Ebadi Calls on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Act

(31 October 2010) The Iranian Judiciary should end its systematic targeting of human rights defenders and lawyers who are being sentenced to lengthy prison terms solely for their human rights work and defending their clients, Shirin Ebadi said today in a joint statement with the Iranian League for Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

On Saturday, 30 October, Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced prominent lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh to nine years in prison and a ten year ban from practicing law. Seifzadeh is charged with “acting against national security” by “establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).”

Prominent American Civil Rights Lawyer Calls for Release of Imprisoned Iranian Lawyers

A prominent civil rights lawyer in the United States has written a letter addressing human rights abuses carried out by the government against attorneys in Iran dedicated to upholding human rights. The letter, written by Michael H. Sussman, comes at a time when prominent human rights lawyers, including Nasrin Sotoudeh who has been imprisoned since 4 September and is reportedly on hunger strike, are being detained wantonly by authorities. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and prominent international organizations have called for the of release Sotoudeh citing the deeply flawed judicial system in Iran that targets its own lawyers.

Seifzadeh in Court: ‘My Charge Was Establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center’

On 9 October 2010, Mohammad Seifzadeh, a lawyer and one of the founders of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), was tried at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court on the charge of founding the organization. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Seifzadeh referred to the proceedings as “illegal,” and called the unrelated questioning an “inquisition.” He also complained about lack of a jury panel at his trial and that his case was originally prepared by two judges who have since been suspended from service, Saeed Mortazavi and Haddad, and the fact that the court’s proceedings under these circumstances were entirely illegal.

Former President’s Travel Ban Part of Systematic Effort to Contain Criticism

(15 April 2010) The Iranian government’s refusal to allow former president Mohammad Khatami to attend a conference in Hiroshima, Japan, is a violation of his freedom of movement and part of a broad but futile effort to contain critical voices and prevent them from having contact with the international community, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

“Numerous human rights defenders, women’s rights activists, and others with independent views have had their passports confiscated, in effect making them prisoners in their own country,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Threats Against Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi Must Be Condemned

(25 June 2009) Official Iranian news agencies have published a letter claiming to be from lawyers, university professors, and families of veterans and martyrs, which requests the Justice minister, Gholam-Hussein Elham, to prosecute Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi for allegedly violating Islamic and constitutional law through her human rights advocacy, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today. Elham is also the spokesman for Ahmadinejad’s government.

The letter, published by Fars News, an outlet close to the Revolutionary Guards, claims that Ms. Ebadi’s advocacy with international authorities in the wake of massive police brutality against peaceful demonstrators violates her obligations as a lawyer.

Human Rights Defenders Prevented from Leaving Iran; Women’s Rights Advocates Arrested

(11 May 2009) The Iranian government is continuing to expand its repression of women’s rights activists ahead of the 12 June presidential elections, with a new wave of travel bans, detentions, and summons, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The Campaign reported that Narges Mohammadi of the banned Iranian human rights group Defenders Human Rights Center, and Soraya Aziz Panah of the Center to Clean Mine Fields, were prevented from leaving Tehran on 7 May 2009.

Roxana Saberi’s Appeal Process Should be Transparent

(6 May 2009) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expressed serious concerns regarding the secrecy and continued lack of transparency surrounding the prosecution of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, and asked the Iranian Judiciary to adhere to international standards of due process and allow independent observers in the courtroom at her appeals trial.

The Campaign called upon the Judiciary to allow representatives of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), a group led by Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi to observe the trial, which will take place next week.

National Call to Action by The Defenders of Human Rights Center

The Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) has issued a national call to action titled: “Stop Child Executions” demanding the end to child and juvenile executions. This national call to action is the third of such nationally focused efforts spearheaded by the Defenders of Human Rights Center and follows the convening of the “Committee to Defend Free, Healthy and Fair Elections” in August 2007 and the “National Council on Peace” in November of 2007 by this human rights NGO.

Persecution of Women’s Rights Campaigners Intensifies

(16 April 2009) A new report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran documents that the persecution of women’s rights advocates has intensified in the past year.

For the first time, a women’s rights advocate, Alieh Eghdamdoust, has been jailed for three years solely for participating in a peaceful demonstration on behalf of equal rights for women in 2006, in which 70 others were also arrested.

“Publicly expressing support for women’s rights has effectively been criminalized in Iran,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Report on the Status of Women Human Rights Defenders — April 2009

As the Islamic Republic of Iran celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, human rights abuses are on the rise. Women’s rights activists advocating for legal reforms and the protection of women’s rights have been increasingly targeted. Since our last report, the most prominent human rights defender, Shirin Ebadi, has come under fire; a prison sentence of a woman’s rights activist has been implemented for the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and other women’s rights activists have been targeted, harassed, arrested, summoned, tried and barred from travel. The following report covers the pressures on women human rights defenders since June 2008.