Iranian Minorities Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

Alarabiya: Iran arrests prominent Ahwazi Arab singer and his brother

2012-01-25T18:40:00.000Z

By Mousa Sharififarid
Al Arabiya

Iranian authorities have arrested prominent Arab singer, Ghalib Manabi, and his brother, Hassan, from the Arab-majority city of Ahwaz, the capital of the Khuzestan Province.

Ghalib and several members of his family are known for their activism challenging various government programs designed to alter the demographic structure in the region and reduce ethnic Arabs to a minority group.

Members of Ghalib’s family were previously arrested in 2005 during an uprising by ethnic Arabs against a government program that called for requisitioning of land from Arabs in al-Ahwaz and a government-directed migration plan of non-Arabs into the region.

Local sources told Al Arabiya that about 60 Arab-speaking activists were arrested since November 2011.

Kazem Mojaddam, member of the Center against Anti-Arab Racism in Iran, told Al Arabiya, “The government of Iran does not allow the Ahwazi people to practice their cultural activities although the Iranian constitution gives this right to all the people of Iran.”

Mojaddam added that the Ahwazi people were being threatened by the Iranian government, “which tries to undermine the Arab identity and culture through imprisonment and killing of Arab artists and writers.”

“The government also does not allow Arab-speaking Iranians to name their children after non-Shiite Arab names,” Mojaddam added.

Khuzestan is the source of 90 percent of Iran’s oil production, but people in the province complain of marginalizatio, poverty and the lack of adequate social services.

Besides, the province often takes the lion’s share of executions in the country. In 2007, Iranian authorities executed 22 activists in Ahwaz after they were accused to supporting the secession of the region from Iran.

(Translated from Arabic by Mustapha Ajbaili)

Jpost: Christians in Iran, Syria face rising persecution

2012-01-25T18:37:00.000Z

Iranian pastor Nardakhani refuses to renounce Christian beliefs in exchange for release from prison.

There has been a wave of violence targeting Iranian and Syrian Christians over the past month, say Christian news reports.

In addition, Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been on death row since 2010 for seeking to register his home-based church, refused to renounce his Christian beliefs in exchange for his release from prison. He was also jailed for questioning the role of Islam as the dominant form of religious instruction in his children’s school.

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According to a report on the website of the International Christian news agency BosNewsLife, “Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has rejected an offer to be released from prison if he publicly acknowledges Islam’s prophet Mohammed as ‘a messenger sent by God,’ well-informed Christians and rights activists said” earlier this month.

While Iran’s opaque judicial system coupled with the lack of access for most Western media makes it difficult to verify the new coercion against Nadarkhani, the reports are considered reasonable in light of the Iranian regime’s intense crackdown on its Christian population over the years.

In an e-mail to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio and author of the book A New Shoah, wrote “After the ethnic cleansing of Jews in 1948 from the Arab countries, Islamic fundamentalism is now trying to push away the Christians from the region. They want to establish a pure Islamic environment and the mass exodus already began under our noses.”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Christian Post wrote last week on its website, “The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began. A reliable source in the country, who cannot be identified for their own safety, told Barnabas Aid that children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim.”

The Pakistan Christian Post website noted “Two Christians were killed on January 15 as they waited for bread at a bakery. Another Christian, aged 40 with two young children, was shot dead by three armed attackers while he was driving a vehicle.”

The Post could not independently verify these allegations.

Meotti, the Italian Journalist who has written extensively on Christians in the Mideast region, told the Post “In Syria Christians will be persecuted after Assad’s eventual fall, since they were the most loyal allies of the Baathist regime. Christians will be slaughtered or squeezed. From Cairo to Damascus, Arab Christian era is near to its end everywhere.”

Many critics of Assad’s regime, however, view Assad as exploiting sectarian conflicts in Syria to solidify his repressive security apparatus, which has resulted in the killings of over 5,000 pro-democracy supporters in Syria.

“Of course Assad is using the power of fear to manipulate the Christians. He is directing these bishops and patriarchs to say what suits him,” Pascal Gollnisch, a Catholic priest and director of l’Oeuvre d’Orient, told the French news organization F24 in December.

The Paris-based organization seeks to shield Christians from persecution mainly in the Middle East region and is part of the Archdiocese of Paris.

Christians make up 10 percent of Syria’s 22 million population.

Clifford D. May, the president of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former New York Times reporter, has long argued the persecution of Christians in numerous Muslim-majority countries is the most pressing news story ignored by the mainstream media.

He told the Post “If the situation were reversed, if such a war were being waged against Muslims, it would be the top story in every newspaper, the most urgent item at the UN, the highest priority of all the big-league human-rights groups.”

The US-based media watchdog organization the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) held on Saturday a conference titled “The Persecuted Church: Christian Believers in Peril in the Middle East.”

Dr. Richard Landes, an associate professor of history and director and cofounder of the Center of Millennial Studies at Boston University, who spoke at the CAMERA event, wrote the Post on Sunday: “there’s a bizarre, eery, indeed terrible (a-)symmetry between the nearly hysterical concern of the media and the ‘progressive’ NGOs etc. about Israeli violations of the Palestinian ‘human rights’ and the nearly total silence about the horrendous things happening to Christians in Muslim majority countries, not necessarily at the hands of their neighbors but of Salafists, Jihadis, etc.”

Landes added that “it all illustrates Charles Jacobs’ notion of human rights complex – the thing that gets western ‘human rights’ folk indignant has nothing to do with the victims of their sufferings, but the [perpetrators]. If white, hysteria; if of color, embarrassed silence.

“There’s a racism inherent in this – we don’t expect anything from people of color, we hold whites to a much higher standard – and the result is that truly horrendous stuff gets ignored.”

Benjamin Weinthal is a research fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies

VOA: An Update On Iranian Stoning Case

2012-01-25T18:33:00.000Z

It’s been over a year since the Islamic Republic of Iran, after a fierce outcry from the international community, appeared to drop plans to stone to death Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for adultery.

Governments and human rights monitors decried the lack of due process the Azeri-Iranian woman was accorded during judicial proceedings in which she was found guilty, and the punishment itself was denounced throughout the world for its barbarity. The stoning sentence was suspended, and there was a suggestion by an Iranian official that Ms. Ashtiani’s life might be spared.

The U.S. government continues to closely monitor this case and calls -- in concert with the international community -- for Ms. Ashtiani to be granted a fair trial or released.

Ms. Ashtiani has remained in prison, not only because of the adultery charge, but also for another crime -- complicity in the murder of her husband – - to which she confessed under circumstances many believe were coercive. One of her lawyers, Mohammad Mostafaei, was forced to flee Iran; the other, Javid Hootan Kian, is in prison; reports are he has been severely tortured.

After months of silence, an Iranian official recently spoke out about Ms. Ashtiani’s case. The head of the judiciary in East Azerbaijan province reportedly said that facilities where she is held are not adequate to carry out a stoning sentence, so authorities are investigating whether it will be religiously acceptable to execute her by hanging instead.

The U.S. State Department has expressed deep concern that “judicial cases, trials and sentences continue to proceed without transparency and the due process rights enshrined in Iran’s own constitution,” and urged the Iranian government “to halt these executions and to guarantee the rights of its citizens in accordance with its international obligations.”

An activist with the International Committee to Prevent Stoning, Mina Ahadi, said she believes by bringing up Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s case after a year, the Iranian regime “is testing the waters.”

The international community should make clear the waters are not amenable. The hundreds of people killed in Iran in 2011 in a system lacking due process are now beyond help. But a global chorus should once again be raised in support of Ms. Ashtiani and all other Iranians who currently sit in prison in the shadow of death, convicted in violation of the rule of law and their fundamental rights.

MEMRI: Antisemitic Statements, Publications by Iranian Regime

2012-01-25T18:30:00.001Z

Alongside the Holocaust denial policy promoted by the Iranian regime, its leaders also make statements and publish writings expressing hatred toward the Jews, especially those in Israel, while denying Israel's right to exist. Regime officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claim that the Jews spread corruption in the world and that they are "evil, greedy, thieves, and murderers," and "filthy criminals who [only] appear to be human."

The title "Jew" is used as a slur in Iranian political struggles. Thus, for example, Mansour Arzi, a critic of Ahmadinejad, called Rahim Mashaei, the head of the president's office, a Jew in order to offend him.[1] Ahmadinejad's opponents acted similarly in October 2009, when they claimed he was of Jewish origin, and that his father had changed his surname to mask the fact.[2]

Formally, the Iranian regime distinguishes between Judaism as a religion, which is legitimate (Jews, being monotheists, are entitled to practice their religion under Muslim rule), and Judaism as a nationality – which Iran totally rejects as non-existent. President Ahmadinejad even claimed that the Zionists are not Jews, but rather infidels[3] or atheists: "They [the Zionists] lie when they say they are Jewish. Judaism has not known a bigger injustice than the Zionists claiming they are Jews."[4]

However, regime officials frequently blur the lines between the Jewish religion and nationality. Sometimes they refer to Jews by their religious affiliation, and sometimes by their national affiliation, recruiting the Koran to justify their claims anachronistically. For example, in August 2011 in Tabas (eastern Iran), preacher Ebrahim Mohajerian claimed that, "according to the Koran, the sons of Israel, the Jews, and the Zionists are the worst enemy of mankind, and especially of Muslims, aside from Satan."[5]

Following are more examples of antisemitic statements and publications by regime officials, and movies screened with its blessing.

Khamenei: "Wherever Evil Jews Existed, They Were Gathered Together [and sent to Palestine]"

In a speech to intellectuals in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran on October 18, 2011, Supreme Leader Khamenei repeated antisemitic notions when claiming that Western media is clearly operated and guided by The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He said that "efforts by media outlets belonging to the oppressive world order [meaning the West] to highlight deviant and erroneous paradigms draws inspiration from the dangerous aims of the Zionist protocols [i.e The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]. This paradigm, developed by the media, is based in a clear, well-defined policy."[6]

On October 1, 2011, alongside the start of a conference in support of the Palestinians in Tehran, the website of the Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Supreme Leader Khamenei's Works announced the publication of a new book, 416 pages long, titled Palestine in the Viewpoint of Leader Khamenei, which features his statements on the issue, on ways to resolve it, and on the heroes of Palestine, it's defeats, victories, and future.[7]

In one of Khamenei's sermons appearing in the book, he said that Israel is "a country with no origin or provenance - a fake country, a false nation. Evil men from all corners of the world were gathered together in order to establish an amalgam called Israel. This is a nation? Wherever evil Jews existed, they were gathered together [and sent] there [to Palestine].

"Jews live in most countries [in the world]. Even in Iran, Jews exist and live their lives – they don't interfere with anyone, and no one interferes with them. This is their country and they live in it. [But] those who went to occupied lands [Israel] were evil, greedy, thieves, and murderers gathered from around the world.

"Is that how you establish a nation? The nation and country that was established in that way, called Israel, knows no way but the way of terror. It has nothing substantial to say. At the same time, this entity, despite its lowliness and impurity, wants to besmirch a glorious, proud, and dear nation like Iran in the global public opinion. [However] they themselves are guiltiest of all, the greatest criminals of all, and their shame is greater than that of others."[8]

In a speech in the city of Qom on January 9, 2012, Khamenei addressed Iran's geopolitical situation and the economic sanctions leveled by the U.S., and claimed that, in dealing with the infidel U.S. and its Zionist allies, Shi'ite Iran is facing the same conditions that existed in the time of Badr and Khaybar. These statements refer to Muhammad's massacre of the Jews of Khaybar (628 CE) and the victory of few Muslims (modern Shi'ites) led by the Prophet Muhammad over the wealthy but heretical Quraysh tribe in the battle of Badr (623 CE).

According to Khamenei, "The front that stands before us is a front of America and the Zionists, who have tried every plot in waging war against the Iranian nation... so they could weaken the regime and destroy the people's determination... In the infancy of Islam, the enemies thought to lay an economic siege on the Muslims along with the Bani Talib [i.e., the Talib tribe, who were the Prophet Muhammad's wealthy, heretical rivals and besieged him in the city of Madina], but they failed. These wretched people [i.e., Westerners] miscalculated. They think that [today] we are like the Bani Talib... This is not the case. Today we are in the same circumstances [as the Muslims in the battles] of Badr and Khaybar... Our nation [can already] see victory. The nation is close to victory..."[9]

Ahmadinejad: The Jews Who Went to Israel "[Only] Appear to Be Human"

In a speech in the city of Shahrekord (western Iran) on June 16, 2010, Ahmadinejad referred to the Jews who went to Israel as "the greatest criminals, who [only] appear to be human"... "Sixty years ago, they [i.e. the West] gathered the filthiest and greatest of criminals, who [only] appear to be human from all the corners of the earth, organized and armed them on artificial and false pretexts, fabricating information and inventing stories [hinting at the Holocaust]. They gave them propaganda and military backing so that they would occupy the lands of Palestine and uproot the Palestinian nation..."[10]

On December 13, 2010, Ahmadinejad said: "Today it is clear to all that the Zionists are not Jews, Christians, or Muslims. They do not believe in any of the divine religions. They are atheists and are not entitled to man's minimal rights."[11]

In a speech to foreign press on October 29, 2011 in Tehran, Ahmadinejad described the Israeli regime as a many-armed party that controls those holding monopolies of power, wealth, and media, and added: "For 60 years the European people have been paying taxes to the Zionists. The Zionists fund Western election propaganda [and thus] control their affairs. [Therefore] the people and thinkers in the West play no part."[12] According to Ahmadinejad, Israel is the embodiment of the Zionist anti-humanist ideology; the Zionist regime does not obey religion or morality, and only portrays itself as Jewish.[13]

In an interview with Mexican TV on January 21, 2012, Ahmadinejad reiterated his Holocaust denial and claimed that the truth about the Holocaust would prevail: "If the Holocaust is a historical reality, why should it be forbidden to [question] it through research, and why are historians [who do so] imprisoned? I have raised two questions regarding the Holocaust: [one,] if it is real and [indeed] took place in Europe, why must the Palestinian people pay for it? And secondly, why is it forbidden to research the Holocaust? Unfortunately, instead of answering these questions, [the Zionists] use their media outlets to attack [those who ask]. However, such actions certainly will not stand up to the truth because the truth will always prevail."[14]

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi: The Jews – "Enemies of Islam"

Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi, who was until recently President Ahmadinejad's spiritual patron, also expresses antisemitic motifs in his speeches. For example, in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conference in January 2010, he defined the Jews as "the enemies of Islam," and as "the most devious politicians on Earth." According to Yazdi, "most of the centers of global corruption belong to the Jews and Zionists, who try to infect the other peoples with corruption and take over the world."[15]

Iranian Book: "How to Eliminate Israel?"

On November 23, 2011, the website Rasa News, which is close to religious seminaries in Qom, reviewed a book written by religion students from these seminaries, titled How to Eliminate Israel?, which discusses the question of how to implement the instruction by the founder of the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to destroy the State of Israel.

There are several examples in the book of the authors' confusion between a Jewish identity and an Israeli or Zionist one. Thus, for example, one writer – Mohammad Ebrahim-Nia, said that the book quotes anti-Jewish Koranic verses to explain how to eliminate Israel. According to him, "the Koran has defined this regime [sic. Meaning Israel, which didn't exist in the 7th century CE] as the Muslims' worst enemy, but battling them does not receive apt attention by the Muslims... Along with current translations of Koranic verses, the [book] presents... pictures of Zionists relating to the content of the verse, and statements of Jewish academics regarding the verse."

The cover of How to Eliminate Israel?, featuring a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini

Ebrahim-Nia stated that alongside Koranic verses, the book also relies on a fatwa by the founder of the Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, regarding Israel's elimination, which is "a religious duty." He added that the book also discusses "the study of Israel's ideological characteristics, the crimes of this nation, the Koran's warnings to Muslims against it, the Israelites' weak spots, and ways to combat this nation."

According to Ebrahim-Nia, "more than any other nation, the Koran warns the Muslims of the Israelites, a nation that received unique blessings from God, [but] perpetrated the most unique crimes and whom God [subjected to the worst] tortures. Unlike popular opinion, this nation did not vanish during those centuries, and its remnants can be found today within Zionism, which continues to commit crimes against the Muslim nation and deliver it blows."[16]

New Antisemitic Film in Iran – "Saturday Hunter"

Alongside antisemitic remarks, antisemitic films are distributed inside and outside Iran with the regime's blessing, including such films as "Saturday Hunter" and "The Antisemite."

In recent months, the anti-Zionist film "Saturday Hunter," which is directed by Iranian Parviz Sheikh Tadi and contains antisemitic motifs, was released in Iran. The Hebrew website of the Iranian Broadcast Authority www.hebrew.irib.ir explained that the film takes place in Israel, and "deals with a boy named Benjamin, who suffers mental abuse and is brainwashed by his grandfather, a Zionist rabbi, to become a bloodthirsty, merciless killer willing to spill the blood of innocent Palestinians in order to realize the goals of Zionism...

"Benjamin is separated from his mother in order to prepare him emotionally for endorsing Zionist ideology. At first he resists, but gradually he submits and adopts the radical Zionist perceptions. The Zionist rabbi... is a sadist, a cheater, and a religious racist, who turns the boy into a bloodthirsty robot in the service of Zionism." According to the website, the film was mostly shot in Lebanon, and shows how "the Zionist rabbis, who are morally and financially corrupt, control Israeli institutions."[17] To watch the trailer of this film, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/3186.htm; for a brief description of the movie that was broadcast by the Iranian Arabic-language TV channel Al-'Alam, along with commentary by producer Mohammad Qahremani, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/3254.htm.

The movie presents Judaism as a religion that looks down on Christianity and Islam, and the grandfather, "Rabbi Hanan," as a Zionist Jew who uses any form of manipulation to get what he desires – the desire of the Zionist Jews. Al-'Alam TV explained that Judaism is "religious racism" and the character of the Jewish rabbi is "the essence of evil on Earth and the embodiment of deception." In the film, the boy is shown going through religious and military training by the Zionist rabbi, alongside massive brainwashing, which is typical of Zionists, according to the film and the Al-'Alam presenter. The child, dressed in a military uniform, is seen firing indiscriminately in all directions to the sounds of the Tikvah (Israel's national anthem), until he becomes a war machine that carries out orders without emotion.

In the film's trailer, Judaism is portrayed as a religion that degrades and humiliates women, uses members of other religions to satisfy the needs of the Jew, and uses witchcraft and purity rituals to convert people to the Jewish faith. In addition, it is claimed that the correct interpretation of Judaism is that Jews must not be killed, but the blood of members of other religions or nations is forfeit. The rabbi says to the Palestinian Muslims that he and the Zionist Jews are "the sons of Abraham," which grants them alone the control and sovereignty of the land. The Zionist Jew even wonders who those Muslim Palestinians are and refers to them as having no identity. In addition, the film portrays peaceful Muslim Palestinians in their village as victims of the violent, aggressive Zionist Jews who wish to destroy them, which reflects "a daily reality" according to the filmmakers and Al-'Alam TV.

In the Al-'Alam TV clip, the film's producer, Mohammad Qahremani, said that the film would soon be translated into Arabic and will be released in Arab and Muslim countries after being rejected by all international film festivals due to what he called "the pro-Zionist positions of [festival] organizers." According to him, the film is important because it helps explain the importance of the Palestinian presence in Palestine, which, according to Qahremani, saves the world from Zionist rule.[18]

Iran Sponsors Antisemitic French Film "The Antisemite"

The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and Iran's Experimental and Documentary Film Center have sponsored the production of the film The Antisemite, an adaptation of an eponymous play by French comedian Dieudonné' M'bala M'bala,[19] whose works have been censored in France for racial and religious incitement. According to a report published anonymously (apparently by Dieudonné's team) on the website Medialibre, the film tells the story of a man who "nurtures absolute hatred towards anything Jewish." His wife, who has cancer, asks him to seek medical help for his antisemitism, and the latter consults a Jewish psychoanalyst. The film opens with "one of those usual Holocaust propaganda documentaries" playing on TV in the couple's bedroom, the report says. "Horrible pictures are shown. The protagonist turns to his wife and says, sobbing: 'One day, all this will come true.'"^{^[20]}

Dieudonné turned to Iran after failing to find a sponsor for his film in France. It should be noted that the Iranian authorities have also agreed to sponsor the production of his film The Black Code, which claims that Zionists were involved in the European slave-trade in the 18^th century.[21]

The Antisemite is to be screened at a conference on "Hollywoodism and Cinema" that will be held on the sidelines of Iran's 30th Fajr International Film Festival (1-11 February, 2012).[22] In France, it was screened in Dieudonné's theatre on January 16-22, 2012. (Other French theatres refused to screen it).[23]

Endnotes:

[1] www.inn.ir, August 23, 2011.

[2] Iranologists have stressed that Ahmadinejad does not come from a Jewish family, and that the affair was meant to sully his name in Iranian society.

[3] www.president.ir, September 18, 2008.

[4] IRNA (Iran), August 2, 2010. Ahmadinejad distinguishes between Jews, whom he claims to love, and Zionists, whom he does no love: "I love everyone – Jews, Muslims, and Christians. But the corruptor is not Jewish. He is a Zionist. And they [the Zionists] started a political party. Their intentions [when using] the Holocaust was to establish Israel, which is why they fear questions on this matter." Fars (Iran), July 9, 2011.

[5] Fars (Iran), August 26, 2011.

[6] www.leader.ir, October 18, 2011.

[7] The website states that the book can be purchased by sending a request to the following email: book@khamenei.ir, October 1, 2011.

[8] www.farsi.khamenei.ir, October 1, 2011.

[9] www.farsi.khamenei.ir, January 9, 2012.

[10] Fars (Iran), June 16, 2010.

[11] www.irib.ir, December 13, 2010.

[12] ISNA (Iran), October 29, 2011.

[13] IRNA (Iran), October 30, 2011. In another speech on November 13, 2011, Ahmadinejad said: "Using lies, the Zionists have erected a 2,500-year-old culture, and they wish to destroy the historic roots of the other countries." www.jamejameonline.ir, November 13, 2011.

[14] www.president.ir, January 21, 2012.

[15] ILNA (Iran), January 5, 2010.

[16] Rasa News (Iran), November 23, 2011.

[17] www.irib.ir, November 6, 2011.

[18] http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/3254.htm

[19] Tehran Times (Iran), May 23, 2011.

[20] http://farsi.khamenei.ir, January 9, 2012.

[21]Tehran Times (Iran), May 23, 2011.

[22] Tehran Times (Iran), May 23, 2011.

[23] http://www.dieudonne-officiel.com/. On Dieudonné, see Special Dispatch No.4313, "Antisemitic French Comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala To Release Iran-Produced Film, 'The Anti-Semite,'" November 25, 2011, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5854.htm.

RG: Iranian Christians tell of persecution

2012-01-25T18:23:00.000Z

A young man is forced to squat on the floor of a small, closed room. Soldiers cock their rifles. Bound and blindfolded, the man does not know if a shot will ring out, or if that it will be the last sound he hears.

A young woman is arrested for no reason and held, isolated, in a solitary room, and interrogated for 14 hours straight, not knowing whether she will ever see her family again.

An entire family is on edge as they are warned to not turn off their phones, so they can receive their daily threat of interrogation and incarceration.

As terrible and unreal as these three situations may sound, they are regular occurrences for Christians living in Iran in 2012, as testified to by Pouya and Tarsa, two young people presently visiting and ministering in Bermuda at local churches with international missions group, Youth With A Mission (YWAM).

Over the last few years, many in Bermuda have received e-mails or seen posts on the internet requesting urgent prayer for Christians in Iran and for people to sign petitions to encourage the release of release of religious prisoners.

One recent e-mail highlighted the plight of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in October, 2009 for speaking out against changes to policies in the Iranian education system, which would force his children to read from the Quran while at school, after he attempted to register his church. After being arrested, the charge against the 34-year-old father-of-two was changed to that of apostasy, and he was also accused of attempting to evangelise Muslims, a crime in Iran.

Then, in June 2010, his wife, Fatemah Pasindedih, was also arrested under pressure to convert to Islam, and the couple were threatened that their children would be taken away and given to a Muslim family if they continued to refuse to convert to Islam. Pasindedih was later released, but the case against Pastor Youcef continued and the court convicted the pastor of leaving Islam and sentenced him to death in November 2010.

Despite appeals against the court’s ruling that apostasy is not a crime under Iran’s penal code, the Supreme Court held in June 2011 that apostasy was still punishable under Sharia law. The court also asked a lower court to review whether Pastor Youcef was a Muslim when he became a Christian at the age of 19.

During the proceedings, which took place in September 2011, the pastor was told he would be given three chances to renounce his Christian faith in order to have the charges removed, which he refused, and on September 26, the court determined that, because he was born into a Muslim family, he was a Muslim, and therefor a national apostate, in spite of witnesses testifying that he never practiced Islam.

Pastor Youcef continues to remain in prison, and in spite of international pressure, including a petition by 200,000 Americans and a call by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for the pastors release, remains under a death sentence.

Watching world news and hearing about the atrocities that occur, Iran seems a world away from Bermuda. How can Westerners support change in Iran?

Pressure from international news organizations has definitely made a difference in many cases, as world attention has been spotlighted on specific abuses within the country. According to friends of Tarsa, when the world found out about the mass arrest at her church, interrogations decreased from four or five a day, to only one a day.

There have also been far fewer killings, both murders and executions, however torture and sexual abuse still remain rampant within the prisons and detention centres.

“The hope of most local Christians is that their Western brothers and sisters... will continue to put pressure,” on Iranian authorities, according to Pouya.

Learning more about what is going on, such as watching films like, “A Cry From Iran,”, and supporting organizations that support persecuted Christians, like Elam Ministries, which seeks to train, equip and support churches within Iran, are also excellent ways to support persecuted Christians within the country.

“The church in Iran needs practical help,” Pouya explained.

Revival has been taking the country by storm.

According to Elam Ministries: “In 1979, there were less than 500 known Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today, the most conservative estimate is that there are at least 100,00 believers in the nation.” (www.elam.com)

“We are very strong for evangelism,” Pouya explained, but the church there desperately needs training and discipleship materials.

“Eighty percent of active believers are under 30, and under five years in the faith.”

He suggests that one of the best ways is to bring Iranian church leaders out of the country to receive the Christian discipleship and ministry training they desperately need, and then send them back home to do the work.

However, it is prayer that Christians in Iran most seek from their Western brothers and sisters prayers for boldness in the face of fear, for wisdom and for freedom.

* For her protection, Tarsa’s name has been changed. Some details from Pouya’s and Tarsa’s stories have also been left out, for the protection of family members and church associates remaining in Iran.

Director of Tabriz website Peyman Pakmehr in Evin prison

2012-01-25T18:15:00.001Z

http://www.oyetimes.com

A Tabriz-based Iranian activist and journalist Peyman Pakmehr has been arrested and taken to Evin prison on national security charges, according to media reports.

Peyman Pakmehr, the editor of the Tabriz News website, was detained by local Intelligence Ministry officials in the northwestern city of Tabriz on 17 January and was reportedly transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison.

According to Iranian opposition website Daneshjoo news, Pakmehr is being held in ward 209 of the notorious prison and has been able to contact his family since his arrest.

Pakmehr was a leading student activist in the nineties and was pursued by authorities following July 1999 student protests in the country.

He has also worked with two newspapers that were eventually shut down by authorities, Nasim-e Sabah and Ahrar-e Tabriz. In July 2003 he was detained hours after giving an interview with Radio Farda about legal protests at Babam fortress near Kaliber.

Pakmehr’s arrest comes amidst a noticeable rise in crackdowns on journalists and activists in recent days. The latest arrest came on Wednesday when security forces took journalist Sahamoddin (Saham) Bourghani to an unknown location after inspecting his place of residence.

In December 2011, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York based organisation that promotes press freedom and journalist rights, named Iran as the world’s worst jailer of journalists. Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria, and Turkey trailed behind Iran as the world’s worst imprisoners of journalists.

The review suggested that Iran had “maintained a revolving cell door” since its rigged 2009 presidential election, “freeing some detainees on furloughs even as they make new arrests. “Journalists freed on furloughs often post six-figure bonds and endure severe political pressure to keep silent or turn on their colleagues.”

Following the assassination of another Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshani on 11 January, a group of more than 230 opposition activists issued a statement condemning the attack, while at the same time accusing the country's security agencies of being preoccupied with cracking down on dissent rather than ensuring the safety of Iranian citizens.

“Iran’s intelligence forces, which have directed all their efforts at suppressing domestic adversaries and stifling the voice of protesters and the media, have proven incapable of dealing with these [security] threats,” the activists said. “Regime officials, especially the Intelligence Minister, must be held accountable for the slackness shown in protecting the lives of Iranian experts and researchers.”

Growing Concern Over Condition of Four Detainees Arrested at Arabistan Church

2012-01-09T11:45:00.000Z

AHWAZ, IRAN (ANS) -- Following an attack on the Assemblies of God Church of Ahwaz, which resulted in the arrest of a number of Christians and their children, concerns are growing over the conditions of four of these detainees.

According to reporters of Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News, concerns are growing over the unknown conditions of four of the people arrested during the attack on the AOG church of Ahwaz which took place almost one week ago.

Mohabat News says the detainees include Farhad Sabokroh, the Pastor of the AOG church of Ahwaz, his wife Shahnaz and two other ministers and converts called Naser Zamen-Dezfuli and Davoud Alijani, who is also called David. No reliable information is available regarding their health and conditions in the places where they are being held.

According to Mohabat News, at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 23, security agents of the intelligence ministry raided the AOG church of Ahwaz in a pre-organized manner. All attendees at the weekly service were arrested and transferred by bus to an unknown location.

This report indicates that the security agents, whose faces were covered, showed no mercy to the Sunday school children of the church, apprehending them together with their parents who were present at the church. This incident has caused serious mental injury to these children.

After some hours all detainees were freed once their personal details such as home addresses were recorded, the news agency said.

However, four of the detainees named above, are still being held. The latest report on their condition indicates that Farhad Sabokroh and his wife suffer from varicose veins and their general health condition is not good. They were held in custody in the intelligence office until December 28 and were then separated and transferred to unknown locations and the news agency has received no further update concerning them.

The other two detainees are Naser Zamen-Dezfuli, who is about 60 years of age, and Davoud (David) Alijani, who is 30. Before being arrested, Zamen-Dezfuli had his own business and Alijani was an engineer at a petrochemical site in Mahshahr port. After accepting Christ and applying Christian faith in his life, David was threatened and interrogated several times and was eventually fired from his engineering position.

Mohabat News says the health conditions, whereabouts and fate of these Christians are unknown, but it has been rumored that they might still be in the custody center of the intelligence office of Ahwaz or may have been transferred to Karoon prison of Ahwaz. Their families' efforts to obtain news concerning their whereabouts have yielded no information as yet.

Mohabat News commented: “This lack of news about their situation has resulted in a wave of anxiety among Christians, the detainees' families and especially the leaders of the churches in Iran. It's also being reported that the Ministry of Intelligence has even asked the leaders of the AOG church in Iran to not take any action in this regard.

“We hope that in this Christmas season, which involves celebrations and joy for our Savior's birthday, arrangements for the release of these Christians can be made and they will be released as soon as possible.”

Intense control over churches by security authorities

Mohabat News said this year Christmas Day was on Sunday, and Sundays are work-days in Iran.

“So, Iranian Christians gathered in churches on Friday, December 23 to

celebrate Christmas, give thanks to God and worship their Lord, as Friday is a weekend day in Islamic countries.”

The agency goes on to say that based on the reports received by Mohabat News, agents of the intelligence office of Ahwaz predicted that large number of people might gather in the church on this date. Therefore they watched all traffic to the church on December 22. Then they attacked the church right at the time of celebration and arrested all attendees.

UN: General Assembly voices concern over Iranian human rights record

2012-01-04T09:04:00.001Z

United Nations Member States today expressed deep concern at reports of human rights violations in Iran, including torture, the use of cruel punishments such as flogging and amputations and “pervasive gender inequality and violence against women,” and called on Tehran to strengthen its national human rights institutions.

In a resolution adopted in the General Assembly, Member States voiced deep concern at Iran’s “serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations,” including a dramatic increase in the use of the death penalty, particularly for crimes “lacking a precise and explicit definition,” and the “ongoing, systemic, and serious restrictions” of freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression.

The resolution received 89 votes in favour and 30 votes against. Sixty-four countries abstained.

The death penalty drew particular concern, with the General Assembly noting “the absence of internationally recognized safeguards,” the continued practice of public executions, the carrying out of secret group executions and the imposition of capital punishment against minors.

Member States also voiced deep concern at the practice of suspension strangulation as a method of execution, and the fact that prisoners continue to face sentences of execution by stoning, even though there has been a national directive against it.

In the resolution, Member States also called on the Government to immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained “for simply exercising their right to peaceful assembly and participating in peaceful protests.”

They also strongly encouraged Iran to discontinue the “systemic targeting” of human rights defenders and review the country’s “pervasive gender inequality.”

The text also noted Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s recent report highlighting the deteriorating rights situation in the country as well as the concern expressed by Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, over the alleged targeting of minority groups by the Government.

Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis and Kurds and their defenders have all faced rights violations that at times amount to persecution, according to the resolution, with religious minorities such as Christians, Jews, Sufis, Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians and Bahá’ís.

The resolution expressed particular concern at Tehran’s failure to launch an investigation into the suspected electoral violations after the 2009 presidential vote and strongly urged the Government “to ensure free, fair, transparent and inclusive parliamentary elections in 2012 that reflect the will of the people.”

Member States further called on Iran to consider ratifying or acceding to the international human rights treaties to which it is not already party while effectively implementing those human rights treaties which it has already ratified.

Bob Levinson Proof of Life Video

2011-12-09T15:12:00.000Z

IMHRO condemn terrorist attacks of Basij militia to British embassy in Tehran

2011-12-01T15:26:00.000Z

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

IMHRO strongly condemns the Iranian government’s terrorist act against the British embassy. This behaviour of the Iranian government continues the illegal process begun with the occupation of the Israeli and US embassies in 1980.

It is a disgrace to see that the Iranian government has no respect for international law.

“Minorities in Iran are suffering from the madness of the regime’s oppressive tactics which seem to have no limit”. Reza Vashahi, a researcher on minorities told IMHRO.

IMHRO calls on the international community to ensure that the Iranian Government fulfils its international obligations.

RFERL: Azerbaijani Journalist Targeted By Fatwa Dies After Stabbing Attack

2011-11-23T19:11:00.000Z

BAKU -- Azerbaijani writer and journalist Rafiq Tagi has died, four days after he was stabbed multiple times in a late-night attack in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

Tagi, 61, a critic of the Azerbaijani government, Iran, and political Islam, died in the Baku hospital where he had been treated following the November 19 attack.

Rasim Karadzha, a friend of Tagi's and editor of the "Alatoran" literary journal, informed RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service that Tagi died about 3 p.m. on November 23.

Tagi underwent four hours of surgery after the attack and had his spleen removed, but he had been reported to be in satisfactory condition.

Tagi spoke with RFE/RL about an hour before his death and said that he was recovering well.

"My condition is difficult and stable," he said. "It's stable and difficult, but it's not worsening."

WATCH: Rafiq Tagi spoke to RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Maarif Chingizolgu just an hour before he died.

Nizameddin Asgarov, one of the doctors who operated on Tagi, told RFE/RL it was likely Tagi choked.

"He was a normal patient. We assume he died of a vomit mass -- that he choked on this mass," he said. "When he had to vomit, the water went to his windpipe. We cannot find any other reason for his death."

Asgarov said that doctors checked on Tagi less than 10 minutes before he died and he was stable.

Earlier, some of the writer's friends had complained about a lack of security at the hospital and urged the government to take measures, but Tagi told RFE/RL that he did not feel in danger.

Iran Denies Role

Tagi was stabbed seven times outside his Baku home late on November 19 by two unidentified assailants.

In comments to RFE/RL on November 21, Tagi said the attack might have been linked to an article he published earlier this month on the website of RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service titled "Iran and the Inevitability of Globalization" (here in Azerbaijani).

In the article he sharply criticized the Iranian government and ridiculed Tehran's threats against Azerbaijan.

In 2007, a district court in Baku sentenced Tagi to three years in jail for an article published in 2006 that was deemed to be critical of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. He was granted a presidential pardon later that year.

That article prompted an Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani, to place a fatwa on Tagi, calling for his death.

The Iranian Embassy in Baku on November 22 issued a statement denying any Iranian involvement in the attack on Tagi.

"We refute the groundless claims, at odds with reality, spread by some persons and media outlets of the Azerbaijan Republic linking the attempt on Rafiq Tagi's life to the Islamic Republic of Iran," the statement read.

The Azerbaijan authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the attack on Tagi.

Azerbaijani blogger Ali Novruzov, speaking to RFE/RL at a conference in Brussels, said he was certain that Tagi was killed because of his writings and that it was crucial for the country that the case be investigated quickly and the perpetrators punished.

"There is one issue that I'm sure of -- he was stabbed to death because of his writing, of expressing his opinions, of his journalistic activities, of his criticisms," Novruzov said. "Just imagine that in the 21st century, in a country that aspires to be modern, a guy is stabbed for his opinions, for his thinking."

Novruzov said Tagi's passing was a major blow to critical thinking in his country. "Rafiq Tagi was a person that everybody in Azerbaijan knows -- for bad or for good -- but everybody is -- was -- aware of his existence, of his writings.

"It is not just an ordinary man stabbed in the street. It is somebody whose opinion was listened to."

based on RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service reports

Washingtonpost: Iranians traveling to Israel face 5 years in prison after parliament extends ban

2011-11-21T19:57:00.000Z

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians traveling to Israel could go to prison for up to five years instead of only three months, after Iran’s parliament revised an existing ban for such trips.

The measure reflects Tehran’s security concerns over archenemy Israel. Iran claims to have dismantled several purported Israeli spy rings in recent years and arrested Iranians with alleged links to Mossad.

Iranian state TV on Monday reported that parliament passed a new amendment, expanding the current prison term for travel to Israel to between two and five years.

Under a 1972 ban imposed by U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, offenders faced possible imprisonment of up to three months.

At the time, the law was designed to mostly avert travel to communist countries.

AFP: UN resolution on Iran rights gets record votes

2011-11-21T19:43:00.000Z

UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly on Monday passed an annual resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran with a record number of votes in support.

The assembly also passed resolutions condemning human rights in North Korea and Myanmar. All received record high backing.

The Iran vote came only three days after the General Assembly condemned an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington -- a plot which the United States accuses Iran of masterminding.

The 193-member assembly passed the resolution condemning "torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" by Iranian authorities with 86 votes in favor, six more than last year, 32 against, down eight from 2010, and 59 abstentions.

The resolution, proposed by Canada, condemned "flogging and amputations" carried out in Iran and deplored a "dramatic increase" in the use of the death penalty, particularly against minors. Many human rights groups say events have deteriorated in Iran over the past year.

Iranian government representative, Mohammad Javad Larijani, an advisor to the country's supreme leader, called the resolution "substantially unfounded and intentionally malicious" in a speech to the General Assembly's human rights committee.

Syria, which faces a special human rights vote on Tuesday over its deadly crackdown on opposition protests, spoke out strongly for its Iranian ally.

The North Korea vote was passed with 112 votes in favor, 16 against and 55 abstentions. On Myanmar the vote was 98 in favor, 25 against with 63 abstentions.

The assembly raised "very serious concern" over the "torture" and "inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, extra judicial and arbitrary detention" in North Korea.

It also condemned the "existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labor."

The Myanmar resolution welcomed recent talks between democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military-dominated government, the release of some political prisoners and other changes over the past year.

But the General Assembly said there were still "systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

It highlighted "arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." It also raised concerns about the treatment of ethnic minorities such as the Karen people.

Western nations, which have sanctions against Myanmar, have sought to encourage the tentative reforms started by the government. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to hold talks in Myanmar next month.

Myanmar's UN ambassador U Than Swe highlighted the government's efforts towards "building a flourishing, democratic society."

"We do deserve warm, welcome, kind understanding and sincere encouragements of the international community rather than unconstructive approach by adopting such resolutions," he told the assembly.

In a statement, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague acknowledged the changes in Myanmar, but said "human rights abuses continue, especially in ethnic areas, and the level of support for this resolution shows once again that the international community has not forgotten the people" of Myanmar.

"The UN General Assembly passed these three resolutions by a record majority today, and I welcome the strong signal that sends," Hague said.

CFR: Human Rights in Iran

2011-11-05T14:59:00.000Z

Women's rights: The Iranian constitution allows equal rights for men and women "in conformity with Islamic criteria." According to the World Economic Forum's 2010 Gender Gap report (PDF)--which compared disparity between men and women on economic participation, access to education, health, and political empowerment--Iran ranked 123 out of 134 countries. This was better than most countries in the region, ahead of Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and even Turkey. However, the UN report notes that the application of certain laws is a barrier to gender equality in Iran. For instance, a woman's worth and testimony in a court of law is regarded as half that of a man's. Women do not have equitable inheritance rights, nor can they be granted guardianship rights for their children, even upon the death of their husbands. The report says female activists who try to address gender equality issues are often targeted.

Religious, ethnic, and other minorities: There are widespread abuses against members of recognized and unrecognized religious and ethnic minorities such as Arabs, Azeris, Baloch, Kurds, Namatullahi Sufi Muslims, Sunnis, Baha'is, and Christians. Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority, the Baha'i, has historically been discriminated against and continues to be denied jobs and educational opportunities, and face arbitrary detention and unfair trials. Human Rights Watch says Iran also engages in systematic discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. "Iran is one of only seven countries with laws allowing executions for consensual same-sex conduct," it says.

VOA: Sexual Minorities Persecuted In Iran

2011-11-05T14:53:00.000Z

The Iranian government has a deplorable record of persecuting members of Iran's gay, lesbian and transgender, community.

International observers were recently alarmed by reports that three men were hanged in the Iranian city of Ahvaz for a series of crimes that included engaging in sodomy.

According to the Norway–based NGO Iran Human Rights, the Iranian Student News Agency said that on September 4 three men were convicted of 'unlawful acts' and acts against Sharia, based on articles 108 and 110 of the Islamic penal code. Iran Human Rights noted that "Articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic Penal code are part of the chapter covering 'Hadd' for sodomy. . . .Article 110 says punishment for sodomy is killing."

The three men, identified only by initials, were also charged with kidnapping and theft. Because of the variety of charges and the lack of due process in Iran – summary trials, the disregard for the right to defense counsel, and the practice of accusing political prisoners of criminal activity -- there is no way to know why these men were hanged.

The Iranian government has a deplorable record of persecuting members of Iran's gay, lesbian and transgender, community -- the size of which remains unknown, since many individuals fear identifying themselves.

The State Department's most recent human rights report on Iran notes that the law "prohibits and punishes homosexual conduct; sodomy between consenting adults is a capital crime." It says that those accused of sodomy often faced summary trials, and noted that "human rights activists and NGOs reported that some members of the gay and bi-sexual community were pressured to undergo gender reassignment surgery to avoid legal and social persecutions in the country."

In his most recent address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama defended the human rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered -- or LGBT -- individuals around the world: "No country should deny people their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion; but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere."

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says, it is "hateful" to suggest that LGBT people "are somehow exempt from human rights protections. . . .All people's rights and dignity must be protected whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity."

IMHRO: Four Ahwazi Arab arrested for converting to Christianity

2011-10-30T19:44:00.000Z

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

IMHRO.83

IMHRO sources from al- Ahwaz in south west of Iran reported that four Ahwazi Arabs men arrested by Iranian security service because they converted from Islam to Christianity. They all reported below 30 years old. Ali Jabber, Karim Naderi, Rahim Asakerh and Rahman Jafari all arrested while worshiping secretly in the house in city of Ahwaz.

After they arrested, security services raided their houses in city of Ahwaz, looking for Bible and Christian literature.

IMHRO condemns the persecution of Muslims who converts into Christianity in Iran. Iran should respect freedom of religions, including conversion from Islam to other religions.

Background

Iranian security service monitors Christians in Iran. Christian Worship is banned, churches destroyed and those who converted from Islam to Christianity charged with apostasy and would face the death penalty. Many Christians in last thirty years tortured and murdered by Iranian security service, there is no freedom of religion in Iran and Christians like Baha’i, Sunni and Sufi dervishes are heavily persecuted.

Underground church is wide spread in Iran, as people are fed up with Islamic theocracy in Iran. It is estimated that in last 10 years thousands had converted to Christianity in Iran.

Iranian Kurds at risk of imminent execution

2011-10-30T19:31:00.000Z

URGENT ACTION

iranian kurds at risk of imminent execution

The death sentence s against Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi, two members of Iran’s Kurdish minority have been up held by the Supreme Court . They could now be executed at any time.

Zaniar (or Zanyar) Moradi and Loghman (or Loqman) Moradi were sentenced to public hanging on 22

December 2010 by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. They have been convicted of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” for allegedly murdering the son of a senior cleric in Marivan, Kordestan province, north-eastern Iran, on 4 July 2009. They have also been convicted of participating in armed activities with Komala, a Kurdish opposition group. The trial reportedly lasted 20 minutes but the two men appealed the sentences. A 12 October 2011report stated that the Supreme Court had upheld the verdicts. According to information, Loghman and Zaniar Moradi have been verbally notified of the Supreme Court’s decision. Amnesty International is investigating reports suggesting that Zaniar Moradi was 17 at the time of his arrest.

Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi were arrested respectively on 1 August 2009 and 17 October 2009 in Marivan. They were held by the Ministry of Intelligence for the first nine months of their detention, when no charges of murder were brought against them. They were moved several times between detention facilities and, at or around the beginning of December 2010, were finally transferred to Section 4 of Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj, northwest of Tehran. Loghman and Zaniar Moradi then wrote a letter in which they stated that during their interrogation session by the Ministry of Intelligence they were forced to “confess” to the allegations of murder after being tortured for a period of 25 days and threatened with rape. Both men were denied access to adequate medical treatment.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, English or your own language :

Urging the Iranian authorities not to carry out the executions of Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi;
Calling on them to commute the death sentences of Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi and anyone else on death row, including other Kurdish political prisoners;
Expressing concern that neither Loghman Moradi nor Zaniar Moradi had a fair trial, and urging the Iranian authorities to investigate the allegations that they were tortured and to bring to justice anyone found responsible for abuses and to disregard as evidence in courts “confessions” which may have been coerced.

P LEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 29 NOVEMBER 2011 TO :

Leader of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei

The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info_leader@leader.ir

Twitter: "Call on #Iran leader @khamenei_ir to halt the execution of Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi” Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani

[care of] Public relations Office

Number 4, 2 Azizi Street

Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection

Tehran,

Islamic Republic of Iran Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights

Mohammad Javad Larijani

High Council for Human Rights

[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir

(subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

iranian kurds at risk of imminent execution

ADditional Information

Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi’s letter from prison also stated that during interrogations by the Ministry of Intelligence, Zaniar Moradi was repeatedly asked about his father, Eghbal Moradi, who lives in Iraq’s Kurdistan province. The letter further describes that Zaniar Moradi was tied to a bed, lashed and subsequently threatened with rape prior to his “confession”.

Kurds, who are one of Iran’s many minorities, live mainly in the west and north-west of the country, in the province of Kordestan and neighbouring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq. They experience discrimination in the enjoyment of their religious, economic and cultural rights (see: Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority, (Index: MDE 13/088/2008), 30 July 2008 available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/088/2008/en). For many years, Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Marxist group Komala conducted armed struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran, although neither currently does so. The Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), was formed in 2004, and carried out armed attacks against Iranian security forces, but declared a unilateral ceasefire in 2009, although it still engages in armed clashes with security forces in what it terms “self-defence”. Since April 2011 there has been an escalation of clashes between Kurdish armed groups and the security forces. From August until the first week of October 2011, the Iranian and Turkish governments shelled border areas where armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and PJAK bases were thought to be located. In the first week of September, Iran reportedly rejected a full ceasefire request by PJAK.

Amnesty International condemns without reservation attacks on civilians, which includes judges, clerics, and locally or nationally-elected officials, as attacking civilians violates fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. These principles prohibit absolutely attacks on civilians as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Such attacks cannot be justified under any circumstances.

At least 13 other Kurdish men and one Kurdish woman are believed to be on death row in connection with their alleged membership of and activities for proscribed Kurdish organizations. Some have had initial prison sentences increased to death sentences. At least 10 Kurds have reportedly been executed for political offences in recent years.

Since 1990, Iran is believed to have executed at least 51 people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years old. Up to four of these executions were in 2011. For example, 17-year-old Alireza Molla-Soltani was publicly hanged in the city of Karaj, near Tehran on 21 September 2011 (See: Iran executes teenager accused of killing “Iran’s strongest man” , 21 September 2011, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-executes-teenager-accused-killing-%E2%80%9Ciran%E2%80%99s-strongest-man%E2%80%9D-2011-09-21. Amnesty International has compiled a list of more than 144 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran, although it has proved difficult to monitor their subsequent fate in all cases.

The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, including Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Iran is a state party. In Iran a person convicted of murder has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh). For more information about executions of juveniles in Iran, please see Iran: The last executioner of children (MDE 13/059/2007), http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007.

Name: Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi
Gender m/f: m

UA: 307/11 Index: MDE 13/094/2011 Issue Date: 19 October 2011

UN: the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights: The situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

2011-10-21T16:22:00.001+01:00

The situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic
of Iran

Note by the Secretary-General

Summary
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the
General Assembly the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, submitted in accordance with
Human Rights Council resolution 16/9.

The Special Rapporteur officially assumed responsibility for the mandate on
1 August 2011 and has since notified the Secretariat that, owing to his late
appointment, he would not be in a position to present a substantive report, but would
focus instead on presenting his proposed methodology and cataloguing the most
recent trends in the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This would emphasize the need for greater transparency and cooperation from
the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Religious and ethnic minorities

59. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned by reports of targeted violence and
discrimination against minority groups. Members of recognized and unrecognized
religious and ethnic minorities such Arabs, Azeris, Balochs, Kurds, Nematullahi
Sufi Muslims, Sunnis, Baha’is and Christians are reportedly facing a wide range of
human and civil rights violations. These include encroachment on their rights to
freedom of assembly, association, expression, movement and liberty.

60. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about reports of violations against the
Baha’i community, which, despite being the largest non-Muslim religious minority,
does not enjoy recognition as such by the Government. Its members have
historically suffered multifaceted discrimination, including denial of jobs, pensions
and educational opportunities, as well as confiscation and destruction of property.
According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, at least 100 members
of the Baha’i community, including seven community leaders2 are currently

imprisoned in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The majority of those detained allegedly
face national security-related charges and have undergone judicial proceedings that
lacked due process and fair trial standards.

61. In addition, recognized religious minorities reportedly face serious constraints
in the enjoyment of their rights and are subjected to severe limitations and
restrictions on the freedom of religion and belief. For instance, the Special
Rapporteur notes that conversion from Islam is still punishable. Articles 13 and 26
of the Constitution recognize Christianity, granting Christians the right to worship
freely and to form religious societies. Article 14 obligates the Government to uphold
the equality and human rights of Christians. However, Christians in the Islamic
Republic of Iran are reportedly subjected to limitations on their freedom of religion
and various forms of religious discrimination. This is said to be particularly true of
Protestant Christians, most of whom are newly converted. The Intelligence Ministry
is reported to closely monitor Protestant congregations and to routinely summon or
detain members of Protestant groups for interrogations, during which individuals are
questioned about their beliefs, church activities and other church members and are
often urged to return to Islam. In this regard, some Protestants reported having been
threatened by intelligence officials with arrest and apostasy charges if they did not
return to Islam. This pattern of harassment has reportedly resulted in the operations
of most Protestant churches going underground, where church services and Bible
studies are conducted in private homes.

62. The Special Rapporteur was particularly disturbed by a recent ruling of the
Supreme Court that upheld a death sentence for Yousef Nadarkhani, a Protestant
pastor, who was reportedly born to Muslim parents but converted to Christianity
when he was 19 years old. The verdict reads that, unless he decides to renounce his
Christianity, Mr. Nadarkhani will be executed by hanging. This is an emblematic
case of religious intolerance and State-sanctioned violations of the right to freedom
of religion and belief, a fundamental freedom guaranteed by international
instruments. Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani, pastor for the Church of Iran in the city of
Shiraz, was also detained, in June 2010, and was reportedly held incommunicado in
solitary confinement for approximately two months. Authorities originally charged
him with apostasy, but later dropped that charge and charged him with “blasphemy”
instead. He is currently awaiting trial under this charge.

63. Sufi Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran are also subjected to limitations
on their freedom of religion and various forms of religious discrimination. This is
particularly true of members of the Shia Sufi order, Nematollahi Gonabadi.

Authorities sentenced Gholam-Abbas Zare-Haqiqi, a Gonabadi leader, to four years
in prison in October 2009, for allowing a burial at Sufi cemeteries, a banned
practice. On 13 April 2011, authorities arrested eight Gonabadi dervishes by the
names of Abdolreza Kashani, Shokrollah Hosseini, Alireza Abbasi, Ali Kashanifar,
Mohammad Marvi, Nazarali Marvi, Ramin Soltankhah and Zafarali Moghimi. The
men had been part of a group of dervishes previously sentenced to five months in
prison, 50 lashes and one year’s exile on charges of “disrupting public order”,
mainly for assembling in front of the Gonabad Justice Department and prison to
protest the detainment of a leader of the order.

2 Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saied Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet are the seven members of the Baha’i faith who had been detained since 14 May 2008 and who went on trial on 12 January 2010 for charges including “acting against national security, espionage and spreading corruption on Earth. They have each been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.

IMHRO condemned arrest oh Ahwazi Arabs

2011-10-10T17:42:00.002+01:00

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

IMHRO.82

In recent weeks reports from inside of Ahwaz in the south west of Iran, indicates that pressure of the government has increased on Ahwazi activists. Iranian government continues to supress Arabs in Arabistan.

Ahwazi human right activist and some ordinary people charged with enmity against god and act against national security and condemned to death in secret trials without access to lawyers. Many of these activists are from Khalafieh (Khalaf Abad) in Arabistan. Jabar al-Bushuka 27 years old and his brother Mokhtar al-Bushuka 25 years old, Hadi Rashidi, Habib Allah Rashidi, Rahman Asakereh, Mohammad Ali Amori, Amir Amori, Hasham Shabani, Shahid Shabani, Ali Badri, Aqil, Aqili and Sayed Bagher al-Bushuka. They are reportedly subjected to torture.

More than 7000 workers, who strike in petrochemical complex of Razi in Bandar Mahshahr, subjected to persecution. IMHRO received list of following workers who arrested; Jasem Navaseri, Rahman Fazeli,Jamal Moghadam, Hasan Torfi, Saeid Hashemi, Naeem Chanani.

IMHRO is very concern regard of show trials of Iranian security service in Ahwaz and demands that this inhuman revolutionary court stops to function.

Lawyers had told IMHRO that judges in Ahwaz are handpicked by security services and charges and punishment arrive in “closed envelope” from security service office in Tehran.

Appeal

IMHRO appeals to international community to follow up the case of persecution of Ahwazi Arabs.

Background

Ahwazi Arabs under huge pressure by central governments since occupation of Arabistan by Reza shah in 1925. Many activists sentenced secretly and execution is widespread. Iranian government had banned journalists from access to regions. Political parties and media are banned and civil activist persecuted. Ahwazi Arabs are banned from education in their mother tongue in schools and wearing Arabic dress is considered a crime. Arabistan is having one of the largest natural gas and oil reserves in the world.

CFR: Death For The Crime Of Christianity In Iran?

2011-10-10T17:30:00.000+01:00

by Elliott Abrams

Yousef Nadarkhani is a Muslim-born Christian pastor who faces a death sentence in Iran because he converted to Christianity. His case has aroused a wave of international condemnation, and that may be enough to save his life. He was sentenced to death, but higher authorities in Tehran appear to be backing away from that in the face of universal criticism. This may not, even so, be enough to save him from additional imprisonment. He has already been in jail for two years. The delay in execution could, in fact, reflect instead the time the ayatollahs are taking to pressure him to recant his faith and “return” to Islam.

The case is a reminder of the nature and practices of the Iranian regime. The main brunt of regime attacks has fallen on the Baha’i faith: just under one hundred Baha’i are in prison now in Iran for no other crime than their religious beliefs. The Baha’i community suffers from persecution reminiscent of the way Jews were treated in Nazi Germany: deprived of jobs, barred from schools, arrested for teaching their children in informal schools, jailed without cause, cemeteries desecrated, religious institutions shut down.

What to do about the vicious theocratic regime in Iran remains a central challenge for American foreign policy. All too often, “managing” relations with the regime is seen as our proper goal, just as “managing” the conflict with the Soviet Union was seen as the only sensible goal during the Cold War–until Ronald Reagan came along with the message that the end of that regime was our real objective. So it should be in the case of Iran.

The Council on Foreign Relations has just published a guide to thinking about Iran and policy toward Iran. It covers all the key issues and can be accessed by clicking on the image below.

RFE/RL: Azeri Activists Arrested In Iran Over Lake Protest

2011-10-10T17:27:00.000+01:00

Several Azeri activists in Iran have been arrested after calling on people to participate in the latest protest over the drying up of Lake Orumieh, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

The Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) said on September 14 that the activists were detained after distributing leaflets urging people to take part in a protest in the northwestern city of Ardebil on September 19.

ADAPP said that activists Abbas Lesani, Asgar Akbarzadeh, Moslem Akbarzadeh, Ebrahim Rashidi, Hassan Karimzadeh, Isa Azizi, Nosratollah Valizadeh, Rahim Gholami, Hamid Ghovati, Ali Kheirjou, Mehdi Osouli, Ali Babaie, and Babak Javanshir were among those taken into custody.

Akbarzadeh, who is also a student activist, was arrested by security forces on September 8, while Lesani, a civil activist and former political prisoner, was detained by security forces on September 9 without an arrest warrant.

Lake Orumieh, a salt lake located in Iran's East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan provinces, is drying up and turning into a salt marsh.

There have been repeated demonstrations by several thousand people in recent weeks in the two provinces against the increasing aridity of the lake.

Security forces used violence to disperse those protests and arrested dozens of participants.

Activists say that if the present process continues the lake could disappear completely within three years, leaving billions of tons of salt that will pose a health hazard to the local population and make parts of the region uninhabitable for the some 14 million people who live there.

Environmentalists believe the construction of hydroelectric dams on rivers that are tributaries of the lake is the primary cause of the reduction in its size.

Environmentalist Esmail Kahrom told Radio Farda recently that some 35 dams have been built on 21 rivers that feed Lake Orumieh, and 10 more are currently under construction.

"This means Lake Orumieh has been deprived of 5.5 billion cubic meters of water annually," Kahrom said.

Kahrom also mentioned evaporation, drought, and the construction of a highway which crosses Lake Orumieh as other contributing factors to the decrease in its water levels.

UNPO: UN Report Outlines Civil And Political Rights Violations Faced By Iran’s Indigenous Peoples

2011-09-30T14:13:00.001+01:00

UNPO Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee highlights marginalization of indigenous ethnicities in Iran. UNPO Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee highlights marginalization of indigenous ethnicities in Iran.

UNPO has submitted an Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee ahead of Iran’s review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at the 103rd Session in October 2011. This report to the Treaty Body monitoring committee underlines the gross violations of human rights and the systematic persecution of the Ahwaz Arabs, Azeri Turks, Kurds and Baloch peoples.

The Ahwazi Arab, Azeri Turkish, Kurdish and Baloch people in Iran are not accorded indigenous status and thus fall victim to political, economic and social marginalization. Their traditional lands are often rich with natural resources that provide a large source of wealth for the Iranian government, but groups who reside there experience disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, preventable disease due to poor or non-existent infrastructure.

Discrimination or preferential treatment of Iranian citizens is prohibited according to Article 19 of the Iranian constitution which states that “all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; color, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege.” As these indigenous groups have unique cultures, communicate in their respective native languages and oftentimes observe religions different from the Iranian state religion of Shia Islam, their behavior is branded as “anti-social” and their actions are conducted “under the pretext of a sacred objective” and “ignore the norms of society” (CCPR/C/IRN/Q/3/Add.1).

Falsely generalizing members of ethnic groups to be associated with terrorist or separatist organizations, the Iranian government targets these ethnic groups for arbitrary arrests, torture, and show trials to secure excessive incarceration or capital punishment. This also occurs through vague and inconsistent interpretations of national and Islamic law. The UNPO Alternative Report has cited numerous cases where human rights activists who participate in peaceful demonstrations, which are constitutionally protected, are arrested on exaggerated charges of “endangering national security” and are oftentimes tortured, disappeared or executed.

UNPO’s Report proposes a series of recommendations to be posited to the Iranian delegation at the 103rd Session of the CCPR. They include:

-Formally recognize the Ahwazi Arabs, South Azerbaijani, Baloch and Kurds as indigenous people, and respect the distinct rights to self-governance afforded to them by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

-Ensure that profits from natural resources gleaned from regions with high concentrations of indigenous communities are reinvested in their respective communities

-Fully implement Constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination in providing adequate housing and equal access of development resources for all citizens

-Decriminalize apostasy of religion and towards the Iranian state

-Discontinue the use of ‘gozinesh’ and other methods of discriminating against citizens engaging in their right to their religious freedom

The full report can be downloaded here. Further information related to the review at the 103rd Session of the Committee on Civil and Political Rights can be found here.

FCO: Foreign Secretary calls on Iran to overturn Iranian Church leader's death sentence

2011-09-30T14:05:00.000+01:00

Foreign Secretary William Hague has spoken following reports that Iranian Church Leader Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani faces a death sentence after refusing an order to recant his faith

Speaking today the Foreign Secretary said:

“I deplore reports that Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Church leader, could be executed imminently after refusing an order by the Supreme Court of Iran to recant his faith. This demonstrates the Iranian regime’s continued unwillingness to abide by its constitutional and international obligations to respect religious freedom. I pay tribute to the courage shown by Pastor Nadarkhani who has no case to answer and call on the Iranian authorities to overturn his sentence.”

Daily Telegraph: Iran's Christians urgently need the West's suppor

2011-09-30T13:55:00.000+01:00

For the first time in 20 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a formal death sentence for a Christian. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, leader of the Church of Iran denomination in Rasht, was arrested in October 2009 while seeking to register his church. He has been on death row since being found guilty of apostasy, conversion from Islam, in September 2010.

Pastor Nadarkhani’s appeal came to a conclusion on Wednesday, September 28. Iran's Supreme Court had refused to overturn his death sentence, referring his case back to local judges in Rasht to decide whether Nadarkhani had been a practising Muslim before converting to Christianity, something which Nadarkhani denied. Judges in Rasht ruled that although Nadarkhani had not been a practising Muslim, his Islamic heritage made him guilty of apostasy.

Although apostasy does not carry a formal death penalty under Iran’s penal code, judges in Rasht were able to use the supremacy of Islamic jurisprudence in Iran’s constitution to sue for the death sentence based on religious fatwas, or Islamic rulings, by leading Ayatollahs.

If he is executed, Pastor Nadarkhani will leave behind a wife and two small children. His lawyer awaits the written verdict of his death sentence. This process could take a week, but commentators inside Iran suggest that it could be much shorter or that he may be executed without formal notice. Reports that Mr Nadarkhani’s lawyer, a prominent human rights activist who faces jail for his work, has received verbal notice of the annulment of Nadarkhani’s death sentence have been firmly denied inside Iran. It is thought that such rumours may be being propagated by the regime in order to deflect international condemnation.

There have been over 300 arrests of Christians in 35 cities across Iran since June 2010. Detainees are typically held in unsanitary prisons, sometimes in solitary confinement, with evidence of torture and interrogation tactics being used against them on account of their faith. Excessively high bail demands, some as great as $30,000, see title deeds to detainees’ houses being given in return for their liberty. Those inmates whose families cannot meet these demands, such as Pastor Farshid Fathi, who was detained in a brutal crackdown against evangelical Christians over Christmas of last year, remain detained.

The high profile case of Hashem Aghajani in 2002 is an example of how the theocratic dictates of the regime can be used to stifle political debate in addition to religious freedom and demonstrate how apostasy is both a political and religious tool and thus a sentencing risk to all. Aghajani was a history professor at one of Tehran’s universities and a survivor of the Iran-Iraq war with an “impeccable” revolutionary reputation. Aghajani was sentenced to be hanged after he gave a speech in Hamedan during which he called for the reformation of Islam and questioned the role of clerics in Iran’s leadership. His statements were understood to have directly threatened the regime and, by definition, to have demonstrated the renunciation of ‘true’ faith.

Within this subjective sphere of rights, where political and religious allegiance is enmeshed, religious deviance from the status quo is as much of a political statement, as political nonconformity is deemed an act against God. The charge for apostasy, whether framed through a political or a religious lens is the same: a possible death sentence dependent on the whim, character, belief or political context of the decision of a local judge.

It is time for the West to recognise that religious belief is not some sort of additional right less essential than those based on race, ethnicity, political allegiance or gender. Religious faith as much as political belief is based on conviction, not on luxury. Furthermore, in a state like Iran where theocracy governs, freedom of belief is tantamount to freedom of political self-determination.

There must be intervention sooner on behalf of religious detainees and greater awareness of the theological underpinnings and legal uses of apostasy for members of theocratic societies. In addition, there must be greater cohesion to ensure that international covenants such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory, are upheld.

UN: Ahwaz is the most Air Polluted City in the World

2011-09-27T16:28:00.000+01:00

A new report from the World Health Organization ranks cities around the world based on the cities’ detected levels of air pollution. The WHO surveyed data from nearly 1100 cities across 91 countries– including capital cities and cities with more than 100, 000 residents.

Of that list, it seems that the south-eastern Iranian city Ahwaz has the dubious distinction of having the dirtiest air in the world. It was followed closely by Ulanbataar, the capitol of Mongolia. In general, cities in Iran, Pakistan, and India were the dirtiest. Here’s the top 10 most air polluted cities in the world.

1. Ahwaz, Iran

2. Ulanbataar, Mongolia

3. Sanadaj, Iran

4. Ludhiana, India

5. Quetta, Pakistan

6. Kermanshah, Iran

7. Peshawar, Pakistan

8. Gaberone Botswana

9. Yasouj, Iran

10. Kampour, India

Why does this matter? “WHO estimates more than 2 million people die every year from breathing in tiny particles present in indoor and outdoor air pollution. PM10 particles, which are particles of 10 micrometers or less, which can penetrate into the lungs and may enter the bloodstream, can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections.”

The WHO air quality guidelines for PM10 is 20 micrograms per cubic meter as an annual average. Ahwaz is at 372, or over 18 times what is healthy. Kampour comes in at 209. The millions of people that live in cities with PM10 levels over ten times what they should be can literally be sickened by the very air they breathe.

So where are the world’s cleanest cities? Well, nine out of the top ten are in Canada. (Though Santa Fe, New Mexico comes in at 11!)

10. Canada	Nelson
9. Canada	Fredericton
8. Canada	Corner Brook
7. Canada	Terrace
6. Canada	Nanaimo
5. United States of America	Clearlake, CA
4. Canada	Houston
3. Canada	Burns Lake
2. Canada	Kitimat
1. Canada	Whitehorse

VOA: Religious Freedom Repudiated In Iran

2011-09-23T10:32:00.000+01:00

Once again, the government of Iran is ranked as one of the worst violators of a crucial and fundamental human right – the right to religious freedom.

In its latest annual report on the state of religious freedom around the world, the U.S. State Department said the government of Iran, like the government of North Korea, seeks "to control religious thought and expression as part of a more comprehensive determination to control all aspects of political and civic life."

In unveiling the report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that members of Iran's minority religious communities are especially beleaguered:

"In Iran authorities continue to repress Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Sunnis, Ahmadis and others who do not share the government's religious views."

Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, spoke in particular of the persecution of Iranian Baha'is:

"There were seven Baha'i leaders who were sentenced to 20 years in jail. The government then reduced it to 10; now they've upped it again to 20 years. They've eight leaders of one of the Baha'i schools of higher education that are being put on trial. Baha'i kids can't go to regular universities."

The report also notes that members of Iran's Sufi community in the city of Gonabad have faced arrest, imprisonment and brutal flogging. Shiites who reject the role of religion in politics, like prominent cleric Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi and 17 of his followers, languish behind bars. Jews endure a hostile environment because of the government's support of a virulent and widespread campaign of anti-Semitic propaganda. Judicial authorities sentenced two Christian pastors to death for apostasy, and more than 160 arrests of Christians were reported during July and December of 2010. At the end of the reporting year, 33 remained in jail, or their whereabouts were unknown.

Assistant Secretary of State Posner said there is a growing realization around the world that respect for religious freedom is a crucial responsibility of governments everywhere. Countries like Iran, whose leaders curtail the religious freedom of their citizens, show that control, and not accountability and governance, is their goal. The United States will continue to shine a spotlight on such repression.

RFE/RL: Iranian Sufi Dervish Killed Amid Crackdown

2011-09-23T10:31:00.000+01:00

September 07, 2011

A dervish has died in southwestern Iran amid an ongoing government crackdown against the Sufi sect, Radio Farda reports.

Three dervishes from the Gonabadi Nematollahi order -- Ebrahim Fazil, Ali Karimi, and Mohammad Ali Saadi -- were shot by security forces on September 5 in Kavar, Fars Province.

It is not known which of the men was killed. The other two are in serious condition in the hospital.

The Sufis reportedly came under attack from "plainclothes agents" and members of the Basij militia. Opposition websites have reported that those who assaulted the dervishes were armed and used tear gas.

Davood Montazeri, a lawyer for and member of the Gonabadi dervishes, said the Kavar incident took place after an Islamic cleric in the province, whom he identified as "Shahbazi," called last week on citizens to demonstrate against dervishes.

Radio Farda reports that late last week Sufi shops were also reportedly set on fire and the homes of Sufis attacked by a group of hard-liners chanting "death to American dervishes."

Sources close to the dervishes told Radio Farda that scores of dervishes were detained and dozens sustained injuries.

In recent years, Iranian authorities have demolished several houses of worship of dervishes in Qom, Isfahan, and other cities.

Dervishes believe their growing popularity is one of the main reasons for the increased pressure.

The Nematollahi order is Iran's largest Sufi order, with reportedly more than 2 million members across the country, including in major cities such as Tehran and Isfahan.

IMHRO attended the Times Newspaper event regard of Human Rights in Iran

2011-09-16T17:02:00.001+01:00

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

Ref.IMHRO.83

16.09.2011

“Imprisoned in Iran” an event organised by the Times Newspaper regard of follow up of Sakineh Ashtiani a Turkish minority woman in Iran who sentenced to stoning, was a chance to talk about human rights in Iran.

The event opened by the remarks of UK foreign secretary, who clearly showed that UK government taking Human Rights in Iran very important. He also draws a line between Iran’s nuclear case and Human Rights: “I want to be clear. Human Rights sanctions on Iran are separate to the nuclear issue. Human rights sanctions will be lifted as and when Iran improves its human rights record, and if it does not, they should be increased”

The events were well attended by various Human Rights organisations, activist, NGO’s, journalists and gave a good chance to exchange views on current situation of Human Rights in Iran.

IMHRO thanks the Times Newspaper for organising very successful events and hopes such events would continue.

US Department: 2010 International Religious Freedom Report

2011-09-15T21:47:00.001+01:00

Iran

September 13, 2011

The constitution states that Islam is the official state religion, and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shiism. The constitution provides that "other Islamic denominations are to be accorded full respect," while the country's pre-Islamic religious groups -- Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews -- are recognized as "protected" religious minorities. The fourth article of the constitution states that all laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria an official interpretation of Sharia (Islamic Law). Laws and policies severely restrict freedom of religion and practice the government enforced restrictions severely restricting freedom of religion.

The government's level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice declined during the reporting period. Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Bahais, as well as Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups that do not share the government's official religious views. Reports of government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs continued during the reporting period. Bahai religious groups reported arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention, expulsions from universities, and confiscation of property. During the reporting period government-controlled broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly the Bahais. All non-Shia religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing.

There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Although the constitution gives Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians the status of "protected" religious minorities (as long as they do not proselytize), in practice non-Shia Muslims faced substantial societal discrimination, and government actions continued to support elements of society that created a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities.

The U.S. government makes clear its strong objections to the government's harsh and oppressive treatment of religious minorities through public statements, support for relevant United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental organization (NGO) efforts, as well as diplomatic initiatives. On January 16, 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State re-designated the country a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act, for its particularly egregious violations of religious freedom. The United States has designated Iran a CPC since 1999.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 636,000 square miles and a population of 67 million. The population is 98 percent Muslim -- 89 percent Shia and 9 percent Sunni (mostly Turkmen and Arabs, Baluchs, and Kurds living in the southwest, southeast, and northwest respectively). There were no official statistics available on the size of the Sufi Muslim population; however, some reports estimated between two and five million persons practice Sufism in the country.

Unofficial estimates from religious organizations claimed that Bahais, Jews, Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians constitute 2 percent of the population. The largest non-Muslim minority is the Bahais, who number 300,000 to 350,000. Unofficial estimates of the Jewish community's size varied from 20,000 to 30,000.

According to UN figures, 300,000 Christians live in the country, the majority of whom are ethnic Armenians. Unofficial estimates for the Assyrian Christian population ranged between 10,000 and 20,000. There are also Protestant denominations, including evangelical religious groups. Christian groups outside the country estimated the size of the Protestant Christian community to be less than 10,000, although many Protestant Christians reportedly practice in secret. Sabean-Mandaeans number 5,000 to 10,000 persons. The government regarded the Sabean-Mandaeans as Christians, and they were included among the three recognized religious minorities; however, Sabean-Mandaeans do not consider themselves Christians. The government estimated there are 30,000 to 35,000 Zoroastrians, a primarily ethnic Persian minority; however, Zoroastrian groups claimed to have 60,000 adherents.

Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

Please refer to Appendix C in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for the status of the government's acceptance of international legal standards http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/appendices/index.htm.

The constitution and policies severely restricted freedom of religion. The constitution declares the "official religion of Iran is Islam and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shiism." All laws and regulations must be consistent with the official interpretation of Sharia (Islamic law). The constitution provides Sunni Muslims a degree of religious freedom; however, the government severely restricted overall religious freedom. The constitution states that "within the limits of the law," Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are the only recognized religious minorities guaranteed freedom to practice their religious beliefs; however, members of these recognized minority religious groups reported government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on their religious beliefs.

The supreme leader of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, heads a three-branch structure of government (legislative, executive, and judicial branches). The supreme leader is not directly elected, but chosen by a group of 86 Islamic scholars (the Assembly of Experts), who are directly elected. All acts of the majles (parliament) must be reviewed for strict conformity with Islamic law and the constitution, and all candidates for any elected office must be vetted by the unelected Council of Guardians. The council is composed of six clerics appointed by the supreme leader and six Muslim jurists (legal scholars) nominated by the head of the judiciary and approved by the majles.

The government did not respect the right of Muslim citizens to change or renounce their religious faith. The government automatically considers a child born to a Muslim father to be a Muslim.

Non-Muslims may not engage in public religious expression, persuasion, and conversion among Muslims, and there were restrictions on published religious material. Apostasy, specifically conversion from Islam, is punishable by death. At least two death sentences for apostasy or evangelism were issued under judicial interpretations of Sharia during the reporting period.

Proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims is illegal. Evangelical church leaders were subjected to pressure from authorities to sign pledges that they would not evangelize Muslims or allow Muslims to attend church services. Members of religious minorities, excluding Sunni Muslims, were prevented from serving in the judiciary and security services and from becoming public school principals.

Applicants for public sector employment were screened for their adherence to and knowledge of Islam, although members of religious minorities, with the exception of Bahais, could serve in lower ranks of government employment. Government workers who did not observe Islamic principles and rules were subject to penalties.

The constitution states that the army must be Islamic and must recruit individuals who are committed to the objectives of the Islamic Revolution. In practice, however, no religious minorities were exempt from military service. The law forbids non-Muslims from holding officer positions over Muslims in the armed forces. Members of religious minorities with a college education can serve as officers during their mandatory military service but cannot be career military officers.

By law, religious minorities are not allowed to be elected to a representative body or to hold senior government or military positions, with the exception that five of a total 290 seats in the majles are reserved for religious minorities. Two seats are reserved for Armenian Christians, one for Assyrian Christians, one for Jews, and one for Zoroastrians. While Sunnis do not have reserved seats in the majles, they were allowed to serve in the body. Sunni majles deputies tended to be elected from among the larger Sunni communities. Members of religious minorities were allowed to vote; however, no member of a religious minority, including Sunni Muslims, is eligible to be president.

The legal system discriminates against religious minorities. Article 297 of the amended 1991 Islamic Punishments Act authorizes collection of equal diyeh (blood money) as restitution to families for the death of both Muslims and non-Muslims. According to law, Bahai blood is considered mobah, meaning it can be spilled with impunity.

Adherents of religious groups not recognized by the constitution, such as the Bahais, did not have freedom to practice their beliefs. The government prohibited Bahais from teaching and practicing their faith. Bahais were barred from all leadership positions in the government and military.

The government considered Bahais to be apostates and defined the Bahai faith as a political "sect." The Ministry of Justice stated that Bahais were permitted to enroll in schools only if they did not identify themselves as such, and Bahais preferably should be enrolled in schools with a strong and imposing religious ideology. There were reports that Bahai children in public schools faced attempts to convert them to Islam.

In 2008 the government reverted to its previous practice of requiring Bahai students to identify themselves as a religion other than Bahai to register for the entrance examination. The government had briefly rescinded this requirement in 2007. This action precluded Bahai enrollment in state-run universities, since a tenet of the Bahai faith is not to deny one's faith. The Ministry of Justice stated that Bahais must be excluded or expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, if their religious affiliation became known. University applicants were required to pass an examination in Islamic, Christian, or Jewish theology, but there was no test for the Bahai theology.

Bahais were banned from the social pension system. In addition Bahais were regularly denied compensation for injury or criminal victimization and the right to inherit property. Bahai marriages and divorces were not officially recognized, although the government allowed a civil attestation of marriage to serve as a marriage certificate.

The government allowed recognized religious minorities to establish community centers and certain self-financed cultural, social, athletic, or charitable associations. However, the government prohibited the Bahai community from officially assembling or maintaining administrative institutions through the means of closing such institutions.

The government propagated a legal interpretation of Islam that effectively deprived women of many rights granted to men. Gender segregation was enforced generally throughout the country without regard to religious affiliation. Women of all religious groups were expected to adhere to Islamic dress in public. Although enforcement of rules for conservative Islamic dress eased at times, the government periodically repressed "un-Islamic dress." The government's 12-point contract model for marriage and divorce limited the rights accorded to women by custom and traditional interpretations of Islamic law.

The government observes the following religious holidays as national holidays: Eid-e-Ghadir, Tassoua, Ashura, Arbaeen, the Demise of the Prophet Muhammad, Martyrdom of Imam Reza, Birthday of Imam Ali, Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad, Birthday of Imam Mahdi, Eid-e-Fitr, Martyrdom of Imam Ali, Martyrdom of Imam Jafar Sadegh, Eid-e-Ghorban, and the Islamic New Year.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

The government enforced harsh legal and policy restrictions on religious freedom. During the reporting period, respect for religious freedom in the country continued to deteriorate. Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Bahais, as well as Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups who do not share the government's sanctioned religious views. Reports of government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs continued during the reporting period. Bahai religious groups reported arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, expulsions from universities, and confiscation of property. Government-controlled broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly the Bahais, during the reporting period. All non-Shia religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing.

Particularly since the June 2009 elections, the government intensified its campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities.

The Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance (Ershad) and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) monitored religious activity closely. Members of recognized religious minorities were not required to register with the government; however, authorities closely monitored their communal, religious, and cultural events and organizations, including schools. Registration of Bahais was a police function during the reporting period. The government also required evangelical Christian groups to compile and submit membership lists of their congregations.

The government generally allowed recognized religious minority groups to conduct religious education for their adherents in separate schools, although it restricted this right considerably in some cases. The Ministry of Education, which imposed certain curriculum requirements, supervised these schools. With few exceptions, the directors of such private schools must be Muslim. Attendance at the schools was not mandatory for recognized religious minorities. The Ministry of Education must approve all textbooks used in coursework, including religious texts. Recognized religious minorities could provide religious instruction in non-Persian languages, but such texts required approval by the authorities. This approval requirement sometimes imposed significant translation expenses on minority communities. Assyrian Christians reported that their community was permitted to write its own textbooks which, following government authorization, were printed at the government's expense and distributed to the Assyrian community.

Christians of all denominations reported the presence of security cameras outside their churches allegedly to confirm that no non-Christians participate in services.

Broad restrictions on Bahais severely undermined their ability to practice their faith freely and function as a community. Bahai groups reported that the government often denied applications for new or renewed business and trade licenses to Bahais. The government repeatedly pressured Bahais to accept relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their religious beliefs. The government prevented many Bahais from leaving the country.

Bahais could not teach or practice their religious beliefs or maintain links with coreligionists abroad. Bahais were often officially charged with "espionage on behalf of Zionism," in part due to the fact that the Bahai world headquarters is located in Israel. These charges were more acute when Bahais were caught communicating with or sending monetary contributions to the Bahai headquarters.

Public and private universities continued to deny admittance to or expel Bahai students. Although the government maintained publicly that Bahais were free to attend university, reports indicated that the implicit policy of preventing Bahais from obtaining higher education remained in effect during the reporting period.

In a December 7 report, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported that at least seventeen Bahai were barred or expelled from universities in 2010 on political or religious grounds. Furthermore, during the past few years, young Bahai schoolchildren in primary and high schools increasingly have been vilified, pressured to convert to Islam, and in many cases expelled on account of their religion.

There were reports that the government compiled a list of Bahais and their trades and employment using information from the Association of Chambers of Commerce and related organizations, which are nominally independent and heavily influenced by the government.

In October 2010 Deputy Culture Minister Mohsen Parviz issued a statement stating there is "no place for the promotion of Sufism in Shia dominated Iran."

Many Sunnis claimed the government discriminated against them; however, it is difficult to distinguish whether the cause of discrimination was religious or ethnic, since most Sunnis are also members of ethnic minorities. Sunnis cited the absence of a Sunni mosque in Tehran, despite the presence of more than one million adherents in the city, as a prominent example. Sunni leaders reported bans on Sunni religious literature and teachings in public schools, even in predominantly Sunni areas. Sunnis also noted the underrepresentation of Sunnis in government-appointed positions in the provinces where they form a majority, such as Kurdistan and Khuzestan Provinces, as well as their inability to obtain senior government positions.

While the government recognizes Judaism as an official religious minority, the Jewish community experienced official discrimination. The government continued to sanction anti-Semitic propaganda involving official statements, media outlets, publications, and books. The government's anti-Semitic rhetoric, along with a perception among radical Muslims that all Jewish citizens of the country support Zionism and the state of Israel, continued to create a hostile atmosphere for Jews. The rhetorical attacks also further blurred the line between Zionism, Judaism, and Israel and contributed to increased concerns about the future security of the Jewish community in the country.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued a virulent anti-Semitic campaign. During the reporting period, the president publically called for the destruction of Israel.

President Ahmadinejad continued to regularly question the existence and the scope of the Holocaust, which created a more hostile environment for the Jewish community. In a September 2009 speech at the annual Al Quds Day rally in Tehran, the president stated the West created the myth of the Holocaust as a pretext for the creation of the "Zionist" regime.

The government promoted and condoned anti-Semitism in state media; however, with some exceptions, there was little government restriction of, or interference with, Jewish religious practice. The government reportedly allowed Hebrew instruction but limited the distribution of Hebrew texts, particularly nonreligious texts, making it difficult to teach the language. Moreover, the government required that in conformity with the schedule of other schools, Jewish schools must remain open on Saturdays, which violated Jewish law.

Jewish citizens were free to travel out of the country, and the government did not enforce the general restriction against travel by the country's citizens to Israel on Jews.

The Sabean-Mandaean religious community reportedly faced harassment and repression by authorities similar to that faced by other religious minorities. The government often denied members of the Sabean-Mandaean community access to higher education.

The government repressed Sufi communities and religious practices, including increased harassment and intimidation of prominent Sufi leaders by the intelligence and security services. Government restrictions on Sufi groups and husseiniya (houses of worship) became more pronounced in recent reporting periods. There were numerous reports of Shia clerics and prayer leaders denouncing Sufism and the activities of Sufis in the country in both sermons and public statements.

The government carefully monitored the statements and views of senior Shia religious leaders. The Special Clerical Courts, established to investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics and which the supreme leader oversees directly, were not provided for in the constitution and so have operated outside the judiciary. In particular, critics alleged that the clerical courts were used to prosecute certain clerics for expressing controversial political ideas and for participating in nonreligious activities, including journalism.

Non-Shia religious leaders reported bans on Sunni teachings in public schools and Sunni religious literature. Residents of provinces with large Sunni populations, including Kurdistan, Khuzestan, and Sistan-va-Baluchestan, reported discrimination and lack of resources, but it was difficult to determine if this discrimination was based on religion, ethnicity, or both.

Laws based on religious affiliation continued to be used to stifle freedom of expression. Independent newspapers and magazines have been closed, and leading publishers and journalists have been imprisoned on vague charges of "insulting Islam" or "calling into question the Islamic foundation of the Republic."

Abuses of Religious Freedom

There were reports of abuses of religious freedom in the country, including religious prisoners and detainees. Authorities regularly detained and harassed bloggers who wrote anything critical of the country's Islamic revolution. The government requires bloggers to register their Web sites with the Ministry of Art and Culture.

In early 2010 the government started convicting and executing reformers and peaceful protestors on the charge of being moharebeh (understood as enmity against God). Reportedly, more than 10 individuals have been charged, convicted, and sentenced to death as moharebeh. At least three are known to have been executed during the past year.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the government has killed more than 200 Bahais and regularly raids and confiscates their property. Bahai groups outside the country reported that government authorities increased their harassment and intimidation of the members of the Bahai community during the reporting period. Unknown assailants vandalized cemeteries and holy places, and school authorities denigrated and abused Bahai students in primary and secondary schools in at least 10 cities.

The government continued to imprison and detain Bahais based on their religious beliefs. The government arbitrarily arrested Bahais and charged them with violating Islamic penal code articles 500 and 698, relating to activities against the state and spreading falsehoods, respectively. Often the charges were not dropped upon release, and those with charges pending against them reportedly feared arrest at any time. Most were released only after paying large fines or posting high bails. For some, bail was in the form of deeds of property; others gained their release in exchange for personal guarantees or work licenses.

In January 2010 chief prosecutor of Tehran Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi publicly stated that the Bahais arrested during the December 2009 demonstrations had played a role in organizing the Ashura riots, and that their arrest was due to sending pictures of the protest abroad. He also claimed that arms and ammunitions were discovered in, and confiscated from, some of their homes.

Since January 1, 2010, at least 50 Bahais have been arbitrarily arrested. At least 14 Bahais were arrested in March in several different cities throughout the country, including Marvdasht, Mashhad, Semnan, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Orumiyeh, Ramsar, and Sari. Approximately 13 Bahais were detained in February 2010, several of whom remained in jail. According to human rights groups, between October 2009 and mid-February 2010, there were 47 new cases of arbitrary detention of Bahais.

At the end of the reporting period, at least 56 Bahais remained in detention because of their religious beliefs. The locations of 18 detainees were unknown, and no trials were scheduled for 13 of those in custody. Pouriya Habibi was arrested on January 27, 2008, but there has been no verdict in his case, and it is unknown whether there has been a trial. The government never formally charged many of the others but released them

only after they posted bail.

The seven leaders of the Bahai community -- Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Vahid Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet -- remained in detention since their arrests in spring 2008. In February 2009 the judiciary spokesman announced that the seven were accused of "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic." In May 2009 state-run media reported the government also charged them with "spreading corruption on earth," a crime punishable by death. To date, none of the seven leaders has been allowed access to their attorney, Abdolfattah Soltani. On June 16, 2009, security agents arrested Soltani without a warrant and took him to an unknown location. On June 14, 2010, the trial concluded after four hearings, and on June 30 the court issued a 20-year prison sentence for each that was subsequently reduced in September 2010 to 10 years.

According to the Bahai International Community's United Nations Office, Intelligence Ministry officers raided the home of Fakhroddin Samimi on May 31. After searching his home and confiscating personal belongings, including his computer and material related to his religious beliefs, the officers arrested him. He was transferred to the prison in Sari the same day. On June 25, Mr. Samimi was released. No information was available regarding bail.

On December 8 Haleh Rouhi and Sasan Taqva were released from the temporary detention center where they had been held for the duration of their incarceration. Raha Sabet remained imprisoned at the end of the year. The three were among 51 Bahai arrested in 2006 during their involvement in projects in and around the city of Shiraz which focused on teaching literacy and social skills to children.

In January 2009 security forces in Tehran arrested five Bahais and took them to Evin prison. At least one Bahai, a woman from Shiraz named Negin Rezaei, was released from Evin prison by the end of the reporting period.

Pouriya Habibi and Simin Mokhtari, arrested in January 2008 and detained on charges of teaching the Bahai Faith, reportedly remained in Evin prison at the end of the reporting period.

In October 2009 MOIS officers searched the home of Bahai member Ali Bakhsh Bazrafkan, confiscated items linked to his faith, and arrested him. Bazrafkan was a member of the former Bahai administrative group (Khademin) in Yasouj. Bazrafkan received a 30-month prison sentence followed by five years in exile in a remote area in the province of Kohkiloyeh va Boyerahmad.

In October 2009 MOIS officers arrested Behnam Rouhanifard for producing and distributing Bahai music. Two days later authorities summoned his wife to appear at the local MOIS office, where authorities interrogated her for two hours. At the end of the reporting period, Rouhanifard's family had not heard from him since October 2009, when he was permitted to call home; his whereabouts remained unknown.

In September 2009 MOIS officers in Yazd searched the home of Soheil Rouhanifard, brother of Behnam Rouhanifard, and confiscated belongings and materials related to the Bahai faith. The next day Soheil Rouhanifard appeared at the local MOIS office in response to a summons. Authorities interrogated and released him. He was summoned again on October 19 and arrested without charge. At the end of the reporting period, he remained in prison and was not permitted family visits.

The property rights of Bahais were generally disregarded, and they suffered frequent government harassment and persecution. The government raided Bahai homes and businesses and confiscated large numbers of private and commercial properties, as well as religious materials, belonging to Bahais. The government reportedly seized numerous Bahai homes and transferred them to an agency of Supreme Leader Khamene'i. The government also seized private homes in which Bahai youth classes were held, despite the owners' having proper ownership documents. The Bahai community reported that the government's seizure of Bahai personal property and its denial of Bahai access to education and employment was eroding the economic base of the community and threatening its survival.

The government continued to hold many Bahai properties, including cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, and administrative centers, that were seized following the 1979 revolution. Many of the properties have been destroyed. Bahais were generally prevented from burying and honoring their dead in accordance with their religious tradition.

In the past year Bahai cemeteries in various parts of the country, including Tehran, Ghaemshahr, Marvdasht, Semnan, Sari, and Isfahan, were desecrated or defaced. In some cases entrance was blocked to the Bahai community.

In January 2009 municipality officials razed the Bahai cemetery of Ghaemshahr with a bulldozer at night according to witnesses. Observers also reported the official demolition of an entire section of the Tehran cemetery where the government had interred those executed in the early years of the Islamic revolution.

On October 25 and 27 unknown arsonists torched three household furniture repair shops, and on November 15 two household appliance repair shops were set on fire in Rafsanjan after the local newsletter published a section devoted to the economic activities of the Bahai.

There were reports of authorities forcing Bahai businesses to close, placing restrictions on their businesses, and asking managers of private companies to dismiss their Bahai employees.

Government officials reportedly offered Bahais relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their religious affiliation, and if incarcerated, recanting their religious affiliation as a precondition for releasing them.

Iranian Shiite Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, along with 17 of his followers, have been imprisoned for espousing religious views that are incongruent with the official religious views of the government since 2006. He is serving an 11-year prison term and is reportedly in poor health. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition.

In May 2010 most of the 20 Sufi practitioners arrested in July 2009 in the northeastern city of Gonabad received sentences of flogging or imprisonment. They were among more than 200 Sufi dervishes who gathered to protest the arrest of Hossein Zareya, a local leader. Several dervishes were injured as riot police used force and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Since July 2009 the government closed or took over several nursing homes, hospitals, and seven libraries administered by the Sufi Gonabadis.

In March 2009 a representative of the Gonabadi Sufi dervishes reported that authorities were holding 41 dervishes in Evin prison for practicing their religion. No updates were available at the end of the reporting period.

In February 2009 authorities razed the house of worship of Gonabadi dervishes at Takht-e-Foulad, in Isfahan, with bulldozers. All Sufis present were arrested and had their mobile phones confiscated. Sufi books and publications were destroyed.

In January 2009 Jamshid Lak, a Sufi of the Gonabadi Dervish order, was flogged 74 times.

In late December 2008, after the closure of a Sufi Muslim place of worship, authorities arrested without charge at least six members of the Gonabadi Dervishes on Kish Island and confiscated their books and computer equipment. Their status was unknown.

In November 2008 Amir Ali Mohammad Labaf of the Gonabadi Sufi order was sentenced to 74 lashes, five years in prison, and internal exile to the town of Babak for "spreading lies."

In October 2008 at least seven Sufi Muslims in Isfahan and five Sufis in Karaj were arrested because of their affiliation with the Gonabadi Sufi order.

Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to be subject to harassment and close surveillance. During the reporting period, the government enforced its prohibition on proselytizing by closely monitoring the activities of evangelical Christians, discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing churches, and arresting Christian converts. Members of evangelical congregations were required to carry membership cards, photocopies of which must be provided to the authorities. Worshippers were subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centers. The government restricted meetings for evangelical services to Sundays, and church officials were ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance before admitting new members. During the reporting period several members of the "protected" Christian groups, such as Armenian Apostolic and Assyrians, were also arrested.

On November 13 following his October 2009 arrest, Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor of a house church in Gilan, reportedly received a death sentence for apostasy and evangelism. He was being held in Lakan prison, and the case was on appeal at the end of the year.

In June 2010 pastor Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani of a house church in Shiraz reportedly received a death sentence for apostasy following his arrest on an unknown date.

Between June 2008 and June 2010 over 115 Christians were reportedly arrested on charges of apostasy, illegal activities of evangelism, anti-government propaganda, and activities against Islam, among other charges. In a marked rise in the number of arrests from the previous reporting period, between July and December 2010, 161 additional arrests of Christians were reported. Of those arrested, 33 remain in jail or with an unknown status at the end of the year.

Many arrests took place during police raids on religious gatherings, during which religious property was also confiscated, during the reporting period.

In March 2009 according to domestic human rights groups, a revolutionary court closed the Pentecostal church of Shahr Ara in Tehran which belonged to Assyrian Christians. According to reports, the stated reason for the closure was the "illegal activities" of converting Muslims to Christianity and "accepting converts" to worship as members of the congregation.

On May 23 charges were dropped against two members of the Christian community, Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, who had been arrested in March 2009. The women have since left the country.

In 2008 plain clothes security officers raided the home of Isfahan Iranian Christians Abbas Amiri and his wife, Sakineh Rahnama, during a meeting. Both Amiri and Rahnama died of injuries suffered during the raid. Authorities denied permission for the local Christian community to hold a memorial service for the couple.

Since his arrest in December 2009 for allegedly participating in Ashura protests, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi remains in solitary confinement in Evin prison. Tabarzadi faces four charges including propaganda against the state, gathering against national security, insulting the Supreme Leader and President, and insulting Islam.

Section III. Status of Societal Actions Affecting Enjoyment of Religious Freedom

There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Although the constitution gives Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians the status of "protected" religious minorities, in practice non-Shia Muslims faced substantial societal discrimination, and government actions continued to support elements of society who create a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities.

After President Ahmadinejad took office in August 2005, conservative media intensified a campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities, and political and religious leaders issued a continual stream of inflammatory statements. The campaigns against non-Muslims contributed to a significantly worse situation for the non-Muslim community throughout the reporting period.

Sunni Muslims and Christians encountered societal and religious discrimination and harassment at the local, provincial, and national levels.

Bahai graveyards in Abadeh and other cities were desecrated, and the government did not seek to identify or punish the perpetrators.

Throughout 2010 Bahais in several cities across the country were targets of arson attacks; in all cases, police said nothing could be done to find the perpetrators.

Bahai groups outside the country reported vandalism of Bahai cemeteries, the desecration of a body exhumed from a Bahai grave in Abadeh, and attacks against a Bahai cemetery in Najafabad.

There were reported problems for Bahais in different trades around the country. Bahais experienced an escalation of personal harassment, including receiving threatening notes, compact discs, text messages, and tracts. There were reported cases of Bahai children being harassed in school and subjected to Islamic indoctrination. Bahai girls were especially targeted by students and educators, with the intention of creating tension between parents and children.

Assailants set fire to businesses of 9 Bahai storekeepers in Rafsanjan during the reporting period. On December 30 after setting fire, unknown assailants left a letter threatening the Bahai community in Rafsanjan if the Bahai refused to sign the enclosed treaty.

There was serious concern from several religious and human rights groups about the resurgence of the once banned Hojjatiyeh Society, a secretive religious-economic group that was founded in 1953 to rid the country of the Bahai Faith in order to hasten the return of the 12th Imam (the Mahdi). Although not a government organization, it was believed that many members of the administration were Hojjatiyeh members and used their offices to advance the society's goals; however, it was unknown what role, if any, the group played in the arrests of numerous Bahais during the reporting period. Many Bahai human rights groups and news agencies described the goals of the Hojjatiyeh Society as the eradication of the Bahais, not just the Bahai Faith. The group's anti-Bahai orientation reportedly widened to encompass anti-Sunni and anti-Sufi activities as well.

Many Jews sought to limit their contact with or support for the state of Israel out of fear of reprisal. Anti-American and anti-Israeli demonstrations included the denunciation of Jews, as opposed to the past practice of denouncing only "Israel" and "Zionism."

There were reports during the reporting period that members of the Sabean-Mandaean community experienced societal discrimination and pressure to convert to Islam.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy

Iran was first designated a CPC in 1999 and was most recently redesignated on January 16, 2009. As the action under the IRF Act, the Secretary designated the existing ongoing restrictions on U.S. security assistance in accordance with section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, pursuant to section 402(c)(5) of the act. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, and thus it does not raise directly with the government the restrictions that the government places on religious freedom and other abuses the government commits against adherents of minority religious groups.

The U.S. government makes its position clear in public statements and reports, support for relevant UN and NGO efforts, and diplomatic initiatives to press for an end to government abuses. The U.S. government calls on other countries that have bilateral relations with Iran to use those ties to press the government on religious freedom and human rights matters.

On numerous occasions the U.S. Department of State spokesman has addressed the situation of the Bahai and Jewish communities in the country. The U.S. government has publicly condemned the treatment of the Bahais in UN resolutions. The U.S. government encourages other governments to make similar statements.

On August 12 the Secretary of State condemned the sentencing of the seven Bahai leaders, emphasizing the lack of due process and sentencing as a violation of Iran's commitments as signatory of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.

In December 2010 for the eighth year in a row, the U.S. government cosponsored and supported a successful UN General Assembly resolution -- which passed 78 to 45, with 59 abstentions --condemning Iran's ongoing and severe human rights abuses.

SDGLN: Iran executes three men for sodomy

2011-09-15T21:37:00.000+01:00

Editor's note: This report was first published on GayMiddleEast.com.

The Prosecutor General Office of Khuzestan Province, Iran announced in a press conference that three people were hanged at Karoun prison in Ahwaz city, for sodomy on early Sunday, Sept. 4, along with three other men.

Khuzestan/Al-Ahwaz is a mostly Arab province in Iran and has the highest amount of executions in the country.

The two articles that were used in the judgment were: 108 "Lavat is an act of congress [vati] between males whether in [the form of] penetration or of tafkhiz (the rubbing of thighs/of the penis against thighs)” and article 110 stating: ”The hadd [punishment] for lavat where penetration has occurred is death and the method of execution is at the discretion of the Sharia judge".

The state-run Iranian Students News Agency ISNA identified the three as: "M. T.", "T. T." and "M. Ch." (ages not mentioned).

The three other men who were executed committed different crimes. Two committed a robbery at a home of a (straight) couple, where while the husband was tied up his wife was raped. The third for drug trafficking.

According to spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of the Iran Human Rights (IHR), executions only for sodomy are rare. Iranian authorities usually present such cases as rape (in order to legitimise the case for execution). “This of course contradicts the infamous statement of Ahmadinejad that gays do not exist in Iran”, he added in a conversation with GME’s editor.

Mohammad Mustafaei, the famous Iranian Human Rights lawyer (whose more known defense cases were Ashtiani and Ibrahim Hamidi), now exiled in Norway, wrote an open letter to President Ahmadinejad in protest of the execution of the three. He called the execution arbitrary and demanded further clarifications: “Were the cases approved by the Supreme Court and given a hearing as well as permission for execution?” “Were the three represented by lawyers, and what are their names?” are some of the questions he posed.

“Three men under the pretext of being ‘gay’ and committing sodomy were sentenced to death and executed,” he insisted. Mustafaei further highlighted that they may have been tortured by the authorities to confess for the “crime,” which indeed is a very common in Iran. “Mr. President,” he protested, “you have blood on your hands.”

Daniel Brett, director of the Ahwazi Arab Solidarity Network, stressed that:"We do not know the background to the cases, so cannot make a judgment on the trials of those who were executed ... Sometimes these charges are leveled at members of families who are involved in commercial or land disputes with families with a modicum of political influence. Al-Ahwaz has the highest rate of executions in Iran, partly due to the persecution of the local Arab population and partly because prisoners from other parts of Iran are transported to the city, particularly the notorious Karoun Prison where hangings are carried out in secret."

In some cases, there is a dispute whether the accused has actually committed a sexual act or it is a mere accusation. Even in the cases where the same sex act has happened, often it is not clear whether the individuals involved are actually gay or it is an occasional act of fun for them.

Soheila Vahdati, an independent human rights defender based in San Francisco stresses: "The fact that the two genders are strictly segregated and prohibited from socialising together increases the tendency for same-sex acts among the youth." Indeed this happens throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

"Ahmadinejad may have been right claiming that there are no gays in Iran because nobody dares to choose gay lifestyle due to the severe punishments, including the death penalty," Vahdati said. "In our view, it really does not matter whether the people involved are gay, or straight. It does not even matter whether they have committed the same sex act, or it is a mere accusation. The underlying assumption in all cases is that homosexuality is a 'crime' and punishable by law, and this is what we strongly oppose. Sexual rights are human rights and all individuals are entitled to enjoy them with mutual consent and as there is no violence involved. We strongly oppose labeling same sex as a 'crime' as much as we oppose punishing gays."

Opinion

GME completely condemns and rejects capital punishment for LGBT people, or for any other issue: We stand for sexual rights. LGBT sexualities/identities are NOT a crime, and their use as labels for punishment (whether real or as a tool for other means) must end. GME calls upon the Iranian Authorities to strike off articles 108-134 of the Iranian penal codes that pertain to LGBT people as well as end capital punishment. LGBT rights are inseparable part of human rights!

GME has already noted how people are being put to death by the Iranian authorities based on mere false accusations and rumors of rape or attempted rape between men. Is this case signaling and even more brutal policy of the Iranian judiciary? Many executions of LGBT people occur in Iran each year for bringing “shame” and “dishonor” to families and communities(so called honor crimes), often without being reported. Many more suffer from lifelong harassment, blackmail and even rape by agents of the Basij and the Sepha. We call upon the international community to campaign against such horrible practices as punishing people for their sexualities and capital punishment.

Al- Arabiya: Ahwaz refugees await aid in Iraq camp, fear clampdown by Iran allies

2011-09-15T21:31:00.000+01:00

By Saud al-Zahed
Al Arabiya

The case of Ahwazi refugees fleeing Iran and currently awaiting rescue at the Syrian borders constitutes another chapter in the ongoing saga of the persecution of Arab Iranians whether at the hand of the Persian state or its allies in the region.

Ahwazis living in al-Walid refugee camp on the Iraqi-Syrian borders are caught between pro-Iranian militias, who are bound to persecute them if they try to enter Iraq, and the Syrian regime, which had previously handed Ahwazi refugees over to the Iranian authorities, said Dr. Karim Abdian, director of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization.

“They are only left with Jordan, yet to go there they still have to pass through the Syrian territories and this is extremely dangerous,” he told Al Arabiya.

Abdian explained that because of lobbying from pro-Iranian groups the Iraqi government decided to demolish the camp and ordered its inmates to leave by the end of September.

“More than 95 Ahwazis belonging to 17 families live in the camp and suffer severe water shortage, lack food, have no access to medical care, and have not received any schooling since 2007.”

Abdian said he is scheduled to hold a meeting at the headquarters and the UNHCR in Geneva and will submit a list of the Ahwazi refugees trapped in al-Walid camp, as well as those living in other Arab countries.

Abdian added that a series of meetings have already taken place in the UNHCR Middle East headquarters, located in the Jordanian capital Amman, as well as in several of the Commission’s offices in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

He explained that the organization has since 2007 been working hard to relocate Ahwazi refugees who fled persecution in Iran.

“We managed to send many of them to Europe, the United States, and Australia.”

While searching for countries willing to host the inmates of al-Walid camp, Abdian expressed his disappointment that Arab countries have not intervened to save their brethren.

Despite complaints of indifference on the part of Arab countries, the initiative made by a disabled Bahraini to help the refugees at al-Walid camp is bound to set a positive precedent.

According to the Bahraini website Daily News, former employee Ali Khaja donated during the holy month of Ramadan an amount of $7,000 to the homeless Ahwazis.

“These people are suffering in the desert. They have no food, water or other necessities of life,” he said.

“It's been six years since they have been staying in these dilapidated camps and they haven't got any aid or a ray of hope from any government.”

Khaja said he feels for the refugees who are living in the middle of the desert and are, therefore, subjected to sizzling summers and freezing winters, in addition to continuous sandstorms.

“Even the nearest hospital is 200 kilometers away,” he added.

Al-Walid camp was originally established and inhabited by Palestinians who fled violence-ravaged Baghdad in 2006. They were later joined by Ahwazis from Iran and Kurds from Iraq.

(This article was translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)

HRW: Iran: Allow Peaceful Protests Over Lake’s Destruction

2011-09-15T21:21:00.000+01:00

Hundreds Arrested in Azerbaijan Region

September 10, 2011

(New York) – Iranian authorities should allow peaceful protests against government policies that may be accelerating the drying up of Lake Urmia in Western Azerbaijan province, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately release people arrested for exercising their right to assemble or speak out against the government. Family members and other witnesses told Human Rights Watch that several hundred protesters and activists have been arrested since late August 2011.

The mass arrests in recent weeks took place in cities throughout Iran’s Azerbaijan region. The arrests are part of a pattern of detentions and threats against environmental and civil society activists who believe Lake Urmia is drying up because of a network of dams that divert water from the lake, and construction and commercial projects in and around the lake. They say declining water levels are increasing salinity and may harm plants and wildlife and cause additional ecological damage, such as by provoking salt storms. Lake Urmia is the largest lake in Iran and the world’s third largest saltwater lake.

“This latest round of arrests shows how intolerant Iranian authorities are toward any form of public criticism,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities should free Azerbaijan region residents who appear to have been arrested solely for gathering peacefully, and if there is credible evidence that any of them acted violently, either charge or release them.”

The first round of arrests was on August 24, when security forces raided a private gathering in the home of Sadeq Avazpour in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province. The guests had gathered for a ceremony marking eftar, the breaking of the day’s fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The security forces arrested approximately 30 people. Family members said that none of the detainees had been freed.

Azeri activists based both inside and outside Iran told Human Rights Watch that security forces also have arrested activists and demonstrators who had gathered beginning on August 27 in Tabriz, Orumiyeh, Ardebil, and other cities throughout the Azerbaijan region to protest what they consider to be the government’s unwillingness to rescue Lake Urmia. Several thousand demonstrators, some of whom clashed with riot police, attended a large rally in Orumiyeh on August 27. Authorities arrested approximately 300 demonstrators in Orumiyeh alone, local activists told Human Rights Watch, but have since released dozens. Dozens of others were arrested in Tabriz, Orumiyeh, and several other cities on September 3 after local activists called for additional demonstrations.

Among those arrested on August 24, family members said, are Mostafa and Morteza Avazpour, sons of the host who are well known activists in Tabriz and who have been previously arrested for Lake Urmia protests. More than two weeks later, authorities have still provided no details regarding the reasons for the arrests that day or where they are keeping the detainees, several family members told Human Rights Watch.

Mostafa Avazpour’s wife said she had tried to enter her father-in-law’s home several hours after the raid but that security forces had blocked her. She said that around 11:30 p.m., authorities summoned her and several other family members, including her father-in-law, to a police station in Tabriz. The police held them there for two hours. Mostafa Avazpour called the next day only to tell his wife he was doing well but provided no further information.

Family members denied media reports that authorities have released 15 of those arrested at the gathering and said they believe some of the detainees have been transferred to Tabriz’s central prison. The wife of another detainee told Human Rights Watch that she visited the local police and Intelligence Ministry offices in Tabriz several times after the arrest and was told her husband would be released on September 6. When she returned to the police station on that date she was told to come back on September 11. Another family member of a detainee said he had gone to inquire about the status of his brother at least six times but the authorities refused to provide any information. At this writing, according to the family members, none of the detainees had been freed.

The Tabriz gathering took place after Iran’s majlis, or parliament, rejected an emergency bill on August 17 to raise the water level of Lake Urmia by diverting water into it from the Aras River. The vote triggered a call by many Azerbaijani activists for protests on August 27 in Tabriz, Orumiyeh, and other cities in northwest Iran. Azeri activists who spoke to Human Rights Watch said that a large number of security forces were present in Tabriz on that day and that they arrested a few dozen protesters and prevented any gatherings.

In Orumiyeh, thousands of people gathered and chanted slogans like, “Lake Urmia gives life, Majlis orders its death!” and, “Let us cry, so that with our tears we replenish Lake Urmia.” A witness at the protest told Human Rights Watch that anti-riot police shot teargas at protesters and beat them with batons. He and several other activists said that protesters in Orumiyeh were largely peaceful, but that some fought back as the anti-riot police shot teargas and rubber bullets. YouTube videos reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicate that the demonstrations turned violent, with some protesters throwing rocks at riot police and others burning motorcycles used by security forces. Human Rights Watch cannot independently verify the events shown in the videos.

Demonstrations resumed in Tabriz, Orumiyeh, and several other cities on September 3. A witness told Human Rights Watch that at about 6:10 p.m. a crowd of demonstrators in Tabriz started marching toward a government building and chanting slogans to demand action on Lake Urmia. He said that after a while, security forces blocked the crowd’s advance while another group of officers showed up behind the demonstrators and began taunting them. Security forces began lobbing teargas and chasing and clubbing people, the witness said. There were unconfirmed reports of serious injuries caused primarily by security forces using batons.

Another witness to the Tabriz events told Human Rights Watch he saw security forces attack demonstrators with electric batons and teargas.

“They were beating up everybody, even women and children,” he said. “[I saw] a young man just crossing the street – he wasn’t even among the demonstrators. Seven security forces attacked him and started beating him up so badly that a group of women from the crowd went to rescue the guy. We [men] couldn’t do that; the [police officers] wouldn’t let us move.”

The Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran, based in Vancouver, Canada, told Human Rights Watch that it received reports indicating that security forces used live ammunition during some of the protests and that they killed a handful of protesters during the August 27 and September 3 protests. Human Rights Watch has not been able to confirm any deaths or the identities of those killed.

Reports also indicate that security forces have arrested a handful of other protesters in Ardebil, Maragheh, and other cities in northwestern Iran since late August. Among them is Vahid Faezpour, a well known blogger and student activist who graduated from Tabriz University and is believed by his family and others to have been arrested in connection with the Lake Urmia protests. Human Rights Watch spoke to a family member, who said that Faezpour was arrested by Intelligence Ministry forces in Ardebil on August 28. The relative said he had no information about the reason for Faezpour’s arrest or where he is being held.

Authorities and pro-government newspapers have for years rejected government responsibility for the drying up of the lake, and have instead contended that global warming and other uncontrollable environmental factors are at play.

On September 5 authorities announced they would dedicate 950 billion toman (US$95 million) to divert water from rivers to rehabilitate Lake Urmia. Local activists have largely dismissed the measure as a disingenuous face-saving measure, and there are reports that more demonstrations have been planned.

In April, security forces arrested dozens of protesters who had gathered at Lake Urmia carrying signs and chanting slogans in Azeri calling for authorities to save the lake. Government authorities maintain that the anti-government protests in Iranian Azerbaijan were unlawful despite article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. Article 27 of the Iranian constitution guarantees the right to protest as long as demonstrations are peaceful and do not violate the principles of Islam.

On September 6 the deputy governor of Western Azerbaijan province, Ebrahim Fatollahi, told reporters that authorities are willing to issue a permit to demonstrators seeking to draw attention to the plight of the lake, but that protesters had failed to submit an official request. Human Rights Watch does not know whether demonstrators in Tabriz, Orumiyeh, and the other large cities had applied for permits. But to Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, authorities have not approved any anti-government demonstrations during the last few years.

“Time and again Iranian authorities have shown, both in Iranian Azerbaijan and elsewhere, that they are unwilling to tolerate any anti-government protests,” Stork said. “Instead of criticizing protesters for not getting proper permission for previous protests, authorities should free all those arrested for demonstrating peacefully and allow them to participate in future protests.”

IMHRO attended the Times Newspaper event regard of Human Rights in Iran

2011-09-14T20:22:00.001+01:00

The events were well attended by various Human Rights organisations, activist, NGO’s, journalists and gave a good chance to exchange views on current situation of Human Rights in Iran.

IMHRO thanks the Times Newspaper for organising very successful events and hopes such events would continue.

Foreign Secretary speaks at 'Imprisoned in Iran' event

2011-09-14T19:47:00.002+01:00

euronews: Iran police break up environmental protests

2011-09-06T19:23:00.000+01:00

RFE/RL: EU Condemns Persecution Of Baha'i Community in Iran

2011-09-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

September 06, 2011

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has condemned the persecution of the Baha'i community in Iran.

In a statement issued, Ashton expressed "serious concerns about the recent wave of arrests of Baha'i citizens and the shutting down of an educational center of the Baha'i community in Iran."

The appeal calls on Iran "to refrain from all forms of discrimination against religious minorities."

Iran has recently declared illegal the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), which makes use of the volunteer services of dismissed professors to teach Baha'i youth. Some 14 Baha'is who worked at the BIHE were taken into custody in Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz, and Esfahan in May.

The BIHE was established unofficially in 1987 to provide higher education for young Baha'is barred from universities because of their religious beliefs.

The Iranian government claims that the Baha'i Faith is not a religion but a political organization, and hence refuses to recognize it as a minority religion.

the gurdian: Human rights group condemns jailing of US hikers in Iran

2011-09-01T19:33:00.000+01:00

The conviction of two Americans held in Iran for spying and illegally crossing the border has been condemned by a human rights group.

Amnesty International said the eight-year jail sentences for Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, made a "mockery of justice" and were designed to be used as "a bargaining chip to allow Iran to obtain unspecified concessions from the US government".

A court sentenced the two men to three years each for illegally entering Iran and further five years each for espionage, it emerged over the weekend.

"The conduct of this trial has quite simply made a mockery of justice. There does not appear to be any substance to the allegations that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are spies," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East director.

He described the trial as "deeply flawed" and said there was no evidence known to have been presented to suggest the pair were conducting espionage in Iran.
"They have already spent over two years waiting for justice. The Iranian authorities should take act now and release these two men now without further delay," added Smart.
Iranian security forces arrested Bauer and Fattal, along with their friend Sarah Shourd, in July 2009, after they walked across an unmarked border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. Their conviction came as a surprise to their families, who were expecting them to be released. Shourd, 33, who got engaged to Bauer while in jail, was released last September on health grounds and after paying $500,000 (£324,000) bail.
Supporters of the three Americans say they unwittingly crossed the unmarked border while hiking but Iran accused them of spying. It is unclear whether the three were captured in Iranian territory or whether Iranian forces went into Iraq to arrest them.
After their trials ended last month behind closed doors, officials from Iran's foreign ministry signalled that the two would be freed on the eve of Ramadan.
The contrast between the trial's outcome and official promises highlights a growing rift between the judiciary, whose head is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. Some analysts believe Shourd was released after an intervention from the president's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.

The long sentences given to Bauer and Fattal can also be interpreted as a tit-for-tat response to the US state department's assessment, announced last week, that Iran remained the world's top state sponsor of terrorism.
In reaction to the handling of the trial, some conservative websites sympathetic to the regime in Tehran have mentioned the case of Shahrzad Mir Gholikhan, an Iranian woman in jail in the US on charges of attempting to smuggle night-vision goggles to Iran, which suggests that Iranian officials might be pursuing her release in exchange for those of the Americans.

According to Iran's Irna state news, the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, said on Sunday that Bauer and Fattal "entered the country with prior planning of spying".
The lawyer for the two men, Masoud Shafiee, told an Iranian radio station that spying charges against his clients were "baseless" and that he would lodge appeals against the sentences.

Euronews: Dozens arrested in Iran over lake protest

2011-09-01T19:19:00.000+01:00

More than two dozen ethnic Azeris have been arrested after environmental protests in north-western Iran. It comes after protests in the city of Tabriz over what is claimed to be Tehran’s failure to take measures to save nearby Lake Oroumieh.

With a surface area of more than 5,000 kilometres, is the third largest saltwater lake in the world and home to an abundance of wildlife. It lies between the country’s provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.

But 60 percent of the lake has evaporated, leaving behind 10 million tonnes of salt. It is said to be a result of drought and poor management policies, but there is disagreement over who exactly bears responsibility – locals, or the Iranian authorities.

Local businesses are dependant on tourism – and this is also draining away.

Iran: further arrests of Christians and Bibles confiscated

2011-09-01T19:08:00.000+01:00

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has received reports that Abdolreza ‘Matthias’ Haghnejad, a pastor in the evangelical Church of Iran denomination from the city of Bandar Anzal, was re-arrested on the morning of 17 August by Iranian authorities in Rasht whilst making a pastoral visit.

Pastor Haghnejad’s family has no idea of his current whereabouts, his condition or the charges against him, and it is believed he is being held without access to an attorney. Earlier this year the pastor was detained, charged then acquitted, along with ten other members of his denomination, of activities against the order. He had also been arrested in 2006.

Pastor Haghnejad’s re-arrest has occurred amidst reports of another escalation in governmental pressure on Christians. In late July a Christian woman named Leila Mohammadi, was arrested in Tehran after police raided her house, according to Iranian news agency Mohabat News. Reports indicate she may have been transferred to Evin prison. A man was also reportedly detained temporarily in connection with this case.

In August a consignment of 6,500 Bibles was confiscated as it was being transported between the cities of Zanjan and Ahbar in the north-western province of Zanjan. In a comment on the seizure, Dr Majid Abhari, advisor to the social issues committee of the Iranian parliament, declared that Christian missionaries were attempting to deceive people, especially the youth, with an expensive propaganda campaign. He also indicated his belief that all religions are strengthening their power to confront Islam.

This rhetoric is the latest in a stream of condemnations of Christians from members of the Iranian regime, who have attempted to demonise Christians as western-backed conspirators, ‘parasites’ and ‘like the Taliban’.

CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, “These latest arrests are extremely concerning, as is the increase in hostile and unwarranted rhetoric on the part of Iranian officials against evangelical Christians. CSW is particularly concerned for the wellbeing of Pastor Haghnejad, who is seemingly being held incommunicado, without charge, and with no access to legal representation. It is vital that the Republic of Iran ensures due process and ends this practice of incarcerating persons simply on the basis of their faith as this is in clear violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Those who, like the pastor, have been arrested must either be charged and tried in a timely manner or released, and all detainees must be allowed contact with their families and lawyers.”

Y Net News: Iran executes Jewish woman

2011-06-07T11:56:00.000+01:00

Human rights agency claims Israel-born Adiva Soleyman Kalimia executed at Iranian prison on alleged counts of adultery last March

An Israel-born Jewish woman of Iranian descent and her Armenian Christian husband were executed in Iran over two months ago, an Iranian human rights group reported last Thursday.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency claimed Adiva Mirza Soleyman Kalimia and her husband Varjan Petrosian were hung on March 14 at Evin Prison, known for its political prisoners' wing, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

The human rights group quoted the Iranian court's confirmation of the executions. Two other men and one woman who remained unidentified were also executed along with the couple.
Relatives of the woman said they do not know why she was killed.
Soleyman Kalimia was born in Jerusalem in 1956 to a Jewish family of Iranian descent. At one point she moved to Miami and eventually received US citizenship. According to her family, she had two passports: American and European. Her son lives in Europe.
In the past few years, for reasons unknown to her family, Soleyman Kalimia began to visit Iran. She was able to enter and leave the country three times, before she was eventually arrested and sent to prison.
The official cause for her arrest was adultery, from what little information that is known to her family.
Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Michael Posner, spoke before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last Wednesday, and discussed the human rights' situation in Iran.

Posner said human rights in the Islamic Republic had deteriorated in the first part of 2011.

"Protestors were killed in Tehran in February and in ethnically-Arab areas in April; additional sentences were levied on those already in prison merely for sending letters to family members; political prisoners are held in deplorable conditions with convicted murderers in former stockyards," he told the committee.

He mentioned that "a Jewish woman and her Armenian-Christian husband were reportedly executed based on undisclosed charges.

Mass executions of mainly ethnic minority prisoners have been carried out without their families’ knowledge; Iran has executed at least 135 people this year."

HRW: Dozens of Protesters Reportedly Killed in Arab-Majority Province

2011-06-07T11:48:00.000+01:00

(New York) - Iranian security forces should immediately halt the use of excessive force against demonstrators in an ethnic Arab province of southwestern Iran, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should open independent and transparent investigations into all alleged killings there since protests began on April 14, 2011, Human Rights Watch said.

Authorities should also restore regular telephone and internet communications to the region, Khuzestan province, and allow independent international media and human rights organizations free access to conduct investigations in the province.

Iranian rights activists and international media have reported that Iranian security forces fired live ammunition as well as teargas at largely peaceful protesters on a number of occasions, killing several dozen protesters since the demonstrations began. Human Rights Watch also received reports that authorities have arrested several hundred protesters and rights activists in Khuzestan and severely curtailed communications in the area.

"Iran has made it impossible to confirm the scale of the deadly violence against protesters in Khuzestan province, making transparent and independent investigations into alleged killings and arrests there absolutely essential," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Iran's wall of silence around Khuzestan certainly makes it seem that the government is trying to hide what its security forces have been doing there."

Authorities have thus far provided little information about people killed or injured during the protests, but the government announced the arrest of several members of what officials referred to as an Arab separatist group they allege was responsible for killing three people, including a police officer.

Khuzestan province, where much of Iran's oil and gas reserves are located, has a large ethnic Arab population believed to number more than 2 million. Despite Khuzestan's natural resource wealth, its ethnic Arab population, which is believed to constitute a majority in the province, has long complained about the lack of socio-economic development in the region. They also allege that the Iranian government has engaged in systematic discrimination against them, particularly in the areas of employment, housing, and civil and political rights.

The crackdown against protesters and rights activists began after Iranian-Arab activists called for a "day of anger" protest on April 15 to mark the anniversary of demonstrations in Ahvaz in 2005. The April 2011 demonstration, organized via social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, spread from Ahvaz to other cities in Khuzestan such as Hamidieh, Mahshahr, Shadegan, Abadan, and Khorramshahr, according to the International Minorities Human Rights Organization (IMHRO), a London-based group that focuses on the rights of minorities in Iran.

A resident of the city of the Ahvaz told Human Rights Watch that security forces including Basij, armed police, plainclothes agents, and intelligence agents surrounded and infiltrated several Arab-majority areas in Ahvaz a week prior to planned demonstrations on April 15. He said that for about a week prior to the protests Ahvaz appeared to be under martial law. Movement between Arab neighborhoods in Ahvaz became extremely restricted as security forces set up checkpoints throughout the city, and masked security forces began launching home raids and arresting targeted individuals including rights activists. The resident told Human Rights Watch that he witnessed several dozen young Arabs being picked up by plainclothes security officers during some of these raids.

According to the witness, clashes broke out on April 14 between security forces attempting to arrest several individuals in the Homa neighborhood of Ahvaz and the residents' families and neighbors. The clashes led to the deaths of three individuals. The resident told Human Rights Watch that the next day, Friday, hundreds of Ahvazi residents filled the streets of Ahvaz but because of the heavy security presence protests remained isolated and scattered within the various Arab neighborhoods. The resident said:

Security forces shot directly at protesters with Kalishnikovs and used teargas and other choke-inducing gases against us. I saw at least eight people who had been hit by live ammunition fire shot by armed forces on motorcycles.... We tried to help the injured but we could not because the area was completely surrounded by security forces, and we heard news that the local hospital was under the control of security forces and anyone who goes there will be arrested.

The resident told Human Rights Watch that a little while later men in his neighborhood attacked a local police station after they witnessed the killing of one of their fellow protesters. At least one person was killed during the clashes and several others were injured. "We could not help the injured because of the intensity of the gunfire," he said. "They were taken away by security forces."

On the evening of April 15, security forces, often masked, continued nighttime raids against individuals suspected of participating in the protests, the witness told Human Rights Watch. He said that he witnessed several of these raids, including the arrest of seven Arab women by security forces.

On April 26, IMHRO provided Human Rights Watch with the names of 27 people it said had been killed by Iranian security forces since the outbreak of violence. The group also said that authorities have arrested several hundred protesters and rights activists. On the same day, a representative from the Ahwazi Organization for the Defense of Human Rights (AODHR), also based in London, told Human Rights Watch that since April 15 Iranian security forces "killed 48 innocent protesters, injured tens and arrested hundreds of Ahwazis."

Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify independently the numbers and identities of persons killed, injured, or arrested due to the security situation in Khuzestan province and severe government restrictions placed on independent reporting in the region.

Several sources informed Human Rights Watch that after April 15, despite the security presence in Ahvaz and other Arab-majority towns in Khuzestan province, there were a few additional protests. Authorities have severely disrupted internet and mobile phone access in Ahvaz and many other towns throughout Khuzestan province during the past week or two.

On April 18, the Iranian rights activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi wrote a letter to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stating that Iranian security forces had killed "more than 12 people" and injured dozens more in Khuzestan. Arabic-language outlets such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have provided varying accounts of the violence and the numbers of dead, injured, and detained.

On April 21, Iranian state television reported the arrest of eight members of the "Arab Peoples Group" during the early morning hours. An official said that on April 15, the eight men had carried out an "armed attack" against a police station in Ahvaz that resulted in the deaths of three people, including one police officer, and several injuries. On April 16, the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted a police official as saying that at least one person had been killed and two injured "at the hands of an armed insurgent."

The April 2011 protests mark the sixth anniversary of the 2005 protests in Khuzestan in which security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators in Ahvaz and other cities and towns in the province. The 2005 protests erupted following the publication of a letter allegedly written by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an advisor to President Mohammad Khatami. The letter referred to government plans to implement policies that would reduce the proportion of ethnic Arabs in Khuzestan's population. After security forces tried to disperse the demonstrators and opened fire on them, clashes between protesters and security forces turned violent. The next day, Abtahi and other government officials denied the authenticity of the letter, calling it fake. Security forces killed at least 50 protestors and detained hundreds more during the 2005 protests.

The 2005 crackdown led to a cycle of violence throughout Khuzestan province, including several fatal bomb attacks in June and October 2005 and in January 2006 that killed 12 people. In response, the Iranian government imprisoned numerous activists it claimed were Arab separatists responsible for terrorist attacks against civilians, and sentenced more than a dozen people to death on terrorism-related charges. Since 2006, authorities have executed more than a dozen Iranians of Arab origin following flawed trials.

"In light of numerous reports of killings and mass arrests in Khuzestan and the government's track record of abuse against its ethnic Arab minority, the onus is squarely on authorities," Stork said. "The government needs to allow independent reporting in the region, provide a full and transparent accounting of persons killed or arrested by security forces during the past several weeks, and prosecute anyone responsible for human rights violations."

ai: Ahwazi Arabs: Arbitrary arrests, torture and executions continue

2011-05-29T16:30:00.003+01:00

Amnesty International is concerned by the Iranian government’s continuing clampdown on dissent, including arbitrary arrests and the torture or other ill-treatment of people who express views opposed to those of the government. Some of those arrested have even been executed, after apparently unfair trials, including at least one minor. Amnesty International wrote to the Head of the Judiciary to express concern about these developments on 13 May 2011, but without response; the Iranian authorities rarely reply to communications from Amnesty International.

The cases described below represent a small number of those known to Amnesty International involving similar violations of human rights.

Amnesty International continues to call on the Iranian government to end the continuing cycle of repression and fully respect Iran’s obligations under international human rights law.

In particular, Amnesty International urges the government to:

release immediately and unconditionally anyone held solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, or solely on account of their family links to individuals who oppose the Iranian authorities;

release all other detainees unless they are to be tried on internationally recognizable criminal charges in proceedings which meet international standards for fair trial, without recourse to the death penalty;

allow all detainees prompt and regular access to their families and to lawyers of their choice, and to any necessary medical assistance;

protect all detainees and other prisoners from torture or other ill-treatment, ensure that all allegations of torture or other ill-treatment are immediately and impartially investigated, and bring to justice anyone responsible for torture or other ill-treatment;

cease immediately all executions, including executions of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed while under the age of 18 – which is strictly prohibited under international law – and declare and institute a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty.

Arrest, torture and executions of members of the Ahwazi Arab minority

The Ahwazi Arab minority is one of many minorities in Iran. Much of Iran's Arab community lives in the south-western province of Khuzestan, which borders Iraq. Most are Shi’a Muslims but some are reported to have converted to Sunni Islam, heightening government suspicion about Ahwazi Arabs. They often complain that they are marginalized and subject to discrimination in access to education, employment, adequate housing, political participation and cultural rights.

In 2005, dozens were killed and scores, if not hundreds, arrested during and following the demonstrations. The event sparked off a cycle of violence in the province, with fatal bomb attacks, followed by further arrests, unfair trials and at least 15 executions 1.

Scores, if not hundreds of members of the Ahwazi Arab minority were reportedly arrested before, during and after demonstrations on 15 April 2011. The demonstrations had been called a “Day of Rage” to protest at the sixth anniversary of the 2005 mass demonstrations. At least three and possibly many more people were killed in the April 2011 demonstrations during clashes with the security forces, including some in the Malashiya neighbourhood in Ahvaz 2. Amnesty International has received the names of 27 individuals allegedly killed. Ahwazi Arab sources have claimed the casualty figures were even higher. Amnesty International has been unable to confirm the reports as the Iranian authorities do not allow the organization to visit the country. The authorities maintain a tight control on the flow of information in and out of the province, including by preventing foreign journalists from visiting Khuzestan.

At least four Ahwazi Arab men are said to have died in custody since 23 March 2011, possibly as a result of torture or other ill-treatment; others have been hospitalized, apparently as a result of injuries sustained from torture or other ill-treatment.

Those reported to have died in custody are Reza Maghamesi (said to have died on 23 March 2011), Abdol Karim Fahd Abiat (said to have died on 5 May 2011 in Sepidar Prison, Ahvaz), Ahmad Riassan (identified by some sources as Ja’far) Salami (said to have died between 5-6 May 2011 in Sepidar Prison) and Ejbareh Tamimi, who was reportedly arrested from his home in the days after 15 April, apparently on suspicion of having been in contact with, and having provided information to, al-Arabiya TV. He was reportedly tortured in order to force him to make a recorded “confession” which he refused to do, and died in Sepidar Prison as a result.

Akbar Nahayrat (or Nehirat) (aged 36), a political activist from Ahvaz, who was arrested on 20 April 2011 at his home in the Hay al-Nahda district of Ahvaz city, was reportedly tortured or otherwise ill-treated in an undisclosed place of detention. He was subsequently transferred to Razi Hospital in Ahvaz after his health deteriorated, where he is held under guard. His wife has been allowed to visit him very briefly but was unable to ascertain the extent of his injuries. Earlier, Hadi Rashidi was reported to have been arrested in March 2011, and was also later hospitalized, apparently as a result of torture or other ill-treatment.

At least eight Ahwazi Arabs in Iran, including one minor, were executed between 5 and 7 May 2011. The eight men executed included at least three brothers: Ali Heydari (known as Taha) aged 25, Jasem Heydari (known as Abbas) aged 23, and Naser Heydari (known as Abd al-Rahman) aged 21. The five others were named as Hashem Hamidi, aged 16, Ahmad Nawaseri (or al-Nasiri), aged 22, Amir Ma’avi (Ma’awi) Amir Badavi (Badawi) and Ali Na’ami. One source suggests that Ali Na’ami was executed separately on 4 May 2011 in a different case and that the individual concerned was a fourth brother named Mansour Heydari. A ninth man, whose name is unknown to Amnesty International, was also reportedly executed at the same time, but it is unclear whether he was convicted in the same case, or on separate charges.

Three of these eight, of whom one was Ali Heydari, were reportedly been executed in public at a crossroads near Hamidiyeh in Khuzestan province. The others were reportedly executed in Karoun Prison, Ahvaz. The only body said to have been returned to family members is that of the minor, Hashem Hamidi, which may have been decapitated during the hanging.

The Iranian authorities have not acknowledged these executions, although a police colonel said on 21 April 2011 that eight members of a group he described as “the Khalq-e Arab terrorist group” had been arrested by security forces, accused of the killing of three individuals, including an LEF official on 15 April 2011. Ahwazi Arab sources have claimed that the eight were arrested in connection with demonstrations which took place on 15 April 2011 in Khuzestan province. If so, they were tried, convicted and executed within three weeks.

Amnesty International does not have information concerning most of their trials, although Hashem Hamidi is reported to have been tried without the presence of a lawyer in a proceeding which lasted about ten minutes. The organization has long expressed concern over the fairness of trials in Iran, including in Revolutionary Courts. The precise charges of which those reportedly executed were convicted of are unknown, but may have been “enmity against God”, a charge frequently levelled against those alleged to have been involved in armed opposition to the state.

Public Document

The diplomat: Inside Iran’s Most Secretive Region

2011-05-20T23:19:00.001+01:00

Karlos Zurutuza

Sistan and Balochistan has been described as akin to Mars on Earth. For all the attention they get from Tehran, many Baloch feel they may as well be on another planet.

‘It’s the closest thing to Mars on Earth,’ concluded a group of US geologists visiting the region of Sistan and Balochistan in the early 1970s. And since Iran’s revolution in 1979, the country’s southeast feels as little explored as the Red Planet.

Balochistan, as the Baloch refer to their homeland, is divided today between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the fact that the region is a virtual no-go area for the international media shouldn’t disguise its potential strategic importance. After all, the area—roughly the size of France—holds significant reserves of gas, gold, copper, oil and uranium, and also has a 1,000-kilometre coastline at the gates of the Persian Gulf.

‘(But) unlike what happened in Pakistani-controlled Balochistan, Tehran hasn’t exploited the energy and mineral reserves in the area,’ says Prof. Taj Muhammad Breseeg. ‘It prefers that the region’s resources and population remain undeveloped.’

Today, the region has the lowest per capita income in Iran, with almost 80 percent of the Baloch people living below the poverty line by some estimates. The average life expectancy, meanwhile, is at least eight years lower than the national average, while infant mortality rates are the highest in the country. It all results, suggests Breseeg, from Tehran’s ‘policy of assimilation.’

‘Annexation of the region to Iran in 1928 brought terrible episodes of repression, caused a mass exodus of the local population and saw virtually every Baloch place name changed toa Persian one,’ Breseeg says.

The problem for Balochs is that they are Sunni Muslims in a Shiite-ruled nation. ‘The Islamic Shiite missionaries sent by Tehran told us that we’d have no jobs, no schools and no opportunities unless we converted,’ says Faiz Baloch, one of thousands of Baloch refugees who were forced to leave their homeland.

Now based in Britain, Faiz recounts the incident 10 years ago that he says was the last straw in pushing him out. ‘(I had) a heated discussion with two Islamic Guards. They raided our home and wanted to arrest me,’ he says. ‘I managed to escape, but they took my father instead. That was the last time I saw or heard from him.’ Faiz says he believes it likely his father was hanged soon after he was detained.

According to figures from Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 1,481 people from 2004 to 2009, with the London-based International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons claiming that about 55 percent of these were Baloch. The organization claims that the Baloch in Iran have endured the highest concentration of death penalties handed down as a percentage of population in the world for nearly a decade under the Islamic regime.

Faiz is studying for university admission exams, something he says would have been much harder in his native Sistan and Balochistan. ‘There are currently about 3.3 million university students in Iran, but Baloch account for probably only 2,000 students,’ he says. ‘Most Baloch students don’t find a job after graduation anyway.’

It was this harsh economic and political climate that fostered the creation of Jundallah—a religious and political organisation established in 2002 claiming rights for the local Baloch. Jundallah is believed to organize a range of disruptive activities in support of its cause, including suicide bombings and more selective attacks, such as the alleged kidnapping of an Iranian nuclear scientist last September.

‘The greatest paradox of all this is that it was the Ayatollahs’ regime that initially supported the Sunni Mullahs in the early 1980s,’ says Shahzavar Karimzadi, a Baloch economist and human rights activist who currently teaches at London Metropolitan University. ‘It was another way to counter the ever increasing popularity of the progressive secular democratic left among Baloch people.’

ICHRI: Eyewitness Describes Horrific Conditions Inside Karoon Prison In Ahwaz

2011-05-20T23:09:00.000+01:00

Payman Roshan Zamir, a political prisoner who spent one month of his six-month detention inside Ward 6 of Karoon Prison in Ahwaz, described the conditions inside Karoon Prison in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. According to Roshan Zamir, the prison holds more inmates than its capacity and suffers from deplorable hygiene standards, and political prisoners inside the prison are mixed together with other types of prisoners who have committed crimes such as drug trafficking or murder, creating a very difficult environment for them.

“In Ward 6, which is assigned to political prisoners (before they were fortunately moved to another location), of a total of 360 prisoners only 52 were political prisoners, and the others had crimes such as theft or drugs. Even if they wanted to stand on their feet next to one another, this many prisoners would not fit inside the ward. The Karoon Prison in Ahwaz has 10 wards, and in all its wards there are more prisoners than there is space. In Ward 6 where I stayed, 150 people or more were ‘courtyard sleepers.’ All the prison authorities do is assign the prisoner to a ward; he will have to find space himself. When a political prisoner arrived, others would try to fit him wherever they could in the room. But other types of newcomer prisoners either had to have money to buy space, or if they were ex-cons their friends would help them find a space inside the ward. Otherwise, a first-time prisoner, especially those who didn’t have any money, would become a ‘courtyard sleeper.’ Because there was no other space inside the wards,” Roshan Zamir explained to the Campaign.

The head of Khuzestan Province’s Prisons Organization told Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA) on 23 April that the number of incoming prisoners in Khuzestan prisons rose 38% from last year. “This volume of incoming prisoners makes our work difficult and causes our workload to increase. Currently, each day 4,500 families come to Khuzestan prisons with requests such as visiting with prisoners,” he said.

Payman Roshan Zamir, who blogs on “Oos Peyman,” and is Editor-in-Chief of “Talar-e Haft-e Tir,” is currently out of prison on bail. His next court session will be held on 14 June at Branch 3 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, with Judge Barani presiding. His charges are “propagating against the regime,” and “insulting the leader”–neither of which the political activist accepts. He was arrested at his home on 20 January and was released on 29 February after being detained inside the Intelligence Office and Karoon Prison.

After the publication of a recent letter by Zia Nabavi, addressed to Mohammad Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council, in which he described the dire conditions of the Karoon Prison in Ahwaz, all 52 political prisoners of the prison were transferred to another prison known as a “treatment clinic,” some 20 kilometers outside Ahwaz. During telephone calls to their families, they have stated that their conditions are a lot better than they were in Karoon Prison. Even so, some 4,500 prisoners remain exposed to the horrific and sub-standard conditions of Karoon Prison. Zia Nabavi is a student who was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in exile at Karoon Prison in Ahwaz. Payman Roshan Zamir is a friend of Zia Nabavi’s who spent a month of his recent imprisonment next to Nabavi.

The Justice Minister, Morteza Bakhtiari, recently visited Karoon Prison. Reports of the visit, however, did not reflect any mention of the appalling way the prisoners were kept, the situation with hygiene and health, or the prison’s failure to separate the prisoners according to their crimes and charges, a requirement stipulated by law. “The evolution of the Khuzestan prisons, as compared to the past, is huge, broad, and unique in all aspects and areas.”

“The most important point about this prison was the existence of ‘courtyard sleepers,’ something I have never seen even in the movies. Imagine, if someone is homeless, when it snows or rains, he can take cover somewhere, but the ‘courtyard sleepers’ in Karoon Prison cannot even take refuge anywhere. They have to stay under the snow and rain, especially as it rains a lot in Ahwaz. Sometimes the ‘courtyard sleepers’ have to remain under the rain for one or two days. Occasionally, the prison sewer system acts up, too, and fills up the courtyard. Then the courtyard sleepers have to pick up their blankets and personal items and try to drain the flooded sewer, but then they have to put their blankets and things back in the same place where the sewer flood was,” Roshan Zamir told the Campaign.

He added that prisoners inside Ward 6 of Karoon Prison were not separated according to their crimes. “Fortunately, the other prisoners treated the political prisoners with respect. Maybe one of the reasons was that they [the political prisoners] had a better financial situation and many times they helped the courtyard sleepers with food and other needs. Most of the prisoners were drug addicts and did not have the energy to move. The healthiest prisoners I saw were the political prisoners. But I saw a lot of unprovoked attacks, especially when the prisoners smoked crystal meth, they would suddenly attack each other with a knife or with boiling water.”

“Karoon prisoners use unfiltered water, which is seriously dirty. Ahwaz water is unhealthy and tastes bad and it causes kidney stones. I saw a lot of prisoners who had kidney stones. They have problems with their food, too. The prisoners are not given fruits and vegetables. Only twice per month, the prison store offers fruits and vegetables. As you can imagine, if someone is lucky, he can get one kilogram of fruit a month. There is no beef or poultry on the menu. Once a week, the prison store offers meat and only those who can afford it will buy it. Most prisoners cannot financially afford it. Most of those who are involved in drug dealing inside the prison have a good financial situation. The day I was going to court, I talked to a prisoner in the car who said [some prisoners] earn about $6,0000 to $7,000 per month through selling drugs in prison,” Roshan Zamir added.