Follow the latest human rights developments in Iran in December 2018 here every day.
Latest news:
14:13 30.10.1397 Arrest of three Baha'i citizens in Kerman and Tehran Kiana Rezvani and Kimia Mostafavi, two Baha'is residing in Kerman, and Atousa Ahmadai, a Baha'i residing in Tehran, were arrested by security forces in recent days. There is no news on the reason for their arrest or their current status.
12:31 30.10.1397 Continued detention of Masoud Shams-Nazhad, a lawyer in Urmia Masoud Shams-Nazhad, a lawyer residing in Urmia who was arrested by security forces on 18th of Dey, remains in detention. No news has been published regarding the reason for his arrest or his status.
12:11 30.10.1397 Re-arrest of Sepideh Ghalean Sepideh Ghalean, a civil activist, announced her arrest in a short Twitter message on Sunday morning, 30th of Dey. She stated that the broadcast of the film "Burnt Design" on a television program was further evidence of her torture during detention and emphasized that she would pursue this matter more seriously than before. Iranian television aired a film of confessions from Ismail Bakhshi, Sepideh Ghalean, and Ali Najati, a board member of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Syndicate. These televised confessions were broadcast while Ismail Bakhshi's complaint regarding his torture is still under investigation at the Shush County Prosecutor's Office.
14:53 29.10.1397 Release of Kourosh Kermpour on bail Kourosh Kermpour, the editor of the weekly "Yadgari," a poet and teacher residing in Abadan, who was arrested by security forces on 9th of Dey, was released on bail after two weeks. No news has been published regarding the reason for his arrest or his charges.
14:48 29.10.1397 Sentencing of Mustafa Boroumand from the detainees of December 2017 Mustafa Boroumand, a citizen residing in Mashhad, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and 74 lashes by the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad on charges of "disrupting public order, propaganda against the regime, and conspiracy to commit crimes against national security." He remains in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad due to his family's inability to provide the 700 million tomans bail.
14:39 29.10.1397 Human Rights Watch criticizes the mass arrests in winter 2017 in Iran In its annual report, Human Rights Watch criticized the "widespread and mass arrests" in Iran in 2017 in response to nationwide protests and the arrests of environmental activists and several "Girls of Revolution Street." Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, described the Iranian security apparatus and judiciary as "seriously obstructive to the observance and protection of human rights." According to the report, judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic arrested "thousands" during the 2017 protests, including for the legitimate exercise of individual freedoms, and issued heavy sentences in unfair trials against them. The designation of a list of approved lawyers by the judiciary for defendants of "security crimes" and the refusal to conduct a "credible" investigation into the deaths of at least "30 people" during these protests, as well as the excessive use of force for suppression, "unfair trial processes," and the arrest of eight environmental activists, were other issues criticized by Human Rights Watch.
14:33 29.10.1397 Arrest and summons of four political activists in Kermanshah According to reports, four political activists in the city of Sanandaj in Kermanshah province were summoned and interrogated by the Intelligence Department due to their activities in cyberspace, and one of them has been arrested. Kiumars Vaez, a high school teacher and political activist residing in Sanandaj, reported in an interview with the Human Rights Campaign in Iran that in recent days, four experienced political activists from Sanandaj were summoned and interrogated by the Kermanshah Intelligence Department. According to Mr. Vaez, he and Borouj Nadari, a high school math teacher, Ehsan Darabi, a taxi driver, and Fahim Naseri, a self-employed individual, were summoned to the Kermanshah Intelligence Department and "interrogated for hours." Mr. Vaez also reported that Ehsan Darabi has been in detention since Thursday, 26th of Dey, and has asked his family to prepare bail for him. In the last two weeks, 13 environmental activists and members of the National Unity Party in Kurdistan province have also been arrested.
14:08 29.10.1397 Release of Alireza Tavakoli from Evin Prison Alireza Tavakoli, a social media activist, was released from Evin Prison on 28th of Dey after completing his sentence. He had been arrested in the summer of 2016 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for writing posts on Facebook and Telegram, accused of "insulting the sacred, acting against national security, and insulting the leadership."
14:02 29.10.1397 Arrest of Amir Amirgholi, civil activist and member of the editorial board of the magazine "Gham" Amir Amirgholi, a civil activist and member of the editorial board of the magazine "Gham," was arrested by security forces a few days ago and transferred to Evin Prison, but there is no news on his status or the reason for his arrest. This civil activist had previously been arrested in 2015 and sentenced to eight years in prison on security charges, but was released after serving two and a half years in 2016 due to a Nowruz pardon.
15:37 25.10.1397 Suspended prison and lash sentence for Mustafa Torkhamdani, lawyer Mustafa Torkhamdani, a lawyer, was sentenced to six months in prison and 40 lashes by the appeals court, with his lash sentence suspended for one year. Peyman Haj-Mahmoud Attar, his defense lawyer, told the IRNA news agency that this sentence was issued in relation to a complaint by Saeed Mortazavi against Mustafa Torkhamdani for "mentioning him in an interview before his sentence was finalized." At that time, Mustafa Torkhamdani was representing social security workers, and according to his lawyer, he did not mention Saeed Mortazavi by name in the media but only referred to him as "the former head of social security."