No Information About Jailed Artist Mehraneh Atashi

(1 February 2010) Internationally recognized photographer Mehraneh Atashi, along with her husband Madjid Ghaffari, were arrested on 12 January 2010 in their home in Tehran and detained, apparently in solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin prison, but authorities have released no information about charges against them, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today. Atashi and her husband have had no access to a lawyer. They have been allowed no visit by their family and only one brief telephone call they used to inform relatives they had been arrested.“The arrest and detention of Mehraneh Atashi and her husband are, unfortunately, typical of hundreds of other arrests where Iranian citizens have been

Release Imprisoned Cleric, End Persecution of Family

(20 January 2010) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for the immediate release of Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Khalaji, who was arrested on 12 January at his home in Qum, and reportedly taken to Evin prison on 19 January and placed in solitary confinement. Members of Ayatollah Khalaji’s family have been searched and threatened with punishment by authorities if they protest against his arrest.

“For what legal reason was Ayatollah Khalaji arrested?” asked Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign.

Update: Detained Mothers Shuffled Between Emergency Rooms and Detention Center

(10 January 2010) Authorities transferred nine of the 33 detained members of the Mourning Mothers to emergency rooms following their detention yesterday, and later took them to Vozara Detention Center in Tehran, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The nine mothers suffer from various illnesses and were taken back to Vozara Detention Center from Sajjad and Firuzgar hospitals in Tehran.

30 Members of Mourning Mothers Detained

(9 January 2010) Security forces attacked and detained 30 members of Mourning Mothers in Laleh Park and surrounding streets in Tehran today at around 4 p.m. local time, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported. Mourning Mothers is a group of mothers whose children have been killed in recent events. More than a hundred police and plain clothes agents attacked today’s gathering and transferred the detainees to the Vozara Detention Center in Tehran.

“No culture permits such violence to be unleashed against mothers. How can this government, which claims to have moral and religious authority, treat mothers who have lost their children in such a way?,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

Human Rights Organization Provides the Names of Prominent Detainees, Calls for Their Release

(23 June 2009) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today published lists of Iranian citizens it has confirmed killed and detained since the disputed 12 June presidential elections. The lists are not comprehensive and show the names of only some of the well-known detained citizens and only four of the dead.

The lists name a total of 240 detained persons, including 29 who were detained and then released, as well as 102 political figures, 23 journalists, 79 university students, and 7 university faculty who are still in detention.

Baha’is Currently Imprisoned in Iran

Baha’is throughout Iran are routinely arrested and interrogated by government officials. This list is only the published and known names of those arrested.

Member of the One Million Signatures Campaign Arrested on Baseless Charges

(27 April 2009) Maryam Malek, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and a reporter on legal matters related to family courts, was arrested and transferred to Vozara Detention Center on 25 April 2009, after being summoned for interrogation and charged in the Revolutionary Courts, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

She is charged with “propaganda against the state,” and “membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign.”

University Campus Violently Attacked

(25 February 2009) Government forces violently attacked hundreds of protesting students at Amir Kabir University in Tehran and arrested dozens of students on 23 February 2009, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The Campaign expressed its serious concerns for the health of the detainees and fears that they may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment. It called on the Iranian government to immediately release all Amir Kabir students and to end its persecution and prosecution of students.

The students were protesting the burial of “unknown martyrs” from the Iran-Iraq war on their campus.

Lives of Four Students on Hunger Strike Are at Risk

(21 February 2009) The lives of four Amirkabir University students, Majid Tavakoli, Hossein Torkashvand, Esmaiel Salmanpour and Kourosh Daneshyar, who went on hunger strike to protest their arbitrary detention, are at risk. The students should be released immediately and unconditionally, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The four students are among a group of around twenty people arrested on 5 February 2009, at a ceremony to honor Mehdi Bazargan, the first Iranian prime minister after the revolution of 1979.

Controversial Blogger’s Detention Confirmed

(11 December 2008) The family of Hussein Derakhshan, an Iranian blogger whose whereabouts have been a mystery for more than a month, has confirmed his detention, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.