Archive for IranSOS

Iran: End Persecution of Families Seeking Truth and Justice For Detainees Who Died in Detention

JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT

13 March 2018 

The Iranian authorities should end their cruel campaign of harassment and intimidation against the families of detainees who have died in detention under suspicious circumstances, Amnesty International, the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch and Justice for Iran said today. The human rights organizations expressed concerns that the bereaved families are facing reprisals for seeking truth and justice and renewed their calls on the authorities to establish an independent commission of inquiry and invite the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to visit. The authorities should ensure that if there is sufficient evidence of unlawful deaths in detention, the perpetrators responsible will be prosecuted and punished.

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Iran Should Stop Persecuting BBC Journalists and Threatening Their Families​

Ongoing Harassment of BBC Persian Staff Continues Despite Repeated UN Criticism

March 12, 2017—The UN should take immediate action on an appeal by the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) urging the Human Rights Council to protect journalists from an escalating campaign of intimidation and harassment by Iranian security forces.

“The UN should act forcefully on this appeal to protect the rights of Iranian journalists and their families who have been targeted by the state’s security establishment,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

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Attorney: Iran’s Judiciary is Denying Alireza Golipour Urgent Medical Care

Alireza Golipour

MARCH 6, 2018 – CHRI – Alireza Golipour requires a heart procedure at a hospital but judicial authorities have refused to grant him furlough for medical leave from Evin Prison in Tehran, his lawyer told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

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Four Deaths in State Custody in Iran in Two Months Heighten Grave Concerns for Detainees

Mohammad Raji

March 6, 2018—The recent death of a devotee of Iran’s largest Sufi order in Tehran marks the fourth known death of a detainee in state custody in Iran in two months.

“It’s outrageous that detainees in Iran keep dying in state custody,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

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U.N. rights investigator decries Iran clampdown, torture, floggings

03.05.2018 – Reuters – Stephanie Nebehay – GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran has arrested activists and political opponents in a clampdown on freedom of expression as use of torture continues despite promises of reform, a United Nations report said on Monday.

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Life of Iranian-American in Evin Prison is in Danger, Says Family

Wife and Son of Karan Vafadari Fear For His Life After Suspicious Deaths in Prison

March 1, 2018—The son of Iranian-American Karan Vafadari, who is imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, said his stepmother, Afarin Neyssari, also imprisoned in Iran, fears for her husband’s life after officials claimed without any evidence that two previous detainee deaths in January 2018 were suicides.

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45 European MPs Call on EU Foreign Policy Chief to Support Iranian Women’s Anti-Compulsory-Hijab Protest

February 28, 2018—Forty-five members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have sent an open letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urging her to call on Iranian officials to immediately release the women who have been arrested for participating in the recent anti-compulsory-hijab protests in Iran.

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Iran Seals Its Egregious Rights Record With Toxic Pick For Top Spot on Human Rights Council​

Selection of Avaei Shows Culture of Impunity For Human Rights Violators Will Continue in Iran

February 27, 2018—The Iranian government’s decision to name Minister of Justice Seyyed Alireza Avaei as its representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council—a man with an appalling human rights record that spans decades—reflects the Iranian government’s complete disregard for human rights violations.

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An Iranian Photographer’s Unflinching Look at His Country’s Revolution

A group of women protesting against wearing the Islamic veil, while waving their veils in the air outside the office of the prime minister in Tehran, Iran, in March 1979.

Kaveh Kazemi’s images of the Iranian revolution and its aftermath reveal the country’s transition from a different era, and a contrast with its social upheaval today.  

Feb. 12, 2018 -The New York Times- By Thomas Erdbrink – The image is one erased from official Iranian history books. Two women, both unveiled, have just been detained by Islamic volunteers with automatic rifles slung on their shoulders. The Iranian photographer Kaveh Kazemi, 28 at the time, followed the women walking home after they had participated in a protest against the introduction of the compulsory veil. Dressed in denim, so fashionable at the time, they are escorted away.

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Clear Signs of State Cover-Up in Prison Death of Iranian-Canadian Academic in Iran​

Distraught Family Under Enormous Pressure to Bury Body Quickly and Not Speak Publicly About the Death

February 12, 2018—The family of the Iranian-Canadian academic, Kavous Seyed-Emami, whose death in custody in Iran was announced on February 9, is under intense pressure to immediately bury Seyed-Emami in a private funeral—without receiving any independent and medically corroborated information on the cause of his death—and to remain silent regarding the death.

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