IRANUPDATE
Volume 6, Issue 5 | April 17, 2018
Spotlight
A message from CHRI's Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi
A message from CHRI's Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi
Iranian
officials recently indicated they will soon block the Telegram
messaging app used by over 40 million Iranians to communicate, share
news and do business. This decision, if implemented, will demonstrate
that the Iranian authorities’ willingness to tolerate foreign-based apps
that do not conform to Iranian state censorship and which they cannot
control is coming to an end. Domestic apps that the authorities posit as
alternatives deeply compromise Iranians’ privacy and access to
information. This intensifying state censorship, surveillance and
repression mean that the Iranian people’s rights to information, online
security and freedom of expression will be further eroded. The
monitoring and condemnation of Iran’s aggressive violations of these
basic rights and freedoms are becoming a more urgent international
imperative, as is the need to make the full range of personal
communications tools and services—including censorship circumvention
tools—available to the people of Iran.
Follow Hadi on Twitter: @HadiGhaemi
Items of Note
The recent protests in Iran were due in part to a growing water crisis. “Towns
and villages around Isfahan have been hit so hard by drought and water
diversion that they have emptied out and people who lived there have
moved,” said Hadi Ghaemi. "...And people close to Rouhani told me the
government didn’t even know such a situation existed and there were so
many grievances.”
Donald
Trump's nuclear deal threat distracts attention from the Iranian
government's dire human rights record, say German lawmakers. "The
reality is that human rights have deteriorated significantly in Iran,"
said CHRI board member Nazanin Boniadi.
Press Releases
Imprisoned Rights Defender Narges Mohammadi Gives Message of Hope and Strength in Accepting 2018 Andrei Sakharov PrizeApril 15, 2018 — Prisoner of conscience Narges Mohammadi was unable to accept the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize in person in Columbus, Ohio but she sent a message of hope and strength in a powerful speech.
Iranian American Groups Urge Trump Admin to Investigate “Targeting” of Civil Servant Sahar NowrouzzadehMarch 22, 2018–Seven Iranian American organizations have called on the Trump admin to investigate credible allegations that career government employee Sahar Nowrouzzadeh was demoted from a top advisory position due to discrimination.
Articles
Iranian Education Minister Issues Stern Warning Against UN 2030 Agenda
“In every meeting with senior education officials I have emphasized that not only should the Education 2030 Framework for Action be rejected but students should also not be taught any subject related to this document,” said Education Minister Mohammad Bathaei on April 11, 2018.
Iranian Supreme Court Upholds “Unjust” Death Sentence Against Kurdish Activist
The Supreme Court of Iran failed to fully consider the defense’ arguments before it upheld the death sentence against Iranian Kurdish political rights activist Ramin Hossein Panahi, his lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
Teachers’ Rights Advocate Writes Scathing Letter From Prison on Revolutionary Iran’s Failed Promises
Prominent teachers’ rights advocate Esmail Abdi has written a letter from Evin Prison strongly criticizing Iranian officials’ for their failure to uphold the promises of the country’s 1979 revolution.He is demanding to be tried in a public court with a jury and to be granted furlough.
Iran’s Expediency Council Dragging Its Feet Over Fate of Religious Minority Candidates in Local Elections
Six months have passed and the Iranian government has still not resolved the dispute over the suspension of a Yazd City Council member, Sepanta Niknam, due to his Zoroastrian faith. “I think they want this issue to go away and be forgotten with the passage of time,” said his uncle.
Swedish Resident Who Tried to March Through Iran With Monarchist Flag Facing National Security Charges
“When he crossed onto Iranian soil he was detained by border guards for carrying the lion and sun flag and released a few days later,” said a source. “But it seems the Intelligence Ministry caught wind and arrested him on March 7 and sent him to prison in Tabriz .”
Iranian State Hackers Launched Attacks on Same Day Supreme Leader Issued Fatwa Forbidding Privacy Violations
On the same day that Iran’s supreme leader issued a religious ruling ordering the state to refrain from “violating the people’s security and domestic space,” state hackers used malware to access private user information.
Iranian Political Prisoner Urges “Contentious People” To Be the Voice of His Imprisoned Wife
“I call on all awakened, conscientious people to be the voices of Golrokh and Atena’s [Daemi’s] innocence before another tragedy takes place in the aftermath of forced suicides in the prisons,” wrote Arash Sadeghi in an open letter from Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Supreme Leaders Uses Fatwa to Silence Widespread Distrust of Domestic Apps
Following a flurry of public criticism of domestically made messaging apps, Iran’s supreme leader has issued a fatwa calling on the government and the Judiciary to protect citizens’ personal privacy rights. “Violating the people’s security and domestic space is religiously haram [forbidden] and should not take place.”
Rouhani Admin Facing Backlash Over Plan to Give 100 Vetted Journalists Uncensored Internet Access
Iranian journalists and editors working for various news publications in Iran have strongly criticized the government’s decision to grant what has been described as uncensored internet access exclusively to 100 “approved” members of their profession.
Inaccessible Louvre Exhibit Highlights Ongoing Challenges For Persons Living With Disabilities in Iran
A popular exhibition by the Louvre Museum in Paris at the National Museum of Iran has come under criticism because it is inaccessible to people living with disabilities. Exactly why the ramp and the exhibit are inaccessible to persons with disabilities is unclear.
Hundreds Arrested as Anger Over State Discrimination Against Arabs Spills Into the Streets
At least 200 people were arrested after a week of demonstrations in Iran’s mainly Arab-populated Khuzestan Province. On April 6, 2018, the Friday prayer leader of the flashpoint city of Ahvaz requested an apology from Iranian state TV, which inadvertently ignited the protests.
Iran Poised to Block Popular Telegram Messaging App But Lacks Feasible Alternative
After months of unsuccessful attempts by Iranian officials to convince the Telegram encrypted messaging app to comply with domestic censorship policies, Iranian officials are now openly discussing blocking the widely used social media network.
The
Iranian Parliament’s recognition of autism as a “special disease” will
have positive and negative consequences for persons living with the
disability in Iran. “The budget allocation is only for medical and
pharmaceutical needs for special diseases. Therefore, this is ultimately
a costly label.”
41 Tehran University Students Facing Prosecution For Participating in December 2017 Protests
The Iranian Judiciary has opened cases against 41 students of Tehran University who allegedly participated in protests in the capital city in January 2018, the university’s Deputy Chancellor for Cultural Affairs Majid Sarsangi announced on March 1, 2018.
Metal Band Member Sentenced to Six Years Prison in Iran Accused of Creating “Satanic Music”
“The
interrogators had translated my English lyrics [into Farsi] verse by
verse and were asking questions about this and that word and told me I
was a Satan worshipper and didn’t believe in God,” Nikan Khosravi of
"Confession" told CHRI. “They really thought I was a bad person."
Iran Cracks Down on Kurdish Activists After Anti-State Protests
Iran’s
FATA cyber police and the Intelligence Ministry have summoned rights
activists in mainly Kurdish-populated provinces of the country and
accused them of protesting against the state. Some of the activists are
now facing national security charges.
Christian Property in Iran to Be Taken Over by Supreme Leader’s Organization
A
valuable property near Tehran confiscated from Iran’s largest Christian
Protestant organization by a group controlled by the supreme leader was
hit with an eviction order on March 7. “This action is part of the
pressure put on individuals with different beliefs and religious
minorities in Iran,” said a spokesman for the UK-based Article 18.
Second Iranian Woman Sentenced to Prison for Protesting Mandatory HijabMaryam Shariatmadari, one of the “Girls of Revolution Street” protesting against mandatory hijab for women in Iran, was sentenced to a year in prison on March 25, 2018, by Branch 1091 of the Tehran Criminal Court for “encouraging corruption by removing her hijab,” her lawyer informed CHRI.
Attorney Blocked From Taking on Human Rights Cases in Iran Calls For Revision of “Flawed” Law
A lawyer representing the family of an Iranian Canadian academic who recently died in an Iranian prison has joined the growing list of attorneys in Iran who have criticized the judiciary’s decision to force citizens held on politically motivated charges to pick their lawyer from a list.
Iranian Environmentalists Remain Detained Months After Arrests While Families Seek AnswersSeven environmentalists who were arrested in Tehran nearly two months ago remain in detention with no or extremely limited access to legal counsel while their families are being kept in the dark about any charges against them.
Iran HumanRights
Center for Human Rights in Iran
137 Montague Street #384
New York, NY 11201
Center for Human Rights in Iran
137 Montague Street #384
New York, NY 11201
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PUBLISHED BY
ANJAN K SAMAL
TO PREACH HUMAN RIGHT FOR ALL IRRESPECTIVE OF CASTE, CREED, RELIGION AND REGION ACROSS THE GLOBE.
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