Reactions to the violation of Human Rights in Iran
1. On Friday the 9 August, Hossein Ronaghi, a political prisoner and blogger, retstarted a hunger in protest of his poor condition in prison. The mother of this political prisoner expressed her concerns about her son’s hunger strike to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. She said that one of the prison officials in response to her son’s strike said: “Carry on with your hunger strike, what you expect to happen? It will not be long until you die, and this story will be forgotten in a few days.”
2. A number of preschool teachers gathered in front of the parliament in protest of their current employment situation. Their protest was against their dismissal and the Ministry of Education’s failure to cooperate. This took place when Haji Babai was Minister of Education.
3. During the past week, Seyyed Saami Hosseini, a political prisoner in the central prison of Urumieh started a hunger strike in protest of his transfer to section 4 of the prison. Rather than responding to this prisoner’s objections, the prison officials took him to solitary confinement.
4. Since last week, Abdullah Sadooghi, a political prisoner in the central prison of Tabriz has gone on a dry hunger strike in support of five civil activists in Azarbayjan who were on hunger strike. According to this report, Mr Sadooghi was taken to solitary confinement and his health is now in a critical condition.
Women’s Rights
1. The weekly visitation of a number of female political prisoners and prisoners of conscience with their children has been stopped in Evin prison since three weeks ago. This action was taken by the prison officials and the Tehran prosecutor without providing any explanation.
2. Furthermore, Nina Siahkali Moradi, a young girl from the city of Ghazvin who in the city council elections was selected fourteenth as the understudy, was suddenly faced disqualified. The reasons given by the authorities for this disqualification were “disobedience towards Islamic standards” which caused more controversy.
Universities and Academics
1. Omid Kokabi, a scientist in Evin prison, is invited to do a presentation at the annual conference of physics in Birjand University in the field of laser technology. Dowever, the Tehran prosecutor and the security institutions are opposing his appearance at the conference. Omid Kokabi has been in the political and security section of Evin prison, section 350, for over 30 months without a single day’s leave.
2. It has been reported that Majid Dorri, an imprisoned student suspended from school, wrote a letter from Karoon prison in the city of Ahvaz, describing the inhumane conditions in Bahbahan prison, and the way he was transferred from this city to Karoon prison in Ahvaz. As part of this academic and activist’s letter, there was strong criticism of the lack of independence of the judiciary as well as the pressures that he and his family are under.
Workers and vulnerable communities
1. Hamed Mahmoodi-Nejhad, a member of Coordinating Committee to Aid the Formations of Workers’ Organizations was accused of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran” by the revolutionary court in Sanandaj, and was given a one year suspended sentence.
2. Furthermore, during the past week, Faramarz Aslani the secretary of the workers in Hamedan reported the continuation of uncertainty experienced by 67 Gharch Sina workers for two years. He said that after two years, due to bankruptcy of the factory, these workers have yet to receive their claims.
3. On Sunday morning 11th August, hundreds of Zanjan citizens set up a gathering in protest against the pollution caused by lead and zinc factories on the outskirts of Zanjan city, especially the lead and zinc factory located 15km from the city which is in front of the offices of the supreme leader’s representative in the province and the governor of Zanjan city.
4. Furthermore, in the past 7 months over 100 labours of Sazanrah contracting company in the city of Ghom have not received their salaries.
5. 21 members of Coordinating Committee to Aid the Formation of Workers’ Organizations wrote a statement objecting against “the summoning, interrogation and trials against workers and labour activists”, calling verdicts against labour activists “unfair” and asking for the trials to be “reconsidered and revoked.” Currently there legal cases being built against members of these Workers Associations in the cities of Sanandaj, Rasht, Mahabad and Bookan.
The Sentences: Execution Flogging, amputation, imprisonment and custody
1. Masoud Pedram, a member of the national-religious activist council, who is passing a previous sentence in Evin prison, once again is faced with a prison sentence. With this new one year sentence, his total prison sentence will be four years, meaning that he will remain in Evin prison for another two years.
2. Arzhang Davoodi was sentenced in the Revolutionary court of Bandar Abas city without his presence or the presence of his lawyers, with new accusations of waging war against God through his membership of a hypocritical group.
3. Furthermore, in the morning of Wednesday 14 August, 6 individuals accused of rape were executed by hanging in Karoon prison, in the city of Ahvaz.
4. Following protests by a group over the speech of Member of Parliament who insulted the Lor minority, 15 people were arrested and two of them, Reza Akvanian and Taher Akvanian, are still in prison.
The rights of the ethnic variation and conscience followers in Iran
1. Tens of Ahvaz citizens were put on trial, as part of a campaign by security forces involving the arrest of 500 Arabs in different cities. In recent months the judicial security system of the Islamic Republic of Iran has increased its issuing of heavy sentences against cultural and political Arab activists in the city of Ahvaz.
2. Following the continuous threats and pressure on Christians in Iran, the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran arrested 3 Christian converts living in the city of Tabriz. Their names are Farshid Modares, Mohamad-Reza Piri and Yashar Farzinno.
3. During the past week, the court judiciary prevented the discharge of a priest, Farhad Sabok-Rooh, and his wife with the excuse of having the legal file lost. This is despite the existence of multiple copies of this file, rendering the likelihood that it was lost very low.
4. On Tuesday 13th August, intelligence officers of Mashhad city were referred to Fataneh Nabil-Zadeh (Saraf)’s house, and after the inspection of this Baha’i resident’s place, they arrested her, and two others by the names of Peyman Saraf and Dayan Timori.
5. Hadi Rashidi was taken to an unknown location On Monday 13th August. He is a Chemistry teacher who received a Masters degree in Applied Chemistry and is also one of the five Arabs in the city of Ahvaz sentenced to death in the Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz city.
6. Ali-Ahmed Suleiman, a Kurdish political prisoner from a Kurdish region in Syria, who was earlier sentenced to death and fined by the branch 12 of the Criminal Court of the Uromieh City, had his sentence approved and officially announced to him by the Supreme Court.
7.Mohsen Esmaeili, Seyed Ibrahim Bahrami, Mohammad-Ali Sadeghi and Mohammad-Ali Dehghan, four dervishes imprisoned in the Adel-abad prison of Shiraz city were sentenced by branch one of the public court in the province of Kavar, presided by judge Kashkooli and with the presence of defence lawyers, Harsini, Nazari and Sadeghi.These dervishes were accused of forming a terrorist group against the regime, attending protests intended to overthrow the government, waging war against God and shipping illegal weapons.
Media and cyberspace
1. Hamed Atayi, a journalist and founder of a news website named Aina-news, was summoned by the first branch of Revolutionary court, after waiting for three years, where his sentence was issued. He was taken to to the central prison of Urumieh city to spend his conviction period.
2. Davoon Ahmad-Gol, a successor of fatay police disciplinary headquarters of Ghom city, said that according to the new guidelines, which is officially used all over the country, internet cafe users are required to provide a valid identification to be able to use the facilities of the internet café.
Other human rights violations
1. Fatemeh Rakhshani, Deputy Minister of Health at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, has stated that “700,000 Iranians will be ‘under the poverty line’ annually due to rising medical costs in the country”.
2. Over the past week, roughly 100 trees dating back more than 40 years in the vicinity of Darkeye Tehran square have been cut down. The Municipality of Tehran denies this, saying that they only cut two trees.
3. Sunday 20 August, the police chief of Tehran said that more than 500 homeless individuals were arrested during the last week in the Malawi area of Tehran.
4. Mr. Hammed Hussein Rounaghi (father of Hussein Rounaghi) has requested that “everyone pay attention to his condition and that he be granted sick leave, otherwise there is a possibility that something very serious may happen to him”.
5. Prosecutors and prison officials have reportedly continued to prevent Asghar Qatan (a political prisoner suffering from cancer) from visiting the hospital.
6. On Wednesday 13 of August, branch 104 of the Criminal Court in the city of Tabriz, summoned Saman Jahanpur due to his protest over the drying of Orumieh Lake.
7. According to reports, Masoud Zahediyan (the head of the morality police) announced that “the Hijab situation hasn’t changed in the past five years”. He also added that “to monitor the statues of women’s Hijab in the country, the police is filming in the city on a monthly basis.”
8. Mohammad Ali Taheri is in a very bad condition and has been held in solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin prison. Four weeks have passed since the announcement of his hunger strike; he was arrested by the intelligence agency in 2011. His physical and mental condition is critical at the moment.