Although the debate over the loaded term “free election” has receded in Iran as candidates ramp up their campaigns, rights groups continue to raise the niggling question whether human rights abuses will undermine the image of a legitimate Presidential ballot in June — particularly as activists, journalists, politicians, lawyers, and protesters detained in the crackdown following the disputed 2009 election remain imprisoned.

Human Rights Watch warns today that “dozens” of political activists and reporters arrested four years ago remain in detention, while two of the candidates in 2009 — Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi — endure their 28th month of house arrest. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported earlier this month that Iran is holding at least 40 journalists in prison — the second-highest figure in the world — while Reporters Without Borders this week called on Iran’s eight Presidential candidates to speak out in support of freedom of information.

HRW also note reports that the authorities have reduced Iranians’ access to the web including by cutting internet speed and blocking virtual private networks.

The rights group said it spoke to two Iranian journalists, who said that the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, and the Supreme National Security Council have issued “standing guidelines” to the Iranian media warning them to beware of breaching the government’s “red lines” when covering elections, including reporting about Mousavi and Karroubi and banned political parties such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

Meanwhile, the Guardian and activist Anita Hunt have created an interactive database of political prisoners in Iran, detailing some of the activists, students, journalists, women’s rights campaigners, lawyers, artists, former politicians, and members of Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities jailed in recent years.

by Joanna Paraszczuk
EA Worldview