Prominent Labor Activists, Lawyer and Journalist Among Those Falling Ill
August 11, 2020—Political prisoners in Iran—including prominent labor leaders Esmail Abdi and Jafar Azimzadeh, the human rights attorney Amirsalar Davouudi, the journalist Majid Azarpey and others—are contracting the COVID-19 virus at alarming rates.
Husband of Imprisoned Human Rights Attorney Says Tactic Aimed at Silencing Family
Reza Khandan: “They want to send a message to those who are willing to go to prison. What we have to say is we won’t step back”
July 29, 2020—Broadening its assault on human rights defenders and their families, Iran’s judiciary has blocked the bank account of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, her husband, Reza Khandan, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on July 27, 2020. Read more
July 28, 2020—The Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been imprisoned in Iran on spurious charges since October 2018, has been moved to the notoriously harsh Gharchak Prison, south of Tehran, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned, where she will be held alongside violent prisoners.
At Least Nine Defense Attorneys Sentenced to Prison Since 2018
June 23, 2020 – Two years after the prominent human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary’s continuing prosecution of independent lawyers under manufactured charges is laying bare the state’s disregard for international standards of law and due process. Read more
GENEVA (17 April 2020) – UN human rights experts* today called on Iran to expand its temporary release of thousands of detainees to include prisoners of conscience and dual and foreign nationals still being held despite serious risk of COVID-19 infection. The country has been hit hard by COVID-19, with Health Ministry officials reporting one person dies every 10 minutes from the virus.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison in Iran because of the coronavirus outbreak, her husband says.
17 March 2020 – BBC – The British-Iranian charity worker will be required to wear an ankle tag and remain within 300m (984ft) of her parents’ home in Tehran.
“The issue now is to make it permanent,” her husband Richard Ratcliffe said.
He added: “It is hard to relax just yet.”
Tehran Prison Lacks Medicines, Sanitary Supplies as Some Inmates Exhibit “Severe” Cold Symptoms
February 28, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) is extremely concerned by reports that prisoners in Iran lack access to medicines as well as hygiene and sanitary products amid a rapidly rising death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Conservation Scientist Niloufar Bayani: “Every time I… sought help from the authorities, the pressures, threats, and acts of torture increased.”
Appeals Court Upheld Prison Sentences Against Conservationists on Baseless Charges and Coerced “Confessions”
February 20, 2020 – A female former UN Environment consultant’s complaints of physical and psychological torture at the hands of her male interrogators were ignored by Iranian judicial officials, and forced “confessions” obtained as a result of torture were used to imprison her and seven fellow wildlife conservationists, according to her newly published letters from Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Prison Terms Range from 4-10 Years Based on No Evidence and False “Confessions”
February 18, 2020 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) condemns the Iranian appeals court’s decision to uphold lengthy prison sentences against eight wildlife conservationists detained since January 2018 without due process on charges that were refuted by three major Iranian state agencies including the Intelligence Ministry.
Tehran-Based Reporter: “They Want Us to Stop Writing”
February 11, 2020 – The intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is summoning journalists, raiding their homes and confiscating their electronic devices in a renewed campaign to silence criticism of state policies ahead of Iran’s parliamentary elections later this month.
