In a statement released today, five United Nations human rights experts warned that Iran is seriously violating international law by its continued discrimination against women presidential candidates and the ongoing suppression of the press, as well as its violations of freedoms of association and assembly. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomes the statement and urges Iranian authorities to adhere to international law and release all journalists and prisoners of conscience.... read more

In a report issued May 21, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found that Baha’is face “widespread and entrenched discrimination” in Iran, particularly in employment and education. The report also covered several other pressing human rights issues in Iran, including discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, as well as the lack of protection for trade unions.... read more

Our guest today is Dr. Nayareh Tohidi, Professor of Gender & Women Studies at California State University, Northridge, talking about Iranian government restrictions on women in higher education.... read more

“In late February of 2012, Iran announced that ‘We reformed the penal code, and there is a ban on death penalty by stoning and execution of minors.’ But . . . during the course of [the] last three decades, stoning has been claimed to be banned and then practiced,” gender, peace, and social justice activist Elahe Amani told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.... read more

A group of Kurdish activist women from Marivan, along with a few citizens of the city, held a demonstration April 16 on the main streets of the city in protest of the authorities’ parading a man in Marivan after dressing him in the traditional women’s clothing of Kurdistan, a local source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The Special Guard Unit violently confronted the demonstrators.... read more

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Referencing “key opposition leaders in detention” and “quite serious webs of arrests of journalists,” Dr. Ahmed Shaheed says, “In an election year, these kinds of activities can negate any sense of a legitimate free and fair election.” The UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of Special Rapporteur [...]... read more

Two years after the death of Haleh Sahabi at her father’s funeral, a Tehran Court has declared she died of “natural causes” and closed the investigation. In an interview with Rooz Online, Sahabi’s husband stated that the court refused to review films and photographs pertaining to the incident despite the court testimonies of four eye witnesses who had seen an individual strike Sahabi before her death.... read more

(March 22, 2013) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomes the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 26 to 2 vote to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran for the third consecutive year. The Campaign also urged Iranian authorities to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and allow him to enter the country.... read more

As Iranians around the world prepare to celebrate the new year, hundreds of prisoners of conscience remain behind bars in Iran. The Persian New Year, Nowruz, is the most important holiday in Iran, beginning at the moment of the vernal equinox. While the news website Kaleme reports that a dozen political prisoners have been granted temporary furlough for the holidays, this year, hundreds of other prisoners of conscience, including lawyers, journalists, activists, and others accused of vague ... read more

This week, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran joined 16 other human rights organizations in a joint letter asking the United Nations Human Rights Council to renew the mandate Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed.... read more

The present report is the second to be submitted to the Human Rights Council, pursuant to Council resolution 16/9, and communicates developments in the human rights situation of the Islamic Republic of Iran that have transpired since the submission of the Special Rapporteur’s second interim report to the 67th session of the General Assembly (A/67/369) in October 2012.... read more

United Nations Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed elicited a blustering response from the Iranian delegation when he presented the findings of his most recent report on the situation of human rights in Iran to the Human Rights Council yesterday. In remarks both yesterday and today, Iranian delegation leader and Iranian Human Rights Council head Mohammad Javad Larijani attacked the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, the idea of universality of human rights, and the character of Shaheed himself.... read more