type here...
Home Blog Page 538

Double punishment for jailed human rights defenders

crazydead
-
0
Double punishment for jailed human rights defenders

 

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), denounces the policy of subjecting jailed human rights defenders to discriminative punitive measures in prison, while the sentencing of journalist Abdolreza Tajik to six years of imprisonment has been upheld in appeal.
In Iran, the authorities have continued to target human rights lawyers as an attempt to reduce the number of those who are prepared to defend victims of the overtly flawed judicial system, in particular human rights defenders and women’s rights activists, trade unionists and student activists, effectively criminalising human rights legal representation. Lawyers are not only subjected to judicial harassment and unfair prison sentences, but they are also subjected to punitive measures in jail aimed at silencing them and sanctioning their legitimate activities.On October 20, 2011, Mr. Abdolreza Tajik, journalist, a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and winner of the 2010 Freedom of Press Award of Reporters without Borders, was sentenced in appeal to six years of prison on charges of “propaganda against the system”, “acting against the national security”, “cooperation with the DHRC”, and “collaboration with opposition groups”. Since the disputed June 2009 presidential election, he has been arrested three times. The third time he was detained during over six months. He remains free on bail but is at risk of arbitrary arrest anytime.

Another recent case is that of human rights lawyer Ms. Nasrin Sotudeh, known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and children victims of abuse, serving a six year prison term in Section 350 of Evin prison, who has been banned from having family visits for three weeks as of October 16, 2010, on the pretext that she refuses to wear the chador, although there are no laws requiring the prisoners to wear the chador. In addition, she has not been denied the right to have meetings in person for over three months, contrary to prison rules according to which prisoners may meet their family members in person once a month.

Besides, human rights lawyer Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani, a founding member of the DHRC, who was arrested on September 10, 2011, was recently threatened by his interrogator of a prison sentence of 20 years on charges of “participation in founding the Defenders of Human Rights Centre”, “propaganda against the system”, “assembly and collusion against national security”, and “earning illegitimate assets” through receiving the Nuremberg City’s Human Rights Prize in 2009. Following his arrest, he has been held incommunicado in Section 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence within Evin Prison’s premise. Last week his family was allowed to visit him for the first time. The investigation is closed and under such conditions, Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani should have been released on bail pending trial and a final decision. Nevertheless, Mr. Soltani’s detention order was extended for another month in late September.

Finally, Mr. Amir Eslami, a member of the Human Rights Commission of the Iranian Bar Association and a lawyer of Gonabadi Dervishes, who has been in solitary detention since September 4, was recently transferred to Evin Prison’s clinic owing to serious health problems. Other imprisoned lawyers of Dervishes are Messrs. Farshid Yadollahi, Omid Behroozi, Afshin Karampour, Reza Entessari and Hamidreza Moradi and are being held in Section 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence within Evin Prison’s premises. The latter is also reported to have heart ailment. None of them have been granted access to their families or lawyers since they were detained.

The Observatory firmly denounces the policy of harassment of human rights defenders through arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and punitive measures in prison, which only aim at sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities. It also urges the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained, and more generally to conform to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.

EU sanctions five Iranians over Saudi ambassador plot; Ashton says Iran nuclear talks could resume soon

crazydead
-
0
EU sanctions five Iranians over Saudi ambassador plot; Ashton says Iran nuclear talks could resume soon

 

The European Union on Friday targeted five Iranians with anti-terrorist sanctions relating to an alleged failed bid to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States, as major powers expressed willingness to meet with Iran if Tehran was prepared to “engage seriously in meaningful discussions” over its nuclear program.

“Following the foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., the Council today subjected five persons to EU restrictive measures aimed at combating terrorism,” the EU said in a statement.

Diplomats said the five were all of Iranian origin, according to AFP.

The EU statement did not name those targeted or state their nationalities but said “their financial assets in the EU will be frozen and that no funds may be made available to them.”

Diplomats named the five as Manssor Arbabsiar, who is in custody in the United States, Gholam Shakuri, who has been indicted in New York but is at large, Qasem Slaimani, Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai.

A grand jury in New York on Thursday indicted Arbabsiar and Shakuri with plotting to hire Mexican gangsters to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Iran has strongly denied any involvement in what the United States says was a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force to kill the ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million.

Also on Friday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said in a letter to Tehran that major powers were willing to meet with Iran within weeks if Tehran was prepared to “engage seriously in meaningful discussions” on its disputed nuclear program.

“When moving to continuation of our talks, it is crucial to look for concrete results,” Catherine Ashton said in the letter addressed to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

“We have to ensure that when we meet again we can make real progress on the nuclear issue so that both sides can draw concrete benefits,” said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

Ashton has been handling contacts with Iran on behalf of six powers, which include the United States, Britain, France and Germany as well as non-Western states Russia and China.

 

Source

Security chief lays out rules for foreign film work

crazydead
-
0
Security chief lays out rules for foreign film work

 

The head of Iran’s security forces has announced that any Iranian wanting to do work for a satellite network first needs a valid licence from the Ministry of Guidance, and working with the BBC and Voice of America is considered cooperation with “the enemy’s intelligence services.”

ISNA reports that Commander Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, the head of Iran’s security forces, said those who are inclined to work with satellite networks must coordinate with the Ministry of Guidance and receive permission.

“Anyone who doesn’t have the necessary permission cannot engage in productions inside or outside Iran or set up an agency office for these channels,” Ahmadi Moghaddam said.

He added that documentary makers, actors and film artists will only be allowed to collaborate with satellite networks that have no anti-regime agenda.

He insisted that the BBC and Voice of America are “intelligence arms of the United States like the CIA” and emphasized that collaboration with these networks “is not collaboration with the media but rather working with the security services of the enemy, and naturally it will be dealt with by the Intelligence Ministry.”

Last month, authorities arrested six Iranian documentary makers on charges of collaborating with the Persian BBC.

The BBC has announced that it has no collaborators or employees in Iran.

In the past month, in addition to efforts to block satellite signals, Iranian authorities have also engaged in a widespread campaign of confiscating satellite dishes from people’s homes in order to stop them from accessing programs broadcast from outside Iranian borders.

 

Source

Labour activist Ayat Niafar in jail

crazydead
-
0
Labour activist Ayat Niafar in jail

 

GVF — An Iranian labour activist has been arrested, according to reports.

The Iranian Independent Workers Union has announced that Ayat Niafar, a labour activist, was arrested by security forces at metro stop in Tehran on Monday 17 October. Niafar’s place of residence was also reportedly searched and a number of his belongings were confiscated by authorities.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), he is currently being detained in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

 

Source

Two Christians Summoned & Arrested in Shahriar

crazydead
-
0
Two Christians Summoned & Arrested in Shahriar

 

HRANA News Agency – On Monday and Tuesday of this week, intelligent agents raided the houses of two Christians in Shahriar, Karaj, and arrested one and summoned the other individual.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on October 17, 2011, intelligent agents raided a citizen’s house in Shahriar but were unable to detain him since he was not home. This individual has been identified as “Mohammad N.” Security agents searched the house and confiscated a computer, books and CDs containing religious teachings and summoned Mohammad N. to the Intelligent Agency.

Similarly, on October 18, 2011, intelligent agents raided Fariborz A.’s house in Shahriar and arrested him.Fariborz A. is a newly converted Christian. During this raid, security agents searched the house and seized his personal property.

 

Source

Iran, the Saudis and the New ‘Great Game’

crazydead
-
0
Iran, the Saudis and the New ‘Great Game’

 

The New York Times – Whether the Iranian government actually sought to hire Mexican gangsters to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asserted at a dramatic press conference last week, remains uncertain. Conspiracy theories are swirling, but as evidence emerges it may become possible to decipher this bizarre-sounding plot.

Whatever the truth, it unfolded against a riveting background. Escalating tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are part of a new “great game,” one of the farthest-reaching geopolitical conflicts in the world. The prize could be hegemony over the Middle East.

Today the region looks strikingly similar to the way it looked after World War II. The old hegemon, Britain, was exhausted and pulling out, leaving a power vacuum in its wake. A rising power, the United States, stepped in to fill it.

Something comparable is happening again. U.S. power in the Middle East is ebbing for a variety of reasons. The invasion of Iraq upset regional balances and ultimately caused America much strategic damage. Supporting Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza has further isolated the United States. Two pro-American Arab dictators have fallen and others seem shaky.

Washington will continue to project power in the Middle East, mainly to assure oil supplies and support Israel, but will never be as influential as it was during the second half of the 20th century. This leaves a vacuum that other powers are competing to fill. Iran and Saudi Arabia are the main combatants. Every point of conflict between them is a skirmish in their wider war.

Iran has many proxies. It supports Shiite militias across the region and considers itself a protector of Shiite communities. As upheaval sweeps the Arab world, Iran is using these assets in an effort to reap strategic gain. This has provoked a strong counteroffensive from Saudi Arabia.

Iran encouraged the Shiite majority in Bahrain to rebel; Saudi Arabia responded by sending in tanks and crushing the protests. When the Saudis concluded that Iran was meddling in Yemen, they began imposing their will on Yemen’s security forces. In Syria, Iran backs the Assad regime while Saudi Arabia supports the opposition. These are stages on which the larger conflict is playing out.

Washington is another stage. Blocking Iran is a top U.S. priority, and Washington is doing all it can to help Saudi Arabia. Most recently, the Obama administration offered to sell Bahrain $53 million worth of weapons. So this rivalry has global as well as regional consequences.

There is an odd aspect to it, however. In the changed political climate, hegemony will only be secure if people want it to be. The days when Arab countries could be delivered into the hands of a big power by fiat are ending. Balance-of-power verities will undoubtedly reassert themselves as a new dynamic takes hold, but with a difference. Today, no country can become dominant in the Middle East unless it appeals to citizens.

Here lies an essential truth of the intensifying rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Most people in the Middle East reject both of them. The political and social models they offer are less attractive than ever. Both countries are isolated from the world and governed by misogynistic gerontocracies. They are hardly inspirational models for idealistic Arabs — especially not for the young, who have no wish to live under the paralyzing social restrictions that deaden life in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Since neither country can realistically hope to dominate the region, why is their rivalry so intense? It is less about asserting power than blocking a perceived enemy. Each side believes the other is plotting against it — not without reason — and sees counteroffense as its best option. Much of what happens in the Middle East over the coming months and years will be shaped by this semi-clandestine war.

There are other contenders for regional leadership. Egypt has a historical claim, but will be focused on internal politics for at least the next several years. Iraq is violently unstable. The more likely candidate is Turkey.

Turkey has several advantages: a history of regional influence, a government headed by pious Muslims, a creative and ambitious foreign policy, good ties to the West, and above all a successful society. Yet its campaign for influence also faces obstacles. The most obvious is its nagging conflict with Kurdish nationalism. An ambush on Wednesday in which 24 Turkish soldiers were killed, and the intense military reaction that followed, reflects how intractable this problem has become. Until it is resolved, Turkey will have trouble projecting itself as a model of peace and progress.

For many in the Middle East, though, Turkey remains far more attractive than Iran or Saudi Arabia. In Turkey they see what they want for themselves: freedom, opportunity, a balance between Islam and secularism, a booming economy — and a government not known to plot foreign assassinations.

 

Source

Human Rights Activist Karim Rahmani’s Family Pressured & Threatened

crazydead
-
0
Human Rights Activist Karim Rahmani’s Family Pressured & Threatened

 

HRANA News Agency – Iran’s Intelligence Agency in the city of Kamyaran, Kurdistan Province, has increased pressure on the family of Karim Rahmani and threatened his father repeatedly. Karim (Rebin) Rahmani is a Kurdish human rights activist who was forced to flee Iran after he was released from prison.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), security agents in Kamyaran have summoned Karim Rahmani’s father to the Intelligence Agency several times and have interrogated and pressured him about his son’s political activities.

On November 19, 2006, Karim Rahmani was arrested in Kermanshah and charged with acting against national security because of his political and social activities. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison and locked up in solitary confinement multiple times during this time. Karim Rahmani endured physical and psychological torture while he was behind bars, and once released, he escaped Iran fearing for his life.

 

Source

Kurdish journalist imprisoned for more than 1,500 days without furlough

crazydead
-
0
Kurdish journalist imprisoned for more than 1,500 days without furlough

 

The violation of the most fundamental rights for Kurdish prisoners has become a common practice in Iran- namely in the prisons. Recently, a number of unknown Kurdish prisoners have launched hunger strikes to protest the deplorable conditions they are forced to endure.

In late June, three Kurdish men held in the inhumane Rajai Shahr ‘Gohardasht’ prison (Karaj) entered their 26th day of hunger strike, and other reports counted as many as 25 political prisoners on hunger strike in various detention centres.  In July, Jamal Alizadeh, a Kurdish man held in Orumiyeh central prison (Western Azerbaijan province), also launched a hunger strike.

There is another prisoner, Kurdish journalist Kamal Sharifi, who has also risked his life, in hopes of his basic prisoner rights to be respected. Sharifi launched a hunger strike in July to protest the unsuitable prison conditions and the violation of his rights as a prisoner of conscience. On the 55th day of abstaining from eating, he ended the strike upon his mother’s request. Sharifi had lost 25 kilograms of weight by then.

Before the recent visit from his mother to request an end to the hunger strike, Sharifi was banned from receiving prison visits while also deprived of the most basic prisoner rights. Additionally, the Kurdish political prisoner has been denied furlough for more than 1,500 days. Sharifi is held in prison exile in Hormozgan, located in southern Iran.

His brother Taha Sharifi spoke to Jaras: “Kamal Sharifi is banned from receiving visits. We were only allowed to visit him after he was on hunger strike for 55 days. During that visit, my mother and I asked him to end his strike and he accepted. In the short phone calls he is allowed to make he informs us that he is well- otherwise, we would have no news about his health or condition. He contacted us several days ago and said he is experiencing problems in his feet (or legs), and needs to be examined by a specialist outside the prison. We don’t know if they will allow him to visit a specialist outside the prison. When we went to visit him, his hands and feet were shackled. Even in the prison, he was in shackles. He is held in the same ward as prisoners serving time for charges related to drug-trafficking…”

His sister Mahnaz Sharifi had previously told Jaras: “We ask from the [Iranian authorities] to respect political prisoners and look into their demands. We ask that prisoners in need of medical attention be provided with such care. We want increased supervision for the prisons and the conditions of political prisoners. We ask that the basic rights of prisoners of conscience, such as visits and furlough, be respected, so their families do not suffer further. But what can we do? Nobody hears our voice!”

Taha Sharifi: “My father and mother are older and they want to see their son. However, not a single visit has been granted. We have corresponded and met in person with different officials. We wrote a letter to Mr. Khamenei (the Iranian Supreme Leader) and another to Mr. Ahmadinejad (the Iranian President), but we have not received any response to these letters. Only Mr. Shahroudi, Mr. Khamenei’s representative, gave us a letter so that we could visit Kamal and ask him to end his strike after he had lost 25 kilograms.”

Taha Sharifi explains further that there is nothing Kamal Sharifi’s lawyers can do. “My brother’s first lawyer was Ms. Shirin Ebadi, who is outside Iran. Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani, his other lawyer, has been arrested, and is in jail. Now, his lawyer is Mr. Sheikhi, but there is nothing he can do,” she said.

In 1999, The Saghez Revolutionary Court sentenced Kamal Sharifi to 30 years in prison to be served in exile. He was charged with, “Moharebeh” (enmity with and waging war against God). His father Bayazid Sharifi has said previously, “Kamal wants to be tried fairly and able to ask the judge what crime he had committed to deserve the suffering and the imprisonment.”

 

Source

Days Before Release, Christian Pastor’s Prison Sentence Extended

crazydead
-
0
Days Before Release, Christian Pastor’s Prison Sentence Extended

 

On 18 October, 3 days prior to his scheduled release, Iranian judicial authorities extended the prison term for Pastor Behnam Irani by five years, invoking a suspended sentence from 2008. Irani is a member of an evangelical group called Church of Iran and the leader of a house-church in Karaj.

A Church of Iran spokesperson told theInternational Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that authorities originally arrested Irani in 2006 for his church activities, such as holding services and proselytizing, and he spent several months in detention. On 23 February 2008, Branch 30 of the Appellate Court in Tehran sentenced Iran to a five-year suspended prison term on charges of “acting against national security.” Since his term was a “suspended” term, he did not go to prison but was free on a five-year probation.

On 14 April 2010, security forces raided Irani’s house in Karaj and arrested him. According to the Church spokesperson, security personnel beat Irani during the course of the arrest. Media sources reported that at the time of the raid, there was a religious gathering at Irani’s home, and security officials confiscated Bibles and Christian literature and DVDs. Irani was eventually sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime” and began serving his term.

Irani was scheduled to be released on 20 October 2011 but was informed by letter 3 days prior to his release that his original 2008 suspended sentence was going to be re-activated and his detention would be extended by five years.

Another looming element of the original 2008 verdict is the appeals court’s insistence that the Prosecutor’s Office pursue an apostasy death sentence against Irani. The judge wrote:

“Considering the explicit confessions of the abovementioned individual [Irani] during the trial, that his father and mother were Muslims and he, himself, also opted for Islam when he reached maturity, and then left the holy religion of Islam and became a Christian. And that he also deceived a group of people into leaving Islam. Therefore as mentioned in … [Islamic religious text] … the abovementioned individual is definitely an innate apostate, and the sentence for innate apostasy is death.”

So far there is no indication that any prosecutor’s office will pursue an apostasy charge against him, but in light of the recent apostasy trial of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani many of Pastor Irani’s associates fear that the apostasy charge could be leveled against him.

 

Source

UN Report Documents Iran’s Human Rights Crisis

crazydead
-
0
UN Report Documents Iran’s Human Rights Crisis

 

15 October 2011) The Iranian government should immediately allow access to the UN appointed Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed to address Iran’s ongoing human rights crisis, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today, following the release ofShaheed’s interim report.

The interim report by the Special Rapporteur documents the multi-faceted human rights crisis gripping Iran. It provides details of the persecution and prosecution of civil society actors, including political activists, journalists, students, artists, lawyers, and environmental activists; as well as the routine denial of freedom of assembly, women’s rights, the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, and the skyrocketing rates of executions.

The Iranian government has so far rejected any cooperation with Shaheed’s mandate. The report is based on first-hand testimonies of victims as well as interviews with Iranian human rights and civil society actors conducted outside of Iran.

“This report demonstrates that the Iranian government can run from the truth but cannot hide from it. The depth and details of the human rights crisis in the country, documented in this report, obligate UN member states to demand full compliance from Iran regarding its international commitments,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

In his report, Shaheed notes several requests to engage with the Iranian government, all of which have been unanswered. On 19 October, Shaheed will make a formal presentation of his findings to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Shaheed’s report is released on the heels of an annual report by the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, which also confirmed the continuing and deteriorating human rights situation in Iran.

The Campaign called on UN member states to take a strong and unified stance in support of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and use all diplomatic means to urge Iran to cooperate with it.

The Special Rapporteur’s report highlights the house arrest of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi who have been under an extra-judicial confinement since 14 February 2011.

The interim report notes “certain practices that amount to torture, cruel, or degrading treatment of the detained, the imposition of the death penalty in absence of proper judicial safeguards, the status of women, the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, the erosion of civil and political rights — in particular the harassment, intimidation of human rights defenders and civil society actors.”

The extensive application of the death penalty, particularly the use of secret mass executions carried out in Vakilabad prison in the city of Mashad in absence of due process, is also highlighted in the Special Rapporteur’s interim report. It notes that in 2010, at least 300 secret executions were reported, as well as at least 146 such executions in 2011 carried out at Vakilabad. The Iranian authorities have been silent on these secret executions.

Despite time limitations on creating the report, it covers dozens of cases of individuals persecuted and prosecuted for their political beliefs and civil society and human rights activism.

The interim report also takes note of several letters written by prisoners detailing their torture and ill-treatment, as well as inhumane prison conditions, including letters by prisoners of conscience Abdollah Momeni, Ahmad Ghabel, and Omid Kokabee.

“We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report which documents some of the most urgent issues facing the Iranian human rights community,” Ghaemi said.

The Campaign notes that Iran’s complete lack of cooperation with the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and the government’s continued refusal to allow him access to the country is an indication that it has no intention of taking meaningful steps to improve the human rights situation.

 

Source

1...537538539...704Page 538 of 704