Washington Examiner-Apple and Google are letting Iran's cyber surveillance go unchecked
For years, the Iranian regime has been struggling to rein-in access to Internet services because it knows full-well providing unharnessed access to the Internet will defeat its censorship machine. The mullahs ruling Iran had a first-hand experience of what the Internet can do in 2009, when images and videos of the regime’s brutality toward peaceful protesters were broadcast worldwide on social media networks.
And with the advent of secure, encrypted messaging applications, keeping tabs on and monitoring Internet traffic has become even harder for the state.
Iran's cyber warfare against its people must not stand
BY RAYMOND TANTER AND IVAN SASCHA SHEEHAN
The Hill, Feb. 23, 2018 - New cyber revelations from the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK), the Iranian opposition movement, about the scope of mass surveillance by the Iranian regime are significant. Why? They show the desperation of the Iranian regime in confronting the uprising that began nationwide last December and has continued to this day.
Anti-government protesters chanted slogans indicative of a revolution: “Death to the dictator,” “Death to (Supreme Leader) Khamenei”, “Death to (Hassan) Rouhani,” “Don’t be afraid, we are all together,” “Forget about Syria, think about us,” “Not Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life for Iran,” and “Reformer, Hardline, the Game Is Now Over.”
The fact that protests expanded to over 140 cities, by some estimates, constitutes an existential threat to the regime and an opportunity to use the people’s resentment as leverage against it. The Obama administration squandered valuable opportunities in the past — most notably during the 2009 anti-government protests in Iran.
Only when the Iranian regime employed cyber technology was it able to slow down the spread of the protests and wage large numbers of arrests. Read more
Iran Regime Increases Cyber Attacks on Australian Universities
Many Australian universities have been targeted by Iranian hackers in recent months, according to cyber security firm Crowd Strike in their 2018 Global Threat Report, and these attacks are now being investigated. Read more
SPY APP PROBE: Google launches full investigation into claims Iran is spying on millions of Brits using ‘weaponized’ phone apps
By Mark Hodge
The Sun, 16th February 2018 - GOOGLE has launched a full investigation into claims Iran could be spying on Brits and Americans using 'weaponized' apps.
The Sun Online exclusively revealed yesterday how the Iranian regime has created its own messaging apps which are available on the search giant's online store.
Mobogram is allegedly spyware enabled and is available to download on Google
Mobogram is allegedly spyware enabled and is available to download on Google's online store and Apple's App store
According to an explosive report, the apps - also available from Apple's App store - are spyware-enabled to help Iranians hunt down anti-government protesters in the country.
A Google spokesman confirmed a probe has been launched.
He said: 'We always take feedback from the community seriously and are currently investigating the situation. While we don’t comment on specific apps, our Google Play policies are designed to provide a great experience for users.'
The most popular of these applications is called Mobogram, which is used by millions of Iranians and is available to download by westerners on Apple’s App Store. Read more
On 2.15.2018 the Iranian resistance office in WashingtonD.C held a press conference on cyber repression in Iran, and introduced a new publication released by the name:
Iran devising apps for ‘mass surveillance’ of regime opponents: Report By Guy Taylor
The Washington Times, February 15, 2018 - Iran’s intelligence services have “significantly accelerated” spying on their own citizens in the wake of the recent anti-regime protests that rocked the nation, according to an extensive new investigation being released Thursday by a leading Iranian exile dissident group.
The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) claims the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security are engaging in “mass surveillance” of protesters and dissidents, employing a web of state-produced mobile phone applications.
The report by NCRI, which fiercely opposed the regime in Tehran but has a record of exposing military and other internal workings of the government, contends that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has spread its spyware so successfully that “millions of users” outside Iran could be exposed to it.
Thursday’s report claimed an “internal network” of sources tied to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran or MEK — the principal member of the NCRI — has uncovered the regime’s use of “mass surveillance through malicious codes embedded in IRGC mobile apps to actively disrupt the communication of protesters and dissidents.”
“IRGC front companies are developing spyware-enabled apps for cyber-surveillance and repression,” the report said. Some of the apps have succeeded in penetrating platforms promoted by Google and Apple, and are tied to Telegram — the globally popular, cloud-based instant messaging service that was heavily used by demonstrators in the recent round of street protests.
“Through front companies, such as Hanista, the IRGC has created apps such as Mobogram, an unofficial Telegram fork,” the report claimed. “Ironically, some of these spyware-enabled apps are available on Google Play, Apple Store, and GitHub, potentially exposing millions of users worldwide to the IRGC’s spyware and surveillance activities.” Read more
NCRI: Iran spying on MILLIONS worldwide using ‘military-made apps on iTunes and Google' By Henry Holloway CYBER WARFARE: Iranian opposition group have alleged Tehran is using military-made apps to spy Daily Star-15th February 2018- Tehran’s elite military wing the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) is accused of being behind a huge cyberwarfare empire being used to police its own people.
This comes in the wake of huge protests across Iran as thousands in 142 cities call for the overthrow of the Islamic regime – which celebrated its 39th anniversary on Sunday.
Campaigners from the National Council of Resistance of Iran( NCRI ) have now laid out the scope of Iran’s cyber-developing capabilities.
Published today, the damning repot Iran: Cyber Repression accused the IRGC of developing apps which are unwittingly installed on people’s phones and then used as spying tools.
NCRI alleges these Iranian military-developed apps have also found their way onto iTunes, Google and Github – exposing “millions of users worldwide to the IRGC’s spyware and surveillance”. Read more
MARYAM RAJAVI’S MESSAGE ON IRAN NEW ACADEMIC YEAR 2018-2019
The year of uprisings with Resistance Units expanding in schools, universities
Fellow students, the vanguard generation creating the uprisings,
Honorable teachers and university professors,
I salute all of you in the beginning of the new academic year, and commend you for your desire and determination in achieving Iran’s freedom and progress, and in bringing up a generation that yearns for the establishment of a society based on freedom, democracy and equality.
On the eve of September 27, let us remember and pay tribute to the generation of Iranian youths who created a glorious battle on this day in 1981. Let us remember Abdollah Safa, Soudabeh Pazak, Fereydoon Bakhshi and Afsaneh Shamsabadi whose names will shine for ever in the history of resistance for freedom. On that day, they sacrificed their lives to socialize the mantra of “death to Khomeini.” Hail to those shining stars of the sky of Iranian revolt for freedom.
The opening of schools and universities is particularly important this year as it is entwined with the uprisings and the protest movement.
The uprisings in 142 cities last December-January, the uprisings in at least 27 cities in August, and the major uprisings in Tehran, Kazerun, Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, and Borazjan bear a significant message. These uprisings say that more than any other time, the best and most important lesson for Iran’s youth is freedom; the first lesson is the lesson of freedom
MARYAM RAJAVI’S MESSAGE ON IRAN NEW ACADEMIC YEAR 2017-2018
Iran’s young and inventive generation and their honorable teachers do not wish to prolong the rule of a regime which is the enemy of knowledge and freedom
Fellow courageous pupils and students,
Honorable teachers and professors of Iran,
On the beginning of the New Academic Year, I salute you. I wish you a year filled with academic and scientific successes. I also hope that the new school year would be a year of advancement and uprising to topple the ruling religious dictatorship and achieve freedom.
Under the mullahs’ brutal tyrannical rule where the talents of Iran’s younger generations and the efficiency and sense of responsibility of teachers and professors are fettered by repression and discrimination, the first lesson is the lesson of freedom.
I hail our country’s honorable teachers and their associations in all cities and provinces and congratulate them in advance on the World’s Teachers Day on October 5.
May this year be a year in which you teach your students the lesson of resilience and freedom more than ever before, the lesson of seeking and finding newness, the lesson of the little black fish who swam against the flow of water and did not give in to the prevalent coercions, lies and discriminations.
May this year be a year in which you teach the children of Iran that they have to take the risk and pay the price for achieving freedom and that they must not believe the superstition that advocates passivism and continued suffering to avoid paying the price.
And may this season, which you have defined as the spring of knowledge, would be transformed into the spring of freedom.
Over the past year, university students staged frequent protests in many cities. Tehran and other cities of Iran saw the admirable gatherings and demonstrations of teachers, pre-school educators, and retired teachers. The clerical regime has put them aside, ignoring their academic and scientific competence. Nevertheless, they remain as the priceless assets of Iran’s society who hold the beacons of democratic resistance.
Iran’s young and inventive generation and their honorable teachers are fortunate that they have never collaborated or compromised with the ruling religious tyranny and do not wish to prolong the rule of the enemy of knowledge and freedom.
This is why the mullahs’ religious fascist regime has restrained the universities and schools by creating numerous obstacles and restrictions. Under such massive repression, the mullahs enjoy the freedom to destroy the country’s educational system and plunder its budget, assets and financial resources.
The educational level of the majority of universities across the country have drastically declined to the lowest possible levels. The educational and research facilities, the students’ living conditions, and the learning and teaching circumstances for students and professors are way below the minimum standards.
On the other hand, parallel with the extreme poverty and starvation that has pervaded the country, the situation of schools has aggravated even more than the previous years. Some of the schools are operating in two shifts, and the classes are intolerably over crowded. The minimums for physical education and sports are non-existent while addiction is rampant in schools. The continued operation of some schools in sheds and huts, in the middle of deserts, and in semi-destroyed buildings attest to the grim conditions of schools.
Last January, the students of a school in Shoosh (Khuzistan Province) who did not have a heating system, staged a protest gathering and chanted, “How can we write with frozen hands?”
Presently, one out of every four students drops out of school. According to the regime’s officials, the reasons for 53 percent of the drop outs are economic and financial problems as well as shortage of educational spaces. Half of the girl children residing in the border provinces of Iran, quit school after finishing their elementary studies.
Most tragic of all is the situation of millions of innocent girls and boys who are compelled to work instead of going to school. We will never forget the two child laborers, Ahad and Samad, who lost their lives last year in a fire accident last year at a recycling warehouse.
Despite these catastrophes, the ruling mullahs have adopted disgraceful policies, each of which is more shameful than the other.
An example of such inhuman and heinous policies was an Education Ministry directive requiring applicants for a teaching position to not have any accent, any illnesses, too many missing teeth, or any gynecological problems.
Another approach of the regime towards the country’s educational system has been plundering.
While in some deprived regions, “young children suffering from poor concentration have to pause to remember their own names,” the mullahs and their affiliates have plundered 8 trillion toumans from the teachers’ savings fund. They have also driven the Education Ministry’s affiliate Sarmayeh Bank into bankruptcy.
In another example divulged in the course of the sham election campaigns, it became evident that Rouhani’s Minister of Education had engaged, with the help of his daughter, in the business of importing contraband goods from Italy.
Yet, the most devastating policy in the universities and schools has been an institutionalized and incessant suppression which has regressed the educational system and driven it into a deadlock. At the same time, the regime answers every protest with imprisonment and torture.
One of the former ministers of education by the name of Faani recently admitted that there are clubs in the basement of the Ministry of Education ready for dealing with teachers who stage protest gatherings in front of the ministry’s building; the teachers are taken to the basement of the Education Ministry and beaten up using those clubs.
The protests and bold expressions of opposition by teachers and spokesmen of the Teachers’ Trade Unions were also answered by long term prison sentences. Contrary to the regime’s expectations, such sentences have further provoked the teachers and solidified their ranks in staging more protests.
Today, the demands of progressive teachers including freedom of association, ending the imprisonment and exile of their colleagues, ending the privatization of education, and eliminating poverty and discrimination against teachers, have turned into broad-based demands by the entire educational community in Iran.
Having learned of the major internal and external crises surrounding the regime, high school and college students and the faculty of universities are just beginning a new era of activity and struggle against this regime.
Like other political, economic and social matters, the issue of education, higher education and sports in Iran will not be reformed or have any improvements unless the velayat-e faqih regime is toppled in the first step.
In the beginning of the new academic year, I call on the younger generations, teachers and professors of Iran to demand justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre and further expand their resistance and protests against the religious dictatorship.
You, the younger generation in Iran, enjoy a heritage of struggle filled with pride. Since the early days when Khomeini began clamping down on all freedoms and taking advantage of religion, university and college students, especially high school students, stood up to him. The resistance of this conscious generation that lived by its values, terrified the entire regime. This is why in a matter of a few hours after the June 20, 1981 uprising, Khomeini resorted to the execution of high school students, before anyone else.
On September 27, 1981, the generation of younger Iranians, particularly the high school students, staged a courageous uprising in the heart of Tehran to take the chants of “death to Khomeini” among the general public. A large number of high school and university students were among the 30,000 political prisoners who were massacred in 1988. They stood by their ideals for freedom of the people of Iran while being fully aware of the consequences. This is yet another proof of the significant role played by your generation. Young heroes who fought in the ranks of the National Liberation Army of Iran and persevered. Young women like Saba Haftbaradaran, Asieh Rakhshani, Nastaran Azimi, Faezeh Rajabi and Mahdieh Madadzadeh, and young men like Rahman Mannani, Amir Nazari, Hanif Emami, Siavosh Nezamolmolki and many others also attest to this truth.
Everyone remembers that it was the wave of millions of high school and university students who toppled the previous regime. Today, too, despite massive repression, the days will come when the roaring waves of youths and teenagers would pour to the streets from schools and universities and turn the page of Iran’s history.
It is your duty to escalate your protests and resistance to encircle this decadent regime. As Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance, has said, “Having decisive and adamant demarcation with the velayat-e faqih is the secret to (a victorious) Resistance. Be firm in separating your ranks from those who engage with the (clerical) regime.”
It’s upon you to be creative and make use of your living and study environments to set up 1000 Ashrafs and 1000 bastions of rebellion and resistance. Incite resistance against the backward culture and relations that dominate your living and study environments.
Do not tolerate inequality and oppression especially when directed against women. Reject all forms of humiliation of women and youths and every outlook that regards women as a commodity.
Reject all relations and traditions that teach men to be aggressive, suppressive and selfish. This is a new world that will crush the foundations of the Velayat-e Faqih regime and will cherish freedom and equality.
This glorious destination is within reach. I call on all of you to rise up to achieve it.
Hail to the students, teachers and professors of Iran!
Hail to freedom!
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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The back-and-forth between supporters and opponents of the Iranian nuclear agreement has yielded at least one positive outcome: It has put a spotlight on the human rights situation in Iran.
What is happening there — the executions, imprisonments, intimidation and repression — is nothing less than a war by the regime against its own people.
As we look to the future, we should recognize that blocking the mullahs’ technological paths to the bomb is not enough to stabilize the region. There is a greater imperative to curtail their political and strategic means of revitalizing this menace in the future. That means keeping the pressure on the human rights issue, because by systematically denying people their rights, the regime maintains its illegitimate hold on power. click here for details
