“My Daughter Said She Will Be Released Soon,” Says Amrabadi’s Mother

Mahsa Amrabadi is a journalist who was arrested by security forces during 1 March gatherings. Her mother, Maryam Amrabadi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her daughter contacted her at home. “She was well and said she was told that she would be released in the next few days. She was [...]

Faculty Member Dismissed for Publishing Articles

Seyed Hossein Javdani, a history lecturer at Payame Noor University, who was banned from teaching in the university for writing critical articles, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about how he was informed about his teaching ban. “According to the academic process in Iran, before the start of each term the faculty is contacted and informed about the courses they will be teaching. But since I was not contacted, after a while I made an inquiry to the director of our group. He said ‘the University Security Unit has asked that no courses be assigned to you to teach’ and that I have to resolve the issue myself with the Security Unit. So I went to the University Security Unit and they told me that the orders to assign no course units to me had come from security organizations due to various articles that I had written in various websites,” he told the Campaign.

Kahrizak Victim Remains in Prison for Three Weeks Potentially for Facebook Activities

An informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Seyed Ali Saberi, a student at Bahar University in Mashad, has been detained inside the Intelligence Office Detention Center in Mashad for the past 20 days. Iranian laws forbid entry by security, police, or military forces into university campuses, but the student activist’s arrest by security forces took place on campus with the coordination of university officials and security organizations. The law stipulates that only upon the university chancellor’s request and in cases where a dangerous suspect is hiding inside a university campus are security and police forces allowed to enter university campuses.

Tabarzadi Appeals Court Sentenced Him to 7 Years in Absence of His Three Imprisoned Lawyers

In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mohammad Tabarzadi, son of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Secretary General of Democratic Party of Iran, said he learned from news websites that an appeals court sentenced his father to seven years in prison. “My father’s appeals court session was held while all his three lawyers are in prison and my father had no other lawyers to represent him. My father’s lawyers were Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mohammad Oliaifar, and Khalil Bahramin, all of whom are in prison now. We weren’t informed about the court date. I believe that even my father may not have participated in the court session, as he always said that he didn’t believe in these courts and rulings. He attended his lower court session once, where he was sentenced to nine years in prison on numerous charges,” Mohammad Tabarzadi told the Campaign.

Right to Education – Distortion & Disinformation

The claim about expelling of some of these students is… Limitations against some of these Baha’i university students have nothing to do with their religious beliefs. This limitation is because they have failed to meet the entrance requirements to the university and the fact that they have been members of an illegal cult with anti-Human Rights activities.

Freedom of Religion – Distortion & Disinformation

Authorities have detained hundreds of members Shia sufi order, Nematollahi Gonabadi over the past few years, sentencing many to imprisonment, fines, and floggings including Gholam-Abbas Zare-Haqiqi,who authorities sentenced to four years in prison in October 2009, for allowing a burial at Sufi cemeteries, a banned practice. Since 2006 several of the order’s prayer centers have been demolished or attacked including the demolition of a center in Isfahan in February 2009 and a June 2010 attack on a center by Ministry of Intelligence agents.

Ethnic Discrimination – Distortion & Disinformation

On 27 August 2010, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged the Iranian government to bring its domestic laws into full conformity with the CERD Convention on racial discrimination, particularly with regards to the definition of racial discrimination in the Constitution.

Journalist’s Mother: “She Was Arrested in Her Car”

Journalist Mahsa Amrabadi’s mother, Maryam Amrabadi, spoke with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran after her daughter was arrested during protests on 1 March in Tehran. “She called us at three o’clock in the morning to tell us that she was in Evin Prison. She said ‘there is no need for you to come to Tehran, I am doing well and everything will be resolved [soon]. I will return home soon,’” Maryam Amrabadi told the Campaign.

Activist’s Hospital Records Stolen: “I Am Fearful For My Life; I Am Under Psychological Pressure From Security Forces”

Following news that security forces stole Narges Mohammadi’s medical records, she spoke the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about her concerns after being informed of the news. “They contacted me from the hospital and told me that security forces have visited my medical file and have taken away parts of it. I don’t know what the attraction of these documents is for security forces! Unless they have stolen them for a project. I am fearful about my life,” she told the Campaign.

A Brief History of “House Arrests” and Detentions in “Safe Houses”: What Will Be the Fate of Disappeared Leaders?

This briefing paper provides a review of the “house arrest,” or detention in a “safe house,” of other prominent critics of the Islamic Republic during the past three decades. This history indicates that the majority of prominent persons thus detained were subjected to physical and psychological torture, and forced to make false confessions aired on state-controlled television, and that many of them died following lengthy detentions, and some were murdered.

Since 14 February, Iran’s intelligence and security agents have held four prominent opposition figures, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Zahra Rahnavard and Fatemeh Karroubi, in incommunicado detention with no confirmation of their whereabouts.