Archive for April 2016

Journalists in Iran Slapped with Long Prison Sentences

April 27, 2016—Three journalists and the brother of a journalist have been given prison sentences ranging from five to ten years after spending months in detention, the lawyer representing two of the individuals told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

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Revolutionary Guards’ Cyber Attacks Now Directed at Rouhani Cabinet Members

April 27, 2016 – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who have long waged cyber attacks against the country’s activists and journalists, have extended their hacking attacks to Rouhani administration officials, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has learned, including close associates of President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet members.

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Lawyer: Iran to free artist, activist soon

Atena Farghadani

April 25, 2016 ‫-‬FOX News-Dubai, United Arab Emirates –  The lawyer for a prominent jailed Iranian artist and activist say authorities will soon free his client. Mohammad Moghimi told The Associated Press Monday that an appeals court reduced Atena Farghadani’s 12-year prison sentence to 18 months and “she will be freed soon.”

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‘Morality Police’ Formed in Iran

Monday 25 April 2016-VOA- Iran has a new “morality police” unit to observe its citizens.
Tehran’s police chief Hossein Sajedinia said the 7,000 officers – male and female – will make sure women follow Islamic dress codes. They will also stop dangerous driving and noise pollution, he said. Some in Iran consider popular music to be a form of noise pollution.

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Iran jails French-Iranian woman who came back to visit sick mother

Nazak Afshar was arrested on arrival at Tehran airport. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters

Monday 25 April 2016- theguardian- Nazak Afshar had been living in France since being charged with spying in 2009 and freed after French intervention
A French-Iranian citizen who left Iran in 2009 after facing espionage charges has been sentenced to six years in jail following her return to the country to visit her critically ill mother.

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FIDH President calls for attention to the plight of Iranian prisoners of conscience

22-04-2016-FIDH- Letter addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
 Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein
Mr. High Commissioner,
I am writing to request your urgent attention to the plight of Iranian prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, and in particular prisoners who are denied proper medical treatment.

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6-year-old Afghan girl’s murder puts spotlight on history of discrimination and abuse in Iran

Demonstrations on behalf of Setayesh were held in several Afghan cities. (Ghulam Reza Mohammadi)

21.04.2016 – Los Angeles Times- By Ali M. Latifi and Ramin Mostaghim – On the last day of her short life, Setayesh Qoreishi – a 6-year-old Afghan refugee – stepped out of her family’s home in the Tehran suburbs to buy an ice cream. She didn’t return.

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What it really is? FIDH exposes the ugly truth behind cynical EU-Turkey deal

18.04.2016 – FIDH – On 18 April 2015, a vessel capsized off the Libyan coast with around 850 migrants aboard, only 28 are known to have survived. If this shipwreck is the deadliest the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) has recorded in the Mediterranean, it was only one in a long series.

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Iran: UN rights chief calls for end to executions for drug offences

Heroin seizures in Iran. Photo: UNODC

14.04.2016 – UN News Centre- The United Nations human rights chief today appealed to Iran to halt executions for drug offences until the new Parliament debates a proposed law that would remove the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes.

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Lawyer Released from Prison in Iran Describes Grim Conditions for Political Prisoners

Mohammad Seifzadeh, the prominent Iranian human rights lawyer

April 14, 2016— Prisoners Face Denial of Medical Care, Refusal to Transfer Inmates to Hospital despite Life Threatening Illness, Solitary Confinement Aimed at Extracting False Confessions, Poor Nutrition, Denial of Family Visits

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