Nazanin Khosravani

Detained Iranian journalist, Nazanin Khosravani finally contacted her family from Evin Prison a week after her arrest.

RAHANA reports that Khosravani contacted her family from Evin Prison informing them that she is held in solitary confinement at Ward 209 which is run by Iranian intelligence ministry.

Free-Journalists website reports that Azam Afsharian, Khosravani’s mother, has reported that although her daughter told them that she can be released on bail, the judiciary has refused to accept a bail for her saying she has not been issued any conditions for release from the judiciary.

 

Khosravani was arrested last Wednesday and her home was searched twice at which time her computer and personal belongings were confiscated.

Khosravani has collaborated with several reformist newspapers before but in the past seven months, according to her mother, she has been unemployed and not involved in any journalistic activities.

In the past year and a half, numerous journalists have born the brunt of the Islamic Republic’s retaliation against protesters of the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which the opposition claims was fraudulent

Iran: Rights Defender Dedicates Award to Women Activists

http://freedomessenger.com/?p=13824

 (New York) – Sussan Tahmasebi, recipient of the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism for 2010, dedicated her award to the imprisoned lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and other detained women activists on November 10, 2010. Human Rights Watch is presenting the award to Tahmasebi for her courageous work to promote civil society and women’s rights in Iran.
Tahmasebi expressed her concern about Sotoudeh’s deteriorating health. Sotoudeh has been on a “dry” hunger strike since October 31, 2010, refusing to eat or drink anything to protest being held in solitary confinement since her arrest on September 4......

Systematic violations of the right to life

Executions, arbitrary killings, deaths in custody, and death sentences

Execution

 

Iran hangs minor offender in secret

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-29-40/4151-1.html

On July 10, Iran secretly executed a young man who had committed a crime at the age of 15. The execution of this young man, Mohammad, was not announced from before by the judiciary.

Mohammad was swiftly executed without the knowledge of his family in the Morordasht Prison in Shiraz.

This sentence was issued by the Fars Penal Court and upheld by the 33^rd branch of the Supreme Court. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 25, 2010) 

 

Iran hangs two men in Orumieh prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-28-00-30-11/4277-1.html

Two prisoners in the Central Orumieh Prison were executed in the past three days on charges of carrying and possessing narcotics.

According to reports, Yahya Zare from Orumieh was executed on Tuesday morning in this prison on charges of carrying and possessing narcotics.

Another prisoner identified as Saber Amir Hosseini from Sanandaj was also hanged in this prison on those charges today.

State-run media did not report their executions. Judicial officials secretly execute hundreds of prisoners every year without officially announcing their executions. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 30, 2010) 

 

Arbitrary killing

 

Iran murders second Kahrizak doctor who had evidence of systematic prison rape and sexual abuse

According to reports, Dr. Abdolreza Soudbakhsh, an assistant professor at Tehran University who was shot and killed last week was linked to the Kahrizak Detention Center its prisoners who were suffering from infections in the urinary tract and damaged reproductive systems (as a result of rape and sexual abuse in Kahrizak) and had orders from security forces to officially announce that all prisoners who came to him for treatment had meningitis.

This university professor was suspiciously shot and killed one day before going abroad.

Therefore, Soudbakhsh is the second doctor who was killed in the past year over this issue. 

Ramin Pourandarjani, another doctor who was serving in the State Security Forces in the

Kahrizak Detention Center suspiciously passed away on November 16, 2009. Officials announced his death as suicide…

According to this report Soudbakhsh was informed about the medical cases of all those killed in the Kahrizak Detention Center. In addition to this, he was specialist and checked and treated all Kahrizak prisoners and had special information in this regard.

This report also said that Soudbakhsh recently felt that his life was in danger because of increased pressure by security forces.

He had a ticket to leave Iran on September 22 and was shot dead outside of his clinic in Keshavarz Blvd in Tehran less than a day before he was to go abroad. (Jaras Website – Sep. 27, 23010)

Security forces kill mother and blind 19 year old girl in forced eviction in Mazandaran

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-51/4276-1.html

In an attack to homes near a property in Fereidoon Kenar in the province of Mazandaran, the mother of two mentally disabled children was killed while a 19-year old girl was blinded in one eye.

According to reports, after a woman who recently came from abroad filed a complaint demanding a property she owned which is the home of 3 families, judicial orders were issued for the evacuation and demolition of these homes built in this property. This woman who has lived in the US for the last 30 years is the owner of seven homes in which 7 to 8 families lived in while paying their dues and taxes…

Last Wednesday, security forces came to this property with a warrant for the evacuation and demolition of the homes and clashed with the residents. These clashes reached their climax when people in the vicinity also interfered. In the middle of the clashes a woman of about 60 years who was the mother of a mentally disabled girl and boy was killed after being struck on the head with a baton.

When the clashes increased, security forces used tear gas, plastic bullets and batons to disperse the crowds which led to injuries on both sides of the clashes. According to eyewitnesses, a 19-year-old girl was shot in the eye with a plastic bullet and was blinded. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 30, 2010)

 

Death sentence

 

Names of death row minor offenders

A group of minor offenders are in Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison in Karaj. Death sentences have been issued for many of them and they are considered to be on death row. The identification documents of some of these young prisoners have also been invalidated and they do not have a true and legal identity.

Some of these young men are:

1- Saied Mohsen Miri (his death sentence has been issued and his identity has been invalidated)

2- Reza Padashi (on death row)

3- Hamed Pour Heidar (on death row and transferred to cellblock 2)

4- Hossein Ranjbarzadeh (on death row)

5- Kazem Khosravi (on death row)

6- Ehsan Ejdehaki (on death row)

7- Alireza Johari (on death row)

8- Daniel Hassanpour (on death row)

9- Safar Angouti (on death row)

10- Mohammad Aqili (on death row)

11- Saber Sharbati (on death row)

12- Mohsen Taher Nejad (on death row)

All these prisoners were under 18 when committing a crime and some of them have been jailed for up to 3 years. (Center in Defense of the Families of Those Slain and Arrested – Oct. 9, 2010)

Prison

Prison Condition

 

Prison officials make millions from narcotics trade in prison

Political prisoner Arjang Davoudi who is detained in Rajayi Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison in Karaj wrote a report on the narcotics gangs in prison and their links to prison officials.

(This letter reads in part):

It has been some time now that the number of prisoners in Rajayi Shahr Prison has passed the line of 5,000 and at least 4,500 of these prisoner use narcotics. If we say that from this number 1,500 are recreational drug users and we will not include them in our calculations, this means that there are at least one thousand professional drug users in this prison.

If we consider that three people only use one gram of narcotics a day this means that at least one thousand grams are used daily in this prison and because crack (kind of chemical narcotic) is used the most because it is cheap, we will use crack in our calculations.

One gram of crack is at most 8,000 tomans outside of prison.

One gram of crack is at least 60,000 tomans inside of prison.

If we say that drug dealers in prison get 12,000 tomans for every gram, every gram of crack will cost at least a total of 20 thousand tomans for those who import the drugs into prison. Therefore the leftovers of this amount will be 40,000 tomans for every gram and because the daily use of crack in prison is 1000 grams, the daily proceeds of narcotics amounts to 40 million tomans (about $40,000). This means that entering only one kilogram of crack in prison amounts to a 1.2 billion toman (about 1.2 million dollar) trade in one month.

The violent and somewhat accurate inspections and body searches of prisoner’s families on visiting days and also the inspections of prisoners who have been sent to court which is carried out in several stages are all to prevent the import of narcotics to prison outside of the narcotics network to keep this million dollar trade under the control and in the grasp (of prison officials)…

The notorious head of Rajayi Shahr Prison, Ali Haji Kazem, is getting the most profits from all of this and after Karaj turns into a province which will see him become the General Manager of the Alborz Province Prisons, he will make even more money because he will get the profits from all other prisons in the province.

Unfortunately, we see that regime elements pocket millions of dollars while many people are desperate for a piece of bread.

Long live freedom, death to the ruling tyranny, Arjang Davoudi (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 26, 2010)

 

Iran says it will not back down from chastity plan and forced veiling

Bahman Kargar said in a trip to Isfahan, “Social Security Plans will soon be carried out in some provinces including Isfahan”.

“These plans will include dealing with troublemakers, fighting drug addicts and a comprehensive plan regarding chastity and the veil”…

“Those who bother women have to be dealt with harshly and we in the State Security Forces actually act severely in this regard”, the social deputy of the State Security Forces added. (State-run Javan Online website – Sep. 28, 2010)

 

Iran arrests blogger and ransacks home

http://hrdai.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-post_29.html

According to reports, agents of the ministry of intelligence arrested blogger Mohammad-Reza Pourshajari and transferred him to a solitary cell in Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison in Karaj.

On Sunday September 22, intelligence agents raided the home of this blogger and arrested him. They violently searched his home for a long time afterwards and confiscated his identification documents, home ownership documents, computer, satellite receiver, writings, family pictures and some of his books.

This jailed blogger’s physical health has deteriorated and he has been taken to the prison infirmary twice since his arrest because of the pressure and torture he was subjected to.

Pourshajari, 50, has been blogging for a few years now and some of his articles and posts have been published in various websites. This political prisoner is also suffering from serious a slipped disk disorder. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Sep. 29, 2010)

 

Political prisoner in critical condition in Evin Prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-21/4251-1.html

Political prisoner Gholamhossein Arshi who is detained in cellblock 350 in Evin Prison is in critical condition because of an internal kidney bleeding.

The physical condition of this political prisoner who was suffering from a severe kidney illness deteriorated in the past few days which led to an internal kidney bleeding. The prison infirmary refuses to give him serious treatment and he is in critical condition.

He was arrested on March 7, 2010 in his home b security forces and taken to Evin Prison. He was transferred to cellblock 350 after a few months of solitary in cellblock 209 and was sentenced to four years of prison in a show trial by Judge Salavati. This sentence was lowered to one year of prison in a review court.

He was subjected to physical and mental torture while interrogated and intelligence agency interrogators threatened him with rape.

Notably, seven months after his arrest, he has not been granted a leave from prison and has been denied the right to a conditional release. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 29, 2010)

 

Iran increases pressure on Baha’i female prisoners in Mashhad

Rozita Vaseqhi

http://www.rahana.org/archives/26449

With new limitations for four Baha’i female prisoners in the Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, these women have been put under increased pressure.

The heads of Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad have limited their visiting rights, phone calls and even the time that prisoners have for fresh air during the day.

According to reports, after Rozita Vaseqi joined the other three Baha’is in this prison after over six months of solitary, prison officials subjected these women to harder conditions by limiting their visits and phone calls. (Committee of Human Rights Reporters – Sep. 29, 2010)

Iran sentences blogger to 19.5 yrs. of prison

http://www.hra-news.org/00/4227-1.html

The sentence of Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan was announced today to his lawyer.

According to a sentence which was issued today by the 15^th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran headed by Judge Salavati, Derakhshan who was arrested in October 2008 was sentenced to 19 and a half years of prison, a five year ban on membership in parties and media activities and returning funds given to him in the amount of 3,750 euros, 2,900 dollars and 22 British pounds on charges of cooperating with hostile countries, propagating against the Islamic government, advertising for anti-revolutionary grouplets, insulting sanctities and running and managing immoral websites.

Hossein Derakhshan was one of the first to blog in Farsi and wrote about himself, politics and the Iranian culture in both Farsi and English in his weblog called ‘My Own Editor’. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 28, 2010)

 

Iran murders second Kahrizak doctor who had evidence of systematic prison rape and sexual abuse

According to reports, Dr. Abdolreza Soudbakhsh, an assistant professor at Tehran University who was shot and killed last week was linked to the Kahrizak Detention Center its prisoners who were suffering from infections in the urinary tract and damaged reproductive systems (as a result of rape and sexual abuse in Kahrizak) and had orders from security forces to officially announce that all prisoners who came to him for treatment had meningitis.

This university professor was suspiciously shot and killed one day before going abroad.

Therefore, Soudbakhsh is the second doctor who was killed in the past year over this issue. 

Ramin Pourandarjani, another doctor who was serving in the State Security Forces in the

Kahrizak Detention Center suspiciously passed away on November 16, 2009. Officials announced his death as suicide…

According to this report Soudbakhsh was informed about the medical cases of all those killed in the Kahrizak Detention Center. In addition to this, he was specialist and checked and treated all Kahrizak prisoners and had special information in this regard.

This report also said that Soudbakhsh recently felt that his life was in danger because of increased pressure by security forces.

He had a ticket to leave Iran on September 22 and was shot dead outside of his clinic in Keshavarz Blvd in Tehran less than a day before he was to go abroad. (Jaras Website – Sep. 27, 23010)

Iran sentences Baha’i woman to two years of prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-24-07/4237-1.html

Lava Khanjani, a Baha’i who has been banned from continuing her education because of her faith and was arrested on January 3, 2010 was sentenced to two years of prison.

According to reports, Khanjani was released on bail from Rajayi Shahr Prison in March 1, 2010. Notably, she is the granddaughter of Jamaloddin Khanjani, one of the seven Baha’i leaders who were recently sentenced to 10 years of prison. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 28, 2010)

 

Kurd activist sentenced to 10 years of prison without right to lawyer

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-25-54/4235-1.html

A resident of the Salemaneh Village in Marivan was sentenced to 10 years of prison.

Gharib Fatemi, 45, who was arrested nine months ago by security forces, was sentenced to 10 years of prison.

He was charged with cooperating with dissident parties and is currently in the Marivan Central Prison. According to those close to this Kurd activist, he was denied the right to a lawyer in all the stages of his legal procedure. (Kurdish Perspective – Sep. 28, 2010)

 

Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company drivers forced to pledge not to talk to media

According to reports, the Protection Department of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company are trying to force the employees of this company to sign pledges that they will not talk to internal or external press about company problems.

In the past few days, under the orders of the Protection Department, it has been announced in all districts that employees in Tehran have to sign a pledge which says that all drivers are committed not to talk about the issues of the company including the condition of detained union activists, the expulsion of employees, not receiving their wages and bonuses, inhumane treatment of the Protection Department with drivers, hard working conditions and other issues. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Sep. 28, 2010)

New disciplinary sentences issued for student activists in Babol; Babol University official bans student association

In the beginning of the new academic year, the Disciplinary Committee of the Science and Technology University of Babol has issued sentences for a number of student activists in this university. These sentences were announced to the students without them being summoned to the Disciplinary Committee a few days before universities opened for the new academic year.

According to reports, the Disciplinary Committee suspended five students for one semester and sentenced 12 others to suspended suspensions for one semester or a written reprimand in their files.

Also Dr. Sheikhol Islami, the head of the Science and Technology University of Babol dissolved the Islamic Association of Students in this university according to a new verdict and announced that its activities were illegal. (Daneshju News – Sep. 25, 2010)

 

Iran hangs minor offender in secret

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-29-40/4151-1.html

On July 10, Iran secretly executed a young man who had committed a crime at the age of 15. The execution of this young man, Mohammad, was not announced from before by the judiciary.

Mohammad was swiftly executed without the knowledge of his family in the Morordasht Prison in Shiraz.

This sentence was issued by the Fars Penal Court and upheld by the 33^rd branch of the Supreme Court. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 25, 2010) 

 

No news on 15 year old boy one year after arrest

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-25-54/4150-1.html

One year after the temporary arrest of Mohammad Saber Malek Reiesi, there has been no news of his fate for four months.

According to reports, Mohammad, 15, who is from the town of Sarbaz and was arrested because his brother was charged with having communications and cooperating with the armed Baluch opposition, has not contacted or talked to his family for 4 months.

Mohammad was arrested on September 24, 2009 in Chabahar along with his two brothers and after security and intelligence forces raided his home, they threatened his family that if they did not hand over his third brother, they would execute all three sons.

Four months after their arrest, two of his brothers were released but 15 year old Mohammad was held as a hostage in prison and in telephone call to his family, he was forced to say that he would soon be executed.

His family has gone to the intelligence agency, prison and revolutionary court several times in the last four months but was prevented from visiting their son in prison. This has led to serious concerns over him still being alive.

Mohammad has been subjected to pressure and torture to confess on TV and introduce himself and his brother as members of the Jondollah group. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 25, 2010) 

 

Security forces beat students at Free Rasht University

At the start of the new academic year and on the first day of the opening of the Free Rasht University, the university security prevented male students with t-shirts and female students with what they called unsuitable covering from entering the university without prior notice and beat students who objected and protested this issue on orders of the university Protection Department.

According to student sources, the actions of the university security forces led students to gather outside the entrance of this university I protest but security forces beat them with the intent of dispersing them and prevented them from entering the university. (Jaras Website – Sep. 25, 2010)

Systematic violations of the right to life

Executions, arbitrary killings, deaths in custody, and death sentences

Execution

 

Iran hangs three men: report

Iran hanged on Monday two men convicted of drug trafficking and another found guilty of murder, in a prison in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Fars news agency reported.

The men were only identified in the report by their initials as A. Gh., S.F., Gh. J. (AFP - Sept 20, 2010)

 

Iran hangs three in Yazd: report

Iran has hanged three men who were found guilty of drug trafficking, in a prison in the central city of Yazd, ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The report did not say when the executions were carried out. (AFP - Sept 21, 2010)

 

Prisoner executed in Zahedan Prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-28-00-30-11/4080-1.html

On Sunday, September 19, a man was executed in Zahedan Prison on charges of murder.

According to the official website of the Sistan and Baluchistan Judiciary, on the dawn of September 19, a prisoner identified as Keshvar Gorgi was hanged in Zahedan Prison.

According to this report, he was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering a 6 year old girl named Narjis. This charge has not been confirmed by any independent sources. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 21, 2010)

Iran executes 2 in Kerman and Isfahan 

http://www.iranhr.net/spip.php?article1841

According to reports from Iran, two people were hanged in Kerman and Isfahan.

The state-run Kayhan daily wrote today that a person was executed in the town of Aran & Bidgol in Isfahan. According to this report, this person (name unknown) was convicted of carrying and possessing narcotics.

According to another report in the official website of the Kerman Judiciary, Majid Sh. who was arrested in 2007 and was sentenced to death by the Kerman Penal Court was executed after his sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and the head of the judiciary. (Iran Human Rights – Sep. 22, 2010)

Iran hangs 3 prisoners in Isfahan Central Prison

http://hrdai.blogspot.com/2010/09/3.html

According to reports, the death sentence of three prisoners in the Central Isfahan Prison in Dastgerd was carried out.

On Tuesday, September 21, three prisoners from cellblock 3 in this prison who have been awaiting their death sentence for years were executed. These prisoners were Alireza Baqeri, Mohsen Goudarzi and Rasoul Mir Safa. They were all under 30 years old and were sentenced to death on narcotics charges. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Sep. 23, 2010)

 

Iran hangs man: report

Iran has hanged a man convicted of rape in a prison in the southern city of Kerman, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday.

The report identified the man sent to the gallows as Majid D., without saying when the execution took place or providing further information. (AFP - Sept 24, 2010)

 

Arbitrary killing

 

Iran kills another young man under torture

Naser Alizadeh, a Kurd man from a village in Salmas who was arrested last Monday along with a number of other people by security forces, died after being tortured.

He had gone to the border for mountain climbing with a number of other people last Monday when he was arrested by security forces.

Naser Alizadeh passed away on Thursday September 16 under severe torture by security forces and his body was handed to his family for burial on Friday.

Notably, regime forces have threatened his family that they cannot hold a mourning ceremony for him.

Alizadeh was a soldier in Tehran who had come back to his village on a leave and was arrested on charges of cooperating with a dissident Kurd party. (Kurdistan News Agency – Sep. 20, 2010)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death sentence

Father of Iranian blogging faces death penalty: watchdog

ACanadian-Iranian blogger credited with starting the blogging movement in Iran faces the death penalty over his writings, two watchdog groups said Thursday.

Hossein Derakhshan was arrested after returning to Iran in November 2008 and charged with 'collaborating with enemy states, creating propaganda against the Islamic regime, insulting religious sanctity, and creating propaganda for anti-revolutionary groups,' said Canadian journalists for free expression (CJFE) and pen Canada.

According to the two organizations, prosecutors are now calling for Derakhshan to face the death penalty after he was convicted by Tehran’s revolutionary court earlier this year.

News of the sentencing request started filtering out on social media sites on Monday, and the CJFE and pen said they confirmed the reports with his family.

‘The proposed sentence is a travesty,' said CJFE president Arnold amber, calling on the Canadian government to intervene.

‘Action must be taken right away because in Iran there is not necessarily a lengthy period before executions can be carried out. We are very concerned,' he added…

Derakhshan is the third Canadian journalist to be arrested in Iran in recent years. In July 2003, Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in prison and Newsweek correspondent Maziarbahari was briefly detained earlier this year. (AFP – Sep. 23, 2010)

 

Inhumane treatment and cruel punishments

Amputation, flogging, torture and humiliation

Iran beats human rights activist in prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-21/4035-1.html

On the night of September 17, Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, journalist and human rights activist was severely beaten in Ahwaz Prison.

In this incident, a person named Qoldori who is prison personnel attacked Abedini and severely abused and harassed him.

According to reports, this journalist was waiting in line to use the restroom in the prison yard when this person attacked him for no reason and shackled his hands and legs to a pole in the yard of cellblock 6. He was beaten with a pipe for hours.

The beatings were so severe that Abedini’s hands and legs were

Father of Iranian blogging faces death penalty: watchdog

ACanadian-Iranian blogger credited with starting the blogging movement in Iran faces the death penalty over his writings, two watchdog groups said Thursday.

Hossein Derakhshan was arrested after returning to Iran in November 2008 and charged with 'collaborating with enemy states, creating propaganda against the Islamic regime, insulting religious sanctity, and creating propaganda for anti-revolutionary groups,' said Canadian journalists for free expression (CJFE) and pen Canada.

According to the two organizations, prosecutors are now calling for Derakhshan to face the death penalty after he was convicted by Tehran’s revolutionary court earlier this year.

News of the sentencing request started filtering out on social media sites on Monday, and the CJFE and pen said they confirmed the reports with his family.

‘The proposed sentence is a travesty,' said CJFE president Arnold amber, calling on the Canadian government to intervene.

‘Action must be taken right away because in Iran there is not necessarily a lengthy period before executions can be carried out. We are very concerned,' he added…

Derakhshan is the third Canadian journalist to be arrested in Iran in recent years. In July 2003, Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in prison and Newsweek correspondent Maziarbahari was briefly detained earlier this year. (AFP – Sep. 23, 2010)

 

Inhumane treatment and cruel punishments

Amputation, flogging, torture and humiliation

Iran beats human rights activist in prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-21/4035-1.html

On the night of September 17, Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, journalist and human rights activist was severely beaten in Ahwaz Prison.

In this incident, a person named Qoldori who is prison personnel attacked Abedini and severely abused and harassed him.

According to reports, this journalist was waiting in line to use the restroom in the prison yard when this person attacked him for no reason and shackled his hands and legs to a pole in the yard of cellblock 6. He was beaten with a pipe for hours.

The beatings were so severe that Abedini’s hands and legs were

completely blackened and bruised. None of the prison officials are answering his protests to this issue.

This human rights activist has been sentenced to 11 years of prison and is suffering from a severe heart problem. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 18, 2010)

 

Jailed teacher in critical condition in prison denied treatment

Death row political prisoner Abdolreza Qanbari is suffering from bleeding in his kidney and is in poor physical condition.

Despite his constant moaning at night, prison officials pay no attention to his condition and refuse to give him treatment.

Qanbari was arrested after Ashura events (December 27, 2009) and was sentenced to death on charges of having links to the PMOI by the 15^th branch of the Revolutionary Court headed by Qazi Salavati. This sentence was upheld by the 36^th branch of the court of review headed by Judge Zargar and was announced to the Sentence Implementation Department.

This teacher has said that the charges against him were baseless. His wife who is also a teacher has been constantly threatened by the Ministry of Intelligence that she would be fired. Qanbari is currently in cellblock 350 in Evin Prison. Sahel Qanbari, his daughter is in bad spirits after hearing of her father’s death sentence.

His family did not give any interviews to the media regarding the condition of this political prisoner because of pressures from the Ministry of Intelligence. (Rouz Website – Sep. 22, 2010)

Father of Iranian blogging faces death penalty: watchdog

ACanadian-Iranian blogger credited with starting the blogging movement in Iran faces the death penalty over his writings, two watchdog groups said Thursday.

Hossein Derakhshan was arrested after returning to Iran in November 2008 and charged with 'collaborating with enemy states, creating propaganda against the Islamic regime, insulting religious sanctity, and creating propaganda for anti-revolutionary groups,' said Canadian journalists for free expression (CJFE) and pen Canada.

According to the two organizations, prosecutors are now calling for Derakhshan to face the death penalty after he was convicted by Tehran’s revolutionary court earlier this year.

News of the sentencing request started filtering out on social media sites on Monday, and the CJFE and pen said they confirmed the reports with his family.

‘The proposed sentence is a travesty,' said CJFE president Arnold amber, calling on the Canadian government to intervene.

‘Action must be taken right away because in Iran there is not necessarily a lengthy period before executions can be carried out. We are very concerned,' he added…

Derakhshan is the third Canadian journalist to be arrested in Iran in recent years. In July 2003, Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in prison and Newsweek correspondent Maziarbahari was briefly detained earlier this year. (AFP – Sep. 23, 2010)

 

Inhumane treatment and cruel punishments

Amputation, flogging, torture and humiliation

 

Iran beats human rights activist in prison

http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-21/4035-1.html

On the night of September 17, Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, journalist and human rights activist was severely beaten in Ahwaz Prison.

In this incident, a person named Qoldori who is prison personnel attacked Abedini and severely abused and harassed him.

According to reports, this journalist was waiting in line to use the restroom in the prison yard when this person attacked him for no reason and shackled his hands and legs to a pole in the yard of cellblock 6. He was beaten with a pipe for hours.

The beatings were so severe that Abedini’s hands and legs were

  

Iran executes 2 in Kerman and Isfahan

http://www.iranhr.net/spip.php?article1841

According to reports from Iran, two people were hanged in Kerman and Isfahan.

The state-run Kayhan daily wrote today that a person was executed in the town of Aran & Bidgol in Isfahan. According to this report, this person (name unknown) was convicted of carrying and possessing narcotics.

According to another report in the official website of the Kerman Judiciary, Majid Sh. who was arrested in 2007 and was sentenced to death by the Kerman Penal Court was executed after his sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and the head of the judiciary. (Iran Human Rights – Sep. 22, 2010)

 

Iran hangs 3 prisoners in Isfahan Central Prison

http://hrdai.blogspot.com/2010/09/3.html

According to reports, the death sentence of three prisoners in the Central Isfahan Prison in Dastgerd was carried out.

On Tuesday, September 21, three prisoners from cellblock 3 in this prison who have been awaiting their death sentence for years were executed. These prisoners were Alireza Baqeri, Mohsen Goudarzi and Rasoul Mir Safa. They were all under 30 years old and were sentenced to death on narcotics charges. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Sep. 23, 2010)

 

Plainclothes agents attack and beat Dervish

Ali Moravi, a Neimatollahi Dervish in Gonabad was attacked and beaten by a number of masked plainclothes agents.

According to reports at about 11 pm on September 21, while Moravi was on his way home he was attacked and beaten by plainclothes agents armed with knives and (pepper) spray.

Ali Moravi is the elder brother of Mohammad Moravi who was arrested some time ago on orders of the Gonabad Prosecutor. His hair was shaved off and this led a large number of Gonabad Dervishes especially in Bidokht to rise in support and solidarity with him to shave off their hair in protest to the illegal measures of the Gonabad Prosecutor. (Human Rights Activists in Iran – Sep. 23, 2010)