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Iran Human Rights Bulletin ______National Council of Resistance of Iran - U.S Iran Human Rights Bulletin National Council of Resistance of Iran - U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US) ______________________________________________________________________________ No. 104 March 12, 2019 The promotion of a notorious rights abuser to head the Judiciary set the tone, as executions continued to mount on a daily basis. Human rights experts and bodies decried the disproportionate numbers of minors and minorities among the victims. Activists, human rights advocates and women’s advocates were served up harsh sentences of prison and flogging. Those seeking to celebrate the ancient Iranian Festival of Fire were subjected to threats, intimidation and mass arrests. Four decades of violence against women was tragically highlighted by child brides setting themselves on fire. Meanwhile prisoners of conscious languished in unfit conditions in Iranian jails. Executions: New UN Report notes ongoing executions of child offenders https://iran-hrm.com/index.php/2019/03/01/new-un-report-on-iran-notes-ongoing- executions-of-child-offenders/ In his latest report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on February 27, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran Javaid Rehman raised his concern over human rights violations in Iran, paying particular attention to the way the death penalty is carried out. He expressed deep regret that children as young as nine years old can still be executed, noting that at least 33 minors have been executed for their offenses since 2013. Rehman also pointed to reports indicating that ethnic and religious minority groups constitute a disproportionately large percentage of persons executed or imprisoned in Iran. Rehman also describes how the protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran reflect long-standing grievances related to human rights. Discontent has been expressed through disparate protests by different groups across the country. The arrests of lawyers, human rights defenders and labor activists signal an increasingly severe State response. Rehman also raised the issues of the detention of Iranians with dual citizenship, the suppression of ethnic minorities, including Sufi dervishes of the Gonabadi denomination, Baha’is, newly converted Christians, and widespread detentions in the provinces of Azarbaijan, Kurdestan, and Sistan & Blauchestan. The recent crackdown on labor rights in Iran was also given special attention in Rehman’s report. (Iran HRM – Mar. 4) Inhuman Punishments: Prominent women’s rights activist faces 34 years in prison https://bit.ly/2XX2sud https://bit.ly/2IUjExd Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh faces up to 34 years in prison and 148 lashes after being convicted in two trials that Amnesty International has called “grossly unfair.” The charges against the 55-year-old lawyer and human rights activist stem solely from her peaceful human rights work, including her defense of women protesting Iran’s forced hijab (veiling) laws, and her outspoken opposition to the death penalty. (Amnesty Int’l, Radio Farda – Mar. 4) ______________________________________________________________________________ 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20006 These materials are being distributed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran - U.S. Representative Office. Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. ______________________________________________________________________________No. 104 Iran Human Rights Bulletin March 12, 2019 Anwar Khezri’s letter of sorrow: From suicide to death sentence in a 5-minute trial http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/fa/?p=8095 Anwar Khezri, detained for more than 9 years at the Rajayshahr Prison of Karaj, has written an open letter about his attempt to commit suicide under interrogation at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center in Orumiyeh, in protest to his physical and psychological torture. Khezri was sentenced to death in late March 2016 in a five-minute trial along with six other prisoners in the same case. In his letter, Anwar Khezri states that: “I was summoned to the prosecutor’s office in Mahabad on Dec 7, 2009 when I was arrested and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center in Orumiyeh… “I endured the most severe physical and mental torture during my detention and I still have not recovered my health after more than 9 years… On the 56th day of my detention, I attempted suicide by breaking the ceiling lamp with my left hand. I regained conscience at the hospital… “I was operated on at the hospital by Dr Toloi. After the operation, I was transferred back to the torture chamber without my doctor’s permission to be subjected to more torture and threats despite my physical condition and the effects of anesthesia. I was finally forced to fingerprint papers, the contents of which I was unaware, specifically after I was threatened that my parents would die in a crash if I did not do so… In August 2017, the accused were taken handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded to an unknown location and told they would be executed…” (Kurdistan Human Rights Network – Mar. 7) Chaharshanbe Suri activists threatened with imprisonment and up to 74 lashes https://www.farsnews.com/tehran/news/13971215001049 Referring to an Iranian festival celebrated on the eve of the Iranian New Year, the SSF commander of Qods Province warned: “The police will not tolerate certain behavior, and will deal with protesters firmly.” Mehdi Daryab reiterated, “The perpetrators will be arrested and brought to the judicial authorities and according to Article 618 of the Islamic Penal Code, they will be sentenced from three months to one year of imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.” (Fars state-run News Agency – Mar. 7) Arbitrary Arrests: Top Iran Prosecutor insists jailed environmentalists are spies http://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/463475 As the trial gets under way for eight prominent Iranian environmentalists on charges of espionage, Iran’s Prosecutor General has declared them guilty. In a March 7 media briefing, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri insisted, "As the Prosecutor General, and on the basis of evidence and documents, I believe the eight are definitely spies. Now, I am waiting for the outcome of the hearings and the court's verdict." (Entekhab state-run news agency – Mar. 7) ______________________________________________________________________________ National Council of Resistance of Iran – U.S. Representative Office Page 2 ______________________________________________________________________________No. 104 Iran Human Rights Bulletin March 12, 2019 Iran arrests 280 “troublemakers” in Fire Festival intimidation campaign https://www.isna.ir/news/97121407432 Tehran’s Chief of police announced that 280 people had been arrested in the capital in the sixth phase of what he described as the “plan” to deal with “troublemakers.” Hossein Ashtari also said that from the 280 people arrested, 38 were detained for “distributing immoral items and firecrackers”. Security forces regularly arrest hundreds before Chaharshanbe Suri in an effort to create an atmosphere of fear. Chaharshanbe Suri, the “Festival of Fire,” is a remnant of the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. It is celebrated by jumping over bonfires and lighting firecrackers on the last Tuesday before the Persian New Year on March 21. Iranian officials, especially clerics, consider the festival pagan. (ISNA state- run news agency – Mar. 5) Kurdish singer sentenced to 2 years, deprived of his right to sing http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/fa/?p=8350 Peyman Mirzadeh, arrested on February 20 by security forces on the charge of singing Kurdish revolutionary songs, was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment and permanent deprivation of the right to sing. On March 2, Mirzadeh was transferred to branch one of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh under the pretext of issuing bail; instead, he was put on trial without a lawyer. Two days later, he was summoned to the office of Orumiyeh Central Prison and served with the verdict. Mirzadeh had been arrested last December and sentenced to six months on the charge of propaganda against the state. He was released after serving his 6-month sentence. (Kurdistan Human Rights Network – Mar. 7) Prison conditions: New Case against four political prisoners at Orumiyeh Central Prison http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/fa/?p=8289 Four Kurdish political prisoners in OrumiyehCentral Prison -Hamid Rahimi, Touraj Ismaili, Kamal Hassan Ramazan and Ahmad Tamouei- were charged on March 2 with two new charges of “disrupting public order” and “blasphemy” for their participation in last October’s protests at the prison following the beating of several Kurdish political prisoners by authorities. After Kurdish prisoner Hamid Rahimi was beaten by the prison’s special forces on October 5, 2018, a large protest lasting several hours erupted in the political ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison. On Oct 16, 2018, 71 political prisoners went on a one-week hunger strike in protest to the beatings and dangerous criminal behavior by prison authorities. (Kurdistan Human Rights Network – Mar. 2) ______________________________________________________________________________ National Council of Resistance of Iran – U.S. Representative Office Page 3 ______________________________________________________________________________No. 104 Iran Human Rights Bulletin March 12, 2019 Kurdish political prisoner on hunger strike http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/fa/?p=8305 Ghader Mohammad Zadeh, who has been in prison for the past 14 years, has gone on hunger strike in protest
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