Human Rights Watch Criticizes 'Beating' of Imprisoned Dervishes in Fashafouyeh

Human Rights Watch reported on Wednesday, September 7, that at least 208 imprisoned dervishes in Iran have had their basic rights violated by the Revolutionary Court. The organization stated on its Twitter page that the guards of Tehran's Great Prison (Fashafouyeh) attacked the dervishes who were on hunger strike in Section 3 of the prison and beat them. The Majzoban Noor website, which publishes news related to the Gonabadi dervishes in Iran, reported that the Gonabadi dervishes imprisoned in Section 3 of Tehran's Great Prison have been on hunger strike since June 13 in support of imprisoned dervish women in Qarchak prison, demanding their release. The website's Twitter page noted that the prison guards resorted to severe violence in suppressing these prisoners, separating and isolating some dervishes by welding the door of the officer's area shut. The Gonabadi dervishes' protest on February 19, 2018, around the house of Nour Ali Tabandeh, the leader of this order, turned violent due to the intervention of security forces and motorcyclist plainclothes agents. Following this violence, nearly 500 dervishes were arrested, with over 350 still imprisoned. International organizations, including Amnesty International, have previously expressed concern about the situation of imprisoned dervishes in Iran, especially the dervish women. The Revolutionary Court sentenced six dervish women, including Nazila Noori, Avisha Jalaluddin, Shima Entesari, Sima Entesari, Sepideh Moradi, Shokufe Yadollahi, and Maryam Farsiyabi, to five years in prison, and they are currently imprisoned in Qarchak prison. Human Rights Watch also stated that since May 2018, the Revolutionary Court has sentenced at least 208 Gonabadi dervishes to prison and other punishments, violating their basic rights in court. The punishments for these individuals range from 6 months to 26 years in prison, flogging, house arrest, travel bans, and restrictions on media and political activities. The organization noted that judges sentenced these individuals to flogging while, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, flogging is considered a clear form of torture. Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of Human Rights Watch for the Middle East, described the 'unjust' trials of at least 208 dervishes in Iran as one of the largest crackdowns on religious minorities in Iran in the past decade. She stated that the Iranian authorities took advantage of the dervishes' gathering in February last year to intimidate and suppress them and silence other groups in Iran seeking their basic rights from the government. Human Rights Watch reported that during the trials of the dervishes, which lasted less than 15 minutes, judges questioned and accused them about their beliefs instead of their alleged crimes. The organization criticized the Islamic Republic for repeatedly bringing baseless charges to suppress freedom of expression and activists in various fields, noting that it deprived defendants of their right to choose a lawyer by presenting a list of 20 trusted lawyers. Sources have told the human rights organization that the Revolutionary Courts and interrogators have not allowed imprisoned dervishes to introduce a chosen lawyer even after the interrogation period ended. The Revolutionary Court has issued at least 40 absentia verdicts for dervishes who did not appear in court to protest the violation of their basic rights. Many of these individuals have not been charged, but the Revolutionary Court has accused some of them, who only engaged in peaceful activities, of 'acting against national security.' Among these dervishes are at least three managers and contributors of the Majzoban Noor website, which publishes news related to Gonabadi dervishes; these individuals have been accused of propaganda against the regime. Reza Entesari received a seven-year prison sentence and 74 lashes in absentia from the Tehran Revolutionary Court, Mustafa Abdi received a 26-year and three-month prison sentence, 148 lashes, two years of exile to Sistan and Baluchestan, a two-year travel ban, and two years of prohibition from membership in political and social groups and media activities, while Kasra Noori, another manager of this website, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, 74 lashes, and two years of exile to the city of Thalath Babajani along with social restrictions. Sarah Leah Whitson stated that the unjust trial of these 200 dervishes is the latest case of repression and human rights violations by the Iranian authorities against their citizens.