Labor Activists in Peril as May Day Approaches

(30 April 2009) Iranian workers will observe May 1st, International Workers’ Day, as the government increases its suppression of independent labor movements, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said in a new report (available in Persian) today.

During the past year, workers previously attempting to celebrate May Day were prosecuted, and sentenced to prison and lashings. The prominent labor leader Mansour Ossanloo remains in prison, as well as other labor organizers including Ebrahim Maddadi, Farzad Kamangar, and Ghaleb Husseini. On 16 April 2009, more than 73 workers in the city of Sanandaj were arrested as they met privately to plan May Day celebrations.