Archive for February 2020

Grave Concerns for Prisoners in Iran Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

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.

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“Torture” and “Sexual Threats” Detailed in Letters by Jailed Former UN Environment Consultant

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.

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Appeals Court Upholds Baseless Prison Sentences Against Wildlife Conservationists

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.

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Iran Moves to Silence Journalists, Activists Ahead of Parliamentary Elections

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.

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Detained Protestors in Iran: Beaten, Tortured, Forced to “Confess”

February 10, 2020 – Detainees held in Iran since the November 2019 street protests—including juveniles—are being beaten, forced to make self-incriminating statements and held in inhumane incarceration conditions, and their families are not being informed of their whereabouts and condition, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned from first-hand accounts in Iran.

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