Responses to Human Rights Abuses in Iran

1. Reporters Without Borders, a group which campaigns for the freedom of journalists around the world, condemned the “chains of threats against journalists in exile and their families”, and described the behaviour of the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran against these journalists as “hostage taking”.
2. Navid Aghdasi, cousin of Ata-Allah Rezvani, a Bahaii citizen who was killed on the 24th August 2013, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, that the murderer of this Bandar Abbas citizen has not yet been identified, and despite the protests by Mr Rezvani’s family, the magistrate has raised the claim that it was suicide.
3. Last week, Sattar Beheshti’s mother told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the indictment issued for her son’s prison death case as a “quasi-intentional murder” was unexpected. “We’re really disappointed with the indictment. Up until the time the indictment was issued, during the meetings, every time we saw Mr. Shahriari, the case’s Investigative Judge, he spoke of Sattar’s murder, and he always told us, ‘You must forgive Sattar’s murderer, as [Imam] Ali did.’ He said that [the murderer] is also a young man with a family. But, how is it now that an indictment for ‘quasi-intentional murder’ has been issued, I don’t know. All their efforts are focused on the murderer, who is an interrogator, not to be punished,” Gohar Eshghi said.

Women’s Rights

1. During the past week, Zeinab Jalaliyan, a political prisoner in the female section of Dizel-Abad prison, was deprived of medical leave and the use of health facilities, despite her severe physical problems, and is now on the verge of blindness.

Universities and Academics

1. During the past month, more than ten members of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, have been summoned to the Intelligence Ministry. Most of these students are activists of Mr Rohani’s campaign.
2. Reportedly, with the new regulations of Tehran University, more than 40 talented PhD students have been deprived from further education.

Workers and vulnerable communities

1. Prison officials at Evin prison are refusing to allow prisoner Reza Shahabi, a labour activist held in section 350 of Evin Prison, to take a medical leave despite doctor’s diagnosis using the hydrotherapy and physiotherapy.
2. Furthermore, in the previous week Ali Rastgoo workers’ rights secretary of Shiraz stated that more than 100 labourers of the company Marvdasht Azmayesh have atleast 15 month pending wages and in addition he announced: “this production unit has been completely shut down for eight month.
3. The Labour Home Secretary of Semnan said: 38 labourers of the factory of Machine Lent gathered in front of the Department of labour and social welfare cooperative Semnan province in protest against their 11 month pending wages and expulsion.
4. Furthermore, hundreds of brokers of villages telecommunications, gathered in front of the telecommunication company building in Tehran in protest against not implementing the Parliament Act for continuity of insurance and the adherence to the workers’ contract.
5. On Monday 7 October, 400 labourers of Jahan’s vegetable oil factory gathered in front of the factory in Zanjan in order to convert the state of the company.
6. There are reports tha Faramarz Aslani, an active workers’ rights in Hamadan, stated that there has been a 5 month delay of 240 Alloying iron foundry factory workers’ salaries in Malayer.
7. The Statistics Office and economic calculations along with social, data security statistics have shown that in the second half the year 2012, statistics related to the number of accidents and incidents caused at work, compared with the first half of the year, it has had an increase by over 100%.

The Sentences: Execution Flogging, amputation, imprisonment and custody

1. Alireza Rajabiyan-fard, a medicine graduate student from the University of Tehran, was arrested amongst others during the election incidents in 2009. He was transferred to 350 section of Evin Prison for with a sentence of three and a half years.
2. On Tuesday 8th October, a young girl who had acid thrown onto her face resulting in blindness in one eye and severe burnt marks, demanded retribution from the court. In result, the offending boy was sentenced by the judge to have his eyes and ears for transplant.
3. On Tuesday 8th October, two prisoners were hanged in the city of Ahvaz. The identity of the prisoners is unknown, but they were sentenced to execution with charges of trafficking heroin.
4. On Wednesday 9th October, the Magistrates court sentenced Mehdi Khazali to 6 years imprisonment with charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “gathering and conspiring against national security”.
5. Ali Mostafaviniya the prosecutor in the city of Rasht announced the hanging of three civilians. The execution of one of the victims was carried out in public.
6. On Wednesday 9th October, a hanging took place in Ghadir-Fasa square in the city of Shiraz, due to being charged with armed robbery.

The rights of the followers of ethnic minorities – prisoners of conscience in Iran

1. Three dervishes from the city of Kavar, named Kazem Dehghan, Hamid-Reza Arayesh and Mohammad-Ali Shamshir-zan have been sentenced to a lifetime without parole. This sentence was issued by the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz. The dervishes were accused of waging war against God, membership in illegal dervish groups and encouraging disturbances to national security.
2. The Intelligence agents in the cities of Sarbandar and Mahshahr summoned a number of citizens, demanding them to sign a pledge that they will not engage in any deals and transactions with Bahia’s citizens.
3. Last week, Mamoosta-Abdolghafar Mohammadi, one of the Sunni’s scholars in the village of Alak, was summoned and threatened by the Iranian intelligence ministry. Moreover, the mosque in this village was shut down by the agents.
4. 27 years old MortezaVafayi, a Sunni citizen of Mashhad, a blogger and an Arabic literature student of the Open University of Ghom, was sentenced to 21 months of imprisonment by the revolutionary court in Mashhad.
5. On Wednesday 9th October, 5 political Sunnis prisoners sentenced to death by execution in Rajayi-Shahr in Karaj were transferred to an unknown location.

Press and cyberspace

1. According to reports, Mahmoud Vaasi, minister of communications and technology, announced on Monday the 7th October, that social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter will remain closed and the filter on them will not be removed.
2. On the morning of Monday the 7th of October, Mustafa Faqih, website manager of Intekhab, was arrested and charged with publishing lies and disturbing public opinion.

Other human rights violations

1. On Sunday the 6th of October, Omid Rahmani, an ordinary prisoner held in Urmia Central Prison, was charged with creating propaganda in favour of the trial groups by the Information Administration because he allegedly communicated with prisoners in the prison of Urmia
2. Despite the serious health condition of Hassan Javani, a political prisoner, in the city of Bandar Abass who is suffering from heart disease, prostate problems and suffers Hmrvyyd, the authorities are paying him little attention.
3. There has been no news for 20 days, since the trial of Malawi Naqshbandi, the Imam of Friday sermons, and 10 of his followers in the city of Rusk.
4. Health conditions and lack of medicines and medical devices in Abbas port prisons are very worrying.
5. Despite already being sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, Arjang Davoudi yet remains in prison due illegitimate cases against him.
6. Bahaaldin Ghasemzadeh, who was arrested and charged with murder at the age of 16, was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court and will be executed soon.