Archive for Human Rights

Women in Iran Are Dancing to Protest the Arrest of a Teenage Instagrammer

2018-07-08 – Time – By LAIGNEE BARRON – Iranian women are dancing in public and posting videos of themselves online to protest the arrest of a teenage Instagram star.

Maedeh Hojabri gained a large social media following for her dancing videos. To the tune of Western and Iranian pop and rap music, the teenager bopped and twirled in her bedroom without wearing the compulsory Islamic headscarf or hijab.

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Iran must halt execution of Ramin Hossein Panahi, say UN rights experts

GENEVA (18 June 2018) – UN human rights experts* have made a fresh call to Iran to annul the death sentence imposed on Iranian Kurd Ramin Hossein Panahi, amid reports that he will be executed after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

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Banned from men’s soccer matches in Iran, these women dressed as men to sneak in

May 02.2018 – The Washington Post – By Jacob Bogage –

Shortly after the 1979 revolution, Iran’s Islamic government banned women from a range of sporting events, most notably men’s soccer and volleyball matches. Those national teams draw massive domestic followings, and soccer club teams pack stadiums with crowds that rival the size of European counterparts.

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Rouhani’s Citizens’ Rights Charter: A Harmful Distraction

Human Rights Deteriorated in Iran Since Signing of Charter, With Many Abuses by Rouhani’s Own Intelligence Ministry

May 1, 2018—President Hassan Rouhani’s signature domestic initiative—a Citizens’ Rights Charter which lays out in 120 articles the rights and freedoms of Iranian citizens as stated in Iranian law—has no ability to impact the human rights situation in Iran in any meaningful way and has in fact done harm by distracting attention from the causes of rights abuses in Iran and the reforms needed.

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In a Desperate Move to Squash Internet Freedom, Iran Blocks Telegram

Ban Unlikely to Stop Most of Telegram’s 40 Million Users in Iran

May 1, 2018–The Iranian Judiciary has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the country’s most used messaging app, Telegram, in an attempt to thwart an estimated 40 million Iranians’ open access to information.

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Iran Detains Another Iranian British Citizen, Computer Scientist and Antiwar Activist Abbas Edalat

Abbas Edalat, an Iranian British academic and antiwar activist

April 25, 2018—Abbas Edalat, an Iranian British academic and antiwar activist based in London, has been detained in Iran since April 15, 2018, after being arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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Imprisoned Rights Defender Narges Mohammadi Gives Message of Hope and Strength in Accepting 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize

April 15, 2018 — Prisoner of conscience Narges Mohammadi was unable to accept the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize in person in Columbus, Ohio where the American Physical Society (APS) awarded it to her but she sent a message of hope and strength in a powerful speech.

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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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