Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

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See also: Human rights in the Pahlavi Dynasty and Human rights in Iran

The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been the subject of concern for both Iranians and the international community. Iranian human right activists, many writers, and NGOs have protested abuses, while the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions.

The government of Iran is criticized for both official acts, i.e. restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitutional and law; and extra-legal acts, such as the torture and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians.

Ongoing legal acts of the Islamic Republic of Iran violating international human rights norms include: harsh penalties for crimes; amputation of offenders hands and feet; punishment of "victimless crimes" such as fornication, homosexuality, apostacy, poor hijab (covering of the head for women); execution of offenders under 18 years of age; restrictions on freedom of speech, and the press, including the imprisonment of journalists; unequal treatment according to religion and gender in the Islamic Republic's constitution - especially attacks on members of the Bahá'í religion.

Extra-legal acts that have been condemned include the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, and the widespread use of torture to extract repudiations by prisoners of their cause and comrades on video for propaganda purposes.^[1] Also condemned has been firebombings of newspaper offices and attacks on political protesters by "quasi-official organs of repression," particularly "Hezbollahi," and the murder of dozens of regime opponents in the 1990, allegedly by "rogue elements" of the government.

Most, if not all of these issues are also violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the Islamic Republic has not agreed to. However, many of the issues are also violations of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which Iran adopted via the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

One defense made of the Islamic Republic's human rights record is that it is not so severe that the Iranian public is afraid to criticize its government publicly to strangers. In neighboring Syria "taxi driver[s] rarely talk politics; the Iranian[s] will talk of nothing else."^[2]

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Explanations for violations 1.1.1 Theological differences 1.1.2 Mindset 1.1.3 Perspective of the Islamic Republic 1.2 Explanations for openness 1.3 History 1.3.1 Islamic Republic 2 Constitutional and legal foundations 2.1 Rights under the constitution 2.2 Provisions in violation of Human Rights 2.2.1 Harsh punishments 2.2.2 Gender inequality 2.2.3 Freedom of expression and media 2.2.4 Freedom of religion 2.2.5 Political freedom 2.2.6 Children's rights 3 Extralegal violations of human rights 3.1 Killings 3.2 Deaths in custody 3.3 Torture and mistreatment of prisoners 3.3.1 Cases 3.4 Political freedom 4 Current situation 4.1 Deaths in custody 4.2 Freedom of Expression 4.2.1 Freedom of the Press 4.2.2 Political freedom 4.2.3 Internet freedom 4.3 Freedom of religion 4.3.1 Bahá'í issues 4.3.2 Jewish issues 4.3.3 Muslim Shia issues 4.3.4 Darvish issues 4.3.5 Unreligious people 4.4 Gender inequality 4.4.1 Compulsury Hijab 4.5 LGBT issues 4.6 Capital punishment 4.7 Child executions in Iran 4.8 Significant activists 4.9 Organizations 4.10 International Criticism of the Iranian human rights record 5 See also 5.1 Notable prisons 5.2 Notable prisoners 5.3 Other persons 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Background

[edit] Explanations for violations

Among the explanation for violations of human rights violations in the Islamic Republic are:

[edit] Theological differences

The legal and governing principles upon which the Islamic Republic of Iran is based - Sharia law of traditional Islam and governance by Velayat-e faqih - differ in many respects from the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ^[3]

Further information: Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam

• Sharia law, as interpreted in the Islamic Republic (and by many Muslims), allows for inequality of rights between genders, religions, sexual orientation, as well as for other internationally criticised practices such as stoning as a method of execution. Depending on one's point of view these differences stem either from the fact that the Sharia is divine and unchangeable, or because its development was arrested before the development of modern notions of human rights.
• Ayatollah Khomeini's interpretation of Velayat-e faqih placed the interests of the "divine government" of the Islamic state - which he believed served Islam - even higher than those of the Sharia. Sharia could be overruled by the ruling jurist (faqih) if necessary,^[4][5] as, of course, can subordinate principles such as legal protections for expression of criticism of authorities in the divine government. "The survival of the Islamic Republic - and therefore of Islam itself justified the means used," and trumped any right of the individual.^[6]

[edit] Mindset

Another explanation for acceptance of violations in Iran is a mentality of fatalism established through the practice of Shia Islam where by many - especially less educated elements of the public - attribute abuses to fate and disregard them.^[7]

[edit] Perspective of the Islamic Republic

Iranian officials have not always agreed on the state of human rights in Iran. In April 2004, reformist president Mohammad Khatami stated "we certainly have political prisoners [in Iran] and ... people who are in prison for their ideas." Two days later, however, he was contradicted by Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, saying "we have no political prisoners in Iran" because Iranian law does not mention such offenses, ... "The world may consider certain cases, by their nature, political crimes, but because we do not have a law in this regard, these are considered ordinary offenses."^[8]

In a 2007 speech to the United Nations, Iran's president President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comment on Human Rights was to say other unnamed nations were guilty of violating it - seen as "a veiled but unmistakable criticism of the United States" extraordinary rendition and domestic surveillance under the USA PATRIOT Act: "Human rights are being extensively violated by certain powers, ... Setting up secret prisons, abducting persons, trials and secret punishments without any regard to due process, extensive tappings of telephone conversations, intercepting private mail and frequent summons to police and security centers have become commonplace and prevalent."^[9] Other officials have attacked Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and other violations and perceived violations of human rights in countries that have criticized Iran.^[10]

[edit] Explanations for openness

A theory of why human rights abuse in the Islamic Republic is not as bad as some other countries comes from American journalist Elaine Sciolino who speculated that

Shiite Islam thrives on debate and discussion ... So freedom of thought and expression is essential to the system, at least within the top circles of religious leadership. And if the mullahs can behave that way among themselves in places like the holy city of Qom, how can the rest of a modern-day society be told it cannot think and explore the world of experience for itself?^[11]

[edit] History

Iran is home to the first charter of human rights^[12] — the Persian Empire established unprecedented principles of human rights in the 6th century BC, under the reign of Cyrus the Great. After his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, the King issued the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 and recognised by many today as the first document defining a person's human rights. The cylinder declared that citizens of the Empire would be allowed to practice their religious beliefs freely and abolished slavery. This means that all the palaces of the Kings of Persia were built by paid workers, in an era where slaves typically did such work. These two reforms were reflected in the biblical books of Chronicles and Ezra, which state that Cyrus released the followers of Judaism from slavery and allowed them to migrate back to their land. Following Persia's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, the concept of human rights was abandoned.

In 1906 the Iranian Constitutional Revolution resulted in a constitutional monarchy. For the first time in the more than 2000 years since the reign of Cyrus the Great, Iran was relying on a code of law to govern the interactions of its citizens and define their minimum freedoms.

With the arrival of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, the constitution was for all practical purposes ignored. Political prisoners were imprisoned, poilitcal opponents and erstwhile allies were executed, but torture of political prisoners was not used in Iran from "the early 1920s to the early 1970s." ^[1] His son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi continued in his father's footsteps. In the late 1970s under his reign the Iranian human rights movement once again came alive before being overwhelmed by Islamist movement in the Iranian Revolution.

[edit] Islamic Republic

The Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi Dynasty is thought by some to have significantly worsened human rights conditions in Iran. According to political historian Ervand Abrahamian, "whereas less than 100 political prisoners had been executed between 1971 and 1979, more than 7900 were executed between 1981 and 1985. ... the prison system was centralized and drastically expanded ... Prison life was drastically worse under the Islamic Republic than under the Pahlavis. One who survived both writes that four months under [warden] Ladjevardi took the toll of four years under SAVAK. ^[13] In the prison literature of the Pahlavi era, the recurring words had been `boredom` and `monotony.` In that of the Islamic Republic, they were `fear`, `death`, `terror`, `horror,` and most frequent of all `nightmare` (kabos)." ^[14]

Following the rise of the reform movement within Iran and the election of moderate Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in 1997 numerous moves were made to modify the Iranian civil and penal codes in order to improve the human rights situation. The predominantly reformist parliament drafted several bills allowing increased freedom of speech, gender equality, and the banning of torture. These were all dismissed or significantly watered down by the Guardian Council and leading conservative figures in the Iranian government at the time.

According to The Economist magazine,

The Tehran spring of ten years ago has now given way to a bleak political winter. The new government continues to close down newspapers, silence dissenting voices and ban or censor books and websites. The peaceful demonstrations and protests of the Khatami era are no longer tolerated: in January [2007] security forces attacked striking bus drivers in Tehran and arrested hundreds of them. In March police beat hundreds of men and women who had assembled to commemorate International Women's Day.^[15]

[edit] Constitutional and legal foundations

[edit] Rights under the constitution

The Iranian fundamental law or constitution calls for

• equal rights among races, ethnic groups (article 19).^[16]

It calls for

• gender equality (article 20), and
• protection of the rights of women (article 21),
• freedom of expression (article 23), freedom of press and communication (article 24) and freedom of association (article 27).
• Religious minorities "are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies."

However, the rights of women, of expression, of communication and association - are followed by modifiers such as "within the limits of the law", "within the precepts of Islam", "unless they attack the principles of Islam", "unless the Law states otherwise", "as long as it does not interfere with the precepts of Islam." ^[17]

[edit] Provisions in violation of Human Rights

Violations of human rights in Iran are sometimes institutionalised, wide-spread and legal in the Iranian penal code, deriving from the Shari'a.

The Iranian penal code distinguishes two types of punishments: Hudud (fixed punishment) and the Qisas (retribution) or Diya (Blood money or Talion Law). Punishments falling within the category of Hududs are applied to people committing offenses against the State, such as adultery, alcohol consumption, burglary or petty theft, rebellions against Islamic authority, apostasia and homosexual intercourse (considered contrary to the spirit of Islam). Punishments include death by hanging, stoning or decapitation, amputation or flagellation (punishments are usually carried out in public). Victims of private crimes, such as murder or rape, can exercise a right to retribution (Qissas) or decide to accept "blood money" (Diyah or Talion Law).^[18]

[edit] Harsh punishments

Following traditional shariah punishment for thieves, courts in Iran have sometimes sentenced offenders to amputation of both "the right hand and left foot cut off, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the condemned to walk, even with a cane or crutches." This was the fate, for example, of five convicted robbers in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in January 2008 according to the news agency ISNA.^[19]

In December 2002, Ayatollah Shahroudi, head of the judicial system, supposedly sent judges a memorandum requesting the suspension of stonings and asking them to choose other forms of sanctions. However, legal dispositions regarding the death penalty by stoning remain in force.^[20]

[edit] Gender inequality

The Iranian legislation follows traditional precepts of Islamic shari'a, and thus accords more rights to men than women. This is shown in several articles of the Iranian civil code:^[21]

• In the section of the penal code devoted to blood money, or Diyya, the value of woman's life is half that of a man ("for instance, if a car hit both on the street, the cash compensation due to the woman's family was half that due the man's") ^[22]
• the testimony of a male witness is equivalent to that of two female witnesses.
• A woman cannot travel by herself without the written permission of her father or husband.^[23]

and in inheritance law were

• a woman is entitled to half the inheritance of a man under the law in the Islamic Republic.^[24]
• If a man dies without offspring, his estate is inherited by his parents. If both the parents are alive, the mother receives 1/3 and the father 2/3 of the inheritance, unless the mother has a hojab (relative who reduces her part, such as brothers and sisters of the deceased (article 886)), in which case she shall receive 1/6, and the father 5/6. (Article 906)
• If the dead man's closest heirs are aunts and uncles, the part of the inheritance belonging to the uncle is twice that belonging to the aunt. (Article 920)
• When the heirs are children, the inheritance of the sons is twice that of the daughters. (Article 907)
• When the heirs are grandparents, if they are all on the father's side, the male get twice the female; and if all on the mother's side, the estate will be divided equally. (Article 911)

In Iranian Islamic law the woman is considered as someone under guard and non-mature.^[20]

[edit] Freedom of expression and media

The qualifications of "free speech" for the media in the constitution call for law to specify controls on the press. The 1985 press law does this by prohibiting "discourse harmful to the principles of Islam" and "public interest, which according to Human Rights Watch provides "officials with ample opportunity to censor, restrict, and find offense."^[25]

According to ‘Reporters Without Borders’ Iran continues to be the largest prison for the press in the Middle East, and in the organization’s annual estimation on freedom of the press in the world in 2007 Iran ranks as number 166 out of 169 total countries. In August 2007 the organization tells of 11 imprisoned journalists of whom at least 2 are sentenced to death and are awaiting their penalties. ^[26]

[edit] Freedom of religion

While the constitution recognizes the freedom of Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and accords non-Shia Muslims "full respect" (article 12), Irreligious people are not recognized and they do not have even basic rights as education, becoming member of parliament etc. The Bahá'í Faith is not recognized either and is persecuted.^[27]

Hudud statutes do not grant equal rights to Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, a Muslim man who is convicted of committing adultery with a Muslim woman receives 100 lashes. If a non-Muslim man commits adultery with a Muslim woman, the death penalty is called for.^[28]

Freedom to convert from Islam to another religion (apostasy), would seem to be protected by article 23 of the constitution, which states, "the investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief." However, article 167 of the constitution gives judges the discretion "to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa (rulings issued by qualified clerical jurists)." The founder of the Islamic Republic, Islamic cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, is certainly considered such a jurist in Iran, and ruled "that the penalty for conversion from Islam, or apostasy, is death."^[29]

The sentence of death for the crime of apostasy has been applied in Iran to alleged offenders who have not claimed to have converted to another religion, and whose crime may appear to outsiders to be political rather than religious. Hashem Aghajari, for example was condemned to death for apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics.^[30]

[edit] Political freedom

In a 2008 report, the organization Human Rights Watch complained that "broadly worded `security laws`" in Iran are used to ”to arbitrarily suppress and punish individuals for peaceful political expression, association, and assembly, in breach of international human rights treaties to which Iran is party." For example, "connections to foreign institutions, persons, or sources of funding" are enough to bring criminal charges such as "undermining national security" against individuals.^[31]

An example of the sort of charges made against and severe penalties leveled on political demonstrators was the death sentence for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic System," given to Ahmad Batebi, a demonstrator in the July 1999 Student demonstrations in Iran. A photograph of Batebi's holding a bloody shirt aloof was printed on the cover of The Economist magazine. He was sentenced to death although this was later reduced to 15, and then ten years imprisonment.^[32]

[edit] Children's rights

Following declarations made upon ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran made the following comments:

"the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right not to apply dispositions and articles of the convention that would not be compatible with Islamic law or with the legislation in effect in the country.^[33]

The country continues to execute people under the age of 18. One of the recent cases to gain international attention was the hanging of Atefah Sahaaleh.

A bill to set the minimum age for the death penalty at 18 years was examined by the parliament in December 2003, but it was not ratified by the Guardian Council of the Constitution, an unelected body that has veto power over bills.^[20]

[edit] Extralegal violations of human rights

According to Akbar Ganji, the penal code of the Islamic Republic "authorises a citizen to assassinate another if he is judged to be `impious,`"^[34] calling into question whether some "extra-legal" violations of human rights in Iran are actually outside the law. Some of the most widely condemned punishments of the Islamic Republic - Torture of Prisoners and the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners may fall between legal and extra-legal as they have not been publicly acknowledged, but have been reported to follow at least some form of Islamic law and legal procedures.^[35] Extra-legal acts also sometimes work in tandem with official actions, such as in the case of the newsweekly Tamadone Hormozgan in Bandar Abbas, where authorities arrested seven journalists in 2007 for “insulting Ayatollah Khomeini,” while government organisations and Quranic schools organized vigilantes to "ransacked and set fire" to the paper's offices.^[36]

A 2005 Human Rights Watch complains of "Parallel Institutions" (nahad-e movazi), "the quasi-official organs of repression that have become increasingly open in crushing student protests, detaining activists, writers, and journalists in secret prisons, and threatening pro-democracy speakers and audiences at public events." Under the control of the Office of the Supreme Leader, these groups set up arbitrary checkpoints around Tehran, uniformed police often refraining from directly confronting these plainclothes agents. "Illegal prisons, which are outside of the oversight of the National Prisons Office, are sites where political prisoners are abused, intimidated, and tortured with impunity."^[37]

[edit] Killings

Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, dissidents in Iran have complained of unsolved murders and disappearances of intellectuals and political activists who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way. In 1998 these complaints came to a head with the killing of three dissident writers (Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Majid Sharif), a political leader (Dariush Forouhar) and his wife in the span of two months, in what became known as the Chain murders or 1998 Serial Murders of Iran.^[38][39][40] of Iranians who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way.^[41] Altogether more than 80 writers, translators, poets, political activists, and ordinary citizens are thought to have been killed over the course of several years.^[42] The deputy security official of the Ministry of Information, Saeed Emami was arrested for the killings and later committed suicide, many believe higher level officials were responsible for the killings. According to Iranterror.com, "it was widely assumed that [Emami] was murdered in order to prevent the leak of sensitive information about Ministry of Intelligence and Security operations, which would have compromised the entire leadership of the Islamic Republic."^[43]

The attempted murder and serious crippling of Saeed Hajjarian, a Ministry of Intelligence operative-turned-journalist and reformer, is believed to be in in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of Iran and his help to the Iranian reform movement in general. Hajjarian was shot in the head by Saeed Asgar, a member of the Basij in March, 2000.^[44]

Main article: Chain murders of Iran

At the international level, a German court ordered the arrest of a standing minister of the Islamic Republic - Minister of Intelligence Ali Fallahian - in 1997 for directing the 1992 murder of three Iranian-Kurdish dissidents and their translator at a Berlin restaurant,^[45] known as the Mykonos restaurant assassinations.

[edit] Deaths in custody

In what has been called "an act of violence unprecedented in Iranian history"^[46] the Iranian government summarily, extrajudicially, and secretly executed thousands of political prisoners held in Iranian jails in the summer of 1988. According to Human Rights Watch the majority of prisoners had had unfair trials by the revolutionary courts, and in any case had not been sentenced to death. The "deliberate and systematic manner in which these extrajudicial executions took place constitutes a crime against humanity." The Iranian government has never "provided any information" on the executions because it has never acknowledged their existence. ^[47] However there is indication that government believed the prisoners were being tried according to Islamic law before being executed. According to reports of prisoners who escaped execution, the prisoners were all given a quick legal proceeding - however brief and unfair - with Mojahideen found guilty condemned as moharebs (those who war against God) and leftists as mortads (apostates from Islam).^[48]

Of the approximately 12,000 prisoners killed ^[49][50] most were members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), a group that was invading Iran with a military force and air support from Saddam Hussien's Iraq at about the same time as the executions and was widely disliked by Iranians as a result. A minority were members of other leftist organizations who opposed the invasion.

Further information: 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

Among those Iranians not associated with the PMOI or armed resistance who have died under suspicious circumstances while in prison are

• Ali-Akbar Saidi Sirjani an Iranian writer, poet and journalist who died in prison in November 1994.
• In June 2003, Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist, died while in custody in Tehran's Evin prison. "Iranian authorities arrested her as she was photographing Evin prison. A few days later, Kazemi fell into a coma and died. According to lawyers for Kazemi's family, her body showed signs of torture."^[51]

More recently two people are alleged to have "committed suicide" while in jail in northwestern Iran. In both cases the women's families reported no signs of behavior consistent with suicidal tendencies.

• Zahra Bani-Ameri, a 27-year-old female physician died in October 2007 while in custody in the town of Hamedan.
• Ebrahim Lotfallahi, also 27, died in a detention center in the town of Sanandaj in January 2008. "On January 15, officials from the detention center contacted Lotfallahi’s parents and informed them that they had buried their son in a local cemetery."^[52]

[edit] Torture and mistreatment of prisoners

Article 38 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic specifically states "all forms of torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information" and the "compulsion of individuals to testify, confess, or take an oath" while "any testimony, confession, or oath obtained under duress is devoid of value and credence."^[53][1]

Nonetheless human rights groups and observers have complained that torture is frequently used on political prisoners in Iran. In a study of torture in Iran published in 1999, Iranian expatriate and political historian Ervand Abrahamian included Iran among "Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, and early modern Europe" of the Inquisition and witch hunts, in societies that "can be considered to be in a league of their own" in the systematic use of torture.^[54]

Torture techniques used in the Islamic Republic include:

whipping, sometimes of the back but most often of the feet with the body tied on an iron bed; the qapani; deprivation of sleep; suspension from ceiling and high walls; twisting of forearms until they broke; crushing of hands and fingers between metal presses; insertion of sharp instruments under the fingernails; cigarette burns; submersion under water; standing in one place for hours on end; mock executions; and physical threats against family members. Of these, the most prevalent was the whipping of soles, obviously because it was explicitly sanctioned by the sharia. ^[55]

Two "innovations" in torture not borrowed from the Shah's regime were

the `coffin,` and compulsory watching of - and even participation in - executions. Some were placed in small cubicles, [50cm x 80cm x 140cm (20 inches x 31.5 inches x 55 inches)] blindfolded and in absolute silence, for 17-hour stretches with two 15-minute breaks for eating and going to the toilet. These stints could last months - until the prisoner agreed to the interview. Few avoided the interview and also remained sane. Others were forced to join firing squads and remove dead bodies. When they returned to their cells with blood dripping from their hands, Their roommates surmised what had transpired. ...." ^[56]

According to Abrahamian, the reason torture became so commonly used in the Islamic Republic was its effectiveness in compelling political prisoners to make public confessions. Recorded and edited on videotape, the standard statements by prisoners included not only confessions to subversion and treason, but praise of the Islamic Revolution and denunciation or recantation of their former beliefs, former organization, former co-members, i.e. their life. These recantations served as powerful propaganda for both the Iranian public at large - who by the 1980s almost all had access to television and could watch prime time programs devoted to the taped confessions - and the recanters' former colleagues, for whom the denunciations were demoralizing and confusing. ^[57] From the moment they arrived in prison, through their interrogation prisoners were asked if they were willing to give an "interview." (mosahebah) "Some remained incarcerated even after serving their sentences simply because they declined the honor of being interviewed." ^[58]

Scholars disagree over whether at least some forms of torture have been made legal according to the Qanon-e Ta'zir (Discretionary Punishment Law) of the Islamic Republic. Abrahamian argues statutes forbidding `lying to the authorities` and ability of clerics to be both interrogators and judges, applying an "indefinite series of 74 lashings until they obtain `honest answers`" without the delay of a trial, make this a legal form of torture.^[59] Christoph Werner believes this untrue. ^[60]

Abrahamian also argues that allowing a defendant’s confession plus judges "reasoning" as sufficient proof of guilt as the Islamic Republic does, rather than the traditional sharia standard for some capital crimes of `two honest and righteous male witnesses` - gives a strong incentive to produce confession by defendant. ^[61]

The Guardian Council rejected several bills approved when reformists controlled the Iranian Parliament in 2003 that would have had Iran joining the international convention on banning torture. ^{[62] [7]}

[edit] Cases

Although torture is used to break prisoners rather than kill them, prisoners are occasionally killed. A widely publicised case of torture carried out in Iranian prisons, was that of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, mentioned above. She had been arrested while reportedly photographing protesting relatives of students held at Evin prison. Doctors examining her body determined that she died from a fractured skull and had been beaten, tortured, and raped.^[63]

[edit] Political freedom

The Islamic government has not hesitated to crush peaceful political demonstrations. The Iran student riots, July 1999 were sparked by an attack by an estimated 400 paramilitary^[64] Hezbollah vigilantes on a student dormitory in retaliation for a small, peaceful student demonstration against the closure of the reformist newspaper, Salam earlier that day. "At least 20 people were hospitalized and hundreds were arrested," in the attack.^[65][66]

On March 8, 2004, the "parallel institution" of the Basij issued a violent crackdown on the activists celebrating International Women's Day in Tehran.^[67]

[edit] Current situation

[edit] Deaths in custody

Three years later on July 30 2006, student activist Akbar Mohammadi died in the same prison. Mohammadi had been sentenced death reduced to 15 years in prison, for his participation in the pro-democracy July 1999 student riots. "Several sources told Human Rights Watch that after his arrest in 1999, Mohammadi was severely tortured and ill-treated, leading to serious health problems."^[68]

[edit] Freedom of Expression

According to Amnesty International report, after May 2006 widespread demonstrations related to Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy in Iranian Azerbaijan hundreds were arrested and some reportedly killed by the security forces, although official sources downplayed the scale of arrests and killings. Further arrests occurred, many around events and dates significant to the Azerbaijani community such as the Babek Castle gathering in Kalayber in June, and a boycott of the start of the new academic year over linguistic rights for the Azerbaijani community."^[69]

As of 2006, the Iranian government has been attempting to depoliticize Iran's student body or make it supportive of the government by stopping students that hold contrary political views from attending higher education, despite the acceptance of those students by their universities. According to Human Rights Watch, this practice has been coupled with academic suspensions, arrests, and jail terms.^[70]

Some Iranian victims include:

• Camelia Entekhabifard who was arrested in 1999 for conducted research on women earning money in Qom by engaging in temporary marriage.^[71]
• Abbas Amir-Entezam who was imprisoned since 1981 for alleged association with the US embassy, released in 1998, and less than 3 months later rearrested for remarks made in an interview with Tous daily newspaper. He has been in prison for over 25 years.
• Nasser Zarafshan a novelist, translator, and attorney who was arrested in October 2000 after giving a speech in which he stated that the intelligence services were behind the Chain Murders of Iran. Later other charges were added and he spent five years in prison.
• Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death (later reduced to prison time) for apostasy for giving a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics.
• Mansour Osanlou, president of the Executive Committee of the transport workers' trade union in Tehran, was arrested in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in connection with industrial action and protest by his union.
• Abbas Abdi, a supporter of the Islamic Revolution turned reformist, was arrest for publishing the results of a poll that showed 75% of Iranians supported resuming government dialogue with the United States.^[72]
• Ali Afshari is a reform activist and student association leader who was imprisoned from 2000 to 2003 for political crimes, spending 328 days consecutive days in solitary confinement.
• Nasser Zarafshan is a lawyer who represented the families of intellectuals and journalists murdered by intelligence ministry agents in 1998 (Chain Murders of Iran). In 2002, he was sentenced in a military court to five years in prison for "dissemination of confidential information.”
• Ali Farahbakhsh is an Iranian business journalist who spent 11 months in jail in Iran for attending a conference in Bangkok in 2006.

[edit] Freedom of the Press

According to the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index for 2007, only three other countries - Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan - have more restrictions on news media freedom than Iran.^[73] Its 2007 report on Iran says "Dozens of journalists were arrested in 2006 for criticising the authorities and some were imprisoned in secret in difficult conditions without access to a lawyer." ^[74]

85 newspapers, including 41 dailies, were shut down from 2000 to the end of 2002 following the passing of the "April 2000 press law."^[75] There are currently 10 journalists in prison.

The "red lines" of press censorship in Iran are said to be questioning rule by clerics (velayat-e faqih) and direct attacks on the Supreme Leader. Red lines have also drawn against writing that "insults Islam, is sexually explicit, "politically subversive," or is allegedly "confusing public opinion."^[76]

[edit] Political freedom

On February 28, 2008, Amnesty International called on the Iranian government "to stop persecuting people" involved in the "Campaign for Equality" - an attempt to collect one million signatures "for a petition to push for an end to discrimination against women." According to AI, "Dozens of women have been arrested," suffered harassment, intimidation and imprisonment. One campaigner, Delaram Ali, 23, "was sentenced to nearly three years in prison and 10 lashes for participation in an illegal gathering." Her punishment has been suspended while her case is re-examined. ^[77]

[edit] Internet freedom

Main article: Internet Censorship in Iran

The Internet has grown faster in Iran than any other Middle Eastern country since 2000 but the regime has censored thousands of websites it considers "non-Islamic" and harassed and imprisoned online journalists.^[78]

20 bloggers were imprisoned in 2004, but as of the end of 2006 none were in prison.^[79]

Reporters Without Borders also believes that it is the Iranian "government’s desire to rid the Iranian Internet of all independent information concerning the political opposition, the women’s movement and human rights”.^[80] Where the government cannot legally stop sites it uses advanced blocking software to prevent access to them.

According to the same source, the "conservatives' mistrust of the Web doesn't prevent its use for propaganda. Thus information sites such as Daricheh.org or Jebhe.com (note: jebhe.com no longer exists) were put in place and convey the ideas of regime hardliners. Also, the theological university Qom trains several thousand students in computer science and as internet specialists every year so that, according to a mullah of Qom, 'they will use their knowledge to serve the country and Islam'".

[edit] Freedom of religion

Main article: Status of religious freedom in Iran

The United Nations and its human rights bodies have passed more than 67 resolutions and decisions regarding human rights violations against Iran's religious minorities since 1980.^[81] In every year since 1984, except for 2002 where the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) tried to engage Iran into a dialogue on human rights, the UNCHR passed resolutions about human rights violations against Iran's religious minorities especially the Bahá'ís.^[81] Iran became the fourth country in the history of the United Nations to be on the agenda of the General Assembly because of its human rights violations.^[82]

[edit] Bahá'í issues

Main article: Persecution of Bahá'ís

Bahá'ís continue to be persecuted in Islamic countries, especially Iran, where members of the Bahá'ís have been subjected to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Bahá'í community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and denial of access to higher education.^[27] Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iranian Bahá'ís have regularly had their homes ransacked or been banned from attending university or holding government jobs, and several hundred have received prison sentences for their religious beliefs, most recently for participating in study circles.^[27] Bahá'í cemeteries have been desecrated and property seized and occasionally demolished, including the House of Mírzá Buzurg, Bahá'u'lláh's father.^[81] The House of the Báb in Shiraz has been destroyed twice, and is one of three sites to which Bahá'ís perform pilgrimage.^{[81], [83], [84]}

Even more recently the situation of Bahá'ís has worsened; the United Nations Commission on Human Rights revealed an October 2005 confidential letter from Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Iran to identify Bahá'ís and to monitor their activities^[85] and in November 2005 the state-run and influential Kayhan^[86] newspaper, whose managing editor is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei,^[87] ran nearly three dozen articles defaming the Bahá'í Faith.^[88]

Due to these actions, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stated on March 20, 2006 that she "also expresses concern that the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards. … The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating."^[85]

According to a US panel, attacks on Bahá'ís in Iran have increased since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president.^[89] On May 14, 2008, members of an informal body known as the Friends that oversaw the needs of the Bahá'í community in Iran were arrested and taken to Evin prison.^[89][90] Officers from the Ministy of Intelligence in Tehran searched and raided the homes of the six people in the early hours of May 14.^[91] The arrest of the six follow the detention of another Bahá'í leader in March,^[89] who was originally taken to answer questions relating to the burial of a Bahá'i in the Bahá'í cemetery in Mashad.^[91] They have not been charged, and they seem to be prisoners of conscience.^[92] The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has stated that they are concerned for the safety of the Bahá'ís, and that the recent events are similar to the disappearance of 25 Bahá'í leaders in the early 1980s.^[91] The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has stated that it fears that the "development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha'is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed."^[89]

[edit] Jewish issues

Jews have lived in Iran for nearly 3,000 years and outside of Israel, Iran is host to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East. Although 80% of Iran's Jewish population left during the Islamic revolution of 1979, an estimated 25,000 Jews remain in the country. Jews in Iran have constitutional rights equal to other Iranians, although they may not hold government jobs or become army officers. They have freedom of religion, but may not proselytize. Jews have a representative in parliament; this person is legally obligated to support Iran's foreign policy and anti-Zionist position. Jews, along with other Iranian citizens, can be criminally prosecuted and subject to the death penalty for supporting Israel. After the Islamic revolution in 1979, several Jews were executed for Zionism. In May 1998 Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh "was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate."^[93] In 2000, 13 Jews including religious leaders in Shiraz were accused and imprisoned for spying for Israel, but were released after an international outcry. According to Amir Cyrus Razzaghi, "The government goes to extra lengths to differentiate between the government of Israel, with whom they have fundamental issues, and the Jewish people, especially Iranian Jews… There is a genuine interest to keep the Jewish community in Iran to demonstrate to the world that the government is anti-Israel and not anti-Jewish. Iran's official government-controlled media published the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1994 and 1999. It is unclear whether Jews stay in Iran because they are happy and comfortable there or because they are elderly and speak only Persian. Most pre-revolutionary Jewish schools and synagogues have closed. Jewish children still attend Jewish schools where Hebrew and religious studies are taught, but Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslim ones, the curricula are government-supervised, and the Jewish Sabbath is no longer recognized. Jews may use passports and visas to leave Iran, but those who apply must do so to a special bureau and are placed under surveillance. Whole families may not leave Iran together.^{[94], [95]}

[edit] Muslim Shia issues

Musilm clerical opponents of the Islamic Republic's political system have not been spared imprisonment. According to an analyst quoted by Iran Press Service, "hundreds of clerics have been arrested, some defrocked, other left the ranks of the religion on their own, but most of them, including some popular political or intellectual figures such as Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Noori, a former Interior Minister or Hojjatoleslam Yousefi Eshkevari, an intellectual, or Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Kadivar", are "middle rank clerics."^[96]

One opponent of theocracy, Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi and many of his followers were arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006. According to mardaninews website, judicial authorities have reportedly released no information concerning Boroujerdi's prosecution and “associates” of Ayatollah Boroujerdi have told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran “that his heart and kidney conditions are grave but he has had no access to specialist care.”

He only receives painkillers for his diseases inside prison. In addition to his physical health, his psychological well-being has also deteriorated due to ill-treatment and lengthy solitary confinement episodes. He has lost 30 kilograms in prison,`^[97]

[edit] Darvish issues

Iran's Darvish^[98] are a persecuted minority. As late as the early 1900's, wandering darvish were a common sight in Iran.^[99] They are now much fewer in number and suffer from official opposition to the Sufi religion.

[edit] Unreligious people

Unreligious or Irreligious people in Iran are not recognized as citizens. While Jews, Christians and other minorities have the right to take part in university entrance exams and can become members of parliament or city councils, irreligious people are not granted even their basic rights. Most irreligious people, however, hide their beliefs and pretend to be Muslims. Non-believers — atheists, agnostics, sceptics — under Islam do not have "the right to life". Apostasy in Iran is punishable by death.^[100]

[edit] Gender inequality

As an Islamic state, Iran's legislation, which is derived from a highly conservative interpretation of Islamic law, re-enforces male supremacy. For this reason, Iran is sometimes referred to as an Islamic patriarchy. This can be noted in the articles of the Iranian Civil Law as well as Iran's participation in international human rights conventions. For example, in 2003, Iran elected not to become a member of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) since the convention contradicted the Islamic Sharia law in Clause A of its single article.^[62]

This creates numerous problems in issues regarding rape, where the female is at fault by default. In such cases, the act of sexual penetration must be attested by at least four male Muslim witnesses of good character. The ultimate punishments are reserved to the legal authorities however the law states that false accusations are to be punished severely.^[101] According to these views, the principles are so rigorous in their search for evidence, that they create the near impossibility of being able to reach a verdict that goes against the suspect in any manner.^[102] Legal imbalances such as this can be seen in the case of individuals such as Atefah Sahaaleh who was executed by the state for 'inappropriate sexual relations', however was most probably a rape victim. In some respects, Iranian women have more political rights than their counterparts in other Muslim countries. Iranian women have served in parliament and local government, whereas women in many other Muslim countries do not even have the right to vote. Bahraini women, for instance, did not have suffrage rights until 2003.^{[103], [104], [105]} Iranian women gained the right to vote in 1962. In the United Arab Emirates, women do not have the right to vote or to stand for election. In Saudi Arabia, women took part, in 2005, in the first local elections ever held in the country.

[edit] Compulsury Hijab

Post-pubescent women are required to cover their hair and body in Iran and can be arrested for failing to do so^[106] In Spring 2007, Iranian police have launched a crackdown against women accused of not covering up enough, arresting hundreds of women, some for wearing too tight an overcoat or letting too much hair peek out from under their veil. The campaign in the streets of major cities is the toughest such crackdown since the Islamic revolution.^{[107], [108]} More than one million Iranians (mostly women) have been arrested in the past year (May 2007-May 2008) for violating the state dress code according to a May 2008 NBC Today Show report by Matt Laver, .^[109]

[edit] LGBT issues

Main article: LGBT rights in Iran

Homosexual acts and adultery are criminal and punishable by life imprisonment or death after multiple offenses, and the same sentences apply to convictions for treason and apostasy. Those accused by the state of homosexual acts are routinely flogged and threatened with execution.^{[110], [111], [112], [113], [114], [115],} .^[116] Iran is one of seven countries in the world that apply the death penalty for homosexual acts; all of them justify this punishment with Islamic law. The Judiciary does not recognize the concept of sexual orientation, and thus from a legal standpoint there are no homosexuals or bisexuals, only heterosexuals committing homosexual acts.^[117]

For some years after the Revolution, transgendered individuals were classified by the Judiciary as being homosexual and were thus subject to the same laws. However, in the mid-1980s the Judiciary began changing this policy and classifying transgender individuals as a distinct group, separate from homosexuals, granting them legal rights. Gender identity disorder is officially recognized in Iran today, and the Judiciary permits sexual reassignment surgery for those who can afford it.^[118] In the early 1960s, Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a ruling permitting gender reassignment, which has since been reconfirmed by Ayatollah Khamenei.^[119] Currently, Iran has between 15,000 and 20,000 transsexuals, according to official statistics, although unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 150,000. Iran carries out more gender change operations than any country in the world besides Thailand. Sex changes have been legal since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, passed a fatwa authorising them nearly 25 years ago. Whereas homosexuality is considered a sin, transsexuality is categorised as an illness subject to cure. While the government seeks to keep its approval quiet, state support has increased since Mr Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. His government has begun providing grants of £2,250 for operations and further funding for hormone therapy. It is also proposing loans of up to £2,750 to allow those undergoing surgery to start their own businesses.^[120]

[edit] Capital punishment

According to Amnesty International's 2004 report, at least 108 people were executed that year, most of whom had been detained as political prisoners.^[121] Amnesty has also described cases in which adolescent children were sentenced to the death penalty.^[122] Though illegal, torture is often carried out in Iranian prisons, as in the widely publicised case of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

Although it is one of only six parties to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which states that "[the] sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age.”,^[123] Iran continues to execute children for various offenses.

In 2004, Iran ranked second in the world by total number of confirmed executions having carried out 159, coming behind the People's Republic of China, who committed at least 1,770.^[124] In 2005, the number dropped to 94 confirmed executions, either by hanging or stoning, though returned to 177 in 2006.^[125] As of mid-October 2007, at least 207 executions have been carried out in Iran - part of a campaign to improve societal security according to Conservatives, and according to critics part of a campaign by Conservatives to demonstrate their control over the country as the economic situation worsens.^[126]

Death sentences are always administered for those convicted of murder (even in self defense), rape, and child molestation. However there have been reports of being executed for much less serious crimes.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Child executions in Iran

Iran "leads the world in executing juvenile offenders – persons under 18 at the time of the crime" according to Human Rights Watch.^[127] Since 1990 at least 23 executions of child offenders in Iran has been recorded.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the government of Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offense committed when they were under the age of 18.

Article 6.5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) declares: “Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age” and the article 37(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that: “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age”.^[128]. In July 2007, Amnesty International issued a comprehensive 46 page report titled Iran: The last executioner of children.^{[129], [130]}

In January 2005, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors states' compliance with the CRC, urged Iran to immediately stay all executions of child offenders and to abolish the use of the death penalty in such cases. In the summer of 2006, the Iranian Parliament reportedly passed a bill establishing special courts for children and adolescents. However, it has not yet been approved by the Council of Guardians, which supervises Iran's legislation to ensure conformity with Islamic principles. During the past four years, the Iranian authorities have reportedly been considering legislation to ban the death penalty for child offenders. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson indicates that the proposed law would only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes, and not all crimes committed by children.

In spite of these efforts, the number of child offenders executed in Iran has risen during the past two years. Stop Child Executions Campaign has recorded 73 children facing executions in Iran. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the government of Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offense committed when they were under the age of 18.

Most recently, Iranian authorities hanged Makwan Mouludzadeh in Kermanshah prison for crimes allegedly committed when he was 13 years of age. This was in defiance of a stay of execution by the head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, and despite the fact that his accusers had recanted their statements and Mouladzadeh had repudiated his confession as being coerced by the police.^[131]

[edit] Significant activists

The following individuals represent a partial list of individuals who are currently, or have in the past, significantly attempted to improve the human rights situation in Iran after the revolution in 1979.

• Shirin Ebadi
• Akbar Ganji
• Nazanin Afshin-Jam

[edit] Organizations

Iran has an Islamic Human Rights Commission, but it is "housed in a government building and headed by the chief of the judiciary," and not considered particularly concerned with human rights abuses according to Nobel peace prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center.^[132]

[edit] International Criticism of the Iranian human rights record

On 13 October 2005, the Members of the European Parliament voted to adopt a resolution condemning Iran's continued disregard of the human rights of its citizens with a vote of 49 against 43, with 89 abstentions. On 22 December, Hamid Reza Assefi, from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that Iran would suspend dialogue with the European Union concerning the ongoing question of human rights in the country.

In a National Post article dated Thursday, November 2, 2006 Iran has been listed among the 13 worst abusers of Human rights in the world by the Canadian Government. Canada has brought this to the United Nations Human rights council, a body which the country firmly rejects Iran's participation on given its horrendous human rights record. This related to the torture and death of Canada-based Iranian photo journalist Zahra Kazemi, by an Iranian prosecutor, who became a high ranking member of the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran was not pleased with this assessment, despite its factual accuracy.^[133]

Iran has been criticized by the United Nations Human Rights Council many times. After the death of Zahra Kazemi, Canada has sponsored a resolution criticizing Iran's ""confirmed instances of torture, stoning as a method of execution and punishment such as flogging and amputations."^[134] The resolution has passed in the UN General Assembly every year since 2003, and is expected to pass once again in 2007 when it comes to a vote in December.^[134]

[edit] See also

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
• Defenders of Human Rights Center, Iran's leading Human Rights organization.
• Freedom of speech in Iran
• Judicial system of Iran
• Ethnic minorities in Iran
• Religious minorities in Iran
• Status of religious freedom in Iran
• Stop Child Executions Campaign
• 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners
• Be Like Others, a documentary film about transsexuality in Iran

[edit] Notable prisons

• Towhid Prison
• Evin Prison
• Prison 59
• Prison 209
• Gohardasht Prison

[edit] Notable prisoners

• Delara Darabi
• Ateqeh Rajabi
• Nazanin Fatehi
• Reza Alinejad

[edit] Other persons

• Ahmad Reza Radan, who was in charge of 2007 moralization plan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Iran Human Rights
• Amnesty International's Concerns about Iran
• Amnesty International 2005 report
• Human Rights Watch - Iran Documents
• Human Rights Watch's Developments in Iran
• Human Rights Watch 2005 report
• Various human rights news stories at Iran Focus
• Freedom of Expression violations in Iran, IFEX
• Human rights violations against Iranian Azeri Turks
• Guardian Newspaper - Special Report - Death of a Teenager
• Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

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