entirety by an appeals court.

“The policy the authorities have adopted vis-a-vis the political prisoners has been one of silence. Unfortunately, none of the officials consider themselves accountable to the families of political prisoners. We have never received any replies to our written and verbal requests. I mean even if you write ten furlough or any other types of request, if the officials are against it, they never provide you with an answer about their reasons for opposing it. hey completely ignore our letters and verbal requests. I don’t know why they denied a leave for Ms. Sotoudeh.”

Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

http://www.iranpressnews.com/english/source/120598.html

iraniam · Apr 13, 2012

Iran urged to quash prison sentence for ‘Mourning Mothers’ activist

The Iranian authorities must quash a court ruling sentencing a Tehran woman to four and a half years in prison based on her peaceful human rights activities, Amnesty International said today.

On 4 April, the Revolutionary Court notified Mansoureh Behkish’s lawyers that she had been sentenced on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security” for her work with the group the Mothers of Laleh Park – formerly known as the “Mourning Mothers”.

Mansoureh Behkish, 54, has said she intends to appeal the decision.

Amnesty International believes that she has also been targeted for supporting the families of political prisoners summarily executed in 1988-1989.

“If Mansoureh Behkish’s jail sentence is carried out, she would be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her peaceful human rights activities,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately quash the sentences against her and other members of the Mothers of Laleh Park.”

Comprised largely of women whose children have been killed, disappeared or detained in Iran’s post-election violence since June 2009, the Mothers of Laleh Park gather in a central Tehran park to campaign against human rights violations. The group also includes relatives of victims of earlier violations, including mass killings during the 1980s.

Another member of the group, Zhila Karamzadeh-Makvandi, was arrested in Tehran on 27 December 2011 and taken to Evin Prison to serve a two-year sentence on charges of “founding an illegal organization” and “acting against state security”.

Leyla Seyfollahi and Nader Ahsani, a male supporter of the Mothers of Laleh Park, also face two-year sentences in connection with their membership and are at risk of imprisonment at any time.

Mansoureh Behkish was arrested on a Tehran street on 12 June 2011 and held at Evin Prison for nearly a month before being released on bail. Her trial began on 25 December 2011.

Ongoing repression

Mansoureh Behkish’s own experiences span decades of human rights violations in Iran.

Between 1981 and 1988, six of her relatives were killed or forcibly disappeared, including a sister, four brothers and a brother-in-law.

Many of these unlawful killings took place during what are known in Iran as the “prison massacres”, from roughly August 1988 until February 1989. During the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian authorities summarily executed thousands of male and female political prisoners.

No one has ever been brought to account for these mass killings, and hundreds of families, including Mansoureh Behkish’s, do not know where their loved ones’ bodies were placed.

In 1989 the then UN human rights expert on Iran called for a detailed investigation into mass executions and violence in the country.

Many of the victims of the mass killings are buried around southern Tehran’s Khavaran cemetery, where a another family support group, called the Mothers of Khavaran – of which Mansoureh Behkish is also a member – have met for the past two decades to hold vigils in their honour.

During Iran’s New Year holiday in March 2012, security officials contacted hundreds of families – as they have regularly done since 1988 – ordering them not to go to Khavaran to mourn their dead relatives.

Mansoureh’s brother, Jafar Behkish – who emigrated in 2002 – told Amnesty International that there were important bonds of solidarity between the Mothers of Khavaran and families of the victims of more recent human rights violations.

“The past and recent atrocities affected the entire nation of Iran, therefore national effort is required to face these wrongdoings,” Jafar Behkish said.

“The Iranian authorities try to prevent cooperation between families of the victims of past and recent atrocities, because they know that a united movement would be a strong force against their policy of oppression.”

These attempts take the form of ongoing harassment of the victims’ family members, which has been commonplace since the 1980s.

Before her arrest last year, Mansoureh Behkish faced repeated harassment from the authorities. In recent years, she has been arrested and detained on four occasions, including in August 2008, when she was held for three days at Evin Prison.

In March 2010 she had her passport confiscated and was barred from travelling abroad.

“The Iranian authorities have unlawfully killed hundreds of prisoners, covered up for it and are now persecuting those seeking to keep the memory of the dead alive. They must end their ongoing harassment of human rights activists like the Mothers of Laleh Park, and remove unlawful restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-urged-quash-prison-sentence-mourning-mothers-activist-2012-04-13

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