Iran: Ahwazi Arab men ‘Tortured to Confess’

Iranian authorities executed two Ahwazi Arab minority members, following months of torture during which both were forced to make false confessions, in the Fajr prison, in the city of Dezful, on Sunday, 4 July, 2019. According to the state-owned news agency, IRNA, these men were convicted of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) in... Read More

Rights Group Condemns Mostafa Pourmohammadi’s shameless defense of 1988 Massacre

Amnesty International condemned recent statements by Mostafa Pourmohammadi, adviser to Iran’s head of the judiciary, defending the mass executions of over 30,000 political prisoners during the summer 1988. In a statement released on Tuesday, 30 July, Amnesty International (AI) said: “Recent statements by Mostafa Pourmohammadi,... Read More

Three Civil Rights Activists Sentenced to 55 Years imprisonment

Three women’s rights activists held in Qarchak Prison have been sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison for removing their hijabs in public. The Revolutionary Court of Tehran informed Yasaman Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavar of their sentences in the absence of their lawyers on Wednesday, 31 July, 2019. The Branch... Read More

Iran: Kurdish prisoner of conscience, 100 lashes for blasphemy

Peyman Mirzazadeh, a Kurdish singer held at Urmia Prison in north-western Iran, went on hunger strike on 29 July, 2019 in protest to being sentenced to two years of prison and 100 lashes. His flogging sentence was carried out on 28 July and left him in agonizing pain with a severely swollen back and legs. Peyman Mirzazadeh started his... Read More

Iran: Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to 30 Years and 111 Lashes

A Revolutionary Court in Tehran has upheld a 30-year prison sentence against Amirsalar Davoudi a human rights lawyer and defender of several political activists. Mostafa Turk Hamedani, the lawyer of Amirsalar Davoudi tweeted on Wednesday, 30 July, that a 30-year prison sentence with 111 lashes against Mr. Davoudi has been finalized.... Read More

Iranian: Official admits extrajudicial Massacre in 1988

Ali Razini, a judiciary official admitted on 29 July, 2019 that extrajudicial executions in summer 1988 were carried out on Khomeini’s emphatic order “without being held up by red tape.” Deputy of Legal Affairs and Judicial Development of the Judiciary, Ali Razini considered the trials that led to the extrajudicial executions of... Read More

Iran: Long Term Prisoner Denied Hospital Treatment

Political prisoner Mohammad Nazari, held at Urmia Prison, has been denied medical tests for a tumour in his stomach, according to his lawyer. According to Mohammad Nazari’s lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, after getting an MRI and some tests in a hospital, one and a half months ago, the doctor discovered a tumour in his stomach. He... Read More

Iran: child offender executed in northern Iran

A child offender was hanged on 28 July, 2019 in a prison in the northern province of Mazandaran for the alleged murder of a man during a fight at the age of 16. According to a human rights group, the 22 year old man identified as Touraj Qasemi had been detained for the past six years in Nour Prison. The report said that at the age of 16,... Read More

Sentence against Civil Activist Upheld by Tehran Appeals Court

Sentence against Civil Activist Upheld by Tehran Appeals Court. The flogging and prison sentence of a civil rights activist was upheld by a Tehran appeals court. The branch 36 of Tehran’s Appeals Court has upheld 74 lashes and a six-year prison sentence for Sepideh Farhan, graduate of architecture and a civil activist on accusation of... Read More

Iran: Senior official defends 1988 Massacre of Prisoners in Iran

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former judiciary minister in the cabinet of Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, blatantly defended the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988. When asked by the state-run Mosalas Magazine about the 1988 mass executions and the “slander” directed at the regime for the massacre, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who... Read More

Iran: Two Female Prisoners Executed at Urmia Central Prison

Iranian authorities executed two women on Tuesday, 23 July, 2019, in the north-western city of Urmia. These prisoners, identified as “Arasteh Ranjbar” and “Nazdar Vatankhah,” were sent to solitary confinement on Monday. According to reports, both had already spent 15 years in prison on the charges of murder and complicity in... Read More

Iran: Ministry of Intelligence Agents Arrest Political Prisoner’s Mother

Ministry of intelligence agents arrested a political prisoner’s mother during a raid on Monday. Farangis Mazloumi, mother of Soheil Arabi, a prominent political prisoner was arrested and taken to an unknown location on Monday 22 July, after eight intelligence agents raided her sister’s home. They seize Farangis Mazloumi and her... Read More

Prisoner Dies of Medical Negligence in Custody

Prisoner Dies of Medical Negligence in Custody A prisoner held at Urmia Central Prison, northwest Iran, died on 8 July as a result of the prison authorities’ medical negligence. Ashkan Mehrivash passed away on Monday, 8 July, because the prison’s defibrillator was not working. Ashkan, detained in Ward 15 of Urmia Prison, was taken... Read More

After Two Months Hunger Strike, Arzhang Davoudi’s Life at Risk

After Two Months Hunger Strike, Arzhang Davoudi’s Life at Risk Arzhang Davoudi, writer and civil activist, has been on a hunger strike since 21 May, 2019 in Zabol Prison, south-east province of Sistan and Baluchestan, demanding to be returned to the political prisoners ward. In violation of Iran’s regulations on separation of... Read More