Iran – women: Baha’i citizens tortured for their beliefs

Twelve Baha’ii citizens arrested in October 2012 in the Northern Province of Golestan were tortured by the Intelligence Ministry’s agents. They were arrested mostly without any justification and were informed of their charges by their interrogators after many days.

They were charged with “advocating Baha’ism and propaganda against the state through membership in illegal Baha’ii organizations” and “collaborating with enemy states by effective support and activities to advance the sectarian, anti-Islamic and anti-Shiite goals of arrogant and hostile governments.”

In a letter to the mullahs’ head of judiciary they described their conditions as the following:

“Ms. Hana Aqiqian was forced to go under a small table where only half of her body could fit. Then they kicked her in the sides and other parts of her body. They said, 'If you do not answer our questions the way we want, we would hand you over to interrogators who have other methods for interrogation.' They finally tore up the interrogation paper and forced it into her mouth.

"They would beat up the prisoner, if they did not receive the answer they sought. If the interrogator did not like the prisoner’s answers he sent her to solitary confinement.

"The cell's temperature had been turned down so much that prisoners felt pain all over their bodies. As to why they did so, they said, 'You did not cooperate, now you have to cope with the cold.' The cell’s lamp was on round the clock.

"Interrogators tried to put more pressure on prisoners by fabricating moral allegations. They said, 'You have used your wife or daughter to attract other men.' Once an interrogator got too close to a female prisoner, pushing her against the wall, and making verbal threats."

Finally all the arrested Baha’iis were sentenced to long term prisons. Sheida Ghodussi, was sentenced to 11 years prison. Farah Tabyanian, Pouneh Sana’i, Mona Hessari, Parisa Shahidi, Mojdeh Zohouri, Parivash Shoja’i, Tina Mohebati, Hana Aqiqian, Shohreh Samimi, Bita Hedayati and Hana Kushkbaghi each to 9 years prison and Rofia Pakzadan, Soudabeh Mehdinejad, Mitra Noori, Shiva Rouhani, Maryam Dehghan, Nazi Tahqiqi and Camellia Bideli, were each sentenced to 6 years prison. 

Iran – women: Kurdish political prisoner denied medical care

Qadrieh Qaderi, political prisoner detained in the central prison of Yasouj, is suffering from severe ear infection, harsh headache and numbness in one hand. She needs to be treated in a city hospital but prison authorities have prohibited it.

 This is while the judge in charge of her case issued a medical leave and her family paid a 100-million-touman bail for her release.

Qadrieh Qaderi was arrested in 2010 in Orumiyeh and spent more than two months in solitary confinement under torture. She was sentenced to 7 years prison and exile in Sanandaj on charges of cooperating with Kurdish parties.  

Iran: political prisoners on hunger strike in critical condition

Two political prisoners in Iran who are on hunger strike are now in critical condition.
Political prisoners Farid Azmoudeh and Iraj Hatami have been held in the notorious Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran.
They recently signed on to a collective letter by Iranian political prisoners to the United Nations Human Rights Council urging the world body to extend the mandate of Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran.
After their letter was published, the regime’s henchmen stepped up pressure on them and other prisoners who had signed the letter.
Messrs. Hatami, Azmoudeh and Behzad Tarahomi were taken to the warden’s office and threatened that they would be transferred to the ordinary prisoners’ ward if they continued to sign on the joint letters against the regime.
This led to fellow inmates writing a separate letter to the Human Rights Council, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International exposing the new aggressions against the political prisoners and warning that the regime’s personnel in the prison were conspiring against the three men whose 'lives are truly in danger.'

Iran: Women suffering horrible conditions in the notorious Evin Prison

A report recently surfaced describes the horrible condition of women insideEvin Prison in Tehran.
The women’s ward in Evin Prison has three rooms and a 5 by 5 meters kitchen with two 4-flame stoves. The women’s ward faces a serious shortage of beds and women are seen sleeping on the ground. In various months of the year (around June and July) the number of women prisoners increase significantly. The inmates of this ward face very serious problems in the winter seasons due to the lack of any gas services.
The prisoners, especially the mothers, are completely cut off from the outside world. All areas of this ward, with the exception of the restrooms, are under closed-circuit camera surveillance.
Security forces in this prison react severely to any reports published in the media about the conditions of this ward, depriving the political prisoners of visits and especially in person visits.
The prisoners in this ward face serious nutrition issues. The women prefer to purchase dry food stuffs from the prison store and not eat the low-quality food provided in the prison. Despite all this, they are also facing hygiene problems, left to eat expired food and also the fact that food stuffs are not available. Furthermore, the white meat provided in this prison is always expired.

Iran – women: 65-year-old mother summoned instead of son

Kermanshah’s Department of Intelligence summoned the 65-year-old mother of a Kurdish civil activist for the second time.

“Summoning of my mother is an attempt to make me return to Iran”, said Ehsan Fatahi who has fled the country because of consecutive arrests.

Iran: Victim of child marriage, victim of violence against women

Sakineh Ozbak, 15, was forcibly married to an old man when she was 14.

With a typical outbreak of quarrels in such marriages two weeks ago,

the husband beat up the 15-year-old girl and threw her down the third floor's balcony.

She has undergone surgery for a broken pelvis, broken jaw and a torn-up ear, so far.

The hospital’s cost is 7 million toumans which her father does not afford.

She has been abandoned in Shariati Hospital with no interventions by the police or any government agency.

Child marriages are sanctioned by law in Iran and violence against women is not considered a crime.  

Dissident Iranian cleric denied medical treatment in prison

NCRI - Supporters of Iranian dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi have called for international pressure to force the mullahs' regime to end his imprisonment and maltreatment.

Ayatollah Boroujerdi, 57, has spent nearly 10 years in the Iranian regime's jails due to his opposition to clerical rule. He was arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006. He is currently held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Reports from Evin Prison say Boroujerdi has faced brutal physical and psychological tortures behind bars. A new report said that in prison his health has drastically deteriorated and he is suffering from various illnesses, yet he has been denied proper treatment or medicine. In prison, he has developed a heart condition and kidney and respiratory problems. He has also lost about 90 percent of his vision in one eye and has lost a lot of weight. At present the only medication made available to him are pain-killers.

The report added that during his time in prison, Boroujerdi has spent a total of at least 440 days in solitary confinement.

Ayatollah Boroujerdi was prosecuted behind closed doors by the regime's Special Clerical Court.

According to Amnesty International:

“He was charged with some 30 offences, including ‘waging war against God’ (moharebeh); committing acts against national security; publicly calling the principle of political leadership by the clergy unlawful; having links with anti-revolutionaries and spies; and using the term ‘religious dictatorship’ instead of ‘Islamic Republic’ in public discourse and radio interviews. He was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on 13 August 2007 and defrocked (banned from wearing his clerical robes and thereby from practicing his clerical duties), and his house and all his belongings were confiscated. His family had appointed lawyers for him but the SCC refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary could make representations on his behalf.”

“He is now held in Evin Prison’s Ward for the Clergy: he was imprisoned for advocating the separation of religion and state. He has been under increased pressure to write and sign ‘confessions’. Prison officials have told him at least once, in October 2013, that if he does not write a letter recanting his beliefs, he will never be released.”

Brussels attacks: A wake-up call to the West

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) cautioned in an op-ed in The Washington Times on Wednesday that the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels ought to serve as a wake-up call to the West to adopt an effective strategy in tackling Islamic extremism.

The following is the full text of the opinion piece by Mohammad Mohaddessin in The Washington Times:

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/29/mohammad-mohaddessin-brussels-attacks-a-wake-up-ca/

Iran blamed for the highest number of executions per capita in the world

By Amir Basiri

After months of jockeying between the two ruling camps in Iran, the sham twin “elections” came to an end. The ruling elite Tehran were terrified of the outcome of the polls determining the structure of the 290-member parliament and 88-seat Assembly of Experts, an arcane body obligated on paper to select the country’s leading figure. While all senior officials literally begged the population for a high voter turnout, on the ground the Iranian people vastly boycotted the “elections.”

The ruling regime has an infamous history of resorting to vote rigging when faced with crises. In all instances, however, such measures have failed to render any winner from within, leaving the mullahs facing a dangerous lose-lose situation.

La Résistance iranienne se félicite du report de la visite de Rohani en Autriche et invite son gouvernement à l'annuler définitivement

La Résistance iranienne se félicite du report de la visite du président du régime iranien, Hassan Rohani, en Autriche et appelle le gouvernement autrichien à annuler définitivement cette visite. Car elle ne fera qu'alimenter la machine de torture et d'exécution en Iran et l'exportation du terrorisme et du bellicisme dans la région, en encourageant ce régime inhumain à violer davantage les droits de l'homme universels et les principes démocratiques.

Pour une raison quelconque Rohani peut avoir reporté sa visite - que ce soit dû aux rivalités internes, à l’aversion de l'opinion publique autrichienne vis-à-vis des violations barbare des droits de l'Homme en Iran, ou des remarques faites par les dirigeants autrichiens concernant les conditions préalables à l'annulation des sanctions - cela illustre néanmoins l'impasse du régime des mollahs. Malgré l'accord sur le nucléaire et les impératifs économiques et politiques, il n'a pas la capacité de concrétiser la normalisation des relations avec la communauté internationale.

Ceci est cohérent avec la stratégie globale du régime, dont le guide suprême a explicité le 20 mars dernier. Khamenei a notamment déclaré : « l'Occident veut que la République islamique renonce à son soutien à la résistance dans la région. Qu’on ne soutienne pas politiquement les opprimés dans la région telle que les peuples de Gaza, du Yémen et du Bahreïn (…) Voyez le vacarme qu’ils ont fait sur les missiles. Pourquoi la République islamique a-t-elle des missiles? Pourquoi a-t-elle des missiles de longue portée ? Pourquoi la Force Qods a-t-elle été formée ? Pourquoi avons-nous créer les gardiens de la révolution ? »  

Le bilan de Rohani ces deux années et demie est cohérent avec le discours de Khamenei. Son dossier comprend 2300 exécutions, qu’il a décrites comme «conforme à la volonté divine » et aux « législations du Parlement ». La réalité est que le bellicisme sans précédent, les ingérences dans la région, le soutien au dictateur syrien Bashar el-Assad dans le massacre de son peuple, l'exportation du terrorisme et de l'intégrisme et l'augmentation du budget militaire du régime, se font au détriment du peuple iranien qui s'appauvrit de jour en jour.

Le régime iranien prive de soins médicaux des prisonniers blessés

CNRI- Des prisonniers, récemment blessés dans une échauffourée dans la tristement célèbre prison de Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) à Karaj, au nord-ouest de Téhéran, sont maintenus dans des conditions cruelles et inhumaines.

Une récente querelle aurait eu lieu dans la section des prisonniers “ordinaires” de Gohardasht, des rapports suggérant que la confrontation a été instiguée par des éléments du régime à l’intérieur de la prison.

Dans le but d’intensifier la pression sur les prisonniers qui ont été blessés dans les événements récents, on leur a refusé l’accès à des soins appropriés. Au lieu de ça, ils ont été transférés dans le Hall 33 de la Section 10 où les conditions sont proprement inhumaines.

Les cellules n’ont pas de lumière, et les prisonniers n’ont pas accès aux objets les plus essentiels pour l”hygiène personnelle ou collective. La section est également infestée d’insectes propagateurs de virus, de cafards, de pous et de puces.

Plusieurs prisonniers ont commencé une grève de la faim pour protester contre ces conditions inhumaines.

Julie Girling MEP speaks up for women's rights in Iran

Iranians in France hold Nowrouz celebration

Members of the Iranian community in France as well as their French supporters held a Persian New Year celebration on Sunday in Taverny, north of Paris.

The renowned Iranian singer Marjan performed at the 'Nowrouz' ceremony as did renowned Iranian musician Hamidreza Taherzadeh.

IRAN: No to Rouhani Rally planned in Austria on Wednesday

Coinciding with Rouhani’s visit to Austria: Vienna rally by supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran to protest mass executions, arbitrary sentences and export of Islamic extremism by the Iranian regime

Cancel Rouhani’s trip to Austria, Iranian opposition demands

London - Iran’s main opposition coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ), has called on the Austrian government to cancel the upcoming trip by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani .
'The Iranian Resistance considers the planned trip of Rouhani, President of the religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran, to Austria against the highest interests of the Iranian people and the countries in the region and calls on Austrian political parties, parliamentarians and defenders of human rights to cancel this visit', the NCRI said in a statement.
'At a time when western countries have been silent regarding the barbaric violation of human rights and crimes of the Iranian regime in Syria, Iraq and other regional countries, welcoming Rouhani and other leaders of this regime will encourage them in the violation of human rights in Iran, as well as in the export of terrorism, fundamentalism and warmongering in the region and the world'.
'Any relations with this regime should be preconditioned to the annulment of the death penalty in Iran and this regime’s interference in the region'.
The group claimed Rouhani has always been among the highest ranking officials of the regime and should 'face justice along with other leaders of this regime for crimes against humanity'.
'He is no different from other regime leaders as far as suppression and export of terrorism is concerned'.
Rouhani has never expressed any opposition to the “collective and arbitrary” executions in Iran that have numbered 2300 during his own time in office, the NCRI said, pointing out that Rouhani has described the executions in Iran as “divine law or legislations by the parliament” that need to be carried out.

 Source: Iran Focus, MARCH 26

Iran: The story of a political prisoner described to the UN

Hassan Sadeghi, a political prisoner currently kept in a prison in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, explains his life and the way he is being treated by the Iranian regime prison guards to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Mr. Sadeghi was also arrested once before back in 1980s.
He writes: “My Name is Hassan Sadeghi and I was arrested in 1981 when I was only 16 years old. I was kept behind bars until 1987 and the main charges raised against me were actually the charges the state had raised against my mother and father. However, I was condemned because of them. After being released from prison, considering the fact that my mother and father were still wanted and living under cover, I was left with the responsibility to take care of the family. However, I always had to endure harassment from the state because of my mother and father.
In 2012 when my father passed away, considering the fact that he was a relative of a People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) activist, not only did authorities ban any commemorating ceremony for my father (being a very basic right), they also attacked our house and disrupted the family gathering we had been holding. They insulted our friends and relatives, and then arrested me, my wife and my two children (Iman and Maryam), and transferred us to ward 209 of Evin Prison .
I was then sentenced to 15 years behind bars for this ‘family crime’ (my mother and father were politically active). My wife was also sentenced to 15 years behind bars for having a brother who opposed the state.
I am asking the Human Rights Council to follow up on these issues.
 March 23, 2016

Political prisoners in Iran express unity and resoluteness against repression

Two imprisoned college students, Golrokh Iraie and Arash Sadeghi have sent messages from inside an Iranian prison.
Golrokh Iraie wrote: “Another spring without Saeed [Saeed Sheerzad, in jail for helping working children] who was thrown behind bars because his heart beat for the laughing children; and without Atena [Atena Farghadani, in jail for her cartoons depicting regime officials] whose work of art was her ‘crime’. There are times when one has to pay the price for being crazy about a cause. We will stand together until the spring of freedom in our nation.”
Arash Sadeghi is another jailed activist who wrote in his message: “These days nature is being born again. We clean our houses. The houses of our hearts. However, one can never forget the memories. One cannot sweep them away. One cannot leave them to be, unanswered.
At times, spring fails to bring new spirits into our hearts. The memories of friends who used to sit at a table with us, closer than our own families, and who stood for their cause, yet gone standing…
In memory of all our loved ones who perished and those currently in prison:
Sattar Beheshti, Mostafa Karim Beigi, Amir Arshad Tajmir, Saeed Zeinali, Behnoud Ramezani, Reyhane Jabbari, Hoda Saberi, Gholamreza Khosravi, Behkish and … Saeed Sheerzad, Ali Zahed, Ali Amir Gholi, Ahmad Asgari, Soheil Arabi, Mansouri, Soheil Babadi, Hamid Babaie, Arzhang Davoudi, Ali Moezi and Atena Farghadani.

Iran: Female Baha’i student says she is barred from continuing higher education

Baha’i college student, Delaram Akbari from the city of Sari, northern Iran, who was studying computer software, was expelled from school on January 13 after finishing her first term in college.  
She writes about the difficulties she is enduring: “I think to myself why must I be deprived of education? Or why are such problems caused for me a in a university of a few hundred students, while I am only seeking to continue my studies? Finally, I reach this conclusion that I am not the first person that has been deprived of his/her right to education because of their religion, and I probably will not be the last!
During the course of this year (a reference to the last Iranian calendar year from March 20 , 2015 to March 20, 2016) my father’s store in Sari was closed once for 36 days, and again for 6 months. After working 7 years in a hospital my mother was fired from her job due to her belief in the Baha’i religion.
After I finished half of my exams we received a call from the Sari branch of the Ministry of Intelligence. My mother picked up the phone.
An unidentified individual on the line said, “Your daughter must report in to the Ministry of Intelligence News Headquarters on Saturday, January 9, 2016.”
My mother said, “My daughter has exams on Saturday and cannot come to the Ministry of Intelligence News Headquarters.” She then hung up the phone. They called again and the unidentified individual said, “Your daughter is not permitted to take part in the exams, and must show up.”
A week later I had prepared for my last tests and before entering the classroom I presented my project to my dear professor and sat at the exam session. When the exam papers were distributed I realized my documents were not there…
Then the campus security officials came and said since this student is a Baha’i , and we were not informed of it, we shouldn’t have registered her in the first place! Without any other explanation he said I am expelled from the college.

  (March 23, 2016)

Iranian political prisoners in Evin celebrate New Year

NCRI - Iranian political prisoners in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison have celebrated the Iranian New Year despite pressure put on them by the mullahs' regime.

On Sunday March 20, which marked the Iranian Nowrouz, political prisoners in Ward 8 gathered in the ward's prayer hall and distributed tea and sweats among themselves.

The prisoners collectively recited a poem and vowed to continue their resistance against the mullahs' regime.

They also remembered their fallen comrades including Gholamreza Khosravi, who was executed in 2014 for supporting the main Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).

The event was ended when the prisoners collectively sang a revolutionary song.

In her annual New Year message to the Iranian people, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, praised the resistance of Iran's political prisoners, saying that the "spring of freedom" will be realized through their "determination."

A group of Iranian mothers and family members of political prisoners and their supporters gathered outside Tehran's notorious Evin Prison last Sunday to spend time near their loved ones. Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first post-revolution Chancellor of Tehran University, took part in the sit-in. The regime's security forces attacked and beat up the families to force them to disperse.

The Iranian New Year, Nowrouz, coincides each year with the arrival of spring.

Andrew Lewer MEP condemns religious persecution in Iran

NCRI - Andrew Lewer, a Member of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom, has spoken out against religious persecution in Iran.

Mr. Lewer said the people of Iran should be free to practice whatever religion they choose.

He added that European lawmakers share the vision of Iranian opposition leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi for a democratic Iran respectful of religious freedom and without the death penalty.

Text of Andrew Lewer MEP’s Nowrouz message to the people of Iran:

Happy New Year to you all. Happy Nowrouz. I'd like to take this opportunity to pass on my best wishes to the people of Iran.

It was a great pleasure for several of my colleagues to welcome the Iranian opposition leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi to the European Parliament a few weeks ago.

Mrs. Rajavi's vision of a democratic Iran respectful of religious freedom and turning away from the death penalty which is such a stain upon the current regime is a vision many of us share and hope for.

I recently organized a conference about religious freedoms in Iran, during which we heard some harrowing accounts of the treatment of Iranian Baha’is and Christians and their experience of persecution by the current regime.

I believe freedom of religion to be a fundamental human right, irrespective of which religion an individual chooses to practice. And this is certainly not a freedom extended to the Iranian people at present.

I feel it is hugely important to highlight instances where religious freedoms are being or have been infringed upon regardless of where in the world they occur. But Iran is a country of grave concern in this respect.

Whether one agrees that there has been progress in nuclear talks or not shouldn't lead us to turn a blind eye to the executions and abuses that go on apparently unabated in Iran.

So once again I wish you all well in the New Year and share with you hopes for a free and peaceful Iran. Thank you.

Patricija Šulin MEP supports Iranian women’s struggle for freedom

NCRI - Patricija Šulin, a Member of the European Parliament from Slovenia, has sent a message of support to Iranian women who are fighting to achieve freedom and democracy in Iran.

“My dear friends in the Iranian opposition, I wish you and the people of Iran a very happy Iranian New Year - Happy Nowrouz,” Ms. Šulin said.

“I was happy that [Iranian opposition leader] Mrs. Maryam Rajavi was in the European Parliament on 2 March. I have met her before and do support her and all the women who fight for freedom and democracy in Iran.”

“I hope the pain and suffering of your people will end soon, and I wish you all the best,” she added.

Members of the European Parliament have sent their best wishes to the people of Iran on the occasion of Nowrouz, the Iranian New Year 1395, which coincides with the arrival of spring.

Amnesty fears teenage offender to be executed in Iran soon

A young Iranian man, Himan Uraminejad, on death row in Iran for an offence carried out when he was a child, has been told that he will be executed soon after 1 April, Amnesty International has warned.

“Himan Uraminejad was sentenced to death in August 2012 after he was convicted of murder over the fatal stabbing of a boy during a fight, when he was 17,” the international human rights group said in an Urgent Action alerting its members on Thursday, March 24.

Himan is now aged 21, and on death row in Sanandaj’s Prison, western Kurdistan Province, where he has been told he will be executed after the Iranian New Year holiday period ends on 1 April,Amnesty said.

He was retried by Branch 9 of the Provincial Criminal Court in Kurdistan Province in June 2015, and sentenced to death again.

“In its ruling, the court ignored the absolute prohibition, in international law, on using the death penalty against people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, and the fundamental principles of juvenile justice that require all those under 18 years old be treated as children,” Amnesty said.

His sentence was confirmed by the regime’s Supreme Court in November 2015.

“The judicial proceedings that led to Himan Uraminejad’s conviction were unfair. He admitted stabbing the victim during the interrogations, which were conducted without a lawyer present. He is believed to have been tortured while he was held in a police detention centre (agahi): this included severe beatings that apparently left scars and bruises all over his face and body. His trial was held before an adult court, without special juvenile justice protections. No investigation is known to have been carried out into his allegations of torture and other ill-treatment,” the group’s Urgent Action added.

Iran regime arrests at least 20 Kurds during holiday period

NCRI - The mullahs' regime in Iran has arrested or kidnapped at least 20 members of Iran's Kurdish minority over the Nowrouz (Iranian New Year) holiday period.

As part of the arrests, at least 20 people have been transferred to prisons and detention and interrogation centers in Sanandaj and Bukan, western Iran. Among the detainees in Sanandaj are the sister and three brothers of Farhad Vakili, a Kurdish political prisoner who was executed in 2010.

At least 15 people who took part in a Nowrouz celebration in Bukan were arrested and have been transferred to an unknown location.

There is also a report from the town of Ivan, in the western province of Ilam, that agents of the Iranian regime's notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) arrested a young man by the name of Saeid Naderi and took him to an unknown location.

Two other Kurdish students, Mehran Amini and Arash Makri, were arrested last month in Sanadaj and Tabriz respectively, and their current whereabouts are unknown.

The Iranian New Year coincides each year with the start of spring and this year fell on March 20.

Rape and torture in Iran’s Minab Prison

NCRI - Prisoners in Minab's jail, southern Iran, are facing systematic abuse by the regime's prison guards, an ex-prisoner has revealed.

The prisoner has stepped forward with information about the systematic rape and torture of prisoners by the regime's wardens.

Wardens in Minab Prison use a structural column there to tie the hands and feet of prisoners so that the prisoner cannot turn his head. The prisoners are kept in this state as a form of punishment which can last as long as 10 to 15 days.

The mullahs' henchmen have named the column "place of worship" and claim that it "cures" prisoners' "ills" and "wrong-doings."

Prisoners are also faced with a poor state of hygiene, food and medicine. When ill, prisoners are belatedly, and sometimes never at all, taken to the prison infirmary.

Younger prisoners are said to face rape.

About 1000 prisoners are held in the jail.

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted on Wednesday to extend the mandate of Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.

Political prisoners in Iran, including supporters of the main opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) had written to Council Members earlier this month urging them to support the extension of Dr. Shaheed's mandate in this Council session.

Dr. Shaheed last week raised continuing serious concerns about the extremely high rate of executions, especially for juvenile offenders, and fundamental flaws in the administration of justice in Iran.

Iran's regime executed at least 966 prisoners in 2015, the highest such rate in 10 years, Dr. Shaheed said as he presented his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 14.

Iran: clashes, murder reported in prison west of Tehran

Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, west of Tehran, allocated to suspects of violent crimes by the Prisons Organization in Iran, is considered the largest facility where political prisoners and security prisoners are held. This prison, under the shadows of mismanagement and lack of adequate appropriations, has turned into a very dangerous site. On [March 21] more group clashes were reported in hall 18. In this clash that erupted between a large number of prisoners in which dozens were injured and at least three prisoners suffered major wounds using cold weapons (knives, box cutters, cutlasses and …). A death row prisoner by the name of Babak Ghiathi suffered serious wounds and lost his life in the prison clinic.
It is said that prison guards refused to enter the hall as the clashes erupted. The mood in the prison is reported to be tense.

 (March 21, 2016)

Iran: College student arrested by IRGC forces

A college student studying for his master’s degree in Tabriz University (northwest Iran), was arrested on February 25 at his home by Revolutionary Guards intelligence agents.
Two vehicles belonging to IRGC intelligence approached Arash Makri’s home and after forcing themselves into the house arrested the individual without any judicial warrant.
The IRGC agents presented no judicial order and began searching Makri’s home after his arrest, confiscating his belongings including a laptop, mobile phones, flash memory sticks and a number of Kurdish books.
It is also worth noting that during the past few months the IRGC intelligence had summoned Arash Makri twice before and interrogated him based on allegations of having connections to a Kurdish party opposing the Islamic republic. 

(March 22, 2016)

Interpol à la recherche de sept hackers iraniens

Sept agents du régime iranien sont poursuivis par la justice américaine pour avoir conduit une série d'attaques informatiques contre une cinquantaine d'institutions financières entre 2011 et 2013, a rapporté Le Point. Ces « cybercrimes », selon la dénomination du FBI qui a émis, hier 24 mars, un avis de recherche les désignant, auraient coûté plusieurs dizaines de millions de dollars et compromis la sécurité d'un barrage proche de New York.

Procédant de manière classique, les « hackers » ont inondé les sites visés de requêtes informatiques automatisées aboutissant à créer un « déni de service » (DDoS) et à faire tomber leurs serveurs.

Entre décembre 2011 et septembre 2012, ces attaques ont été hebdomadaires.

La Cour fédérale de New York souhaite juger sept personnes. Un mandat d'arrêt international a été publié à leur encontre et une notice rouge a été publiée par Interpol afin de permettre leur extradition au cas où ils seraient interpellés dans un pays tiers. Les autorités américaines les suspectent d'être toujours en Iran.

Iran: insulting and degrading treatment of women prisoners

A recently published report out of the women’s ward of the notorious Evin Prison sheds light on inhumane and degrading treatments of women prisoners.
This report states:
In the women’s ward of Evin Prison where many are suffering mothers, the prisoners remain without any phone calls, their visits are limited and their living conditions are riddled with problems.
The women’s ward in Evin Prison has three rooms and a 25 square meter kitchen with 2 normal 4-flame stoves. As the number of inmates vary, this ward lacks enough beds and many women are forced to sleep on the floor. In various months of the year, around June, the number of prisoners increase. The prisoners of this ward are faced with specific problems, especially during the winter.
In the women’s ward of Evin Prison the inmates of this ward are unable to make contact with the outside world, and this is extremely troubling for prisoners. If the prisoner do ask for phone calls they are forced to issue numerous written requests to various branches of the prison, and this trend may actually take 2 or 3 months to render results. The women’s ward in Evin Prison also lacks adequate recreational and cultural providing. The ward only has a library, of which the books are provided by the prisoners themselves.

Iran: Gilan Teachers Guild protests new condemning of political prisoner Rasoul Baddaghi

The Gilan Teachers Guild in northern Iran issued a statement on Monday, March 21st condemning a new ruling upholding another 3-year jail sentence issued for political prisoner Rasoul Baddaghi, also warning about the threat of this jailed teacher going blind due to unbearable prison conditions.
It is worth noting that on March 18th a Tehran Province appeals court upheld and confirmed a 3-year jail sentence for this imprisoned teacher. This political prisoner was arrested back in September 2009 and sentenced to 6 years behind bars. However, authorities have refused to release him after serving his time behind bars, instead transferring him to solitary confinement in ward 2A of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison , known to be under the control of the Revolutionary Guards. Baddaghi is currently held in ward 7 of Evin Prison.

Discriminative violent treatment and inhumane torture inflicted on Sunni prisoners by Iranian regime

London- An Iran-based humanitarian rights agency published a report on Iranian authorities detaining over 70 Sunni activists for allegations on political crimes and compromising homeland security.
The report reveals that activists are being held in Gohardasht Prison, located west of Tehran.
According to the agency, 30 Sunni political activists have been sentenced to death, meanwhile, the rest have verdicts varying between five years to life. The report exposes discriminative violent treatment and inhumane torture inflicted on Sunni prisoners for their religious affiliations.
Sunni activists in Iran are facing capital punishment for claims on incitement against government, corrupting land, Hirabah and belonging to Salafist groups.
Iranian human rights organizations condemn the ambiguity covering details on trials held against convicts, and the verdicts passed on Sunni people.
Ahmed Shaheed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic had expressed his deep concerns regarding the standing of Sunnis and ethnic minorities in Iran in his latest report two weeks ago.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon had also spoken of his fears for the Sunni people and prisoners in Iranian prisons.

Source: Al- Awsat English

Iran: political prisoners are deprived of medical care

Authorities in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj are depriving Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Nazari from receiving medical care outside of prison. This prisoner has been behind bars for 22 years. In the past few days prison authorities transferred Nazari from the hall of ward 12 to outside of prison due to heart and breathing problems. However, they have not permitted him to be hospitalized.
Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Nazari is from the town of Shaheen Dezh and was arrested on May 30, 1994 by security agents. After being placed under months of torture in solitary confinement he was condemned to death. Following 5 years in prison in 1999 his sentence was downgraded to life in jail.
This Kurdish political prisoner sewed his lips and went on hunger strike for 40 days back in September 2012 protesting two decades of detention.

 ( NCRI – March 19, 2016)

US Justice Department to charge Iranian government in cyber attacks against banks, New York dam

WASHINGTON -The Obama administration is expected to blame Iranian hackers as soon as Thursday for a coordinated campaign of cyber attacks in 2012 and 2013 on several U.S. banks and a New York dam, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against about a half-dozen Iranians, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. It is one of the highest-profile U.S. indictments against a foreign nation on hacking charges.
It follows a landmark 2014 case in which a grand jury charged five members of the Chinese military with hacking into American computer networks and engaging in cyber espionage on behalf of a foreign government.
The charges, related to unlawful access to computers and other alleged crimes, were expected to be announced publicly by U.S. officials as soon as Thursday morning at a news conference in Washington, the sources said.
The indictment was expected to directly link the hacking campaign to the Iranian government, one source said. The banks will not be identified in the indictment due to fear of retaliation, the source said.

Iran: political prisoners continue hunger strike in prison west of Tehran

On Monday, March 21st, political prisoners Iraj Hatami and Farid Azmude surpassed their 8th day on hunger strike. The physical conditions of these two prisoners have been reported as dangerous. Authorities in this prison have not only neglected the demands raised by these political prisoners, they have also deprived them of any medical care.
Prisoners in Gohardasht Prison have issued warnings to international and human rights organizations across the globe about the physical conditions of these two prisoners on hunger strike.

Discours prononcé par l’avocat iranien après le suicide d’un jeune - Vidéo

Discours prononcé à la mosquée de la ville de Chadan par l’avocat iranien Mohammad Nadjafi après le suicide d’un jeune habitant de cette ville

Ce jeune avait souffert de la toxicomanie pendant plusieurs années. Heureusement, il a réussi à suivre une cure de désintoxication. Ensuite, il a vécu plusieurs années dans la pureté et il est mort dans la pureté.

Les mollahs qui prêchent des sermons dans cette mosquée sont pour la plupart des gens pour qui les problèmes de l’Iran et des Iraniens n’ont aucune importance, alors qu’ils étaient censés s’occuper des problèmes du peuple et nous diriger vers le paradis. Je prends donc la parole à leur place pour dire quelques mots sur les souffrances de nos compatriotes, et en particuliers sur les souffrances des habitants de notre ville.

Chadan est une petite ville, mais les souffrances des habitants de cette ville sont très grandes. Cette année plusieurs personnes se sont suicidées dans notre ville. Parmi eux, il y a eu des diplômés de l’enseignement supérieurs et des ouvriers, comme ce jeune ouvrier soudeur dont nous déplorons la mort aujourd’hui. Cela n’a aucune importance pour ceux qui gouvernent dans ce pays, malgré le fait que nous sommes en période électorale et que les gouvernants ont besoin de notre vote.

Iran : Appel au Parlement et aux partis politiques autrichiens à demander l’annulation de la visite de Rohani

Accueillir les dirigeants du régime les encourage dans leur violation des droits de l’homme et l’exportation du terrorisme

CNRI - La Résistance Iranienne estime que le voyage en Autriche prévu par Rohani, le président de la théocratie au pouvoir en Iran, va à l’encontre des intérêts du peuple iranien et des pays de la région, et appelle les partis politiques, les parlementaires et les défenseurs des droits de l’homme autrichiens d’appeler à annuler de cette visite.

Alors que les pays occidentaux sont restés silencieux et ont choisi d’ignorer les violations barbares des droits de l’homme et les crimes de ce régime en Syrie, en Irak et dans d’autres pays de la région, accueillir Rohani et les dirigeants de ce régime les encouragera dans leur exactions en Iran, ainsi que dans l’exportation du terrorisme, du fondamentalisme et du bellicisme dans la région et dans le monde.

Toute relation avec ce régime doit avoir comme condition préalable la suppression de la peine de mort en Iran et de l’ingérence du régime dans la région.

Rohani a toujours fait partie des hauts dirigeants de ce régime et devrait être traduit en justice, de même que d’autres dirigeants du régime, pour crime contre l’humanité. En ce qui concerne la répression et l’exportation du terrorisme, il n’est pas différent des autres dirigeants du régime.

Rohani ne s’est jamais opposé aux exécutions collectives et arbitraires qui ont atteint le nombre de 2300 pendant son mandat ; il les a même qualifiées de « lois divines ou promulguées par le parlement qui doivent être appliquées ».

Le 8 février, il a reconnu de façon inédite l’ingérence et le bellicisme du régime dans les pays de la région en affirmant : « Si nos forces armées et nos commandants n’avaient pas combattu à Bagdad, à Falloujah et à Ramadi, s’ils n’avaient pas soutenu le gouvernement syrien à Damas et à Alep, et sans le courage de notre armée et des Pasdaran, du Basij et la NAJA [la police de la République Islamique), nous n’aurions pas bénéficié du niveau de sécurité essentiel pour mener à bien une si bonne négociation [nucléaire]. »

UN extends mandate of human rights monitor for Iran

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted on Wednesday to extend the mandate of Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.

Political prisoners in Iran, including supporters of the main opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) had written to Council Members earlier this month urging them to support the extension of Dr. Shaheed's mandate in this Council session.

The decision was adopted by a vote of 20-15 with 11 abstentions.

Dr. Shaheed last week raised continuing serious concerns about the extremely high rate of executions, especially for juvenile offenders, and fundamental flaws in the administration of justice in Iran.

Iran's regime executed at least 966 prisoners in 2015, the highest such rate in 10 years, Dr. Shaheed said as he presented his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 14.

“With at least 16 juvenile offenders reportedly hanged between 2014 [and] 2015, Iran remains one of a few countries still resorting to this practice despite a strict prohibition against it under international law,” Dr. Shaheed said, urging the Iranian regime's officials to “put aside efforts at piecemeal reform in this area and ensure, once and for all, that no boy or girl who commits a crime under the age of 18 is ever put to death.”

Dr. Shaheed also highlighted fundamental flaws in the administration of criminal justice, ranging from laws that expressly violate the Iranian regime’s legal obligations to the failure of security, intelligence and judiciary officials to faithfully and properly implement provisions of Iranian law that comply with international law.

Dr. Shaheed noted reports that individuals accused of national security and drug crimes are often deprived of the most basic due process and fair trial rights, including proper access to lawyers, long periods of incommunicado detention, torture and ill-treatment and forced confessions used in court to secure convictions.

Dr. Shaheed’s report, which assesses developments since October 2015, also covers other areas of serious concern such as restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to free and fair elections, women’s rights and concerns regarding the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, the UN website said.

Dr. Shaheed urged the regime to admit him for a country visit.

Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme.