Petition Tag - iran

Dissident sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Iranian dissident Mehdi Khazali has been sentenced to 14 years in jail, 10 years in exile and 90 lashes.

Author, critic and blogger, Dr. Mehdi Khazali is incarcerated in Evin prison and has been on a hunger strike for one month.

The director of Hayan Publications as well as a dissident blogger, Khazali received this sentence after more than 27 days on a hunger strike and he is in critically poor health.

Two days ago he was reportedly taken to the prison infirmary due to haemorrhaging of his digestive tract.

Khazali has been arrested on several occasions since the controversial presidential elections of 2009, which revealed a deep rift in the Islamic Republic establishment between the conservatives and the reformist factions.

His previous arrest occurred last July, and he was released on bail after a month-long hunger strike.

Khazali has used his blogposts to criticize the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration and denounce government policies.

He has written open letters to the Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khamenei, warning him against the current mistreatment of the opposition and inadequacies of the system.

Khazali is the son of the conservative cleric and member of the Assembly of Experts, Abolghassem Khazali, who has disowned his son.

Mehdi Khazali, who is also a physician, was disqualified from running in the last parliamentary elections and was denied and appointment to the board of directors of Iran’s College of Physicians.

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Ehsan Houshmand, a Kurdish researcher and a journalist, has again been imprisoned. He has now been in solitary confinement for since January 6th and during this time has been allowed to call home only once.

Mehraveh, his five year old daughter cried for hours after this recent arrrest.

It is not clear why Mr. Houshmand has been detained, and the intelligence agents did not mention the reason for his detention.

Mr. Houshmand, 40, is an able and knowledgeable researcher in the field of ethnicity, and many of his works have been published in the country’s papers.

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هنگامیکه در گوگل ترانسلیت جمله (خلیج همیشه فارس) تایپ میشود ترجمه آن عربیان گلف میشود این در حالیست که فقط باید خلیج همیشه فارس درون کادر تایپ شود

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Political activist Yaser Yousefzadeh arrested in the city of Babolsar.

Yaser Yousefzadeh, political activist from Mazandaran province has been detained at his residence.

Security agents who were not in possession of an arrest warrant, raided Yousefzadeh’s residence and violently detained him.

According to reports by Jemran News, when the agents showed up, Yaser’s family members demanded that they produce an arrest warrant. The aggressive agents then violently confronted the family members and in the skirmish that ensued they used pepper spray on Yaser’s father.

Yaser ran towards them with bare feet in order to prevent the agents from hurting his father, and ended up getting and handcuffed and severely beaten up to the horror of his powerless parents. The agents then forced Yaser into an unmarked car and whisked him away.

Yaser was taken from his father’s home to his own residence after this savage attack, where the agents took his personal belongings after searching and ransacking his home. During the raid on his home, the brutality of the agents caused the whole neighborhood to get agitated and the agents again used pepper spray and viciously confronted Yaser’s distraught neighbors.

Yaser Yousefzadeh is a graduate of Polytechnic University (Amirkabir) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was an active member of Mousavi’s presidential political campaign in Mozandaran province and was a staff member of Mousavi’s campaign 88 in the city of Babolsar during the 2009 presidential elections.

Yousefzadeh had previously been detained and held in solitary confinement in a holding cell at the Sari Intelligence headquarters.

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/47498

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Literary translator Mohammad Soleimani Nia, 39, has been detained in Iran since January 10 for unknown reasons.

Family and friends of a well-known literary translator in Iran are concerned for his well-being after he was detained for unknown reasons nearly two weeks ago.

Mohammad Soleimani Nia, 39, has been held since January 10, according to a source close to his family.

The family doesn't know where he's being detained or why he's being questioned, but they fear he is in solitary confinement at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, according to the source. The prison is known for its harsh conditions.

Soleimani Nia's family is "so worried about his health," said the source, who did not want to be named for safety reasons. "He's not a strong person physically."
His ordeal began in late November when he was questioned by security and intelligence officers. Friends and family aren't sure the motive behind that questioning as phones are monitored in Iran and Soleimani Nia was tight-lipped about the experience, which resulted in him being banned from leaving the country, according to the source.

On January 10, officials called him to the Revolutionary Court, where he reported that morning. The court hears cases of smuggling, blaspheming, inciting violence or trying to overthrow the Iranian government.

After arriving at court, he was accompanied by security guards to the home he shares with his parents in Karaj, outside Tehran. The guards searched the house, seizing electronic devices and documents, and prohibited Soleimani Nia from speaking to his parents, the source said.

His whereabouts have been unknown since the guards left the home with Soleimani Nia in their custody.

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Fouad Khanjani Begins His Four-Year Prison Sentence

The Association Against Educational Discrimination Web site reported that he had been sentenced to four years of correctional imprisonment by Judge Moghiseh of Branch 28 of the Revolutionary court which was later confirmed by Judge Movahed of Branch 54 of the appeals court.

Previously, on April 27, 2010, he had been arrested and later released on bail after a few days. On March 2, 2010,this student who has been deprived of higher education, had been summoned to the ministry of intelligence and on two other occasions had received similar orders.

It is worth noting that his father, Mr. Alaeddin Khanjani, had also been arrested on or about April 27, 2010.

Fouad Khanjani’s grandfather, Jmalaldyn Khanjani, also is one of the leaders of the Baha’I community who is serving a sentence of 20 years in the Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.

This banned-from-education student, earlier, had been expelled from the Industrial Management Organization, due to his belief in the Baha’i faith.

http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=12306

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Negar Monazami: Prisoner of the day; Arrested on International Women's Day.

hra-news: Basij forces arrested Negar Monazami, 29, on 8 March 2011, during street protests commemorating the International Women's Day. She was first transferred to Security Police and later taken to Evin Prison. She was released on bail 28 days later.

Branch 28 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, with Judge Moghisseh presiding, sentenced Negar Monazami to 14 months in prison and 75 lashes.

Monazami was arrested again on 13 June 2011 in order to start serving her prison term. Several days after her arrest, her family learned that she was inside Intelligence Ministry's Ward 209 at Evin Prison. Monazami received her flogging sentence immediately after her June arrest. According to a 10 October 2011 report, for unknown reasons, Monazami remained inside Ward 209 four months after her arrest, and the authorities refused to provide her family with any information about her situation or allow her to visit with them.

Monazami was reportedly born in prison in 1983, as her parents were both political prisoners at the time of her birth.Her father, Saeed Monazami, a Constitutionalist, was executed in 1988 during the mass executions of political prisoners in Iranian prisons.

from Ghormeh Sabzi
13-Jan-2012
http://www.iranian.com/main/2012/jan/negar-monazami-prisoner-day

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Reporters Without Borders: Arrested at Tehran Airport on 11 May 2008, Vahid Asghari, an Information Technology student in India, has been in "temporary detention" for close to four years. Yesterday, January 7, 2012, Vahid Asghari was sentenced to death by Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court with Judge Salavati presiding.

Ever since its creation by the Revolutionary Guards in March 2009, the Organized Crime Surveillance Center has played an active role in tracking down and arresting outspoken netizens.

Shortly after its creation, the center announced the dismantling of a “malevolent” online network in March 2009 and the arrests of several website moderators. Their photos and “confessions” were posted on the centre’s website, Gerdab (www.gerdab.ir), a few days later. They reportedly admitted to links with websites that criticized Islam and the government, and to their intention of “misleading” Iranian youth by publicizing porn sites. They also confessed to participating in a plot supported by the Americans and Israelis.

On 17 June 2009, two days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection triggered a wave of street protests, the center issued a communiqué announcing that it had noted “several cases of websites and personal blogs posting articles inciting disturbances of public order and urging the population to rebel.”

Detainees have been subjected to long periods of solitary confinement and to torture to obtain confessions that are used in their trials. Asghari, a leading target of the “network dismantling” policy, is one of the victims of such abuses. Aged 24 and an ICT student in India, he was arrested on 11 May 2008 at Tehran airport for possessing several credit cards.

He was held in solitary confinement for seven month and was mistreated and tortured to make him confess to organizing a pornographic network that blasphemed Islam and criticized the government in order to pervert Iranian youth. And what was Asghari’s crime? Hosting websites, including the sites of government opponents.

“I was beaten with a stick for hours and hours while blindfolded and handcuffed,” he wrote in a letter to the president of the 15th chamber of the Revolutionary Court on 17 October 2009. “With a knife against my throat, I was threatened with death and rape. I and my family were insulted. I was forced to make a confession and sign it. They then videoed my confession and broadcast the video with the national television station’s complicity although I was legally presumed to be innocent.”

According to article 168 of the constitution, defendants prosecuted on political charges should be given public, jury trials but most of the trials have been held behind closed doors. Their lawyers are often sidelined and denied access to the case files and in some cases defendants were not told they had been tried and condemned. Asghari said in his letter: “I have never seen my lawyer and, even in court, I did not have the right to say hello to him.”

Asghari also wrote: “I was alleged to have received money from abroad as a result of Google advertising on the websites I hosted. I was accused of insulting the Shiite Imams and the Prophet because of their content. And I was forced to say that Hossein Derakhshan was an agent of both the Iranian ministry of intelligence and the CIA.”

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9 January 2012

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today that Amir Hekmati, a US citizen, has been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary.

A source close to the family told the Campaign that the US citizen entered Iran for the first time on 15 August 2011 to visit with his family members. He was arrested on 29 August 2011 on charges of espionage.

“When Amir supplied his background and applied for his passport processing at the Iranian Interest Section of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC, he was assured that his prior employment with the US government was not going to impede his trip to Iran nor cause him any problems,” the source added.

Four months after his arrest in August 2011, Hekmati’s first court session was held on 27 December at Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Presiding Judge Abolghassem Salavati denied Hekmati the lawyer hired by his family to represent him. Instead, a court-appointed lawyer represented him during the trial without ever seeing him beforehand.

Judge Salavati is one of Iran’s most notorious judges, well known for the unlawful and harsh sentences he has delivered to dozens of political prisoners during the post-election show trials. He has sentenced more than one hundred political prisoners, human rights activists, and peaceful demonstrators to lengthy prison sentences as well as at least nine execution sentences, earning the moniker “The Judge of Death.”

Over the past few years a number of Iranian-Americans who have traveled to Iran have faced similar charges, from undermining the Islamic Republic to spying for American agencies. In all such cases the defendants have been released after a few months and have left the country.

“Almost all the elements of Hekmati’s case fall into a classic pattern of Iranian intelligence’s spy-finding machine,” said Ghaemi.

The source close to the family told the Campaign that over the course of Hekmati’s arrest, Iranian authorities pressured them not to talk with the media, assuring the family they would release Hekmati soon. During his arrest and subsequent detention, Hekmati was never allowed to contact his family in the US.

According to state-operated Fars News Agency, Hekmati allegedly entered Iran with the aim of penetrating the country’s intelligence system. Further examination, according to a report by the Judicial-Legal Director of the Intelligence Ministry’s Espionage Unit, indicated that his goal was to accuse Iran of involvement with terrorism. His indictment alleged that Hekmati was recruited by the CIA in May 2009 to carry out espionage missions in Iran.

The family asserts that what was said in the indictment regarding Hekmati’s background, his prior service in the US military and his prior employment with the US government, is in the public record and he never hid what he did in the past. All the information regarding his background could be obtained from his passport application, as well as from his resume, easily accessible from his confiscated laptop.

Breaking their months-long silence, Amir Hekmati’s family issued a statement on 3 January 2012, asserting, “We have been asked by Iranian authorities to remain silent, and were told that Amir would eventually be released soon. After ... reports that a verdict is imminent we can no longer remain silent.”

Rather than release Hekmati without charges, on 27 December Iranian authorities televised a pale and emaciated Hekmati confessing to the charges. Today, 9 January 2012, Hekmati has been sentenced to execution.

“It has been 126 days since Amir Hekmati was detained by the Iranian government after having been granted permission by Iranian authorities to enter to visit his beloved family,” the family said in their statement from 3 January 2012. “[W]e believe the allegations made against Amir are false and believe that the purported confession was not voluntary and was made under severe duress.”

“The judiciary has claimed Amir Hekmati is a spy, citing evidence that only they are aware of,” said Ghaemi. “That evidence should be made public and the judiciary should be completely transparent. If such an accusation were based on credible evidence, there would be no reason to hold his trial without adequate due process.”

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Journalist Fatemeh Kheradmand has been arrested.

Human Rights House of Iran _ She is the wife of journalist Massoud Lavasani, who was released from Evin prison on September 8th after enduring approximately two years behind bars.

According to Human Rights House of Iran, Iranian security agents, who introduced themselves as judicial agents, searched Kheradmand’s house before arresting her. During the inspection process at her home, the security agents confiscated Kheradmand’s personal items and computer. The reason for the arrest has not been announced.

Her husband Masoud Lavasani was arrested on September 26, 2009, and transferred to Evin prison. He was initially sentenced to eight and a half years in prison by the lower court, but the Appeals Court reduced the sentence to six years in prison.

Eventually, the sentence was reduced to two years in prison. His sentence was issued by branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge PirAbbasi.

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Update 2011-01 -10 Amir Mirzaie Hekmati, an American sentenced to death in Iran for espionage

Iranian state television aired what it called a "confession" by 28-year-old Amir Hekmati over the weekend. His family said Tuesday that he was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives in Iran, and that his statement had to have been coerced.

The Arizona-born, Michigan-raised Hekmati joined the Marines in August 2001, after high school. His four-year hitch included an assignment to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and a six-month deployment in Iraq in 2004, according to U.S. military records.

In 2006, after leaving the service, he started his own linguistics company and began offering his services as an English-to-Arabic translator, according to Michigan incorporation records. He contracted his services to the military as well as civilian businesses, offering training in cultural competency and working with troops at military bases to promote understanding of and positive communication with people of other cultures, his family said.

In 2010, he spent five months working as a research manager for defense contractor BAE, company spokesman Brian Roehrkasse told CNN. And Condon said Hekmati recently worked for a company that produced language-training material for the U.S. military.

The United States and Iran have no direct diplomatic relations, but Hekmati's family said he made the trip after obtaining permission from the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. The interests section has not responded to CNN requests for comment.

News of Hekmati's detention is the latest turn in a series of allegations of espionage and plotting between Washington and Tehran, following the capture of a U.S. surveillance drone by Iran, Iranian claims to have arrested a dozen CIA spies and U.S. allegations that Iran sought to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.

Hekmati's family said that after his August 29 arrest, Iranian officials told them to remain silent "with the promise of an eventual release," but they went public after Iranian television aired the accusations and Hekmati's statement on Sunday.

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Labour activists in Iran are being constantly harassed, sacked and arrested by the Iranian government authorities.

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Kobra Amirkhizi has undergone an eye operation in Labafinejad Hospital. She was then returned to Evin prison following this surgery. Because of the insanitary condition in prison, this political prisoner is in danger of acquiring an eye infection. However, prison officials refuse to acknowledge such a possibility.

According to reports from the women's ward in Evin prison, Kobra Banazadeh Amirkhizi, 56, was sentenced to five years of prison and exile to Gohardasht Prison in Karaj by the 28th branch of the mullahs’ judiciary.

Ms. Amirkhizi, from a distinguished family in Tehran that has had a number of its members executed by the mullahs’ regime, is mother to a resident of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where some 3,500 members of the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Ms. Kobra Banazadeh Amirkhizi, who had suffered from bleeding in one of her eyes, is in serious danger of losing her eyesight.

She had been denied medical treatment in Evin prison. She was sentenced on May 11 by Moqseyi aka Naserian in the 28th branch of the so-called Revolutionary Court. Naserian was a member of the "death committee" responsible for the massacre of political prisoners in 1988. Ms. Kobra Banazadeh Amirkhizi was among family members of Ashraf residents who on Friday afternoon, January 16, 2009, were arrested at Tehran airport on their way to Iraq to visit their relatives in Ashraf.

The majority of those arrested were women between 60 to 80 years of age, and have been violently beaten by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

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Jailed journalist Amirali Allamehzadeh is being subjected to grave pressure in prison, his sister has told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Zeynab Allamehzadeh reported: “We want his case to proceed through the normal legal procedures because, from the way my brother talks to us, we realize that his situation is not good.”

Previously, the campaign had cited another source close to the jailed journalist saying that he is “under pressure and torture to make false confessions.”

His sister reported that lately he has been urging his family to get him a lawyer as soon as possible.

Amirali Allamehzadeh was arrested in Tehran in September and has been held ever since in the Revolutionary Guards section of Evin Prison.

Zeynab Allamehzadeh says: “My brother has been in solitary confinement for more than 74 days, which is a torture in and of itself.” She added that in all that time, the prisoner’s family has not been informed of any charges against him. He has reportedly been allowed brief visits with his family, during which they are not allowed to discuss his case.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has expressed deep concern about Allamehzadeh’s situation and called on authorities to honour his right to due process.

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Press Release: Reza Shahabi’s Condition Alarming
THURSDAY, 01 DECEMBER 2011

HRANA News Agency – The administrative office of Human Rights Activists in Iran has issued a press release to express concerns over Reza Shahabi’s condition in prison after this political prisoner began his hunger strike, and the news of his deteriorating health was reported.

Human Rights Activists in Iran has requested that the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations to pay immediate attention to this prisoner of conscience. Demanding immediate and unconditional release of the labor activist Reza Shahabi, this organization has also reminded the government of Iran that the freedom to form and participate in labor unions is an integral part of international obligations towards human rights.

Pointing out that the Islamic Republic of Iran has historically neglected the health and general wellbeing of political prisoners, Human Rights Activists in Iran has announced that this organization holds the government of Iran including the State Prisons System, the Judiciary Branch and the Intelligence Agency responsible for the health and life of Reza Shahabi.

This press release as published on the organization’s official web site contains the following:

Reza Shahabi is a labor activist and the board member of SWTSBC, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. He was also previously in charge of the labor committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran. On Saturday, June 12, 2010, four security agents arrested Reza Shahabi at work around 10:00am. Since then, he has been in temporary custody in a legal state of limbo. On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, Reza Shahabi began his open ended hunger strike to protest against the present conditions under which he has been incarcerated.

The current hunger strike is just another form of objection in a series of attempts made by Reza Shahabi to protest against being imprisoned illegally. On May 25, 2011, Reza Shahabi appeared in the 15th branch of the Revolutionary Court in order to face charges filed against him. Although the presiding judge announced that a ruling would be issued within four days after the trial, Reza Shahabi still remains in a legal state of limbo indefinitely.

While locked up in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, Reza Shahabi has been in hunger strike several times in the past. He suffers from osteoarthritis, low blood pressure, and heart and liver problems. During his incarceration, the degenerative arthritis has resulted in the loss of control over the left side of his body such that physicians have strongly recommended immediate surgery for him.

Given Reza Shahabi’s serious medical problems threatening his life and the fact that there has been no news of him since he began his latest hunger strike, Human Rights Activists of Iran has become increasingly concerned about this political prisoner’s current condition.

Human Rights Activists of Iran announces that this labor activist has been in a legal state of limbo for nearly 18 months. According to Article 9, part 3 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, anyone arrested or detained on criminal charges shall be brought promptly before a judge and shall be entitled to a trial within a reasonable amount of time or must be released. Additionally, Article 32 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution strongly reiterates that the charges against an individual who has been detained must be formally given to him in writing, and within 24 hours, the initial case must be referred to the judicial officials in order to begin criminal proceeding as soon as possible.

Moreover, Reza Shahabi’s life has been endangered due to the lack of proper medical care during his incarceration. Such treatment is in violation of Article 22, Part II of Geneva Convention defining the rights of prisoners and Article 103 of the State Prisons System’s regulations requiring the availability of all necessary medical care to inmates who might have to be taken outside the prison to seek treatment.

Human Rights Activists in Iran hereby requests that the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations to pay immediate attention to this prisoner of conscience and his current condition. Human Rights Activists in Iran also demands immediate and unconditional release of the labor activist Reza Shahabi and reminds the government of Iran that the freedom to form and participate in labor unions is an integral part of international obligations towards human rights.

Since the Islamic Republic of Iran has historically neglected the health and general wellbeing of political prisoners, Human Rights Activists in Iran hereby holds the government of Iran including the State Prisons System, the Judiciary Branch and the Intelligence Agency responsible for the health and life of Reza Shahabi.

The Administrative Office of Human Rights Activists in Iran
November 29, 2011

http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=585:press-release-reza-shahabis-condition-alarming&catid=2:statements&Itemid=4

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Another Iranian journalist sentenced to prison

Iranian journalist Mehran Faraji received a confirmed prison sentence from the appellate court today.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that Faraji’s six-month suspended sentence comes on top of a six-month jail term for “propaganda activities against the regime.” He was sentenced to one year in prison in the preliminary court.

According to the report, Faraji was held in solitary confinement throughout his arrest and was denied a defence attorney at court.

Faraji was arrested last December and released two months later on bail of $100,000.

Faraji has worked with several Iranian dailies as well as the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) and the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA).

In the past two years, many journalists have been arrested on similar charges and many have received stiff sentences.

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Hamid Reza Khadem Serving His Sentence in Evin Prison

Political activist Hamid Reza Khadem, 34, reported to Evin Court in order to begin serving his four year prison sentence and has been locked up behind bars in Ward 350.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on December 7, 2010, the fifteenth branch of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Hamid Reza Khadem to 5 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and propaganda against the regime. This sentence was later commuted to 4 years by the Appeals Court.

Hamid Reza Khadem was arrested after the presidential election in 2009. He is a member the Research Bureau of the National Front of Iran (Jebhe Meli).

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Amnesty International 2011 Iran Report Summary

Authorities maintained severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association & assembly.

Sweeping controls on domestic & international media aimed at reducing Iranians’ contact with the world were imposed.

Individuals & groups risked arrest, torture & imprisonment if perceived as co-operating with human rights & foreign-based Persian-language media organizations.

Political dissidents, women’s & minority rights activists & human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists & students were arrested & hundreds were imprisoned. Torture & other ill-treatment of detainees were routine & committed with impunity.

Women continued to face discrimination under the law & in practice.

Authorities acknowledged 252 executions; credible reports indicate >300. Juvenile offenders executed. Sentences of death by stoning continued to be passed. Floggings & an increased number of amputations were carried out.

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Peyman Aref, a student of political science at Tehran University, was sentenced in March 2010 to a year in jail after being found guilty of propaganda against the regime for speaking to foreign media.

Aref, who was initially arrested in the aftermath of Iran's disputed presidential elections in 2009, was also sentenced to 74 lashes for writing an "insulting" letter to Ahmadinejad and given a lifetime ban on working as a journalist or membership of any political parties.

His jail sentence came to an end on Sunday, October 9,. 2011-- but, hours before his release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison, Aref was told the lashing would be carried out.

A masked prison guard carried out the lashing in presence of Aref's wife and officials from Iran's judiciary. News of the lashing come only a few weeks after Somayeh Tohidlou, a female Iranian blogger and campaigner for former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, was sentenced to a "symbolic" lashing for the same crime.

Unlike Tohidlou's symbolic punishment – designed to humiliate rather than harm – Aref was indeed whipped. Pictures taken after his release show his bloodied back covered in wounds.

"Lashing people sentenced to various charges such as those caught drinking alcohol is common in Iran but political activists are usually lashed for ambiguous charges such as desecrating Islam or prophets," said an Iranian journalist based in Tehran who asked not to be named. "Lashing Aref for insulting Ahmadinejad is shocking and unprecedented."

In a letter to the president during his 2009 election campaign, Aref attacked Ahmadinejad for his crackdown on students who had been politically active at university and barred from continuing with their studies.

Undergraduates and students who had criticised the government were given up to three "penalty points", according to the potential threat they were said to pose. Aref was among the "three-starred" MA students who were not not allowed to continue their studies. About 150 were starred.

Speaking to the website Rahesabz, Aref said after his release: "Whenever Ahmadinejad goes to New York [for UN general assembly], he boasts that Iran is the world's freest country but I was brutally flogged in my country for insulting him."

He added: "[My crime] was that I wrote an open letter to Ahmadinejad and reminded him of what he did to the universities." Authorities apparently have taken offense because Aref refused to begin his letter with the formal greeting "Salam" as a sign of protest. Iran's online community reacted with shock to Aref's lashing with many people sharing pictures of his back covered in blood on social networking websites.

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, Peyman Aref was arrested once again, just days after his release.

The Rahana Human Rights House of Iran reported that Aref went to Evin Court on that day for processing of the charges against him and he was arrested once more.

Aref was previously arrested, along with fellow activists Assal Esmaizadeh and Sharar Konour Tabrizi, on Sunday, October 30, 2011 in Beheshte Zahra Cemetery. They were visiting the grave of Neda AghaSoltan, the young woman who was shot to death on the streets of Tehran during election protests in June 2009. The activists were released one day later.

After his release, Aref told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that there are no laws against visiting a grave and no arrest warrants were issued. He added that even after their arrest, they were not charged with any crimes.

The other two activists reportedly were released while Aref was rearrested. It is thought that Aref had angered the authorities by allowing his wounds from the vicious whipping ("lashing") to be photographed.

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Updates 2 , December , 2011

Ahmad Reza Ahmadpour who was transferred to Ahvaz prison last week, was verbally notified of the increase in his prison sentence.

Per a document from the Qom special court for the clergy, it was verbally announced to Ahamdpour that not only was his request for release denied, 2 years were added to his prison sentence for the additional charge against him of “acting against national security” and he must now spend 5 years behind bars.
Ahmadpour who was summoned to court on Tuesday objected to the sentencing and asked that the added charge of acting against national security be dropped considering it was not part of the verdict that the appellate court had previously handed down. But he was told that even though they understood his point, the court’s hands were tied and there was nothing they could do.

Full Story Here ;
http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=12240

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/46333

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Appeals court upheld 13-year prison sentence for cleric Ahmad Reza Ahmadpour.

Ahmad Reza Ahmadpour, dissident cleric, blogger, former political prisoner and member of the Qom Hezbeh Mosharekat to be imprisoned for 13 years.

Ahmad Reza Ahmadpour is a cleric, member of the Qom Hezbeh Mosharekat (Participation Front), a blogger for Pezhak-e Khamoosh, and a researcher. Intelligence agents in the city of Qom arrested him on July 19, 2010 after which he spent almost a year in prison. The appeals court has now issued a verdict based on additional charges against this cleric.
According to Human Rights House of Iran, Ahmadpour was handed down a sentence of 3 years behind bars in Ahvaz prison and 10-years exile to the city of Izeh. He has now found out that this verdict has been upheld at the appellate court.

Ahmadpour faced the new charges stemming from a letter he wrote to the United Nations. Because of this letter he was convicted of “publishing lies for the intent of disturbing public opinion”, “propaganda against the regime” and “violating the dignity of the clergy.”

In 2009 Ahmadpour was convicted of “acting against national security”, “propaganda against the regime”, and “violating the dignity of the clergy.” At that time he was handed down a one-year sentence, which he served behind bars.

Ahmadpour is a war veteran [of the Iran-Iraq war] who suffers from physical disabilities due to being exposed to chemical weapons during the war. Even though per doctor’s orders it is imperative that Seyed Ahmadpour is under around the clock medical supervision, the courts have handed down this new verdict with plans of again putting this cleric behind bars.

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/45631

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Isa Faridi sentenced to 5 yeas in prison. Judge Salavati handed down a 5-year prison sentence, $40,000 fine and 30 lashes.

In a court session last week branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Salavati handed down the verdict for Isa Farid. This citizen will face 5 years behind bars, plus a $40,000 fine and 30 lashes.

According to Kaleme, Faridi was arrested in June 2009 during the mass arrests and harsh crackdowns on citizens that took place following the protests against the disputed presidential elections. Faridi was detained at his office at work and transferred to Evin’ ward 2A, which is under the supervision of the Revolutionary Guards (IRCG).

Faridi endured 110 days in solitary confinement in the notoriously harsh 2A ward before he was released with a heavy bail of close to $310,000.
He was acquitted of some of the charges against him, and no decision was handed down on other charges that will up for review in the future. Isa Faridi has been involved in various areas of commerce including construction and the Ministry of Oil.

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/45600

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Political prisoner Majid Dorri’s health is fast deteriorating while officials in Behbahan Prison continue to deny him the necessary medical care.

Majid Dorri is an imprisoned student activist expelled from Allameh Tabatabai University (ATU) in Tehran. He studied literature at ATU and was a member of the Advocacy Council for the Right to Education.

Dorri was suspended and eventually expelled from Alameh University when he objected to the flaws in the University’s leadership and the imposed security atmosphere on campus. He founded the Education Rights Committee along with several other students in 2008 (they became known as star students).

When Ahmadinejad denied the existence of star students (students deprived of continuing their education), Dorri participated in the protests to Ahmadinejad’s remarks.

In July of 2009, Majid Dorri was arrested by Iranian Intelligence Agency and locked up in Evin Prison. The lower court sentenced him to 11 years in prison for Moharebeh (waging war against God), acting against national security and disturbing public order on November 24, 2009. His sentence was reduced to 6 years of imprisonment by the appeals court but his exile sentence to Izeh remained the same.

In August 2010, without prior notice, prison officials placed Majid Dorri in shackles and transferred him to a prison in the city of Behbahan. Since then, he has been serving his prison term in exile.

According to a 19 October, 2011 report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), although Majid Dorri suffers from migraines and anemia and needs to be treated by a specialist, prison officials refuse to transfer him to a hospital outside the prison.

In an interview with HRANA, one of Majid Dorri’s family members reported that the officials have turned down the family’s request to transfer Majid to one of the prisons in Tehran.

In one of his letters written from prison, Majid Dorri described his situation and wrote, “I have not only been behind bars since July 9, 2009, they have also given me the court’s verdict sentencing and exiling me to 6 years in prison so that I forgo my youth and make myself ready to face an unfair and unjust imprisonment as far from the smallest amount of fairness as possible. The judges condemned me to spend this prison term behind bars in the city of Izeh. It was as if Intelligence Agency’s interrogators had forgotten to tell the judges that Izeh had no prisons. Inevitably, I had to be exiled to another prison with the lowest and smallest amount of standards possible, a prison situated in the worst climate under primitive conditions similar to that of the Dark Ages.”

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HRANA News Agency – Seven professors and officials involved in Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) have been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison. BIHE is a provisional online university established for Baha'i citizens who have been denied the opportunity to study at Iran’s higher education institutes.

According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, during the last couple of days, Judge Moqayaseh presiding over the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court has sentenced seven Baha'i citizens to a total of 30 years in prison. The defendants were present in the courtroom when the verdicts were read. Defense attorneys objected to the rulings and filed appeals on behalf of their clients. The verdicts are as follows:

* Kamran Mortezahi - 5 years imprisonment
* Vahid Mahmodi - 5 years imprisonment
* Riaz Sobhani – 4 years imprisonment
* Mahmoud Badavam – 4 years imprisonment
* Ramin Zibaie – 4 years imprisonment
* Farhad Sedghi – 4 years imprisonment
* Noshin Khadam – 4 years imprisonment

Citing Article 499 of the Islamic Penal Code, Judge Moqayaseh sentenced seven Baha'i professors and university officials for being involved in an illegal group with the intention to commit crimes against Iran’s national security. These seven individuals together with nearly 300,000 other citizens throughout the country are members of Iran’s Baha'i Community outlawed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On May 22, 2011, Iranian security forces raided the houses of more than 40 Baha'i professors, students and university officials and arrested six of the aforementioned individuals. Riaz Sobhani was arrested separately on June 13, 2011. During the last few months, more than 20 Baha'i citizens connected to the online university have been detained, and nearly 50 individuals have been summoned to the Intelligence Agency. Furthermore, several buildings including a laboratory have been sealed, and the university’s website has been filtered and blocked multiple times.

Last week, all of the defendants with the exception of Noshin Khadam were transferred to Rajai-Shahr Prison. On October 15, 2011, Noshin Khadam was transferred to the women’s ward in Evin Prison.

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We are calling Iranian authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of our Iranian colleagues Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Katayoon Shahabi, who have been recently arrested for practising their profession as film makers.

They are believed to be held in section 209 of Evin prison in Teheran, which is controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence. Their colleagues Hadi Afarideh, Nasser Saffarian and Mohsen Shahnazdar, who have been arrested together with them were released on bail, their cases are pending.

In recent month our Iranian colleagues have been faced with increasing repression: several film makers have been detained or face imprisonment: Marzieh Vafamehr, an award-winning Iranian actress has been sentenced to 90 lashes as well as to one and a half year of detention. The corporal punishment has not yet been executed.

In July 2011, security officials arrested film makers, Mahnaz Mohammadi and Pegah Ahangarani. Both women were later released on bail, their cases are still pending. They are not allowed to leave the country.

Internationally celebrated directors Ja’far Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof were both sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in December 2010. In addition Ja’far Panahi was banned from any involvement in film-making for 20 years.

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STOP THE KILLING OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS BY SIGNING THIS PETITION!

بە ئیمزا و پشتیوانی خۆت، ڕێ بگره‌ لە کوشتاری شارومەندی سیڤیل و بێتاوان
با امضاء کردن خود در این اعتراض نامه‌ از کوشتار مردم بیگناه پیشگیری کنید

وقف قتل المدنيين الأبرياء من خلال التوقيع على هذه العريضة

کۆردی

لە ماوەی ٣٣ ساڵاندا، کۆماری ئیسلامی ئێران، دەستوورێکی بنەڕەتی دەکار خستووە کە بەرانبەر گرووپە ئێتنیکییەکانی وڵات فەرق و جیاوازی دانراوە. بودجەی وڵات بە شێوەیەکی ناعادڵانە دابەش کردووە و کەمی بۆ ناوچە کوردییەکان تەرخان کردووە.
حکومەت بە ئانقەست پەروانەی زۆر کاری قەدەغە کردووە کە دەتوانن یارمەتی بە پەرەگرتن و بووژانەوە لە ناوچە کوردییەکان بدا. دارستانەکانی سەر سنوور بۆ لاوازکردنی ژێرخانی ئابووری و ژیانی کورد دەسووتێنن تا کورد ناچار بکەن پێویستی بە حکومەت بێ. کار و کاسبی لە ڕەوشێکی خراپ دایە و بوارێکی زۆر بۆ کورد پێک ناهێنێ. ئەوان ناچار کراون کە ڕێگەیەک بۆ وەدەستهێنانی مووچەیەک بۆ نانی ڕۆژانەیان بدۆزنەوە. زۆریان ژیانی خۆیان بە هەڵگرتن و گواستنەوەی کاڵا لە سەر سنوور بەڕێوە دەبەن. کاتێ چەکدارانی سنووری حکومەت پێیان بزانن، کۆڵبەرەکان هەر لەوێ دەکوژن.
سەربازەکانی سنوور ڕۆڵی سەرباز، پۆلیس، دەزگای قانوونی و ئیدارەی بەڕێوەبەری قانوون دەگێڕن، بە بێ ئەوە کە زانیارییان هەبێ کە کۆڵبەر چی لە سەر پشتە. گەر کۆڵبەر کاڵایەکی قاچاغی هەڵبگرێ، دەبێ سزای بە پێی ڕادەی پێشێلکردنی قانوون بێ. ئەو کاڵایانەی کە لە سنووری دەپەڕێننەوە، جۆراوجۆرن. بە پێی قانوونی ئێران هێنانی ئەو کاڵایانە بۆ نێوخۆی وڵات قاچاغە کە هەڕەشە بکاتە سەر ئابووری وڵات و هێزی چێکەری کاڵای نێوخۆیی، یان ئەو کاڵایانەی کە بە پێی قانوونی ئیسلام قەدەغەن.
زۆرینەی ئەو کاڵایانەی کە لە سنوور تێدەپەڕن، نە هەڕەشەیان خستۆتە سەر ئابووری وڵات یان هێزی کاڵاسازکەری نێوخۆیی و بە دژی قانوونی ئیسلامیش نین. ئەو کۆڵبەرانە بە بێ ئەوە کە کارێکی غەیری قانوونییان کردبێ، دەکوژرێن. ئەو کۆڵبەرانەی لەم دەقەدا ئاماژەیان پێ کراوە، مرۆڤێکن کە لەم سیستەمەدا لە دایک بوون و گەورە بوون. هەر بۆیە خۆیان باش ئاگادارن کە بە ئەنجامی ئەو کارە، چ مەترسییەکیان لە پێش دەبێ. سەرەڕای ئەوەش ئەوان بەختی خۆیان تاقی دەکەنەوە، بۆ ئەوە کە ژیانێکی بایەخداریان وەک شارومەندانی کۆماری ئیسلامی ئێران هەبێ.

فارسی ...........................

به‌ مدت 33 سال است که‌ قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی که‌ بین شهروندان تبعیض قائل میشود. در همین راستا بودجه‌ مناطق مختلف ایران بر اساس همان قانون تبعیض تقسیم میشود . سهم مناطق کۆرد نشین به‌ مراتب کمتر از دیگر مناطق میباشد و در همین راستا حکومت ایران پروانه‌ بسیاری از مراکز اشتغال را در کردستان یا لغو کرده‌ و یا عملاء کار در بسیاری از مراکز را برای ان مردم غیر ممکن کرده‌ است .
مناطق کشاورزی و دامداری در مناطق کۆرد نشین از جانب دولت به‌ اتش کشیده‌ میشود تا به‌ این وسیله‌ زیر بنای اقتصادی ان مناطق نیز از بین برود و ملت کۆرد را وادر نماید تا از نظر معیشتی محتاج دولت جمهوری اسلامی باشند. عدم وجود اشتغال برای مرزنشیان مناطق کۆرد نشین انها را وادار کرده‌ است که‌ برای رسیدن به‌ یک زندگی ابتدای مجبور به‌ کولبری در مقابل دستمزدی بسیار کم در مناطق مرزی شوند و بدین وسیله‌ امرار معاشی برای زندگی کردن خود بدست بیاورند.
زمانی که‌ سربازان و پاسدارن حکومتی کولبرها را میبینند انها را همانجا میکشند. سربازن و پاسداران مرزی در این مناطق رول سربازن مرزی ، پلیس و دستگاه‌ قضایی را به‌ خود گرفته‌اند سزای کولبری که‌ در دید این سربازان و پاسداران باشد مرگ است. با وجود اینکه‌ این کالاها عمدتا کالاهایی هستند که‌ بر طبق قانون اساسی ایران قاجاق نیستند.
طبق قانون اساسی ایران کالاهایی که‌ تاثیرات منفی بر کالاهای داخلی داشته‌ باشدو یا با قوانین اسلامی مغاریرت داشته‌ باشد باید مۆرد پیگیری قانونی قرار گیرد اما این کالاها عمدتا هیج تاثیری بر کالاهای ایرانی ندارند و مغایرتی هم با قوانین اسلامی ندارد. با این حال ان کولبرها بدونه‌ اینکه‌ مرتکب خطایی شده‌ باشند از طرف سربازان و پاسداران حکومت ایران به‌ رکبار بسته‌ میشوند.
این کولبرها در این سیستم سیاسی زندگی میکنند و شهوروندان این جامعه‌ میباشند به‌ همین خاطر انها خوب میداند که‌ با شغل کولبری جگونه‌ زندگی خود را به‌ مخاطره‌ میاندازند ولی انها برای بدست اوردن معاش روزنه‌ خود مجبور به‌ این کار میشوند تا از این طریق مانند شهروندی در جامعه‌ ایران امکان زندگی را داشته‌ باشند ،

عربي.............

جمهورية إيران الإسلامية لمدة 33 عاما يمارس الدستور التي تميز ضد الأقليات العرقية الكردية في البلاد. الميزانية تحكم ينقسم ظلما، تاركة القليل جدا من المناطق الكردية.
وتنفي الحكومة عمدا التنمية في هذه المناطق. وقد تم حرق الغابات في المناطق الحدودية وصولا الى إزالة سبل العيش للشعب الكردي.

هذا هو يغري لإجبار الأكراد على أن يكون مدمن ولاء تجاه النظام الإسلامي. ظروف العمل صعبة ويترك خيارات قليلة للبقاء على قيد الحياة بالنسبة للأقلية الكردية. اختيار العديد من لافساح الطريق معيشتهم التي تحمل البضائع عبر الحدود من العراق. عندما يكتشف الجنود الحدود الإيرانية لهم ، انهم ينفذ فورا.

أفعال الجنود الحدود في هذه المسألة على النحو الجنود والشرطة والعدالة والجلاد. يتصرفون من دون معرفة ما هي ناقلات يصل فعليا على ظهورهم، وإذا كان في الواقع هو غير قانوني على الإطلاق. إذا كانت تجلب شيئا غير قانوني ، ومن المفترض العقوبة لتتناسب مع الجريمة. السلع التي يتم نقل أنواع مختلفة. وفقا للقانون الإيراني ، إنه من غير القانوني لاستيراد السلع التي ينظر اليها على انها تهديد لاقتصاد تحكم أو إنتاج البلدان الخاصة.

كما يحظر استيراد السلع التي يحظر عليها القانون الإسلامي. معظم السلع هي في الواقع لا. تهديدا ضد الحكومة، والإنتاج في البلد أو غير المشروعة ضد الشريعة الإسلامية حتى في معظم الحالات هذه الناقلات هي في الواقع كما قتل الناس الأبرياء، وليس مذنبا بأي جريمة.

ناقلات نتحدث عنه في هذا النص هو مألوف مع النظام الايراني والنظام. ومع ذلك فهي لا تزال مع هذا الخطر غير إنسانية من أجل البقاء ، ويعيش حياة محترمة كمواطن في الجمهورية الاسلامية ما اذا كانت ايران.

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“Stop killing and massacring Kurdish Porters”.

As everybody know that these kinds of news have been broadcasted by the news-broadcasts more than ten and hundred times. Islamic republic of Iran violates and savages Kurdish rights in east of Kurdistan; Kurdish citizens there do not have right of explanation and do not have right to work freely as the other citizens do in Iran, and they use brutality to kill and eradicate feeling of Kurdish people. They show no mercy toward the Kurds in murdering them; particularly they point their guns towards the Kurdish businessmen and carriers or porters on the borders, they attack them mercilessly and roughly. This regime pours bullets on the Kurdish people’s head instead of hospitality.

Hundreds of men in order to supply food for their families, children and relatives have been killed by their bloody hands. They wanted to intimidate and frighten other places by killing husbands, wives, brothers and sisters of poor citizens in Iran. Many families have been orphaned by their cruel and disgust conducts.

Only during a couple of weeks, five persons have been murdered by the Iranian forces hardly; they kill people for no reason but to keep their places and sovereignty appetite. There is no role there. Those people that have been killed were totally innocent, coz if they judged by the court fairly they would not be punished to spend their lives even in the penitentiaries.

Unfortunately people of Kurdistan have only two ways to provide and guarantee a better life for themselves and their families, either they must go to the Persian and Turkish’s inhabitant areas to do hard and tough works in the bakeries with a little money which is insufficient to provide their lives or they resort to porterage on the borders to carry and convey goods from one place to another. They know that paralysis and death will wait them and they know that they are in danger; they know that they are at stake but they do it in order to live their lives as a human.

Another way to continue their lives is some people resort to spy on p[p0each other in another word some of them will be hired by the government to spy on the others. But this kind of job is very hard to be accepted by the conscious people or by those who have spirit of philanthropy.

The issue of porterage springs from having bad and barren economy in Kurdish inhabitance area, especially those who live on the borders. Poverty and starving have made the heads of the families to risk everything like ambush, attacking them by the Iranian forces, and implanted mines or natural events in order to obtain a better life for their families. Economic situation in part of Kurdistan is not good, because the regime wants to keep economy of Kurdistan at the back.

وه‌ک هه‌موو لایه‌ک ئاگادارن و به‌ ده‌یان و سه‌دان جار له‌ راگه‌یاندنه‌کان دا بڵاو کراوه‌ته‌وه‌، کۆماری ئیسلامی ئێران بە شێوەی سیستماتیک و له‌ درێژه‌ی سیاسه‌تی زه‌بر و زه‌نگ و کوشتاری بێ بەزەییانەی هاوڵاتیانی کورد لە رۆژهەڵاتی کوردستان، بەردەوام کاسبکاران و کۆڵ‌به‌رانی سه‌ر سنور ده‌کاته‌ ئامانجی ده‌ستڕێژی گولله‌ و تا ئێستا به‌ سه‌دان که‌س لە رێگای دابین کردنی بژیوی ماڵ و مناڵەکانیان دا کوژران و سەدان بنه‌ماڵه‌ی هه‌ژار بە مه‌رگی باوک، برا یان هاوسەرەکانیان داخدار کردوه‌ و هه‌وڵی داوه‌ له‌م رێگه‌وه‌ فه‌زای ترس به‌سه‌ر ئه‌و ناوچانه‌ دا بسه‌پێنێت. تەنیا لە ماوەی ٢ حەوتوو دا، پێنج ئینسان بێ بەزەییانە کەوتنە بەر دەسڕێژی هێزەکانی کۆماری ئیسلامی و گیانیان لە دەست دا کە تەنانەت ئەگەر بە پێی یاساکانی خودی کۆماری ئیسلامی و لە دادگاکانی رێژیمیشدا موحاکەمە کرابان، تاوانی ساڵێک زیندانیان بەسەردا نەدەسەپا.
دیارده‌ی کۆڵبه‌ری له‌ راستی دا خولقاوی بارودۆخی ناله‌باری ئابووری کوردستان و بە تایبەتی بنه‌ماڵه‌کانی نیشتەجێ لە نیزیک سنورە و، برسێتی و بێ ده‌ره‌تانی سه‌رپەرستانی ئەو بنه‌ماڵانەی ناچار کردووە‌ که‌ بۆ دابین کردنی ژیانێکی باشتر، مەترسیە جۆراوجۆرەکانی کۆڵبەری و لەوانە کەمین و دەسڕێژی هێزە چەکدارەکانی کۆماری ئیسلامی، مینە چێندراوەکان و کارەساتە سروشتیەکان بە گیان بکڕن. له‌ راستی دا ئەم دیاردەیە دەرەنجامی سیاسه‌تی‌ هه‌ڵه‌، هێشتنەوەی کوردستان لە دواکەوتوویی ئابووری دا، تێڕوانینی‌ سیاسیانە و زاڵبوونی روانگەی ئه‌منیه‌تی کۆماری ئیسلامیە کە ماوەی پتر لە ٣٠ ساڵە بە سەر خەڵکی کوردستانی دا سەپاندووە.
بە داخەوە خەڵکی کوردستان بۆ دابین کردنی ژیانێکی باشتر بۆ خۆیان و بنەماڵەکانیان تەنیا دوو رێگەیان یان لە بەردەم دا ماوەتەوە: یان ده‌بێ روو بکه‌نه‌ شاره‌ فارس و تورک نشینه‌کان و به‌ حەقدەستێکی کەم لە بەرامبەر کاری تاقەت پروکێنی کورەخانە و... پشت بچەمێننەوە یان له‌سه‌ر سنوره‌کان کۆڵبەری بکەن و مه‌ترسی کوژران و نەقوستان بوون بە گیان بکڕن. هه‌ڵبه‌ت رێگای سێهه‌میش هه‌یه‌ و ئه‌ویش خۆ فرۆشی و جاشایه‌تیە که‌ وه‌ک دیاره‌ ئه‌و کاره‌ به‌ خه‌ڵکی به‌ شه‌ره‌ف ناکرێ.

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همانگونه‌ که‌ مطلعيد و ده‌ها و صدها بار در رسانه‌های مختلف به‌ سمع و نظر جهانيان رسيده‌ است، جمهوری اسلامی ايران به‌ شيوه‌ای سيستماتيک و در ادامه‌ی سياست فشار و کشتار بيرحمانه‌ی هموطنان کرد در شرق کردستان ، پيوسته‌ کاسبکاران و کولبرانی را که‌ بر سر مرزها برای تهیە لقمه‌ای نان رنج می برند را آماج سلاحهای خود کرده‌ و تا کنون صدها نفر از اين زحمتکشان را در راه کسب معيشت خانواده‌ و فرزندانشان کشته‌ شده‌ و صدها خانواده‌ی فقير و کم درآمد در این راە به‌ سوگ پدران، برادران یا همسرانشان نشسته‌اند. تمام تلاش رژيم بر اين بوده‌ است که‌ از اين راه فضای رعب و وحشت را بر این مناطق ‌‌‌حکمفرما کند. تنها در دو هفته‌ی اخير ۵ انسان زحمتکش و بی دفاع، با قساوت هرچه‌ تمامتر هدف گلوله‌ نيروهای رژيم اسلامی ايران قرار گرفته‌اند که‌ حتی بر طبق قوانين خود جمهوری اسلامی هم اگر در دادگاهها محاکمه‌ ميشدند جرمی بیشتر از يک سال حبس بر آنها تحميل نمی شد.

پديده‌ی کولبری در واقع نتيجه‌ی وضعيت نامساعد اقتصادی کوردستان و مخصوصا خانواده‌های مقیم شهرها و روستاهای مرزی است کە فقر و گرسنگی روز افزون سرپرستان خانواده‌ها را ناچار ميکند تا جهت تامين معيشت و زندگی بهتر خانوادە خطرات کار کولبری مانند خطرات مينها، شلیک مستقیم نيروهای رژيم ايران یا رو بە رو شدان با خطرات طبيعی کوهستانهای صعب العبور را به‌ جان بخرند. در واقع اين پديده‌ نتيجه‌ی سياستهای نابجا و اشتباه رژیم، نگە داشتن جامعە کوردستان در فقر اقتصادی و ديد سياسی - امنيتی حکام جمهوری اسلامی ايران بە کوردستان است که‌ اکنون بيش از ۳۰ سال کە بر مردم اين مناطق حکمفرما شده‌ است.

متاسفانه‌ مردم کردستان در طول اين سالها و اکنون نيز برای تامين زندگی و معيشت خانواده‌های خود دو راه بیشتر ندارند: يا بايد به‌ شهرهای غير کوردنشين روی آورده‌ و با دست مزد قليل بە کارهای طاقت فرسايی چون کوره‌های آجر پزی و غيره‌ بپردازند و يا بر سر مرزها به‌ کولبری و کارهای مشابه‌ بپردازند و خطر کشته‌ شدن و نقص عضو و معلولیت و.. را به‌ جان بخرند. البتە راه سومی هم هست و آن هم خيانت به‌ ملت و خود فروشی به‌ سيستم و جاسوسی و مزدوری کردن برای رژيم ايران هست این کار از انسانهای با شرافت بر نميايد.

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Currently, lots of civil and cultural Azerbaijani activists have been arrested by the Iranian intelligence service. Since environmental activists in Tabriz, Urmia and other cities started to protest against Iranian parliament indifferences regarding Lake Urmia’s drought, the number of prisoners has been significantly increased. Most of them physically were tortured and some of them have been taken to unknown places.

"Abbas Lisani" is one of the Azerbaijani civil rights activists who several times have been arrested and imprisoned by Iranian regime. Lately Mr. Lisani was arrested on 10th September 2011 in his house and was taken to Ardabil's intelligence service center. According to the prisoners, who recently released, he was tortured and bitten by prison authorities. It is said that, other prisoners heard his painful voice when he was tortured.

"Abbas Lisani" is said to suffer from stomach problem, and pain in his ribs, which is allegedly a result of torture inflicted during previous periods of detention. He has started his hunger strike against unlawful condition of his arrest. However in his latest contact he told that ended his hungry strike. Said his wife Mrs. Rughayye Lisani. As result of Mr. Lesani’s gloomy situation, Mrs. Lisani suffers from nerve's disease and her health situation is undesirable.

Now Mr.Lisani's life is in serious danger. His family phone line is monitoring by "Iranian intelligence service" and whoever wants to visit his family are threatened by Iranian security forces.

We refer to human rights activists and organizations to inform other related organizations in order to condemn Iranian regime and ask to release Mr. Lesani by providing him sufficient aids regarding his health situation.

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ALI MANSOURI is an Iranian asylumseeker in Sweden .

For the second time a pilot refused to take him to a violent death sentenced ! This time he was chained hands and legs and mishandled by the Swedish police.

He was taken chained to a chair on board a little, private plain and then to Amsterdam, where he was then in chains moved to a passenger plane en route to Tehran. He asks for help and he receives a well deserved help from the Honorable people on board who demand the plane taxi back and stopped the deportation.

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Re: Asylum case of Mr Hadi Abdollahian holder of the UNHCR registration no 385-11C04414, reference number 2011/PLN/01217, national of Iran, born on 09/03/1991.

Dear UNHCR officer,

As a human rights activist, I am writing to express my deepest concerns regarding the status of the above-named asylum seeker whose application is currently under consideration in Turkey while he is waiting for his substantive interview to take place.

Whilst in Iran, due to his, and his father’s activities against the current regime, Hadi has been subject to such various ill-treatments as torture, rape, imprisonment and other forms of discriminatory behaviours, for which visual and medical evidences are available.

Hadi was the designer of two well-known websites both of which were later used to spread anti-regime materials. Evidence is accordingly available on the internet and shall be submitted to your office, too. Mr Abdollahian’s father, who was a senior airforce pilot during the previous regime of Iran, was killed in a suspicious road incident in Iran in 2008 following which the authorities refused to further pursue the case.

A brief summary of one of the events Hadi has be gone through would be as follows:

After the death his father, Hadi was contacted by the Intelligent Services agents, accused to be doing what his father was doing, and to be a Pan Azeri, and was thus forced to cooperate with them. During a meeting, he was told that those responsible for his father’s death will only be found if he accepts the cooperation. He was thereby forced by the agents to cooperate in Computer and IT related matters. Following the 2009 election and the Green Movement in Iran, and after observing what was being done to people, he decided to upload the clips taken from the event onto the internet, that is, to one of his well-known websites. This was action was perceived by the agents of the regime, upon which he gets summoned to the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tabriz, East Azerbaijan. Once he returns home from a short holiday, he gets beaten up very badly in front of their house by several members of the Basij force, following which he makes a note on his website describing the event. The next day, he gets arrested and blindfolded, and was taken to place that he describes as a “smelly basement”, where he was severely tortured, hit with pipes and thick sticks, sexually raped, abused, humiliated, and said that the next time he will end up dead. He is thereafter blindfolded again, and thrown out of a car in the countryside of his city, Ahar.

As a result of the aforementioned events, and various other incidents faced by Hadi, he is now suffering from severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), insomnia, nightmares, and is highly suicidal. He is also suffering from various physical difficulties such as constant backaches, headaches, heartburns, and is in serious need of medical investigation, hospitalisation and treatment.

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Shahrokh Zamani, Nima Pouryaghob, Mohammad Jarahi and Sasan Vahebivash have been sentenced to heavy prison terms in Tabriz, Iran.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the aforementioned individuals are labor activists and students in the city of Tabriz. The Revolutionary Court, Branch 1, has issued verdicts sentencing them to a total of 22 years and 6 months in prison. A fifth defender, Buick Sydler, was found not guilty.

Shahrokh Zamani was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of organizing an opposition group and propaganda against the regime.

Mohammad Jarahi received a 5 year prison term for organizing an opposition group. Nima Pouryaghob was sentenced to 6 years in prison on charges of organizing an opposition group and propaganda against the regime.

Sasan Vahebivash received a 6 month prison term on charges of the membership in an organization opposing IRI and propaganda against the regime.

The Revolutionary Court, Branch 1, tried and convicted these leftist labor activists and students on August 18, 2011. Prior to this trial, a bail approximately equivalent to $94,000 was set for Nima Pouryaghob while Sasan Vahebivash and Buick Sydler each posted approximately $30,000 bail to be temporally released from Tabriz Prison.

The verdicts issued against these political activists are unprecedented in Tabriz in the recent few years.

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