UN urges Iran to reconsider death penalty

AFP :
The United Nations called on Iran to ban the death penalty in cases that do not meet standards of 'serious crime' as defined by international law, according to a report to be published Monday.
In the report, special UN rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed 'urges the Government to prohibit the death penalty for cases that do not meet the standard of 'serious crime' as defined by international law, and recommends that authorities commute capital sentences for individuals whose crimes do not meet that standard.’
He also called on the Iranian government 'to seriously consider a moratorium on the death penalty for all crimes' ... and 'to allow for legal representation of accused persons at all stages of investigations.’
Shaheed noted an 'alarming increase in executions since 2003.’
The report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council here on Monday.
Shaheed said 'that drug offences do not meet the 'serious crime' standard set by international law', and renewed calls on the government to implement a moratorium on the death penalty, especially in drug-related cases.
Tehran should also 'seriously pursue efforts to abolish the death penalty for juveniles, and to commute all capital sentences against them.’
He expressed 'concern about the use of stoning as a method of execution' and said 'that adultery does not constitute a serious crime by international standards.’
‘Many of the allegations received contend that the rule of law meant to protect human rights is frequently breached, impunity is promoted by a reluctance to hold violators accountable, and the space for public scrutiny of policies and actions that have an impact on the integrity of governance is severely restricted,' said his report.

سازمان ملل ‌متحد از ایران خواهان تجدیدنظر در مجازات اعدام گردید [گزارش احمد شهید به شورای حقوق‌بشر]
سازمان ملل‌متحد از ایران خواست تا در مورد مجازات اعدام تجدیدنظر نماید
  ژنو - بر اساس گزارشی که قرار است روز دوشنبه منتشر گردد سازمان ملل‌متحد از ایران خواستار ممنوعیت مجازات اعدام در مواردی که با استانداردهای  ”جرائم جدی ”مشخص شده در قانون بین‌الملل  مطابقت ندارد، گردید.
* در این گزارش، گزارشگر ویژه احمد شهید ”از دولت [ایران] به‌طور مصرانه خواهان ممنوعیت مجازات اعدام برای موضوعاتی که با استانداردهای ”جرائم جدی ”مشخص شده در قانون بین‌الملل  مطابقت ندارد، می‌باشد و پیشنهاد می‌کند که مقامات مجازاتهای اعدام در مورد افرادی که جرایم آنها با این استانداردها مطابقت ندارد را تخفیف بدهند”.
او هم‌چنین از دولت ایران خواست تا ”به‌طور جدی مهلت قانونی در مورد مجازات اعدام را برای تمامی جرایم بررسی نماید ”و ”اجازه دهد تا متهمان دارای نمایندگان قانونی در طول تمامی مراحل تحقیقات داشته باشند”.
احمد شهید به ”افزایش هشدار دهنده‌یی از اعدامها از سال 2003 تاکنون ”اشاره کرده است.
گزارش وضعیت حقوق‌بشر در جمهوری اسلامی روز دوشنبه به شورای حقوق‌بشر سازمان ملل در ژنو ارائه خواهد شد.
احمد شهید گفت ”جرائم مربوط به مواد مخدر با استانداردهای ”جرائم جدی ”مشخص شده توسط قانون بین‌الملل مطابقت ندارد و خواهان اعمال مهلت قانونی در مورد مجازات اعدام خصوصا در مورد موضوعات در ارتباط با مواد مخدر گردید”.
[او گفت] تهران باید هم‌چنین ”به‌طور جدی تلاشها برای لغو مجازات اعدام برای نوجوانان پیگیری نماید و تمامی مجازاتها اعدام علیه آنها را تخفیف دهد”.
او ”در مورد استفاده از سنگسار به‌عنوان نوعی از اعدام ”اظهار نگرانی کرد و گفت ”بی عفتی در استانداردهای بین‌المللی یک جرم جدی محسوب نمی‌شود”... (خبرگزاری فرانسه- 20/12/1390)
Fars state-run News Agency :
http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13901220000365
With the raid of the Public Security and Intelligence Police in the province of Hamedan, 48 men and women were arrested in a night party.
On Thursday night, 22 men and 26 women who were partying in a garden in the Ganj Nameh road were all arrested with a timely reaction by the Hamedan State Security Forces Command Center’s police agents.
An informed source said in this regard, “Unfortunately in this party a large number of the detainees were married and were carrying out immoral conduct. Illegal goods including alcoholic beverages were also discovered”.
“Their cases have been sent to the judiciary and necessary measures are being taken”, he added.

با اقدام ضربتی پلیس اطلاعات و امنیت عمومی همدان صورت گرفت
دستگیری 48 نفر در یک پارتی شبانه در همدان
خبرگزاری فارس: با اقدام ضربتی پلیس اطلاعات و امنیت عمومی استان همدان 48 مرد و زن در یک پارتی شبانه در همدان دستگیر شدند.
خبرگزاری فارس: دستگیری 48 نفر در یک پارتی شبانه در همدان
به گزارش خبرگزاری فارس از همدان پنج‌شنبه شب 22 مرد و 26 زن در باغی در جاده گنج‌نامه که مجلس لهو و لعب بر پا کرده بودند با اقدام به موقع پلیس اطلاعات و امنیت عمومی فرماندهی انتظامی استان همدان دستگیر شدند.
یک منبع آگاه در این زمینه به خبرنگار فارس گفت: متاسفانه در این پارتی که تعداد زیادی از دستگیرشدگان متاهل نیز بودند، اقدامات غیراخلاقی انجام شده و ملزومات غیرمجاز از قبیل مشروبات الکلی نیز کشف شده است.
وی افزود: پرونده دستگیرشدگان به دادگستری ارجاع شده و اقدامات لازم در حال پیگیری است. (فارس – 20/12/90) 
Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran :
From the 10 prisoners who were transferred to solitary cells in Zahedan Prison on Friday, eight of them were hanged on the dawn of Saturday March 10.
According to reports, on March 10 at 3 am, six male prisoners and two female prisoners were executed in the courtyard of Zahedan Prison. Two Afghan nationals were among these prisoners who were hanged on drug related charges.
The names of three of these prisoners were Hamid Siri, Gol Ahmad Heidari and Gholam Sarani.
Hamid Siri, 40 was from Varamin and was arrested in Tehran and had been detained in prison since 2008. Gol Ahmad Heidari, 38, who was an Afghan national was married and had four children. He has been detained in Zahedan Prison since 2009. Gholam Sarani, 39, was also an Afghan national.
Notably, on Saturday morning, their families came to Zahedan Prison and received the bodies of their loved ones after paying a sum of money to the relevant officials. They were forced to pay 50,000 tomans for the noose [used to choke their loved ones to death], 40,000 tomans for the transportation expenses to the medical examiner’s office and 20,000 tomans for a death certificate.

هشت زنداني در زاهدان به دار آويخته شدند
خبرگزاري هرانا - از ۱۰ زنداني‌اي که روز جمعه به سلول‌هاي انفرادي زندان زاهدان منتقل شده بودند، بامداد شنبه بيستم اسفندماه ۸ نفر به دار آويخته شدند.
به گزارش هرانا به نقل از وبسايت فعالين حقوق بشر و دموکراسي، ساعت ۳ بامداد روز شنبه ۲۰ اسفند ماه ۶ زنداني مرد و ۲ زن در زندان زاهدان اعدام شدند. در ميان اين اعداميان که به اتهام جرايم مربوط به مواد مخدر با حکم مرگ مواجه شده بودند، دو نفر نيز مليت افغاني داشتند.
نام سه تن از اعدام شدگان "حميد سيري"، "گل احمد حيدري" و "غلام ساراني" است.
حميد سيري، ۴۰ ساله اهل ورامين در تهران دستگير شده و از سال ۱۳۸۸ تاکنون در زندان بسر مي‌برد. گل احمد حيدري ۳۸ ساله شهروند افغانستان نيز ککه متاهل و داراي ۴ فرزند مي‌باشد. او از سال ۸۸ تاکنون در زندان زاهدان زنداني بود. هم‌چنين غلام ساراني، ۳۹ ساله از شهروندان افغاني بود.
گفتني ست که صبح روز شنبه خانواده‌ي نامبردگان به زندان زاهدان مراجعه کردند و اجساد عزيزانشان پس از اخذ مبالغي به خانواده‌هاي آن‌ها تحويل داده شد. ايشان ملزم شده بودند که ۵۰ هزار تومان به عنوان پول طناب دار، ۴۰ هزار تومان هزينه‌ي انتقال به پزشک قانوني و ۲۰ هزار تومان بابت تاييديه‌ي فوت به مسئولان مربوطه پرداخت نمايند. (فعالين حقوق بشر و دموکراسي – 21/12/90)
IRNA state-un News Agency, Etele’at state-run Daily :
http://www.ettelaat.com/new/index.asp?fname=2012%5C03%5C03-08%5C20-18-33.htm&storytitle=%C7%CE%C8%C7%D1%20%CD%E6%C7%CF%CB
http://irna.ir/News/80027228/%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A2%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%B4%D8%AF/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7/

A person who had killed a teacher with a knife last year was publicly hanged on the dawn of Tuesday.
According to reports, after finding out that his brother had been beaten by his principal for being undisciplined, Eunice Shafiq went to his brother’s school and stabbed Roshan Kazemian, the principal of the Chamran Educational Complex in the Imam Reza Township in Shirvan and then fled the scene.
The retribution sentence for this murderer was carried out at dawn after it was upheld by the Supreme Court.

قاتل معلم شیروانی به دار مجازات آویخته شد
بجنورد - فردی كه سال گذشته با ضربات چاقو یك معلم را به قتل رسانده بود، سحرگاه روز سه شنبه در ملاء عام در شیروان به دار آویخته شد.
به گزارش ایرنا، 'یونس شفیق' دیماه پارسال پس از آگاهی از اینكه برادر دانش آموزش به علت بی انضباطی توسط مدیر مدرسه كتك خورده، با مراجعه به مدرسه، 'روشن كاظمیان' مدیر مجتمع آموزشی شهید چمران شهرك امام رضا (ع) در منطقه سرحد شیروان را مقابل چشم دانش آموزان با ضربات چاقو از پای درآورد و متواری شد.
حكم قصاص قاتل این معلم شیروانی، پس از تایید در دیوان عالی كشور، سحرگاه امروز به اجرا درآمد. (ايرنا، روزنامه اطلاعات – 16/12/90) 

IRAN Weekly HR report (March 10, 2012) : (Violence against women)


Violence against women

Dozens of girls banned from university because of ‘un-Islamic veiling’

Reports from the Tehran Science and Industry University show that in the past few days, a number of female university students received disciplinary sentences for having ‘un-Islamic veiling’.
The Science and Industry Disciplinary Committee has suspended a number of students for half a year on charges of ‘not following university rules’, and ‘not having Islamic covering’. This is while their charges were not announced to them from before and they were not summoned to participate in an official meeting where the sentence was issued [as is customary].
There are still no exact figures on the numbers of students who received disciplinary sentences but according to credible reports, the sentences have been announced to 10 to 20 female students.
A number of students who objected this initial sentence were faced with reports and records of their transgressions that they were not informed of.
Last semester, students at this university were met with stricter rules in the ‘Moral Code’ and Protection Department [a department in universities tasked with controlling students] patrols in the university campus.
Also, last semester, Dr. Salehzadeh, the head of the Science and Industry University Bassij Faculty Organization and the head of the School of Architecture at this university prevented the registration of 15 female students in this school because they had not participated in a mandatory session about the Hijab [Islamic covering]. He announced that these students would be prevented from registering at the university in the next semester. (Daneshju News website – Mar. 4, 2012)

Iranian parliament encourages deplorable practice of temporary marriages in new law
http://isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1962877
Majlis finally made a decision about [the practice of] temporary marriages: there is no need to officially register in concubines [temporary marriages]. When this was announced yesterday, many questions were raised about the future of these kinds of marriages and the old discussions on the deterioration of women’s rights and what would happen to the child born as a result of these marriages were raised again.
In the law that Majils ratified yesterday with 104 votes, there are three conditions under which a concubine has to be registered: when the woman is pregnant, when both sides agree and when there are stipulations. But the issue of a woman becoming pregnant after an unregistered marriage when the man is not willing to register the marriage is a criticism that many have regarding the lay passed by Majilis. (Aftab state-run website, ISNA state-run News Agency – Mar. 6, 2012)

Women’s Day: Taking a stand with women in the Middle East
Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International
Tue, 06/03/2012
People around the world should show their solidarity with the courageous women who were pivotal in uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, Amnesty International said.
Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the organization is calling on its supporters to mark the day by sending messages of support to women in the region.
Thousands of individual actions are expected to be taken, with a focus on four countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen - where women remain at the heart of calls for reform, but a broad spectrum of women’s rights are still threatened.
In North Africa, which saw momentous events in 2011, political change has yet to translate into real gains for women’s rights.
“Across the Middle East and North Africa, women have been an inspiring force for change, standing up against repressive regimes to defend basic human rights and promote reform and equality,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.
“This International Women’s Day, we stand in solidarity with these courageous women, to support them in their struggle for human rights and freedom, and to let them know the world is behind them at this historic moment”.
Imprisoned in Iran for defending women’s rights
Iran’s women played a key role in massive protests around the June 2009 elections, when they advocated for a wide range of human rights reform, including greater freedoms for women.
But the country’s women activists continue to pay a high price for their peaceful work.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prisoner of conscience and human rights lawyer, is serving a six-year jail sentence, reduced from 11 years on appeal, on charges of “propaganda” and belonging to an “illegal” organization - the Centre for Human Rights Defenders. She denies all charges.
A human rights lawyer who has represented Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi amongst others, she has also been barred from practicing law for 10 years.
Authorities at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison have repeatedly placed her in solitary confinement and blocked her children from visiting, most recently last month.
Amnesty International is again urging Iranian authorities to release Nasrin Sotoudeh immediately and unconditionally. (Amnesty International – Mar. 6, 2012)

Cleric says women have no right to have hegemony over men
http://isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1963408
The head of the Asle 90 Commission in the Majlis [Iranian regime’s parliament] said that sharia law does not allow women have hegemony over men.
According to reports, Hojatel Islam Val-Moslemin Mohammad Ibrahim Nekounam said, “The last phrase in the second addendum of Family Support Bill which says that a woman has a right to prevent her husband from getting a job that is against the interest of the family contradicts the holy sharia and sharia does not allow women to rule over men”...
It was stipulated in the second addendum that after court confirmation, the couple can prevent the wife from getting a job that is against the interest of the family or the prestige of the couple or the woman. [The addendum said that] a woman also has such a right unless it disrupts the livelihood of the family but this article was omitted from the Family Support Bill. (ISNA state-run News Agency – Mar. 6, 2012)

خشونت عليه زنان


محرومیت تحصیلی برای دهها دانشجوی دختر دانشگاه علم و صنعت
گزارش ها از دانشگاه علم و صنعت حاکی از آن است که طی روز های گذشته تعدادی از دانشجویان دختر دانشگاه علم و صنعت به اتهام «عدم رعایت پوشش اسلامی» با احکام محرومیت انضباطی مواجه شده اند.
به گزارش دانشجو نیوز، کمیته انضباطی دانشگاه علم و صنعت از ابتدای ترم جاری تعدادی از دانشجویان را در روندی غیرقانونی بدون احضار برای شرکت در جلسه ی تفهیم اتهام و جلسه ی صدور حکم، به اتهام «عدم رعایت مقررات دانشگاه» و «عدم رعایت پوشش اسلامی»، به مدت یک نیمسال با احتساب سنوات از تحصیل محروم کرده است.
هنوز از تعداد دانشجویانی که حکم کمیته ی انضباطی دریافت نموده اند آمار دقیقی در دست نیست، اما طبق گزارش های موثق، 10 الی 20 نفر از دانشجویان دختر احکام خود را دریافت کرده اند.
گفتنی است تعدادی از این دانشجویان هنگام اعتراض به حکم اولیه با پرونده ها و گزارش هایی از تخلفاتشان در دانشگاه روبه رو شده اند که تاکنون خود نیز از آن ها اطلاعی نداشته اند.
پیش تر و در ترم گذشته نیز دانشجویان دانشگاه علم و صنعت با قوانین سفت و سخت "منشور اخلاقی" در دانشگاه و گشت های حراست مواجه شده بودند.
همچنین در ترم گذشته دکتر صالح زاده، مسئول بسیج اساتید دانشگاه علم و صنعت و رییس دانشکدهٔ عمران این دانشگاه، در اقدامی بی‌سابقه و غیر قانونی ثبت نام ۱۵ دانشجوی دختر این دانشکده را به دلیل عدم حضور در جلسهٔ اجباری پیرامون موضوع حجاب که برای دانشجویان دختر برگزار کرده بود، لغو کرده و توسط مسئولین آموزش دانشکده اعلام کرده بود «از ثبت نام این دانشجویان در ترم آینده نیز جلوگیری به عمل خواهد آمد!» (دانشجو نيوز – 14/12/90)

مجلس آخوندی تصویب کرد ، صیغه بدون اما و اگر    
آفتاب: مجلس بالاخره تکلیف ازدواج‌های موقت (فحشای اسلامی) را روشن کرد؛ صیغه نیاز به ثبت رسمی ندارد! خبری که دیروز وقتی اعلام شد، اما و اگرهای زیادی را درباره آینده این ازدواج‌ها سر زبان‌ها انداخت و بحث قدیمی تضییع حقوق زنان و تکلیف بچه‌های متولد شده از این ازدواج‌ها را زنده کرد.
در قانونی که مجلسی‌ها دیروز مجلس با۱۰۴ رای موافق، ۶ رای مخالف و ۱۲ را ی ممتنع تصویب کردند، صیغه در سه صورت نیاز به ثبت پیدا می‌کند: وقتی زن باردار شود، وقتی طرفین توافق کنند و وقتی شرط ضمن عقد باشد. اما در این بین، وضعیت بارداری زن بعد از یک ازدواج ثبت نشده و زیر بار نرفتن مرد برای ثبت ازدواج، مشکلی است که خیلی‌ها به مصوبه دیروز مجلس وارد می‌کنند. (آفتاب، ايسنا – 16/12/90)

روز زن - همسو با زنان در خاورمیانه
سایت سازمان عفو بین‌الملل، 6مارس، 2012 - زیرنویس عکس - زنان نقشی محوری در اعتراضات حامی اصلاحات در سراسر خاورمیانه ایفا کرده‌اند...
مردم در سراسر جهان باید همبستگی خود را با زنان شجاع که نقشی محوری در قیامهای سراسر خاورمیانه و شمال آفریقا ایفا کردند اعلام کنند...
ویدنی براون (widney brown) مدیر ارشد قانون بین‌الملل و سیاست در عفو بین‌الملل گفت در  روز بین‌المللی زن ما در همبستگی با آن زنان شجاع می‌ایستیم تا از آنها در مبارزاتشان برای حقوق‌بشر و آزادی  حمایت کنیم و نشان دهیم که جهان  در این نقطه تاریخی،   پشت آنها را دارد.
زندانی شدن در ایران به‌خاطر دفاع از حقوق زنان
زنان ایران در اعتراضات انبوه در حدود انتخابات  ژوئن 2009 وقتی که برای یک سلسله از اصلاحات حقوق‌بشر بپا خاستند از جمله آزادیهای بیشتر برای زنان، نقشی کلیدی ایفا کردند . اما زنان فعال در ایران قیمت بالایی برای کار صلح آمیزشان می‌پردازند.
نسرین ستوده زندانی عقیدتی (سیاسی) و وکیل حقوق‌بشر یک حکم 6ساله را در زندان می‌گذراند و متهم به ”تبلیغات ”و تعلق به ”سازمانی غیرقانونی ”  شده است اتهاماتی که او رد کرده است...
مقامات در زندان بدنام اوین مکرراً وی را در سلول انفرادی قرار داده‌اند و مانع شده‌اند فرزندانش تا همین ماه گذشته  با او ملاقات کنند.
عفو بین‌الملل مجدداً از مقامات ایرانی می‌خواهد تا نسرین ستوده را فوراً و بی‌قیدوشرط آزاد کند. (سایت عفو بین‌الملل- 16/12/1390)

نكونام اخطار داد:
شرع اجازه نمي‌دهد زنان حاكم بر مردان باشند  
رييس كميسيون اصل 90 مجلس شوراي اسلامي در اخطاري مستند به اصل 4 قانون اساسي گفت كه شرع اجازه نمي‌دهد زنان حاكم بر مردان باشند.
به گزارش خبرنگار پارلماني خبرگزاري دانشجويان ايران(ايسنا)، حجت‌الاسلام‌والمسلمين محمدابراهيم نكونام در اخطار خود با تاكيد بر لزوم وضع مقررات بر اساس موازين شرع يادآور شد: فراز آخر ماده الحاقي 2 لايحه حمايت از خانواده مبني بر حق زن براي منع اشتغال همسر به شغل خلاف مصالح خانواده، مخالف شرع مقدس است و شرع اجازه نمي‌دهد كه زنان حاكم بر مردان باشند...
به گزارش ايسنا، در ماده الحاقي 2 آمده بود زوج مي‌تواند با تاييد دادگاه زن خود را از اشتغال به هر شغلي كه منافي مصالح خانوادگي يا حيثيت خود يا زن باشد، منع كند. براي زن نيز چنين حقي وجود دارد مگر اين‌كه موجب اخلال در امر معيشت خانواده شود كه اين ماده با راي مجلس از متن لايحه حمايت از خانواده حذف شد. (ايسنا – 16/12/90)

Prison

Prison sentence

Iran sentences lawyer to 18 months of prison and 20 year ban on practicing law

Lawyer Abdolfateh Soltani was sentenced to 18 months of prison and exile to the town of Berazjan. Soltani, who was representing a large number of political, media and civil rights activists, was charged with ‘propagating, assembling and conspiring against the government’.
According to reports, the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Pir Abbasi issued and announced this sentence to this lawyer on March 4.
According to this sentence, he was also sentenced to a 20 year ban on practicing law.
Soltani has been detained in Evin Prison since September 10, 2011. He is basically guilty of forming the Center for Human Rights Defenders, receiving the Nuremberg Human Rights Prize in Germany, and giving interviews to the media about his clients. These charges have been officially announced as ‘propagating against the government, establishing the Center for Human Rights Defenders, assembling and conspiring against the government, and acquiring illegal property”. (Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Radio Germany Website – Mar. 4, 2012)

Iran: Overturn jail sentence and release human rights lawyer
Iranian human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani has been sentenced to 18 years in prison on politically motivated charges.
As one of Iran’s most prominent and most courageous human rights defenders, there can be little doubt that Abdolfattah Soltani is being persecuted for his legitimate work as a defence lawyer.
Ann Harrison, interim Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International
Mon, 05/03/2012
The Iranian authorities must overturn an 18-year jail term recently handed down to prominent human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani and release him immediately and unconditionally, Amnesty International has urged.
It is not known whether the defendant has been notified of the Tehran Revolutionary Court’s ruling, which his family and lawyer learned about on Sunday.
Arrested on 10 September 2011, the charges against Abdolfattah Soltani include “spreading propaganda against the system”, “setting up an illegal OPPOSITION group” and “gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security.”
He also faced charges of “accepting an illegal prize and illegal earnings” relating to his acceptance of the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in 2009.
Amnesty International has previously recognized the 58-year-old lawyer - a founding member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders - as a prisoner of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association, including his work as a defence lawyer and in the Centre.
“As one of Iran’s most prominent and most courageous human rights defenders, there can be little doubt that Abdolfattah Soltani is being persecuted for his legitimate work as a defence lawyer,” said Ann Harrison, interim Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“It is a sad state of affairs when defence lawyers join their clients in prison cells. The Iranian authorities must overturn this sentence and release him immediately and unconditionally”.
Under the court ruling, Abdolfattah Soltani is now banned for 20 years from exercising his profession and is to be transferred from Tehran’s Evin Prison to a prison in the remote city of Borazjan, some 620 miles south-west of the capital which will make it hard for his family to visit him.
His family have told the media he plans to appeal the ruling.
Prior to his trial, Ministry of Intelligence officials had threatened Abdolfattah Soltani with 20 years of imprisonment.
In November 2011, Mohammad Javad Larijani, an Iranian Judiciary official, told a UN press conference that Abdolfattah Soltani was being held on suspicion of “relations with terrorist groups” that had been responsible for killing 10,000 people in Iran.
The lawyer’s family told Amnesty International afterwards that he flatly denies this allegation and hoped to lodge a judicial complaint against Mohammad Larijani over the claim.
Abdolfattah Soltani has been arrested on a number of occasions in the past. In 2005, he spent seven months behind bars, but was eventually acquitted of all charges. He also spent two months in detention in 2009.
In a report released last week , Amnesty International documented a dramatic escalation in the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on freedom of expression in the run up to parliamentary elections, which were held on Sunday.
In recent years, harassment, arrest and imprisonment of human rights defenders, including women’s rights defenders, has intensified and several NGOs have been shut down, including the Centre for Human Rights Defenders.
At least nine other defence lawyers remain behind bars, including Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mohammad Seyfzadeh, Javid Houtan Kiyan and Mostafa Daneshju. Most if not all are recognized as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International.
“A rise in harassment and punitive measures for human rights lawyers and others with dissenting points of view in Iran is yet another sign of the country’s overall deteriorating human rights situation,” said Ann Harrison.
“Human rights defenders - including defence lawyers - seek to protect rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly for all. When they are put in prison for their peaceful activities, it sends a chilling message to anyone who wants to speak out against the government”. (Amnesty International - Mar. 5, 2012)

Iran sentences newspaper editor in chief to prison for ‘propagating against government’
Ahmad Gholami, writer and editor in chief of Sharq Daily, was sentenced to one year of suspended prison by the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Abolqasem Salvati.
According to reports, Ahmad Gholami was charged with propagating against the government and based on this was sentence to one year of prison which has been suspended for five years based on article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code.
This sentence was announced to this journalist by the head of the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court.
Mr. Gholami was arrested on December 7, 2011 along with Ali Khodabakhsh, Keivan Mehregan and Farzaneh Rostayi after security forces stormed the Sharq office building. He was released on a heavy bail on December 29. (ISNA state-run News Agency – Mar. 9, 2012)

زندان


حكم زندان

به تحمل ۱۸ سال زندان محکوم شد
عبدالفتاح سلطانی، وکیل دادگستری، به تحمل ۱۸ سال زندان و تبعید به برازجان محکوم شد. سلطانی که وکالت بسیاری از فعالان سیاسی، مطبوعاتی و مدنی را برعهده داشته متهم به ”تبلیغ، اجتماع و تبانی علیه نظام“ شده است.
  به گزارش خانه حقوق‌بشر ایران (رهانا) و سایت کلمه حکم ۱۸ سال زندان عبدالفتاح سلطانی، وکیل دادگستری، از سوی شعبه ۲۸ دادگاه انقلاب به ریاست قاضی پیرعباسی صادر شده و روز یکشنبه (۱۴ اسفند / ۴ مارس) به وکلای وی ابلاغ شده است .
بر اساس این حکم وی هم‌چنین به ۲۰ سال محرومیت از حرفه وکالت محکوم شده است. عبدالفتاح سلطانی از تاریخ ۱۹ شهریور ۱۳۹۰ در زندان اوین به‌سر می‌برد. اساس اتهامات علیه وی، شرکت در تأسیس ”کانون مدافعان حقوق‌بشر ایران“، دریافت جایزه حقوق‌بشر شهر نورنبرگ آلمان و مصاحبه با رسانه‌ها درباره وضعیت موکلانش است. به گزارش خانه حقوق‌بشر ایران اتهامات وی ”تبلیغ علیه نظام، تشکیل کانون مدافعان حقوق‌بشر، اجتماع و تبانی علیه نظام“ و ”تحصیل مال حرام“ اعلام شده است. (رهانا، سایت رادیو آلمان- 14/12/1390)

حبس وکیل حقوق‌بشر را لغو و وی را آزاد کنید [تکمیلی]
عفو بین‌الملل، 5مارس، 2012 - آن هریسون (ann harrison) معاون موقت عفو بین‌الملل در خاورمیانه و شمال آفریقا  گفت عبدالفتاح سلطانی به‌عنوان یکی از برجسته‌ترین و شجاع‌ترین مدافعان حقوق‌بشر، به‌خاطر کار قانونی به‌عنوان یک وکیل مدافع تحت اذیت و آزار قرار گرفته است...
  او هم‌چنین به‌خاطر پذیرش جایزه غیرقانونی و دریافت غیرقانونی درآمدها  مربوط به پذیرش جایزه بین‌المللی حقوق‌بشر نورنبرگ در 2009 متهم شده است...
در سالهای اخیر اذیت و آزار، دستگیری و زندانی کردن مدافعان حقوق‌بشر از جمله مدافعان حقوق زنان تشدید شده و بسیاری از ان.جی.او (نهادهای غیردولتی) بسته شده‌اند… (سایت عفو بین‌الملل- 16/12/1390)

محكوميت احمد غلامي، سردبير روزنامه‌ي شرق به يک سال حبس
احمد غلامي، سردبير روزنامه‌ي شرق و نويسنده، از سوي شعبه‌ي ۱۵ دادگاه انقلاب اسلامي به رياست ابوالقاسم صلواتي به يک سال حبس تعليقي محکوم شده است.
به گزارش ايسنا، اتهام احمد غلامي فعاليت تبليغي عليه نظام بوده و بر همين اساس، به استناد ماده‌ي ۵۰۰ قانون مجازات اسلامي به يک سال حبس محکوم شده که اين محکوميت به‌مدت پنج سال به حالت تعليق درآمده است.
اين حکم از سوي رييس شعبه ۱۵ دادگاه انقلاب به اين روزنامه نگار ابلاغ شده است.
آقاي غلامي روز شانزدهم آذر ماه سال جاري و در پي يورش ماموران امنيتي به ساختمان شرق همراه علي خدابخش، کيوان مهرگان و فرزانه روستايي بازداشت شده بود. وي هشتم دي ماه با توديع وثيقه‌ي ده ميليون توماني از زندان آزاد شد. (ايسنا – 19/12/90)


Systematic violations of the right to life
Executions, arbitrary killings, deaths in custody, and death sentences

Execution

Iran hangs man in public in Karaj

http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/231384/%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%80%D9%84-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%AF%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A3-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85
http://javanemrooz.com/news/page-26453.aspx
http://khabarfarsi.com/ext/2205007
http://khabarfarsi.com/ext/2203831

The retribution sentence for a man convicted of murder was publicly carried out in the morning in Fardis in Karaj after it was upheld by the Supreme Court.
This murderer identified as Amin Khazayi son of Hamid-Reza was sentenced to death on charges of carrying out a murder with a knife and robbing a 23 year old woman in 2009. (Jomhouri Islami daily, IRNA state-run News Agency, Tabnak state-run website, Javan Emrouz state-run website –Mar. 7, 2012)

Deaths in custody

Another prisoner commits suicide in Gohardasht Prison to escape deplorable conditions

According reports, a prisoner from cellblock 4 in Gohardasht [Rajayi Shahr] Prison in Karaj committed suicide to escape the inhumane conditions in this prison.
Hamid-Reza Biabani, 38, has been kept in a state of limbo for 14 years in Gohardasht Prison. He was recently transferred from cellblock 7 to the Hosseineih [Prayer Hall] in Hall 11, Cellblock 4. He committed suicide on Sunday March 4 because he knew of no other way to escape the inhumane conditions. After his cellmates’ cries for help, he was taken to the infirmary where he passed away.
Almost at the end of each hall in Gohardasht Prison there is a Hosseineih. This is one of the most deplorable places in prison. Prisoners are crammed in and are even forced to sleep on their sides on the ground and cannot even turn to their other side at night. Bugs and lice run rampant. Smaller prisoners are group raped by other prisoners. There is a very high use of narcotics which is given to prison gangs by prison officials and is then sold to prisoners. Prisoners, who are under more physical and psychological pressure, turn to drugs as their only way to momentarily forget the hard conditions.
Unfortunately, because of these inhumane conditions in Iranian prisons, prisoners commit suicide almost every day which sometimes leads to their deaths. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Mar. 5, 2012)

Death sentence

URGENT ACTION
FIVE ARAB MEN AT IMMINENT RISK OF EXECUTION

Five members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, including three brothers, their cousin and another man are at imminent risk of execution in public, after their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court.
The sentences may be intended to deter Ahwazi Arabs in Iran from demonstrating on the 15 April anniversary of protests held in 2005.
The three brothers, Abd al-Rahman Heidari, Taha Heidari and Jamshid Heidari, their cousin Mansour Heidari and Amir Muawi (or Mo’avi) were arrested in April 2011 in Ahvaz, during unrest taking place across Iran’s south- western Khuzestan province.
Since their arrest, their whereabouts have not been disclosed to their families. On or around 5 March 2012, Ministry of Intelligence officials informed their families that the Supreme Court had upheld death sentences against the five men, after they were convicted of the killing of at least one individual, said to be a law enforcement official, on 15 April 2011.
The Ministry of Intelligence also told the men's relatives that they would be executed in public “in the next few days”. It is not known when their initial trials took place or if they had any legal representation. ”Confessions” extracted under duress are frequently accepted as evidence before courts in Iran...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Ahwazi Arab minority is one of many minorities in Iran. Much of Iran's Arab community lives in the south-western province of Khuzestan. Most are Shi’a Muslims but some are reported to have converted to Sunni Islam, heightening government suspicion about Ahwazi Arabs. They often complain that they are marginalized and subject to discrimination in access to education, employment, adequate housing, political participation and cultural rights.
There were mass demonstrations in Khuzestan province in April 2005, after it was alleged that the government planned to disperse the country's Arab population or to force them to relinquish their Arab identity. Following bomb explosions in Ahvaz City in June and October 2005, which killed at least 14 people, and explosions at oil installations in September and October 2005, the cycle of violence intensified, with hundreds of people reportedly arrested. Further bombings on 24 January 2006, in which at least six people were killed, were followed by further mass arbitrary arrests. At least 15 men were later executed as a result of their alleged involvement in the bombings.
Scores, if not hundreds, of members of the Ahwazi Arab minority were reportedly arrested before, during and after demonstrations on 15 April 2011. The demonstrations had been called a “Day of Rage” to mark the sixth anniversary of the 2005 mass demonstrations. At least three (according to the authorities) - and possibly many more - people were killed in the April 2011 demonstrations during clashes with the security forces, including some in the Malashiya neighbourhood in Ahvaz. Amnesty International received the names of 27 individuals allegedly killed.
Ahwazi Arab sources have claimed the casualty figures were even higher. Amnesty International has been unable to confirm the reports as the Iranian authorities do not allow the organization to visit the country.
The authorities maintain a tight control on the flow of information in and out of the province, including by preventing foreign journalists from visiting Khuzestan. At least four Ahwazi Arab men reportedly died in custody between 23 March 2011 and mid May 2011, possibly as a result of torture or other ill-treatment. Others were hospitalized around the same time, apparently as a result of injuries sustained from torture or other ill-treatment.
At least eight Ahwazi Arabs in Iran, including Hashem Hamidi, said to have been aged only 16, were executed between 5 and 7 May 2011, three reportedly in public, for their alleged involvement in the killing of three individuals including a law enforcement official.
Between 10 January 2012and the beginning of February 2012, in the lead-up to parliamentary elections held on 2 March 2012, between 50 to 65 individuals were reportedly arrested in at least three separate locations in the province; at least two deaths in custody have also been reported. Some Ahwazi Arabs, mostly in Shoush, called for a boycott of the elections and arrests in Shoush, north-central Khuzestan, reportedly followed the appearance of anti-election slogans painted on walls. Others may have been pre-emptive arrests aimed at preventing any gathering of Ahwazi Arabs either on the anniversary of country-wide demonstrations held on 14 February 2011 in support of the people of Tunisia and Egypt which were violently repressed, or on the 15 April anniversary of the “Day of Rage.”
The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the authoritative body which interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a state party, has found that public executions are “incompatible with human dignity” and in November 2011 called on Iran to prohibit their use. (Amnesty International – Mar. 8, 2012)

Iran to hang 10 prisoners including 3 women in Zahedan
According to reports, 10 prisoners are to be hanged tomorrow morning in the town of Zahedan.
On Friday March 9, 10 prisoners were transferred to solitary cells in the Zahedan Prison for execution. The families of these 10 prisoners, three of which are women, visited their loved ones in prison to bid their last goodbyes.
Their families were told that the prisoners were to be hanged tomorrow morning. The names of some of these prisoners are as follows:
1- Hamid Siri, about 40 from Varamin, was arrested in Tehran and has been jailed since 2009
2- Gol Ahmad Heidari, 38, Afghan national, is the father of four children. He has been jailed in Zahedan Prison since 2009.
3- Gholam Sarani, 39, Afghan national
Two of the women who are going to be hanged tomorrow are between the ages of 20 to 35.
These prisoners were reportedly sentenced to death on drug related charges. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran – Mar. 10, 2012)

نقض سيستماتيك بر امر حق زيستن
اعدام و محكوم به اعدام

اعدام

حکم قصاص یک قاتل در فردیس کرج در ملاء عام اجرا شد
حکم قصاص یک متهم به قتل پس از تأیید دیوان عالی کشور صبحگاه دیروز در ملأعام در فردیس کرج اجرا شد.
به گزارش ایرنا، قاتل به نام ”امین خزایی“ فرزند ”حمید رضا“ ` به اتهام قتل با ضربات چاقو و سارق به عنف یک دختر 23ساله در سال 88، ه...  به اعدام محکوم شده بود.  (روزنامه جمهوری اسلامی (رژیم)، سايت تابناك، سايت جوان امروز، روزنامه شرق-17/12/1390)

مرگ در بازداشت

خودکشی یک زندانی بی دفاع برای رهایی یافت از شرایط قرون وسطایی
بنا‌به گزارشات رسیده به 'فعالین حقوق‌بشر و دموکراسی در ایران، یکی از زندانیان بند 4 زندان گوهردشت کرج برای رهایی یافتن از شرایط قرون‌وسطایی و رفتارهای غیرانسانی به زندگی خود پایان داد.
زندانی حمیدرضا بیابانی حدودا 38ساله در حدود 14سال است که در زندان گوهردشت کرج در بلاتکلیفی به‌سر می‌برد. او را اخیراً از بند 7 زندان گوهردشت کرج به حسینیه سالن 11 بند 4 زندان گوهردشت کرج منتقل کردند. این زندانی بی‌دفاع به‌دلیل شرایط قرون‌وسطایی و رفتارهای غیرانسانی و وحشیانه روز یکشنبه 14اسفند ماه برای رهایی یافتن از این شرایط که راه برون رفتی نمی‌یافت اقدام به خودکشی نمود و پس از فریادهای اعتراض آمیز همبندیانش او را به بهداری زندان منتقل کردند و در آن‌جا جان سپرد.
تقریباً در انتهای هر سالن زندان گوهردشت کرج یک مکانی به‌نام حسینیه وجود دارد. این مکان یکی از بدترین مکانهای هر بند می‌باشد که چندین برابر ظرفیت آن زندانی در آن جای داده‌اند. زندانیان در حسینیه‌ها به‌صورت کتابی می‌خوابند و حتی امکان چرخیدن هنگام خواب را ندارند. در این محلها حشرات موذی بی‌داد می‌کند. زندانیان که ضعیف جسه هستند توسط زندانیان شرور مورد تجاوز گروهی قرار می‌گیرند. مصرف مواد مخدر که توسط مسئولان زندان در اختیار باندهای مافیایی قرار می‌گیرد و به زندانیان فروخته می‌شود بیداد می‌کند. زندانیان که به‌لحاظ جسمی و روحی تحت فشارهای مضاعف هستند به مواد مخدر روی می‌آورند تا شاید لحظاتی وضعیت غیرانسانی را فراموش کنند.
زندانهای ولی‌فقیه علی خامنه‌ای به حدی غیرانسانی و قرون‌وسطایی است که تقریباً روزانه زندانیان اقدام به خودزنی و خودکشی می‌کنند که در مواردی متسفانه منجر به مرگ آنها می‌شود. (سایت فعالین حقوق بشر و دمکراسی- 15/12/1390)

حكم اعدام

پنج مرد عرب در خطر اعدام قریب‌الوقوع هستند
سایت عفو بین‌الملل، 8مارس، 2012- پنج عضو اقلیت عرب اهوازی ایران از جمله سه برادر، عمویشان و یک مرد دیگر بعد از این‌که دادگاه حکم را تأیید کرد در خطر قریب‌الوقوع اعدام در ملأعام قرار دارند. این احکام مرگ ممکن است برای باز داشتن اعراب اهوازی در ایران از دست زدن به تظاهرات برای سالگرد 15آوریل 2005 باشد.
این سه برادر به نامهای رحمان حیدری، طه حیدری و جمشید حیدری و عموی آنها منصور حیدری و امیر معاوی در آوریل 2011 در اهواز در زمان قیامی که در سراسر استان خوزستان در جریان بود دستگیر شدند...
وزارت  اطلاعات به خویشاوندان این افراد گفته است آنها طی چند روز آینده در ملآ عام اعدام می‌شوند. معلوم نیست که آنها محاکمه شده‌اند و این‌که وکیل هم داشته‌اند یا خیر... (سایت عفو بین‌الملل- 18/12/1390)

احتمال اعدام 10 زندانی صبح فردا در زندان زاهدان
بنا‌به گزارشات رسیده به ”فعالین حقوق‌بشر و دموکراسی در ایران“ 10 زندانی قرار است فردا صبح در زندان زاهدان بدار آویخته شوند. روز جمعه 19اسفند ماه 10 زندانی برای اجرای حکم اعدام به سلولهای انفرادی زندان زاهدان جهت اجرای حکم اعدام منتقل شدند. خانواده‌های 10 زندانی که 2تن از آتها زن می‌باشند روز جمعه 19اسفند ماه با عزیزان خود برای آخرین وداع در زندان زاهدان با آنها ملاقات کردند.
به خانواده‌های زندانیان گفته شده است که قرار است فردا صبح حکم اعدام آنها به اجرا در آید. اسامی تعدادی از زندانیان که قرار است فردا حکم ضدبشری اعدام در مورد آنها به اجراگذاشته شود به قرار زیر می‌باشد: 1- حمید سیری حدودا 40ساله اهل ورامین در تهران دستگیر شده است و از سال 1388 تاکنون در زندان به‌سر می‌برد 2- گل احمد حیدری 38سال شهروند افغانستان متاهل و دارای 4 فرزند می‌باشد. او از سال 88 تاکنون در زندان زاهدان زندانی است. 3- غلام سارانی حدودا 39ساله از شهروند افغانستان دو زن زندانی که قرار است فردا صبح بدار آویخته شوند سن آنها بین 20 الی 35سال می‌باشد. گفته می‌شود که زندانیان فوق به‌دلیل داشتن مواد مخدر محکوم به اعدام شده‌اند  (فعالین حقوق‌بشر و دموکراسی در ایران - 20/12/1390)

 

A publication of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran


From the report of the Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed,on the situation of women’s rights violations:
Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 69 (c)
Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives
A/66/374

C. Women‟s rights
54. Moreover, the application of certain laws that erect barriers to gender equality undermine the Government‟s ability to equally protect those human rights stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for all its citizens. For example, a woman‟s worth and testimony in a court of law are regarded as half that of a man‟s. Men have absolute rights to divorce, while women may initiate divorce
only if they meet certain conditions, some of which must be agreed to in a marriage contract. Mothers can never be awarded guardianship rights for their children, even upon the death of their husbands. Women do not have equitable inheritance rights, and even when a wife is the sole survivor to her husband‟s estate, she may not inherit more than a quarter of the estate. If she is not the sole survivor, she is limited to an eighth.
56. Moreover, strict implementation of the morality code concerning dress and attempts to criminalize improper veils have limited women‟s participation in public and social arenas. Equally worrisome are statements made by authorities that blame victims for inducing attackers to violate their physical integrity. These include reports of Government officials citing women‟s dress as the cause of recent attacks that took place in Isfahan in June 2011, where 14 women were kidnapped and gangraped while attending a private party. Government statements asserted that the women‟s dress was a source of the violence perpetrated against them and a rationale for the lack of action in bringing the perpetrators to justice



Women's Rights violations by Clerics in Iran- Book Mar 2011 to Feb. 2012 NCRI publication
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