IRANUPDATE
Volume 6, Issue 1 | January 18, 2018
CHRI's update on the latest human rights developments in Iran
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Spotlight
A message from CHRI's Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi
The protests in Iran have died down for now but serious concern for the detainees persists. State forces arrested more than 4,000 people and at least 25 are dead. Two died in custody under questionable circumstances and the lawyer of one of the victims told CHRI the authorities are trying to cover up the cause of his client’s death. The Iranian authorities must free these detained protesters, 95% of whom are under the age of 25, investigate claims of abuse inside detention centers and implement mechanisms to prevent future violations of due process and human rights.
The recent protests occurred in response to the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a few and the lack of public forums for people to air their grievances. The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed in the Iranian Constitution, but demonstrations against state policies are harshly repressed. Workers, teachers, and civil rights activists are denied the ability to voice their demands. Amid a struggling economy and society lacking social and political freedoms, the Iranian people are taking to the streets to express their frustration. Whatever happens next, one thing is certain: Iran will only see more protests if the government continues to ignore their root causes.
Publications
NEW REPORT: Guards at the Gate: The Expanding State Control Over the Internet in Iran
A new report by CHRI provides an in-depth analysis of the Iranian government’s growing capabilities to censor, monitor and control use of the internet in Iran. The report offers a comprehensive review of Iran’s state-controlled National Internet Network (NIN), which gives the government critical new abilities to control internet use.
Press Releases
 Iran Should Launch Independent Investigation of Deaths of Two Protesters in Prison
January 11, 2018—Iran should launch an independent investigation of the cases of two detainees who died in custody, allegedly by suicide, after being arrested during the recent protests in Iran. The results of the investigations should be made public at every stage.
 Internet Cut-Off During Recent Unrest in Iran Reveals Tehran’s New Cyber Capabilities
January 10, 2018—The recent unrest in Iran—during which the authorities disrupted Iranians’ access to the internet—demonstrates that the Iranian government’s decade-long effort to control the internet in Iran is being realized.
 Iran Suspends Thousands of Drug-Related Death Sentences After Years of Domestic and International Campaigning
January 10, 2018—An estimated 4,000 prisoners currently on death row in Iran for drug-related crimes could have their death sentences revoked according to a just-issued judicial order based on the country’s newly amended drug trafficking law.
 Six Prominent Lawyers Call for Prosecution of Iranian Officials Who Incited Violence Against Protesters
January 4, 2018—Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi and five other prominent Iranian human rights lawyers have called for the prosecution of state officials who have encouraged violence against protesters in the anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
 Iran’s Government Must End the Violence and Allow Peaceful Protest
January 2, 2018—The Iranian government and state security forces should immediately end their violent crackdown on the nationwide protests that have so far led to the deaths of at least 21 people, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement.
Items of Note
Iran Protests: Government Took Control of the Internet to Silence Dissent, Report Says
Iranian authorities shut down social media channels and disrupted internet access as protests against the government spread across the country over the past two weeks, showing an unprecedented ability for the nation to shut down dissent online, according to a new report.
New Report Shows How Iran Limits Internet Freedoms to Control Dissent
As recent protests over government extremism and economic instability in Iran heated up at the turn of the new year, the government shut down mobile and web networks on December 30, cutting off citizens from apps like Telegram and Instagram used to organize and share information.
Iranian Regime's 'Halal' Internet Stifling Protest
After a decade of investment in an infrastructure project called the National Information Network (NIN), they had separated domestic and international internet traffic. On the eve of 2018, the regime revealed its ability to restrict the people of Iran to internet content approved by the state.
Amid Protests, Iran Censors Its Critics With Chinese-Style Internet Control
The shutdown of Telegram and the brief closure of the internet are signs of the Islamic Republic’s increasing technical capacity to manage its citizens’ access to the global web. A new report by the Center for Human Rights in Iran paints a grim picture of the state's growing ability to control and stymie the flow of information online.
Why Iran Is Protesting
“Iran has lived through multiple convulsions. The government has mastered the art of survival through crises. They may well survive this round as well but something has fundamentally changed: The unquestioning support of the rural people they relied on against the discontent of the metropolitan elite is no more. Now everyone seems unhappy.”
Articles
Intelligence Ministry Forces Father of Slain Protester to Repeat Authorities’ Version of Events on State TV
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry coerced the father of a dead protester into claiming in front of a camera that his son was killed during an armed confrontation with security forces, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. The footage was then aired on state TV.
Tehran Prosecutor: “No Discussion” About Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Release Date
Two day after a former senior British politician expressed optimism after discussing the case of imprisoned Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with Iranian officials, the Tehran Province prosecutor denied she would soon be released.
Iran Unblocks Widely Used Messaging App Telegram After Two Weeks
It took Iranian President Hassan Rouhani nearly two weeks to lift the ban on the widely used Telegram messaging app, after it was blocked amid state-imposed internet disruption during the recent nationwide protests. After the ban was lifted, Iranian users complained via social media that the app was behaving very slowly.
Intelligence Ministry Agents Intimidate Family of Slain Farmer Killed at Protest
Nematollah Shafiei was a bystander who was shot and killed during protests in Qahderijan, Isfahan Province, on January 2, 2018, his brother Hossein, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “They can’t just kill our children and get away with it,” he said.
Rouhani Changes Course and Acknowledges Protesters’ Varied Reasons For Discontent
“The people have demands that are economic, cultural, social and also security-related. Attention should be paid to all these demands. If the young generation comprises the majority in the country, then we should take actions based on their wishes,” said Rouhani on January 8, 2018.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Blames Protests on Everyone But Himself
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has condemned the country’s recent nationwide protests as “devilish fireworks” organized by the United States, Israel, regional Arab states and Iranian counter-revolutionaries. “Their intention was to stir things up in smaller cities and then extend them to the capital."
Local Officials in Iranian City Dezful Attempt to Deflect Responsibility for Protesters’ Death
A protester died from a bullet wound during a protest in the city of Dezful despite a local official’s claim that “this man’s death had nothing to do with recent events,” the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned.
Human Rights Organizations File Motion in Germany Against Ayatollah Shahroudi for Crimes Against Humanity
A coalition of human rights NGOs has provided the government of Germany with compelling evidence that Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi is responsible for crimes against humanity and must therefore be arrested based on Germany’s obligations under international law.
Reformist Commentator Calls on Iran’s Government to Reaffirm the People’s Constitutional Right to Protest
Formerly imprisoned reformist commentator Issa Saharkhiz has called on Iran’s government and lawmakers to reaffirm the people’s constitutional right to protest.
Iranian Security Forces Have Arrested More Than 40 University Students. These Are Their Names.
More than 40 Iranian university students, mostly activists, were arrested between December 30, 2017, and January 4, 2018, according to credible information received by CHRI. Some of the detainees are being held in Evin Prison’s Ward 209, controlled by the Intelligence Ministry.
 Iranian Protesters’ Relatives Threatened With Arrest For Holding Sit-In at Evin Prison
“Since the first night he was arrested, we have been coming to sit in front of Evin Prison to ask about them but they don’t give us any answers,” Shokoufeh Yadollahi, the mother of detained student Kasra Nouri, told CHRI on January 4, 2018.
Reformist MP Enquires About Students Detained in Iranian Protests
“While I am committed to gradual reform and have respect for the right to criticize without resorting to extremism and violence, I believe it is my duty to ask the Science Ministry, as well as judicial and security authorities about the condition of the detained students.”
 Iran’s Severely Disrupted Internet During Protests: “Websites Hardly Open”
CHRI learned that internet access in Iran was severely disrupted on December 30 and at one point completely cut off for half an hour. A day later, two of the country's most widely used social media apps, Telegram and Instagram, were blocked on December 31.
Multimedia
 VIDEO: Two-Minute Explainer: Iran's National Information Network
What is Iran's National Information Network and how does it affect Iranian citizens' access to the internet and freedom of expression? CHRI answers these questions and provides an overview of the NIN and Iran's internet policies in a major new report, "Guards at the Gate: The Expanding State Control Over the Internet in Iran."
 ILLUSTRATION: Protests in Iran
An Iranian illustrator depicts a viral photo of a female protester raising her arm in defiance after a smoke grenade is thrown into the crowd by security forces during protests at Tehran University on December 30, 2017.
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