Responses to Human Rights Abuses in Iran
1. Prisoners of Rajaei Shahr Prison stated that they are going to refuse to receive state prison rations for three days, in protest against the resumption of interference noise, closure of the library in the hall 12, offensive inspections and mandatory uniforms for prisoners. It is said that on Saturday 25th January 2014, the Rajaei Shahr Prison guards inspected prisoners in the hall 12, and started insulting some of the prisoners. The prisoners protested against this action by chanting “death to the dictator” and then singing a song which translates “my school friend”.
2. Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nation Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, and Christoph Heinz, the United Nation Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, condemned the significant increase in the number of executions in Iran. In this statement, they announced that at least 40 people were executed during the first two weeks of January 2014, 33 of which took place during the second week of January 2014.
3. Last week, Mansour Asaanloo, a labour activist and a former prisoner, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that currently, several prisoners of Evin, Minab and Bandar-Abbas prisons have gone on hunger strike to protest against their conditions in prison, whilst prison officials are threatening them to break their strikes.
Universities and academics
1. A number of political and student activists of Avicenna University of Hamedan were summoned to the disciplinary committee. During the past few days, the security guards of this university, not only rejected the changes that are in line with the government, but increased their illegal behaviours and their incorrect approaches towards security.
2. Hamid Babayi, a PhD university student from Belgium, who had travelled to Iran, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison by the lower court.
Workers and vulnerable communities
1. Esmaiel Abdi, the General Secretory of the Teachers Association, has spoken of the unpaid overtime wages not paid to most teachers since the 21st of April 2013. He said: “the overtime pay for the teachers teaching since 21 April until now has meant that four months have passed since the beginning of the academic year without overtime pay which has caused dissatisfaction among the teachers”.
2. Sohrab Naseri, a representative of the workers of “Looleh Gostar” factory in north Khorasan province, announced the postponement of payment for three months to 650 workers due to lack of funding.
3. For the seventh consecutive day, a group of about 600 contract workers and temporary workers of the company of Iran Tyre have stopped working in protest against the decision by management to fire the temporary workers.
4. Furthermore, a number of workers from the Madairan factory have staged a protest in front of the parliament “Islamic Committee” due to being illegally fired by the company.
5. On Monday 27th of January, 150 workers of the fridge making factory known as Iran Pouya, gathered in front of the entrance of the factory in protest over the uncertainly regarding 3% equity stock of two thousand workers of this factory.
Sentences: death, flogging, amputation, imprisonment and detention
1. According to reports, seven prisoners were charged with murder and drug trafficking on Thursday 23rd of January and hanged in the central prison of Kermanshah (Dizel Abad).
2. On Saturday 25th January 2014, Fatemeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was sentenced to 6 months suspended imprisonment by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran.
3. On Saturday 25th January 2014, Colonel Hossein Najafi, the chief of security of the Khorram-Abad city announced that the social security in the city has been upgraded. By referring to the arrest of violators, he added that since the social security upgrade projects begun in Khorram-Abad city, the security police have managed to arrest 47 offenders in this city.
4. Tehran’s commander police, Hossein Sajedi-nia was quoted saying that all the “Thugs” are under control of the police and further added that last night in the seventh stages of dealing with these people, “88 Thugs” were arrested in the central and south of Tehran.
5. On Monday 27th January 2014, 7 prisoners from the section 2 of Ghazal-Hasaar Prison were transferred into the Solitary Confinement cells in order to be executed. Furthermore, the death sentence of the prisoners by the names of Bahram Soltani, Mohsen Davoudi, Haadi Bigi, Meysam Haji, Feyz-Mohamad Saaber-zahi, Nazar-Ali Fokook and Younes Karami who had been accused of drug trafficking, have been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
6. Last week, 18 prisoners accused of murder and drug trafficking were hanged in the Alborz, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Ghazvin and Gilan provinces.
7. On Wednesday 29th January 2014, at least 2 prisoners accused of murder from the Central Orumieh Prison were transferred into the quarantine department of the mentioned prison due to their received sentences.
The rights of the followers of ethnic – prisoners of conscience in Iran
1. On Saturday 25th January 2014, a Bahaie citizen of Saarang Ettehadi, in Tehran, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on charges of propaganda against the regime and membership of Baha’i organisation in order to jeopardise national security
2. Jamshid Dehghani has ended his huger strike after 75 days, however he is not able to eat now and doctors are using serum to feed him.
3. Karim-Maroof Aziz, a Kurdish political prisoner is now in a critical situation after being sent back to Rajayi-Shahr Prison without the completion of his treatment following appendix surgery.
4. Dana Lanj-Abadi, a student and Kurdish citizen in the city of Marivan, was arrested by intelligence agents. An informed source said to a reporter that she may have been arrested and charged working with a group of human rights activists.
5. On Sunday 26th of January, Hazhir Firoozian, a Baha’i citizen, was transferred to Semnan Prison to pay for his fine. He is the father of Sheydorkh and Golrokh-Firoozan, the two Baha’i prisoners in the Semnan Prison.
6. Despite the approval of the Attorney with temporary discharge of Abed Bamboori and Eshagh Kalkali, two political Balouch prisoners in the central prison of Zahedan, the intelligence officers still have refused their discharge.
7. Seyed Hosseini and Sedigh Mohammadi who are still in the Ghazalhesar prison are sentenced to death and are accused of supporting the Salafis groups. However, there are no clear charges and court documents for their conviction are not available.
8. On Tuesday 28th of January, 7 Sunnis prisoners in Evin prison by the names of Kaveh Veisi, Kaveh Sharifi, Behrooz Shahnazari, Shahram Ahmadi, Arash Sharifi, Taleb Maleki and Mokhtar Rahimi were threatened with execution by four intelligence interrogators.
9. Security guards reported to the family members of two individuals that they were executed a few days ago. They were Hashem Shabani, a poet, blogger, editor of Arab literature and political science student graduate from Chamran University in the city of Ahvaz and Hadi Rawhide, an MSc Applied Chemistry student at Chamran University. These two prisoners had gone on hunger strike for 28 days on March 02 last year in protest over their sentences.
Other human rights violations
1. Farzade Madadzadeh, a political prisoner who for the duration of his 5 year sentence went without a break spent, on Thursday was not released as he was supposed to be.
2. Following a heart attack, a prisoner at Rajai Shahr prison known as Mashallah Haeri was taken to hospital in handcuffs.
3. Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a political prisoner in ward 350, has been denied medical leave and visitation rights with his family. Many of the doctors stressed that his presence in the latest round of his child’s operation is essential.
4-Arash Mohammadi, a student activist who was in Tabriz’s central prison and had been sent off on leave on Wednesday 22nd January, has returned to the prison on Wednesday 29th January.
5-According to the news, on Wednesday 29th January Shokr khoda Mosavi, Ahvaz reprehensive in Iranian Parliament, charged with “misguiding and agitating public opinion” was summoned to court in Tehran.
6- Mohammad Smaeel motlagh, director of Family Health and Population Department of Health, reported the occurrence of 250 thousand abortions in present year.