Instead of freeing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe at Christmas, Iran upheld its death sentence for another prisoner
The Islamic Republic’s status as a pariah state must be restored – a boycott by travellers on human rights grounds could kick-start wider sanctions and a rethink on the nuclear deal
“We are sitting by the phone hoping,” Richard Ratcliffe said over the weekend – the hope was that his wife, Nazanin, a charity worker imprisoned since April 2016 by the Iranian government, might be released by Christmas Day.
Unsurprisingly, instead of going all mushy and Christmassy, the Islamic Republic stayed true to form – immoral, ruthless and uncompromising.
The Supreme Leader was never going to change his cloaks for a Santa outfit, filling stockings with freedom and long-denied human rights. Read more
Call for the Abolition of the Criminal Execution Order of Ahmad Reza Jalali
Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the death sentence for Dr. Ahmad Reza Jalali and calls on all international human rights advocates to take immediate and effective action to abolish this cruel sentence.
Mr. Jalali, a resident of Sweden, was arrested on April 24, 2016, and was sentenced to death by the Iranian regime’s courts in September 2017. Only a few days later, the Supreme Court of the mullahs’ approved the verdict. Throughout this process, he has been deprived of a fair trial, even within the framework of the human rights law of the mullahs’ regime, including the right to appeal. Read more
UN rights experts call on Iran to annul death sentence against academic and free him
GENEVA (20 December 2017) – United Nations human rights experts* have appealed to Iran to annul the death sentence against an Iranian academic, saying they are deeply “disturbed” by ongoing reports of due process failings during his trial.
Doctor Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian national and resident of Sweden, is a medical doctor, lecturer and researcher in disaster medicine who was arrested in April 2016. The procedure against him was marred by numerous reports of due process and fair trial violations, including incommunicado detention, denial of access to a lawyer, and forced confession.
“The execution of Dr. Djalali must be immediately halted and he must be released and accorded an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations,” the experts said.
“No formal charges were brought against him for nearly 10 months and he was effectively prevented from exercising his right to challenge the legality of detention. Furthermore, Dr. Djalali’s rights to a fair trial before an independent and impartial tribunal and to an effective defence have been violated.”
During Dr. Djalali’s detention, he was reportedly threatened with torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and threatened with being sentenced to death through an expedited process. Following this he was allegedly forced to confess to certain crimes, and forced to repeat dictated statements before video cameras. REAAD MORE
The Iranian Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Iranian researcher Ahmad Reza Jalali despite widespread international opposition.
Dabir Darya Beigi, Jalali’s lawyer, received the verdict for the death sentence on Sunday December 10., according to the human-rights group Amnesty International.
“The current situation is awful. It would be great if the scientific community would speak on this issue and issues facing Iranian scientists,” says molecular biologist Richard Roberts at New England Biolabs in Ipswich, Massachusetts, who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Roberts is one of 79 Nobel laureates who last month signed a letter protesting against the sentence.
“Scientists should call en masse Iranian diplomatic missions in their countries and voice their concern about the fate of Ahmadreza Djalali,” says Eugene Chudnovsky, a physicist at the City University of New York who co-chairs the Committee of Concerned Scientists, a human-rights body based in New York City. Read more Iran: Upholding academic’s death sentence in secret shows utter contempt for right to life
The Iranian Supreme Court has run roughshod over the rule of law by upholding the death sentence of Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident and specialist in emergency medicine, through a secret and hasty process and without allowing any defence submission, Amnesty International revealed today.
Ahmadreza Djalali’s lawyers learned on Saturday 9 December that Branch 1 of the Supreme Court had considered and upheld his death sentence in a summary manner without granting them an opportunity to file their defense submissions. Read more
Please sign, share, the petition to #SaveAhmad 75 Nobel Laureates call on Iran to release scientist and medical doctor Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been sentenced to death in Iran for "spreading corruption on earth"
Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo
Mission of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Ave., 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Re: Plea for Ahmadreza Djalali
Dear Ambassador Khoshroo:
As members of a group of people (and organizations) who, according to the will of Alfred Nobel are
deeply committed to the greatest benefit to mankind, we cannot stay silent, when the life and work of a similarly devoted researcher as Iranian disaster medicine scholar Ahmadreza Djalali is threatened by a death sentence.
According to reports by the international weekly journal of science Nature (23 October 2017)
https://www.nature.com/news/iranian-scholar-sentenced-to-death-1.22875
and other sources, Ahmadreza Djalali was accused of collaboration with a hostile government and
sentenced to death on 20 October.
Dr. Djalali, a resident of Sweden with his family, works on improving emergency responses of hospitals to
armed terrorism and radioactive, chemical and biological threats. Dr. Djalali is affiliated with the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and the University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, Italy. He was arrested in April 2016 on an academic visit to Tehran.
While the conditions of his detention and trial have already given reason to great concern, a document based on a handwritten text by Dr. Djalali has now raised the suspicion that it was his refusal to work for the Iranian Intelligence Services, which led to this unfair, flawed trial.
Thus, we join in the several existing petitions:
https://www.change.org/p/hassan-rouhani-urgent-justice-and-f
A distinguished expert in disaster medicine was sentenced to death by the Iranian Regime last month, after he refused to spy for them.
Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, a resident of Sweden, was sentenced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court on October 21 after being found ‘guilty’ of providing evidence about Iran’s secret nuclear sites to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which led to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists in 2010-2012.
Of course, the Iranian Regime routinely accuses people of spying for the US and Israel, which it calls the Big Satan and the Little Satan respectively, with no actual evidence. Read more
Prominent academic sentenced to death after grossly unfair trial
rominent academic sentenced to death after grossly unfair trial
Amnesty International – 23 October 2017
The Iranian authorities must urgently quash the death sentence against Iranian-born Swedish resident and specialist in emergency medicine Ahmadreza Djalali, said Amnesty International today.
The medical doctor and university lecturer had studied and taught in Sweden, Italy and Belgium. Since his arrest in April 2016, several European officials have called for his release.
Zeynab Taheri, one of Ahmadreza Djalali’s lawyers, told Amnesty International that he was sentenced to death for the charge of “corruption on earth” (ifsad fil-arz), and has been given a 200,000 euro fine. The court verdict, which was shown to one of the lawyers, states that Ahmadreza Djalali worked with the Israeli government, who subsequently helped him obtain his residency permit in Sweden.
“Ahmadreza Djalali was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial that once again exposes not only the Iranian authorities’ steadfast commitment to use of the death penalty but their utter contempt for the rule of law,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“No evidence has ever been presented to show that he is anything other than an academic peacefully pursuing his profession. If he has been convicted and sentenced for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, including through his academic work, the authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him and drop all charges against him.” Read more Follow Freedom for Iran on:
International Call for Immediate Release of Political Prisoners in Iran
Walter Sanchez, the Secretary-General of the International Industrial Workers' Union, and five French labor syndicates called for the immediate release of Mahmoud Salehi and Reza Shahabi, two labor activists imprisoned in Iran.
Mr. Sanchez expressed concerns over the arrest and torture and illegal behavior by Iranian regime towards workers and trade union leaders due to union and guild activities, saying the health and well-being of the two prisoners are in grave danger. According to reports, the political prisoner, Mahmoud Salehi, suffers from heart disease and diabetes. The physician treating Mahmoud Salehi recommended that he be transferred to a well-equipped hospital in Tehran, Tabriz, or Orumiyeh due to the weakness of his heart, but the regime's judiciary refused and returned him to Saghez prison on November 20.
AI Slams Iran For Humiliating Two Prisoners Of Conscience
Amnesty International, AI, has slammed the Islamic Republic for shackling and handcuffing two prisoners of conscience who are bedbound in a hospital.
It is regrettable, AI notes, that Iranian officials instead of immediately releasing Mahmoud Salehi and Mohammad Nazari have humiliated them.
According to AI, Salehi and Nazari who needed medical treatment were transferred to a hospital where they have been shackled to their beds.
“It is regrettable that Iranian officials, instead of immediately releasing Mahmoud Salehi and Mohammad Nazari, have treated them as criminals, persecute, humiliate and tying them to their beds”, AI’s researcher for Iran related cases, Raha Bahreini told Radio Farda.
International laws allow using tools such as fetters and handcuffs only for the prisoners who might harm themselves or attack others and try to escape, AI reiterated.
Labor activist Mahmoud Salehi was detained by security agents on October 28, 2017, while undergoing dialysis at a hospital in the city of Saqqez, in Iran’s Kurdistan Province. His son, Samerand Salehi, informed that his father, who has no kidneys, was detained without receiving a summons to begin serving a one-year prison sentence issued by the Appeals Court in February 2017 for “propaganda against the state.”
“You can imagine what state my father is in because he was taken from the hospital straight to prison,” said Samerand Salehi on October 28. “We are very worried for him because he needs his pills and has to get special treatment in the hospital twice a week, including dialysis.”
“He lost his kidneys the last time he was detained,” he added. “Now we’re worried about his life.”
In September 2015, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced Salehi to nine years in prison for “propaganda against the state” and “creating an opposition group.”
A 45-year-old baker based in Saqqez, Mahmoud Salehi is one of the founders of the Labor Unions Coordination Committee, and has been arrested numerous times for his peaceful pro-labor activities, his son told CHRI.
Agents of the Intelligence Ministry last arrested the activist in April 2015 ahead of International Labor Day, May 1, in Sanandaj. A month later he was hospitalized for serious urinary complications and eventually both of his kidneys were removed.
After his release from detention on medical grounds in November 2015, Mahmoud Salehi wrote an open letter to the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran to protest the loss of his kidneys.
“I was arrested on April 28, 2015, by plainclothes Intelligence Ministry agents in my home without committing any act against the Constitution,” wrote Salehi.
“After my arrest and transfer to solitary confinement in prison in Saqqez, I was taken to the Intelligence Ministry’s notorious detention center [in Sanandaj] along with [labor activist] Osman Esmaili, who was arrested the same day,” he said. “I lost both of my kidneys there because the prison authorities cut off my medications. Now I receive dialysis treatment every Saturday and Tuesday at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez.”
The trade unionist continued: “I declare to all freedom-seeking people and international organizations that I am prepared to face any judicial authority in front of a jury in an open court to show my people and the whole world that workers are being suppressed for no crime other than seeking to organize independent unions.”
In July and August 2016, the activist’s wife, Najibeh Salehzadeh, was also tried at Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Saqqez for allegedly posting “insulting” material on Facebook. A verdict has not been issued.
Labor activism in Iran is seen as a national security offense; independent labor unions are not allowed to function, strikers are often fired and risk arrest and labor leaders are consistently prosecuted under catchall national security charges and sentenced to long prison terms.
End the silence on Iran’s human rights abuses before the current crackdown worsens
The nationwide protests in Iran, which began on December 28 in Mashhad, gave voice to the economic frustration of ordinary Iranians, but quickly expanded to slogans like “death to [President] Rouhani”, “death to the dictator”, and “reformists, conservatives: the game is over.” In short, the protesters were demanding democratic change in Iran.
To no one’s surprise, Iranian authorities responded violently, with at least 8,000 arrests and upwards of 50 deaths. The predictability of the suppression should have prepared Western policymakers to respond appropriately and effectively.
Despite such brutality, the protests have continued. Earlier this week, several Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Gorgan, Arak, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, and Khorramabad were the scenes of protests, in which young people were repeating the slogans as those in the protesters in early January.
The theocratic dictatorship has a virtually uninterrupted record of human rights abuses dating back to the immediate aftermath of the 1979 revolution. Struggling to retain its hold on power near the end of the Iran-Iraq War, then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering the mass execution of prisoners deemed a political threat.
In 1988, an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were hanged or shot after being briefly interrogated about their political affiliations. The vast majority were members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK). But despite this effort to stamp out the leading resistance group, the MEK remained an underground force for pro-democratic activism.
Iran’s current Supreme Leader recently took the unusual step of acknowledging the leading role played by MEK activists in the latest protests. “These incidents had been organized, and the MEK implemented the plans,” Ali Khamenei said in a speech on January 9. “The MEK had prepared for this months ago and its media outlets had called for it.”
Resolution condemning Iran's human rights violations
Dec. 24, 2017 - Senior Senator Ron Wyden sponsored a resolution at the United States Senate condemning the violation of human rights in Iran for persecuting religious minorities, particularly the Baha'is.
The resolution condemns the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Congress continuously declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the Baha’i community and would hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the Baha’i Faith;
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, welcomed the resolution and said, “In the case of a regime which has totally ignored dozens of UN resolutions against the unabated violations of human rights in Iran and its highest officials publicly boast of massacring political prisoners, the international community must adopt binding measures to stop the regime’s crimes. All diplomatic and commercial relations with the mullahs’ theocratic regime directly serve the interests of Khamenei’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and must be conditioned on an end to torture and executions in Iran and a halt to the regime’s destructive meddling in the region. In the absence of a firm policy, flagrant violations of human rights in Iran and export of terrorism, fundamentalism and belligerence to the region and the world will continue.”
Referring to the resolution’s call on the Iranian regime “to launch a comprehensive accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations, including those involving the Iranian judiciary and security agencies, and… to end impunity for such violations,” Mrs. Rajavi stressed, “The most significant example of serious human rights violations in Iran is the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 in which all the clerical regime’s officials specifically Ali Khamenei as well as the mullahs’ judiciary and the highest officials in charge of security and intelligence agencies were involved and complicit. They defend it but have so far remained immune from prosecution. Therefore, the international community faces a great test in investigating this great crime against humanity and prosecuting its perpetrators.”
Maryam Rajavi urged the UN to launch an investigative committee in this case, adding, “This is the first step in putting an end to the impunity of criminals who have been ruling Iran for 38 years.”
The UN General Assembly expressed “serious concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the imposition and carrying-out of the death penalty... including the imposition of the death penalty against minors and persons who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18, and executions undertaken for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, on the basis of forced confessions” and called on the Iranian regime “to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions.”
The UN General Assembly resolution also called on the Iranian regime to cease and end “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, “widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention, including the use of such practices to target dual and foreign nationals”, “the poor conditions of prisons”, “denial of access to adequate medical treatment”, “widespread and serious restrictions… on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly, both online and offline”, “the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, women’s and minority rights activists, labour leaders, students’ rights activists, academics, film-makers, journalists, bloggers, social media users and social media page administrators, media workers, religious leaders, artists, lawyers and persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities and their families”, “unduly harsh sentences, including the death penalty and long-term internal exile”, “reprisals against individuals, including for cooperating with the United Nations human rights mechanisms,” and “all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls” and “against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or other minorities.”
The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 19, 2017
Human Rights Experts Call for Accountability for Iranian Regime's Atrocities
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a panel at the National Press Club by the Washington Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US), human rights experts called for accountability for Iranian regime's human rights abuses.
Referring to NCRI's newly released book, "Iran, Where Mass Murderers Rule, The 1988 Massacre of 30,000 Political Prisoners and the Continuing Atrocities," former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Kenneth Blackwell, called for accountability into the 1988 massacre to "put pressure on the regime to give access so that we might shine light on the evils that were done… [to give] hope to [those] inside Iran." Blackwell added, "our delegation at the U.N. [should] continue to be a leading voice, not only on international terrorism…by the regime, but …to bring justice to a regime … that is a threat to the basic fabric of humanity across the globe."
Former Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, Linda Chavez, referred to the role of women in the opposition. "It is no accident," that Iran's opposition movement "is led by a woman, Madame Maryam Rajavi. She stands as a real affront to this regime. The regime hates and fears the MEK [Mujahedin-e Khalq] because in the MEK women … are allowed to lead others. And men are willing to listen and to follow them; a major threat to a regime that wants to imprison half its people."
Iran's Ultimate Vulnerability:Video Heshmat AlaviForbes, December 8, 2017 - Developments in the Middle East have placed the spotlight once again on Iran and its hegemonic temptations. This goes parallel to calls from parties such as France and Germany, whom Iran previously counted on in the face of U.S. pressures, demanding Tehran reel in its ballistic missile program and support for proxy groups across the region.
While all such measures are necessary and deserve escalation, Tehran’s human rights violations demand even more attention. This is the one issue that both shivers fear in the ruling regime and provides direct support for the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom, democracy and all the other values embraced by today’s 21st century world.
As the world marks International Human Rights Day on December 10th, we are also well into the first year of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s second term.
Dubbed as a “moderate” figure in Iran’s politics, with many arguing otherwise, the scene witnessed in Iran during his tenure has been far from it. Over 3,500 executions are merely the first stain of an atrocious report card of human rights violations.
A new report by Iran Human Rights Monitoring reviewing the plight of human rights in Iran during the course of 2017 sheds light on a reality the regime strives to cloak from the world. Read more
International Leaders Call on EU to Raise Human Rights Abuses in Dialogue with Iran
The Iranian regime has long been a source of human rights violations and abuses. They have attempted through various means to oppress any ideas that might challenge their authority and power base. Even as the Iranian people suffer, the regime continues to use its power to spread its influence throughout the region.
For international leaders, the European Union is seen as having an opportunity for dialogue about human rights, but there is also a question of whether the EU can stand up to the regime.
On November 25, 2017, a delegation of EU Parliament members traveled to Tehran to meet with their Iranian counterparts. CHRI urges these MPs to use this opportunity to directly address Iranian officials on these rights violations.
In a briefing paper that was released ahead of the EU-Iran human right dialogue, the FIDH and its member organization League for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) have highlighted four key areas of concern: the death penalty, arbitrary detention and torture, discrimination against women and
IRAN'S ALLIES OPPOSE BUT CANNOT REBUT UN CRITICISM OF HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
On Tuesday, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly voted upon a resolution condemning Iran’s systematic violations of human rights. Passing with votes from 83 member states, the resolution was the 30th of its kind since 1985, and it specifically outlined a number of the recurring human rights issues in the Islamic Republic, including extensive misuse of the death penalty, institutionalized discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, and the suppression of free speech and the press, in part through the routine imprisonment of journalists and activists.
Predictably, Iranian authorities publicly rejected the resolution and attempted to portray it as a product of political bias, although they did not address the actual accusations in the resolution, which was presented to the General Assembly by Canadian diplomats. Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, issued a response on Wednesday, as reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency. In it, he said “Iran is ready to hold negotiations with real supporters of human rights on developing human rights in the framework of mutual respect, equality, justice and fairness.”
Team Trump and a Writ of Mass Murder — Tehran's Failed Coverup Scheme
Bottom Line Up Front
The first objective is to bring those responsible to an international tribunal; a second is for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up a commission of inquiry on 1988 massacres by Iran; and third is to focus the Trump administration on the situation of human rights in Iran. A search of the UN Human Rights Council website reveals 15 General Assembly documents addressed to Iran about its human rights conditions, with scant effect on Iran’s violations.
After 28 years, Tehran drew a “redline” on anyone discussing these 1988 carnages, as elaborated in a post of June 4 by Siavosh Hosseini.
“Writ” is in the title to signal a writ of habeas corpus, “You have the body.” “Mass Murder” conjures up genocidal actions, by State authorities in Iran. “Tehran’s Failed Cover-up” indicates Tehran sought to hide the bodies, but hard evidence caused Tehran to fail. The bloodbaths turned into a yardstick to judge political currents of individuals.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, welcomed the 64th UN resolution condemning the violations of human rights in Iran adopted only a few hours ago by the UN Third Committee. She pointed out, “The time has come for the international community and especially the UN Security Council to undertake effective and practical measures against the religious fascism ruling Iran for its flagrant and systematic violations of human rights in Iran, particularly the brutal executions that are carried out arbitrarily and en masse.”
Referring to the resolution’s call on the Iranian regime “to launch a comprehensive accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations, including those involving the Iranian judiciary and security agencies, and… to end impunity for such violations,” Mrs. Rajavi stressed, “The best example of serious human rights violations in Iran is the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 in which all the clerical regime’s agencies and officials including Ali Khamenei, the president, the judiciary, the mullahs’ parliament, and the highest officials in charge of security and intelligence agencies were involved and complicit. They defend it and have so far remained immune from prosecution. Therefore, the international community faces a great test in investigating this great crime against humanity and prosecuting its perpetrators.”
Iran Dominates Third Committee Discussions on Human Rights
October 26, 2017 - ASMA JAHANGIR, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, said the report she was presenting was her first since assuming the mandate and covered the first six months of 2017. She expressed concern over the rate of executions, with at least four juvenile offenders executed since the beginning of the year, and 86 more known to be on death row. Reports of torture were also deeply concerning, as were those of harassment, intimidation and prosecution of human rights defenders.
She continued to receive reports of violations against the freedom of expression, with numerous journalists describing harassment and intimidation by State agents
UN Resolution Condemning Iran's Human Rights Violations Welcomed by the NCRI
The human rights situation in Iran continues to be of serious concern. It is reported that activists, journalists, and foreign nationals are harassed, arrested, mistreated, and even tortured and imprisoned for speaking against the regime.
The international community recognized this by passing the 64th resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee, that condemns the human rights violations in Iran. The resolution was was praised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect Maryam Rajavi. She said that she sees it as another step by the international community toward addressing the needs of the Iranian people.
Highlighted in reports by the UN Secretary General and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, is the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. Justice for Victims of 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) has also raised awareness for this atrocity, that saw the execution of thousands of prisoners, as was sanctioned by the Supreme Leader. The victims were buried in mass graves. The regime has attempted to ignore the event, and construction has begun on sites of potential mass graves.
UN: A UN special rapporteur on human rights said on Thursday there had been little change in the situation in Iran over the past year, voicing deep outrage over the harassment of journalists and adding that progress on women’s rights was extremely slow.
A day after submitting her report to the world body, Asma Jahangir, the UN special rapporteur on the Iran rights situation, told reporters that torture was widespread in Iran and that some people were imprisoned for seeking justice.
Jahangir said she did not attempt to assess the impact of sanctions on human rights in Iran in her report because she had not been allowed to visit the country, which does not recognise her mandate.
U.N. Special Rapporteur Speaks on Dismal Human Rights Situation and 1988 Massacre in Iran
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran addressed the Seventy-second session of the General Assembly in New York on October 25, to discuss the dismal situation of human rights in Iran that has been prevalent since the Regime took over in 1979.
Asma Jahangir, who was addressing the General Assembly for the first time since taking the role in November 2016, delivered a report on the first six months of 2017 which was based on sources both inside and outside of Iran.
Hold Iran accountable for its abysmal human rights record
BY TAHAR BOUMEDRA
For all his claims of moderation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has overseen a crackdown by Iranian security forces. The ranks of political prisoners have swollen since he took office. A shockingly broad range of “offenses” can lead to execution, and despite campaign-trail promises of a more open Iranian society, Rouhani has done nothing to curtail this trend. Well over 3,000 people were executed during his first term, some for “crimes” such as donating money to banned media outlets sympathetic to the main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
There are few limits on who can be put to death. Iran remains one of very few countries that still executes offenders under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest. This practice has continued during Rouhani’s tenure, and as recently as August, two juvenile offenders were slated for execution within a week of each other.
Although one of these executions did not ultimately go forward, it was not because his sentence was commuted. Instead, the accused paid blood money to the victim’s family, in return for which they spared his life as is their right under Iran’s Islamic law. In recent years, whenever the execution rate has declined, it has apparently been because of this practice, and not because of any change in judicial sentencing.
Iran Human Rights Monitor Reports Continuation of Human Rights Violations in Iran
Iran Human Rights Monitor has compiled a report detailing the human rights situation in the country for the month of September.
It highlighted that there has been a continuation of systematic violations of human rights and mentioned in particular executions, amputations, torture and the murder of porters.
The group reported that there were 42 executions last month – 22 of which were reported in state media. It is expected that the actual number is even higher. Several of them were carried out in public in prisons across the country. At least one woman was hanged in the Central Prison of Zanjan.
In Ardebil Prison, two men were executed on 19th September. One of the men was 23 years-old and was serving a three year sentence. However, charges against him were fabricated and his sentence was changed to execution.
Fellow prisoners, in some cases, were ordered to watch executions in attempt to torture them before their own executions are carried out.
Iran Human Rights Monitor also pointed out that 14 executions took place on 20th September – the same day that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, dismissing claims that there was a problem.
Amnesty International: Release human rights activists from unjust imprisonment The space for human rights activism in Iran is rapidly shrinking, as the state’s judicial and security bodies intensify their crackdown. But anti-death penalty campaigners, women’s and minority rights activists, trade unionists, and many others bravely continue to speak up. Caught in a web of repression: Iran’s human rights defenders under attack
Iran is waging a ruthless crackdown against people who stand up to injustice and defend human rights. The country’s courageous human rights defenders have come under suffocating levels of repression at the hands of Iran’s judicial and security apparatus.
Scores of human rights defenders, including anti-death penalty campaigners, women’s rights activists, trade unionists, minority rights activists, human rights lawyers, and activists seeking truth, justice, and reparations for the mass extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances of the 1980s are facing lengthy prison sentences in connection with their peaceful activities, and many others are being subjected to surveillance, interrogations and drawn out trials. Those who defend human rights are often labelled “foreign agents” and “traitors” by state media, and prosecuted and jailed by the authorities on bogus “national security” charges.
The Iranian authorities must release immediately and unconditionally all human rights defenders imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and end the misuse of the justice system to silence activists.
Join Amnesty International’s campaign in support of Iran’s brave human rights defenders who have risked their life and liberty to help others. Sign our petition.
U.N. Special Rapporteur Tells Iran Regime: Abolish Torture and Release Detainees
NCRI - Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, was interviewed by Al Arabiya’s studios in the United Nations about the current situation in the country.
She said that in many areas in the country there are serious violations of human rights - from rule of law, denial of due process, discriminatory laws, people being discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds and torture. She said that she believes the Iranian government is beginning to look into these violations, however the steps being taken to address then are “very tiny”. The government knows that there are issues that need to be addressed, but she emphasised that it cannot continue to let them drag on because awareness is rising across the world.
With regards to protesters in Iran that seek an improvement of the rights situation, Jahangir said that she will not discourage them from speaking up, despite the fact that they risk detention and torture. She reminded them that it is the right of every citizen in the world to speak up for their rights and against incidents where rights are violated. Read more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressing UN delegates at the General Assembly December 12, 2016 at the United Nations in New York. AFP / Eduardo Munoz AlvarezTwo of the major crises the international community is currently engaged with are terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Iran, in particular, is negatively involved in both fields, being known as the central banker of international terrorism, and suspicious for its own controversial nuclear program at home parallel to its nuclear/missile collaboration with North Korea.
As these subjects are of significant importance and deserve even more attributed attention, what must not go neglected is the fact that Iran is taking advantage of such circumstances to continue an equally important campaign of belligerence against its own people. The scope of human rights violations carried out by Tehran is continuously on the rise, with the ruling regime interpreting the mentioned international crises as windows of opportunity to extend its domestic crackdown. Read more
Iran Vilifies Human Rights Defenders as ‘Enemies of the State’
The Iranian regime has increasingly focused on clamping down on anyone who speaks out against the human rights abuses of its ruling class. One of the key areas where this is demonstrated is in the trials of these individuals. Many lack basic legal representation, and the proceedings are brief. If they do have legal representation, there are often hurdles for them to meet with their lawyers and having access to court files delayed.
Human rights lawyers who speak out against torture and unfair trials have also faced harassment, disbarment, and imprisonment. Trials of human rights defenders generally take place in a climate of fear.
Amnesty International recently launched a global campaign ‘Brave’, calling for an end to attacks against those defending human rights worldwide.
“It is a bitter irony that as the Iranian authorities boast about their increased engagement with the UN and the EU, particularly in the aftermath of the nuclear deal, human rights defenders who have made contact with these same institutions are being treated as criminals,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Rather than propagating the dangerous myth that human rights defenders pose a threat to national security, the Iranian authorities should focus on addressing the legitimate concerns they raise. These are people who have risked everything to build a more humane and just society – it is appalling that they are so viciously punished for their bravery.”
Amnesty International, who released a new report entitled ‘Caught in a web of repression: Iran’s human rights defenders under attack’, is calling on the EU to speak out in the strongest terms against the persecution of human rights defenders in the country.
“The international community, and in particular the EU, must not stay silent over the outrageous treatment of human rights defenders in Iran,” said Luther. “Instead of appeasing Iranian officials, the EU should forcefully call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those jailed for their peaceful human rights activism and for an end to the misuse of the justice system to silence activists.”
This recent report detailed the crackdown on human rights defenders in a variety of key areas, including the death penalty, women’s rights, and trade unionists, just to name a few.
Over the past four years, Iran’s judiciary have dropped the threshold for invoking the vague national security-related charges, while increasing the length of prison sentences for these individuals. Many of their crimes include contacting the UN and the EU, as well as international agencies focused on human rights. via Iran Vilifies Human Rights Defenders as ‘Enemies of the State’ — The Media Express
UN experts urge Iran to halt juvenile’s execution
GENEVA (17 January 2016) - UN experts today urged the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt the possibly imminent execution of a juvenile offender.
“We are deeply concerned that the life of a juvenile offender remains in danger and that he may be executed at any moment,” said the experts, Asma Jahangir, Special Rapportueur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Benyam Dawit Mezmur Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
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Al Arabiya , 10 August 2018- Taking stock of Iran’s crimes against humanity 30 years after 1988 massacre
On July 26, Amnesty International renewed its warning of many years that the theocratic regime in Iran is destroying all the evidence of 1988 massacre of political prisoners. Since the massacre the only visible proof of it are mass graves where bodies of the prisoners were piled up.
There is also a constant reminder for the rest of us that such heinous crime has not been thoroughly investigated by an independent international commission. Read more
Iran Regime Destroy Mass Graves as Part of Cover-Up
The Iranian Regime has already begun destroying the mass graves of political prisoners secretly executed by the mullahs’ security forces in the 1980s, despite a plea from Amnesty International to halt the desecration and allow an investigation to take place.
On July 20, some of the relatives of those killed during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, mainly members of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), visited one of the secret gravesites, located behind Behesht-Abad Cemetery in District 5 of the Padadshahr Padad area in the city of Ahvaz, only to find that the graves of their loved ones had been destroyed. The Ahvaz site served as the burial site for those killed during the 1988 massacre and for dissidents killed by the Regime between 1981 and 1984. Read more
MEK activists expose Iranian regime’s efforts to destroy evidence of mass executions
In 1988, under the order of Iranian regime supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian regime executed more than 30,000 political prisoners, the majority being members and supporters of PMOI/MEK.
At the time, the regime needed to eliminate the opposition to consolidate its power at one of its most critical moments. The victims were executed in the span of mere months and their bodies were tossed into mass graves scattered across Iran.
The regime thought it could keep the 1988 massacre silent. Since then, the MEK has tried to bring the world attention to this heinous crime, which the regime has constantly denied. But three decades later, its crimes are catching up with it. Since 2016, an international movement led by the MEK has been documenting and publishing details of the 1988 massacre and exposing the authorities who were involved in the crimes. Read more
Maryam Rajavi calls for urgent action to prevent destruction of the graves of victims and removing the traces of the 1988 massacre in Iran
Maryam Rajavi, urged the UN Secretary General, the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and international human rights organizations to immediately take action to prevent the Iranian regime’s systematic destruction of the graves of victims of the 1988 massacre in Iran and removal of the traces of this massacre throughout the country, particularly in Ahvaz.
As the clerical regime’s efforts to prevent the growth of the Call-for-Justice movement has failed and it has not managed to send the massacre of Iranian political prisoners into oblivion, the ruling mullahs are desperately trying to remove the traces for this massacre in a bid to evade the consequences of this genocide and great crime against humanity, Maryam Rajavi added.
The families of political dissidents who were forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially killed in Ahvaz, southern Iran, in the 1980s are suffering untold mental anguish and distress as the authorities are destroying the individual and mass graves of their loved ones. They are afraid of facing further persecution if they speak out.
Amnesty International says Iranian Officials Eliminating Evidence of Massacre
The 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran has been referred to as a crime against humanity by various members of the international community. Members of the Iranian resistance have continued efforts to keep this tragedy in front of the international leadership, along with their calls for justice. The Iranian government has denied the massacre on multiple occasions, despite recordings where key officials admit to participating in the events of the summer of 1988.
Many of the victims, according to witnesses and family members, were buried in mass graves. The locations of these graves are now under attack by the Iranian authorities, as they attempt to wipe out any traces of the massacre within Iran.
CRIMINAL COVER-UP: IRAN DESTROYING MASS GRAVES OF VICTIMS OF 1988 KILLINGS
New evidence, including satellite imagery, shows that the Iranian authorities are deliberately destroying suspected or confirmed mass grave sites associated with the 1988 massacre in which thousands were forcibly disappeared and extra judicially executed
Amnesty international 30 April 2018, For nearly three decades, the Iranian authorities have systematically concealed the whereabouts of thousands of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, who were forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in 1988. Amnesty International and Justice for Iran have documented how the authorities have destroyed or damaged mass grave sites across Iran that are believed to contain the remains of the victims. Amnesty International and Justice for Iran call on the authorities to stop the destruction of mass grave sites and ensure that they are preserved until proper, independent investigations can be carried out.
Part 41 of Behesht-e-Zahra: Broken Graves of Political Opponents
Part 41 of Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery is among the most famous burial places where a large number of critics and opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially the executed prisoners, have been buried. This place has been subjected to destruction and disrespect throughout the years after the revolution. Recently some news of the possibility of further destruction of this part has been published in the media.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), you would not see any explanations about the people buried in the graves. Perhaps the most eloquent explanation is the “Broken Tombstones” of part 41.
IRAN REGIME DESTROYS THE GRAVES OF THE MARTYRS OF PMOI/MEK KILLED IN THE 1988 MASSACRE
By Jazeh Miller
While hundreds of international figures and lawyers have called for a trial of the regime's leaders and the perpetrators of the massacre of members and sympathizers of PMOI/MEK in 1988, the Iran regime is trying to destroy the graves of MEK martyrs killed in this crime.
According to the reports from various parts of Iran, the regime has been eliminating the signs of this MEK genocide in several cities including Ahvaz (southwestern Iran), Mashhad (northeast), Isfahan (center of Iran), Tabriz and Ardabil (northwestern), etc. They seek to destroy the mass graves of MEK members so that the families could not pay tribute to their loved ones the way they have been doing for years in various ways such as cementing the graves or removing the garbage and so on.
The Iranian regime also destroyed the mass graves of MEK martyrs in Vadi-e Rahmat Cemetery of Tabriz under the pretext of carrying out construction projects. Moreover, the supporters of the MEK distributed the pictures and videos of grave destruction on the internet on June 23 2018. The news of such crime has been also posted in forms of pictures on Vadi-e Rahmat Cemetery Telegram Channel on September 11, 2017.
As the Iran regime admitted, the construction project includes a total area of 4500 square meters. The procedures consist of excavating operations, rolling, leveling and fitting, pouring concrete, building walls, gridding, installing light pylons. Three companies and the Supervision of Tabriz Civil Engineering Department launched this project and the Cemetery Organization of Tabriz Municipality is the employer.
As the satellite TV of the Iranian resistance, ‘Simay Azadi’ Channel released photos and videos on the destruction of graves, the Iranian regime also destroyed a MEK mass grave in Sowme'eh Sara, Gilan Province. One of the supporters of the MEK who visited this location, reports:
"I went to the cemetery in which the MEK martyrs of the massacre of 1988 are buried. I took photos of the graves of townspeople but I could not find the graves of MEK martyrs. Nevertheless, I saw a mechanical excavator behind the cemetery amidst the tall trees where the MEK martyrs are buried. As the people said, this excavator is operating to make roads."
He added," The cemetery of MEK martyrs is exactly located behind these tall trees, as the supporters of the MEK released pictures of this area. They are currently destroying the cemetery." While a Justice Seeking movement is formed to try the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of MEK and non MEK affiliates, the Iranian regime intends to eliminate the signs of such brutal crime.
Amnesty International: Stop Iran From Destruction of Mass Grave of 1988 Iran Massacre
NCRI - Amnesty International launched a campaign on Monday calling on the authorities of the Iranian regime to “urgently stop the destruction of a mass grave in the southern city of Ahvaz”.
At least “a dozen political prisoners killed during a wave of mass extrajudicial executions in August and September 1988 are buried” in the mass grave.
A footage obtained by Amnesty International “shows the site is gradually being buried beneath piles of construction waste” after a construction near the area began earlier this year.
The 1988 massacre gave rise to the phenomenon of mass graves. Every day hundreds
of people in Evin and more in Gohardasht and other prisons in Tehran and in prisons
all over Iran were being executed.
The regime’s agents did not have the time to bury them one by one, so the only way was to bury them in mass graves. This method had been used occasionally in Tehran and other cities since 1981, but in 1988 it became a systematic procedure in the major cities.
A witness recalls: “The scale of the massacre was so vast that bodies of the executed were carried away on trucks to mass graves. I was able to see the truck from between metal window shades covered with a canvas sheet in order to hide the mess.”
Iran is bulldozing the mass grave from the mullahs' 1988 massacre
By Hassan Mahmoudi
Since its foundation, by Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the regime of Iran has succeeded in maintaining its absolute power through the massive use of torture and executions of its citizens. They are now trying to cover up their crimes.
The ugly reality is that thousands of Iranians were sent to the gallows and torture chambers for absurd and preposterous charges of “enmity against God” or “spying for external powers.” In the 1980s, thousands of educated youth of Iran, who had been sympathetic to the opposition groups, were executed by the mullahs. In summer of 1988 alone, based on the decree of Khomeini, 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were members or supporters of the Mujahedin (PMOI or MeK), were executed.
Four decades of savage suppression by the mullahs has frustrated Iran's people who now look for any opportunity to show their abhorrence for the government. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials are, more than ever, frightened of another mass uprising. According to the report from the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), Amnesty International has launched a campaign on Monday calling on the authorities of the Iranian regime to “urgently stop the destruction of a mass grave in the southern city of Ahvaz.”
IRAN, 17 July 2017-- In an interview with an Iranian regime funded television station, Ali Fallahian, the former Iranian intelligence minister and one of the perpetrators involved in the AMIA bombing that killed 85 people on July 18, 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, revealed the mindset behind the mass execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988.
Iran Regime's Official "Proud" of Role in 1988 Massacre
Earlier this month, a senior judicial official in the Iranian regime has publicly tried to justify the state’s execution of tens of thousands of political prisoners during the eighties.
In an interview with a state news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the official - Judge Ali Razini, the head of Branch 41 of the Supreme Court – said that the execution of prisoners in 1988 in what has been named the 1988 massacre was “fair” and “lawful”.
Judge Razini is the head of Branch 41 of the Supreme Court.
During the 1988 massacre, the so called “Death Committee” ordered the execution of political prisoners, many of whom were members or supporters of the PMOI, the banned opposition group. The prisoners’ fate was decided based on their loyalty to the Islamic Republic.
Aerial photo shows that the graves of martyrs have been vandalized and purred concrete over
PMOI martyrs’ graves vandalized in northwest Iran
During the past few days the mullahs’ regime in the city of Tabriz, northwest Iran, has begun a campaign of vandalizing graves of members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) executed back in the 1980s, especially those massacred during the summer of 1988. These now destroyed graves were in the Rahmat Valley Cemetery. To this point the graves of 75 martyrs, including Akbar Choopani and Soraya Abolfat’hi, who was executed while pregnant, have been vandalized Read more
Exposing the Crimes of Desecrating MEK Martyrs' Graves in Tabriz
Following the disclosure of a plan to desecrate the graves of MEK martyrs massacred by the Iranian regime in Ahwaz and Mashhad, the clerical regime also resorted to the same crime in the city of Tabriz, northwestern Iran.
According to MEK supporters, on June 22, 2017, the clerical regime in Wadi Rahmat in Tabriz, where the martyrs of the unknown MEK slain massacred in 1988 are buried, the regime began to raze and demolish the graves of the martyrs using construction machinery.
MEK reporters say that six people were involved in this heinous crime at the site. They removed the stones on the graves and threw them away and then poured 10 centimeters of concrete onto the graves.
In an attempt to cloak its crimes during the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners across the country, Iranian authorities in Mashhad (northeast Iran) have used heavy machinery to cover the graveyard of these victims in a known cemetery, according to reports from PMOI/MEK supporters sent on June 1st.
reports, the clerical regime has planned to demolish and destroy a mass grave in Southwestern city of Ahvaz, which is the burial place of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. This location, was detected according to people’s reports and martyrs’ families and was revealed by the Iranian Resistance Satellite TV. Read more
Amnesty International:Iran Desecrating mass grave site would destroy crucial forensic evidence
In other report Amnesty International on 1 June 2017 mentioned:
The desecration of a mass grave site in Ahvaz, southern Iran that contains the remains of at least 44 people who were extrajudicially executed would destroy vital forensic evidence and scupper opportunities for justice for the mass prisoner killings that took place across the country in 1988, said Amnesty International and Justice for Iran.
Photo and video evidence obtained by the NGO Justice for Iran and reviewed by Amnesty International shows bulldozers working on a construction project directly alongside the mass grave site at Ahvaz, as well as piles of dirt and construction debris surrounding the grave. Although the Iranian authorities have made no official announcements about Ahvaz, families learned through a construction worker that the plan is to ultimately raze the concrete block marking the grave site and build over the area.
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