May 26, 2022 – While millions of Iranians are struggling to make ends meet, the Iranian government has shut down the country’s oldest and largest independent non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on poverty alleviation, the Imam Ali Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS). Read more
Archive for Human Rights
As Millions Face Poverty, Iran’s Government Dissolves Largest NGO for the Poor
Security Forces Arresting Activists to Preempt Expected Labor Day Protests
April 29, 2022 – On the eve of International Workers’ Day, state security forces in Iran have been summoning, arresting and harassing activists to prevent them from protesting on May Day. Yet labor rights advocates, who are either jailed or face state violence for peacefully raising their voices, continue to demand their rights. Read more
Lawyer Unlawfully Imprisoned for His Defense of Basic Civil and Political Liberties
March 3, 2022 – The lawyer Mohammad Najafi, who has been unlawfully and unjustly imprisoned in Iran since 2018 on multiple convictions for his defense of basic civil and political liberties and is currently serving a 54-month prison sentence, should be freed immediately, Lawyers for Lawyers, an independent and non-political Netherlands-based foundation and the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a joint statement today. Read more
Situation of Political Prisoners Worsens as Iranian Government’s Assault on Peaceful Dissent Intensifies
Activists, Lawyers, Dissidents being Kept Behind Bars with Continuous New Convictions
January 24, 2022 – In an ongoing campaign to silence human rights defenders and crush dissent in the Islamic Republic, the prominent rights defender Narges Mohammadi, already serving time at Iran’s notorious Gharchak Prison for her peaceful activism, has been sentenced to another eight years in prison and more than 70 lashes, according to a tweet by her Paris-based husband.
Oncerns Mount for Prisoners Under Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i
COVID-19 in Crowded Jails and Routine Denial of Medical Treatment Put All at Risk
Jan 3, 2022 – News of an imprisoned political prisoner dying after going on hunger strike in Iran, and a writer struggling to survive in a Tehran hospital after contracting COVID-19 in jail highlights the dire situation of all prisoners in the country, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today. Read more
Third Day of Protests See Clashes with Security Forces
December 13, 2021 – The government of Iran should allow teachers to exercise their right to public protest without the threat of violence or arbitrary arrest, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement today. Teachers should be allowed to voice their legitimate demands for fair pay and the release of their unlawfully jailed colleagues. Read more
No Accountability for Hundreds Killed, Thousands Injured and Arrested
International Community Must Demand Independent Investigation and Justice for Victims
2021-11-10-Two years after Iran’s security forces violently crushed mass protests that erupted across the country, leaving hundreds of civilians killed, two officials who oversaw that repression and have committed egregious rights violations for decades—President Ebrahim Raisi and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i—have risen to top positions of power in Iran. Read more
At Least Three Shot Dead Less Than a Week into Demonstrations Against Water, Power Shortages
July 19, 2021—The unlawful killings of protesters by state security forces in Iran’s drought-ridden Khuzestan Province should be condemned by the UN and international community to prevent further loss of life from excessive and unlawful state force, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today. Read more
Rights Groups: Iranian Dissidents Remain at Risk Worldwide Without International Action
July 19, 2021—In a joint statement released today, 10 human rights groups, including the Center for Human Rights in Iran, urged the international community to hold Iranian authorities accountable for their ongoing campaigns of persecution against Iranian dissidents based inside and outside the country, and called on Iranian authorities to release all individuals imprisoned for peaceful expression. Read more
State Now Issues and Revokes Law Licenses, Crushing Independence of Legal Profession
Due Process and Fair Trial Rights Dealt Further Blow by New Legislation
July 12, 2021—In a sweeping grab of new powers over the Iranian Bar Association (IBA) that grants the Iranian judiciary the right to issue and revoke law licenses, the country’s judicial establishment, now led by human rights violator Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, has effectively destroyed the independence of Iranian lawyers.
