Monthly Report – An Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Iran in April-May 2016

HRANA News Agency – The Department of Statistics and Publications of the Human Rights Activists Association of Iran has published the following monthly report on the human rights situation in Iran during the period of April-May, 2016 (Persian calendar month of Ordibehesht, 1395). This report cannot perfectly and comprehensively reflect the details of human rights concerns in Iran for obvious reasons including the existing governmental limitations and ban on the free exchange of information. It should be noted that in addition to the monthly reports, the Department of Statistics and Publications of the Human Rights Activists Association of Iran publishes a comprehensive and analytical annual report at the end of each year.

An Analytical Overview on the Human Rights Situation in Iran April-May 2016

The systematic violation of human rights in Iran continued in the month of Ordibehesht of the Persian calendar year, 1395 (April-May, 2016). The violations of human rights continued in this month with 70 executions the provinces of Ardebil, Alborz, Gilan, East Azerbaijan, Razavi Khorasan, West Azerbaijan, Sistan-va-Balouchestan, Qazvin, Kermanshah, Kohkilouyeh-va-Boyerahmad, Mazandaran, Hormozgan, Hamedan, and Yasd.

Execution

Some of the most noted reports regarding the execution of prisoners in the month of Ordibehsh included the execution of one prisoner in Mazandaran; the execution of 8 prisoners in the central prison of Zahedan; the execution of 4 prisoners in the prison of Ghezel-Hesar, the execution of at least 4 prisoners in the prison of Rajayee-Shahr, and the execution of 6 prisoners in the prison of Orumieh. Perhaps the most controversial case was the secret execution of six prisoners in the city of Yazd. These executions were covertly carried out without any media coverage.

In contrast to the executions, there were a few cases of pardon and forgiveness in this month when the families of victims exonerated the criminals including the pardon of one prisoner in Tehran, five prisoners in Kerman and Orumieh, and pardon of an 18 years old girl.

Religious and Ethnic Minorities

The violations of the religious and ethnic minorities’ rights continued in this month. The most significant of these cases were illegal and harsh suppression of a group of people in Zahedan that resulted in the death of an elderly man; summoning three individuals in Zahedan to the local office of intelligence service; the arrest of Hussein Panahi by the security forces in Dehlegan; the arrest of Zakieh Neysi, the Arab minority rights activist in Ahwaz.

In this month, the continuous suppression of Baha’is and violation of their rights was continued with several reports including shutdown  of 20 Baha’I owned businesses such as shutdown  of 16 Baha’I owned businesses in Ghaem-Shar and 2  Baha’I owned businesses in Babol.

Regarding the violations of Sunni minorities’ rights, there were several reports including the arrest of a Sunni clergy in Iran-shahr; banning many Sunni backed books from the International Book Exhibition of Tehran; banning a Sunni clergy of Azad-Shahr from attending a graduation ceremony in Zahedan; sentencing Mohammad Karami to 15 years in prison.

Children

Regarding children’s rights, there were a couple of reports, the most notable of which were: students of a school in Kalateh Teymour (a small village in the north of Iran) abandoned school because of lack of a bridge in their commute to school; a 12 years old girl committed suicide being afraid of potential punishment; more than 2000 kids (under 6 years) suffering from malnutrition in the province of Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad; death of two years old child after circumciser procedure; more than 1700 kids (under 5 years) suffering from malnutrition in the city of Boushehr.

Women

In the category of women rights, there were several reports of assaults against Iranian women who have been continuously suppressed and deprived of their rights. Some of the most notable reports on women rights violations in this month were a girl survived after 21 days continuous torture; an honor-killing in the south of Tehran and another honor-killing in Southern Khorasan; lashing a women in public; torturing a mother and two children by father.

Labor rights

In this month, there were several reports related to the labors’ rights movements or violations of labor rights including 170 textile workers in Elegant Company being unpaid for three months; uncertainty of 300 former workers and pensioners of Abgineh Glass-ware seeking their arrears; 8 months delayed wages and 5 months delayed insurance of 170 workers in Jam tiles company; 1500 mine workers are dismissed in the last 6 months; a report on the arrest and suppression of workers during celebration of labor day; huge gap (35 times difference) between employees and high-ranking mangers; arrest of five workers’ rights activists in the city of Sanandaj; two members of Bus Drivers syndicate arrested; 187 percent gap in the wage of workers; labor activists summoned to the security office in the eve of International workers’ day in Sanandaj.

Also, there were 15 reports on the fatal work place incident in this month.

Unions

In the field of trade union and union rights, there were a few reports in this month including protest of ranchers in Isfahan in response to delay in implementation of government regulations; a teacher named Aliakbar Baghani exiled in Zabol; security forces attacking local vegetable retailers in Tehran; ranchers in Isfahan protested against the lack of government support for local products; arrest and trial of Rasoul Bodaghi, a Union rights activist.

Health and Environment

In the field of health and environmental protection, there were a few reports mainly involving draught and air pollution including 46 villages in the province of Ilam lacking proper drinking water; the province of Sistan-va-Balouchestan 200 days in crisis because of dangerous environmental condition; the city of Zabol selected as the most polluted city in the world; acid attacks against trees!; the dangerous level of dust particles in Orumieh; the dangerous level of dust particles in Ahwaz (more than five times the accepted level); the Salt lake crisis in Tehran.

Specific Attention to the Violation of Human Rights

In this section of this monthly report, we highlight the most controversial and publicly sensitive cases of violations of human rights in Iran in the month of Feb-Mar 2016. It is obvious that more attention does not necessarily indicate the magnitude of the violations of human rights in that specific category.

Some of the most noted reports in this month were the city of Zabol being selected as the most polluted city in the world; torture and murder of a women in response to request for divorce and her legal rights; torture and murder of spouse after 100 hours video-taping; torture and murder of a mother and two kids by father; acid attack by a female individual on her aunt; attempt to demolishing a Sunni mosque in Chabahar; annexing more than 50 Acers of land in Semnan by the ministry of agriculture only because the landlord was Baha’I; the arrest of five workers’ rights activists in Sanandaj. Also, more 21 days of torturing a women named Azam by her husband was one of the most notable reports in this month.

The least underlined human rights violations

In contrast to the reports indicated in the previous section, many human rights reports received little or no attention from social media, bloggers, Internet activists, who are considered key contributors of the public opinion. It should be note that this unintentional or intentional negligence has resulted in further spread of human rights violations in Iran.

The least noted reports relevant to the violation of human rights include the execution of six prisoners in the central prison of Orumieh; security forces beating a motor cyclist in the city of Malekan because of lack of safety helmet; 5000 women breadwinners in the province of Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad; identifying a list of 69 prisoners condemned to death in the central prison of Orumieh; execution of a prisoner in public in Kermanshah; an Arab speaking citizen in Ahawaz disappeared; six executions in secret in the city of Yazd; execution of 4 prisoners in the Ghezelhesar prison; banning many Sunni related books from International Book Exhibition in Tehran; banning the Sunni Imam of Azadshar attending  a graduation ceremony in Zahedan; arrest of three members of Church of Iran.

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