Life of Jailed Human Rights Lawyer at Great Risk

(4 November 2010) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, should immediately intervene with Iranian authorities to ensure the physical well being of detained human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

On Sunday, 31 October, Sotoudeh, one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers went on a dry hunger strike protesting her detention and ill treatment inside Tehran’s Evin prison. Her family reported that her health is quickly deteriorating.

“As High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay has a duty to come to the aid of embattled human rights defenders,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Veteran Political Prisoner Demands Trial of Supreme Leader

In a letter written from prison, political prisoner Heshmatollah Tabarzadi asked international courts to review his grievance against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Seyed Ali Khamenei. From Rajaee Shahr Prison, Tabarzadi called on Iranian lawyers, most of whom are currently in prison, free on bail, or have fled Iran, to make his suit against Iran’s Supreme Leader heard by international courts.

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.

Press Conference on the Human Rights Crisis in Iran

Nobelists Call for Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Release

On Friday, 17 September 2010, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, in partnership with Human Rights Watch and the Nobel Women’s Initiative, held a panel discussion in New York on the human rights crisis in Iran. The panelists included Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Mairead Maguire, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch Faraz Sanei, and Campaign Director Hadi Ghaemi. The discussion covered many areas and calls were made by Shirin Ebadi to address prisoner abuse: “My proposal here is that, if Mr. Ahmadinejad that Iran is a free country, let Doctors Without Borders go to Iran and do medical examinations of the prisoners in Iran.”

The eleven-minute video can be viewed below.

Arrests and Convictions of Rights Activists and Lawyers Escalate

(1 September 2010) Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran are continuing to arrest and jail civil society activists while persecuting and prosecuting independent lawyers, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

“With a majority of Iranian human rights activists and lawyers already imprisoned or forced into exile, their remaining colleagues are systematically being taken down by the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Aaron Rhodes, a Campaign spokesperson said.

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, told the Campaign, “The Judiciary’s lack of independence is resulting in persecution of lawyers.”

Appeals Court Should Overturn Unjust Sentencing of Baha’i Leaders

(10 August 2010) Seven leaders of the Iranian Baha’i community, each of whom has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on security, espionage and other crimes, should be freed by an appeals court, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

“We consider the arrest, detention, trial, and sentencing of these individuals to be politically motivated, discriminatory, unjust, and illegal under Iranian and international law,” said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign.

“Does Iran Deserve to be on the UN Human Rights Council?”

(23 April 2010) Prominent Iranian human rights defenders and other members of civil society are calling on United Nations member states to soundly reject the Iranian government’s bid to become a member of the Human Rights Council.

Despite Iran’s chronic neglect of international human rights, and deterioration marked by widespread atrocities during the past year, the Iranian government has filed its candidacy for membership at the UN’s Human Rights Council. The elections for Council members will take place at the General Assembly on 13 May 2010, in New York.

In a vigorous campaign, Iranian activists are urging a wholesome rejection of Iran’s candidacy, calling it an affront not only to Iranian victims of human rights violations, but to the global human rights system and community.

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.

Release Emadeddin Baghi and All Arbitrarily Arrested

(29 December 2009) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for the immediate and unconditional release of leading human rights defender Emadeddin Baghi, who was among numerous journalists and reformists detained on 28 December along with over 1,000 others, in the wake of violent crackdowns on Ashura protests. Also detained was the sister of Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, Dr. Nooshin Ebadi.

Baghi, one of the top human rights defenders in Iran who has received numerous international recognitions including the Martin Ennals Award in 2009, suffers from heart and nerve conditions that have been severely aggravated by his previous incarcerations following convictions for his writings and human rights advocacy.

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.