Responses to Human Rights Abuses in Iran
1. A number of political prisoners of Gohar Dasht in the city of Karaj wrote a statement about the family of Peyman Arefi, a political prisoner who passed away when returning after visiting Peyman Arefi. These political prisoners gave their condolences to Peyman Arefi and his family, whilst condemning the inhumane policies of the authorities in Iran about exiling, torturing and executing political prisoners.
2. Families of political prisoners, who are sentenced to death, had planned to travel to Tehran in order to form a gathering in front of the supreme leader’s office to protest against the conditions of these prisoners. However, on Monday 2nd December 2013, these families were threatened by one of the intelligence officers called Rezaei in Sanandaj to not travel to Tehran.
3. Last week, families of four Sunni prisoners who are sentence to death, met with the judiciary, executive and legislative officials and submitted their letters to these authorities.
Women’s rights
1. Over the past few months, the Gharchakeh Varamin Female Prison has been short of hot water suitable for bathing. The Gharchakeh Varamin has about 1900 female prisoners, jailed for various crimes.
Universities and academics
1. Last week, 9 political prisoners in section 350 of Evin Prison were banned by the prosecutor from taking part in examinations of the University of Payame Noor. Mohammad-Sadigh Kabodavand, Omid Kokabi, Farshid Yadollahi, Hamid Eslami, Amir Behroozi, Afshin Karam-Pour, Mehdi Dolati, Mehdi Fazeli-Far, and Sina Azimi were some among the prisoners who were deprived of taking part in the examinations.
2. Reportedly, Mohsen Barzgar, a student activist from the Noshiravani Babel University of Technology, was arrested by the city prosecutor’s enforcement department to receive a sentence of two years imprisonment. On Sunday 22nd December 2013, the security forces went to Mohsen Barzgari’s parental house in order to arrest him.
3. Last week, Students of the University of Science and Technology, formed an outdoor gathering to commemorate those who were killed during the May 2009 demonstrations.
Workers and vulnerable communities
1. A group of Haft-Tapeh Sugar Cane workers in protest against non-payment of two months’ salary and annual bonus protested by gathering this morning at the factory premises.
2. Furthermore last week, 500 workers of Poli-acril Factory in Isfahan on the first day of the third round of their protest, in response to the employer’s policy and downsizing the factory and decision making of the employer based on separating the factory, once more they gathered in the factory enclosure.
3. Habiballah Mohaghegh, a labour activist in Semnan, on 22nd December, spoke of the redundancy of 150 workers of Samand Tiles and then added: “these workers’ insurance cover payments have been delayed for over 8 month”.
4. Furthermore on Sunday 22nd December the department of natural resources of the city of Sanandaj fired11 workers working at Nursury of Gorizeh for unknown reasons.
5. In the morning of Tuesday 24th December hundreds of employed and retired workers in Tehran gathered in front of the Islamic Parliament in support of the house of investigation of social organization
6. News suggests that a group of telecommunication workers of the rural areas of Isfahan, Khorasan and Fars provinces, have protested in front of the Islamic Parliament.
7. The workers’ representative of the “Penguins Carpet” announced three months delay in the payment of the salaries of more than 50 workers due to lack of financial resources
Sentences: death, flogging, amputation, imprisonment and detention
1. According to the reports, on Thursday 19th December 2013, two prisoners accused of rape were hanged in the Lakan Prison in the city of Rasht.
2. Last week, the General Relations Justice of the Semnan province announced the execution of two prisoners accused of drug trafficking. These two were sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. One of them was accused of carrying more than 392 grams of crack type of drugs, and the other one carrying more than 3 kg of heroin.
3. Last week, Mehdi Malaki, a member of the youth organisation of Pan-Iranian party, was arrested by the security forces.
4. Four social activist by the names of Behzad Asiayi, Kaveh Rahimi, Arash Kamanche and Parvin Zendi were each sentenced to one year imprisonment by the Branch 15 of the revolutionary court in Tehran on charges of propaganda against the regime.
5. News suggests that on Wednesday 25th December 2013, the flogging sentence was carried out in public in the city of Dehdasht in the Kohgiloyeh and Boyerahmad province on three criminals. These three were sentenced to flogging on charges of participation in robbery and theft of electricity wires and shops and disobeying the security officers.
The rights of the followers of ethnic – prisoners of conscience in Iran
1. The prison authorities refused to allow Farhad Salimi, a Sunni prisoner to leave for funeral after his father passed away.
2. The intelligence officers simultaneously forced into four Christian converts’ houses and after searching through their houses seized and took away their books, computers and religion notes.
3. During the past week, Anvar Ghoreishi-Kord from the city of Divandareh was arrested by the intelligence officers and transferred to an unknown location.
4. Hossein Goorzhi a Sunni clergyman from the city of Mah-abad was summoned to the headquarter of the intelligence office and was threatened to be imprisoned if he continues teaching in Mah-Abad mosques.
5. recently, the pressures and threats by some of religious extremists and Basij’s groups on the dervishes’ congregations in the city of Neiriz in Fars province has started. It is worth mentioning that, even though the recent pressures and threats towards dervishes have increased, their praying congregation has not stopped.
6. On Tuesday 24th December, 92 intelligence officers of Gorgan with a warrant to arrest Mozhdeh Zohori, the wife of Farhad Fahand a Baha’i prisoner in Rajai Shahr prison, forced to enter their resident and searched through their belongings and confiscated religious books , mobile phones and some other personal items and arrested and transferred her to an unknown location.
7. The ruling on Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naqshbandi, Sunni imams, and his companions indicates that four people of them were sentenced to death
Press releases and virtual space
1. News indicates that the mobile-app WE-CHAT in many ISPs such as Telecom, Mobin-net and Iran-cell are filtered. It is worth noting that WE-CHAT is a mobile social network founded by the Chinese company Tencent and has more than 300 million users around the world.
2. It is more than a week after detention of Dr Ramin Abdalyan Iranshahi and there is no information on his condition. The reason for his detention is for a book written by him called “Behind the nowhere of life” which is based on the eight years of war during the presidency of Mr. Banny Sadr.
Other human rights violations
1. Saeed Kamali, a prisoner in Zahedan prison who was forced to do electrical work in exchange of having day off, was electrocuted and passed away. It is worth adding that, he did not have any electrical experience and was not provided any safety equipment.
2. On Tuesday 24th December, eight prisoners in Rajayishahr prison who had been sentenced to death in Karaj were transferred to solitary confinement to be execution.
3. Mohammadreza Pourshajari, a blogger in Karaj central prison, was admitted to the Tehran’s khomeyni Hospital.