Tue 16 07 2013
In her latest monthly report, Shirin Ebadi, the human rights defender
and winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has reviewed the human rights
situation in Iran during the month of Khordad 1392 [Iranian month
corresponding to 21 May to 21 June 2013]. In the introduction to the
report for May-June, Dr. Ebadi has focused on the issues of the freedom
of expression, and the importance of free flow of information, and she
has assessed the way the Islamic Republic of Iran is approaching these
two issues. In her report, this defender of human rights has made a
reference to the ongoing hacking of websites [endorsed by the state
authorities in Iran] , as well as the Intelligence Ministry’s summoning
of the family members of Iranian journalists working for Persian
language media organizations outside Iran.
Dr. Ebadi's latest monthly report has emphasized the importance of the
officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran respecting the freedom of
expression.
Moreover, the report by the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, which is
published in both Farsi and English languages, has set out to review the
human rights situation in Iran under the three main headings of: “civil
and political rights”, “social and economic rights”, and “cultural
heritage and the environment”.
According to the website of the Centre for Defenders of Human Rights,
the text of Dr. Ebadi’s report for Khordad 1392, which has been
published on 1 Tir [22 June 2013], is as follows:
A Brief Report on Human Rights Situation in Iran in May-June 2013
Introduction:
During the month of Khordad, in which the 11th presidential elections in
Iran were held, a number of websites, including the official website of
the Centre for Defenders of Human Rights, were hacked on three separate
occasions by a group calling itself "the unknown virtual jihad" group.
According to the findings of some investigations carried out, it has
become clear that the above-named group is operated and directed by the
agents and officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Of course, this
problem continued right until the end of Khordad, and even efforts by
technical specialists did not manage to rectify the situation.
At the same time, there were severe disruptions in access to the
Internet in many regions of the country, as a result of blocking and
filtering the service and reducing its speed. It should be noted that a
number of official websites and news agencies were also blocked by the
"working group for determination of manifestations of unlawful content"
These kinds of unlawful activities are yet more examples of restrictions
imposed on the freedom of expression and the free flow of information
in Iran, and we have seen similar activities time and again in the past.
Every time that the Islamic Republic of Iran senses that it is facing
threat and danger, it resorts to a variety of unlawful courses of
action, such as for instance hacking different websites, jamming the
signals of Farsi language TV channels based outside Iran, and finally
putting pressure on, or making threats against, the families of
individuals who live outside Iran and happen to be engaged in journalism
or other professions involving communications and information
dissemination. In this manner, the regime tries to silence the voice of
its critics, and create obstacles for the process of free flow and
exchange of information.
In addition, in the month of Khordad [21 May to 21 June 2013], the
Google company, that is to say one of the major providers of Internet
search engines, announced that it has noticed a series of politically
motivated efforts aimed at hacking the accounts of tens of thousands of
Iranians using its services.
The noteworthy point that needs to be emphasized in relation to these
unlawful and unethical courses of action is the fact that in the past,
my own website, with the title “Shirin Ebadi”, was also hacked and the
site became inaccessible to me. In addition, by misusing my name, the
hackers embarked on publishing certain types of material which were not
compatible with my points of view. Furthermore, on the Skype service
too, several user IDs under the name of Shirin Ebadi have been created,
but the fact is none of these has any connection at all with me.
In addition to the topics mentioned above, what now follows is a summary
account of the human rights situation in Iran during the month of 21
May to 21 June 2013. This report is based on information published by
various media channels and websites, and their accuracy has been
verified. The report will appear under three separate sections, in both
Farsi and English.
Human Rights Situation in Iran in Khordad 1392
Section 1: Civil, Cultural and Political Rights
A) Situation of Nonconformist Political and Social Activists
1. During this month, 29 people were arrested and detained, some of whom
were released after a few days once they were able to post a bail. The
arrested individuals included: three student activists at the University
of Shiraz, Mohammad Reza Vahedi, Azita Firuz-Zadeh and Mehdi Farmani;
the head of the youths' section of the election campaign HQ for Hassan
Rouhani (one of the candidates in the presidential elections),
Sa'idollah Badashti; three members of the youths' section of the
election campaign HQ for Hassan Rouhani in the city of Tabriz, Behnam
Nikzad, Amin Farid Yahya'i and Ali Arujzadeh; an official in the Islamic
Iran Participation Front in West Azarbayjan Province, Esma'il Mirza'i;
three members of the home-based church in Esfahan Province, Mohammad
Reza Farid, Sa'id Safi and Hamid Reza Qadiri; four sympathizers and
supporters of the council for the religious-nationalist activists, Reza
Aqakhani, Nasrollah Lashani, Alireza Akbarzadeh and Hossein Bahira'i;
the head of the Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization in
Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad Province [western Iran], Seyyed Reza Askari; ;
the head of the Islamic Iran Participation Front in Kohgiluyeh va Boyer
Ahmad Province; a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front in
Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad Province, Qasem Yazdani; a member of the
central council of the Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization
in Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad Province, Seyyed Askar Erfanizadeh; five
citizens who were present at one of the election campaign gatherings of
Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Mohammad Parsi, Mohsen Rahmani, Nafiseh
Nikbakht, Shirin Mirkarimi, Mohammad Ehtesham and Zahra Saff Yari; a
priest active in the Assemblies of God church, Robert Aseriyan; a social
and civil activist in the city of Esfahan, Na'im Salavati; political
activist Pezhman Zafarmand; and a student activist in Tabriz, Arash
Mohammadi.
2. Afshin Koshtkari, a student activist, has been transferred to the
Adel Abad Prison of Shiraz in order to serve his six month custodial
prison sentence. At the same time, another student activist, Ashkan
Zahabian, was transferred to the Babol [northern Iran] prison to serve
his six month jail sentence. Finally, Akbar Amini, who had received a
verdict of imprisonment for five years, has been arrested and
transferred to Evin Prison.
3. Seyyed Mahmud Alizadeh Tabataba'i, a defence lawyer, has been
sentenced to four months custodial prison sentence as well as 500
lashes. In addition, under the complementary punishment, he was also
banned from practicing his profession as a lawyer for a period of five
years. Saleh Moradi, an activist defending the rights of the members of
the Derwish sect was sentenced to one year custodial prison term, in
addition to one year in exile. Furthermore, Mahmud Beheshti Langarudi,
the former spokesman of the Professional Association of Iranian
Teachers, was sentenced to a five year imprisonment term which will be
in addition to his previous four year suspended prison sentence. At the
same time, Ehsan Hushmand, an activist supporting the
religious-nationalist camp, was given a one year suspended prison term.
Finally, Sa'id Madani, a member of the council for the
religious-nationalist activists - who is currently in prison -. was
given a jail term of six years in exile in the city of Bandar Abbas
[southern Iranian port] followed by a further 10 years of exile in the
same city, while Mohammad Sadeq Honarvar Shoja’i, a critical cleric and
weblog writer who is currently in Evin Prison, was sentenced to one more
year of imprisonment.
4. Mohtaram Rahmani, a social and civil activist, has been summoned to
the Islamic Revolution Magistrate Court for interrogation. In addition,
Hamed Siyasi-Rad, Mehdiyeh Golru and Hossein Ma'sumi too have been
summoned to the Intelligence Ministry for interrogation.
5. The Intelligence Ministry has closed down the church of the Assemblies of God denomination [in central Tehran].
6. State intelligence and security institutions have prevented the
holding of memorial ceremonies in Qom for the late Ayatollah Taheri, a
cleric who was critical of the Iranian political system. Furthermore,
the senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not allow the
burial of Ayatollah Taheri's body next to Ayatollah Montazeri's grave
[senior cleric also from Esfahan Province who was highly critical of the
Islamic Republic].
B) Situation Regarding Books, Media, Writers and Journalists
1. Two journalists, Omid Abdolvahhabi and Hesamoddin Eslamlu, were arrested during the month.
2. The BBC and Radio Farda organizations have announced that Iran's
Intelligence Ministry has summoned the family members of staff who are
working in the Persian language departments of these media organs. The
family members of Jamshid Barzegar are among those who have been
summoned in this manner.
3. A court has issued a verdict suspending the publication of Iran newspaper temporarily for six months.
4. The bail of 700 million Rials for Yaser Ma’sumi, who collaborated
with the website editions of newspapers, has been confiscated after he
left Iran. The guarantor who posted the bail for him will now have to
pay 40 million Rials every two months.
5. The website of Hassan Rouhani, the presidential election candidate,
has been made inaccessible. The website of the coalition of [reformist
candidate] Mohammad Reza Aref and Rouhani, the Internet edition of
Mardomsalari newspaper, the IBNA News Internet site, and the web site of
the “Government of Spring”, as well as the personal weblog and Internet
site of Ghoalm Ali Raja’i, an adviser to Hashemi Rafsanjani, have also
been blocked [by the government]. Moreover, an order to block access to
the Mehr News Agency website was issued, but the was revoked following a
direct order issued by the Prosecutor.
6. The use of Gmail service became almost impossible for its subscribers
inside the country for a while. In the meantime, Hamrah-e Avval Company
[one of the major mobile phone providers in Iran] embarked on filtering
out some of the words contained in material sent out to the public by
the election campaign HQ of Hassan Rouhani has attempt to filter some
words out of the messages communicated by Hassan Rouhani's election
campaign HQ.
7. The printed supplement of Iran daily newspaper has been banned by the Tehran Prosecutor.
8. The chairman of the Iran Cinema Owners Association has announced the
bankruptcy of around 95 per cent of all cinema halls in the country.
C) Other Instances of Human Rights Abuse
1. Majid has been executed in the Raja'i Shahr prison of the city of
Karaj. Javan newspaper said he had been convicted of the crime of
premeditated murder. Also, Mansur and Morteza have been sentenced to
death in the city of Baharestan. Media organs affiliated to the Iranian
Government announced that they were found guilty of [sexually] abusing
and murdering children. Finally, Javad and Sa'id have been sentenced to
death in the city of Varamin. Media sources linked with the Iranian
state said they had been convicted of abducting and sexually assaulting
women.
2. According to the official booklet for selecting subjects of study
before sitting the entry examinations for master degree places at
universities, the admission of female students has been suspended in
seven major subjects at the Industrial University of Esfahan.
3. Police officers and the Iranian Football Federation officials
prevented women from entering the Azadi Stadium [Tehran’s main sports
ground] to participate in ceremonies celebrating the qualification of
the national football team for the next World Cup. The Islamic Republic
of Iran is opposed to women’s presence in sports stadium alongside men.
Section 2: Social and Economic Rights
1. The economic conditions in the country are still reported to be
unfavourable. According to the latest information released by the Iran
Statistics Centre, in Iran today, around 1,700,000 children are forced
to work instead of getting an education. In the meantime, according to
an announcement by the Iran Statistics Centre, the rate of inflation in
the month of Ordibehesht [21 April to 21 May 2013] increased to 31 per
cent and the overall index grew by more than 1 per cent, reaching 156.7
per cents.
2. Automakers have a total debt of 800 billion Tumans to the foundry factories.
3. The Budget Law has deprived around 700,000 construction workers from
having insurance rights. This is while the President of the House of
Industry and Mine in Iran has said that more than 40 per cent of the
country's manufacturing activities have come to a halt.
4. The payment of salaries of the some workers at the Farsit Factory in
the town of Dorud has been delayed for a period of around 6 months.
5. Some towns in West Azarbayjan, Ardabil and Khuzestan provinces are facing shortage of bread.
6. The wife of Reza Shahabi, a member of the direction board of the
trade union of workers at the Vahed Company [Tehran public bus company]
workers - who is currently serving his prison sentence of 6 years in
Evin Prison – has been summoned to the Intelligence Ministry for
interrogation.
Section 3: Cultural Heritage and Environment
Reports concerning cultural heritage and environment in the month of
Khordad also serve to indicate the presence of unfavourable conditions
in these areas.
1. The head of the Department for Water and Sewage Hygiene at the
Ministry of Health has announced that the problem of irrigation of a
number of farms with sewage water still exists.
2. Since the start of the current “water year” in Mehr 1391 [month
between 21 September and 21 October 2012] until the present time, the
volume of water in the reservoirs of dams in Tehran has fallen by around
26 per cent compared with the corresponding period in the previous
year.
3. Activities by illegal excavators and smugglers of antique items and
artefacts have been on the increase during the first few months of the
current [Iranian] year [which began on 21 March 2013].
4. Some of the historical old houses in the city of Yazd have been destroyed.
5. Some 400 hectares of oak forests in Ilam Province are on the verge of destruction.
6. According to a statement by the spokesman for the Agriculture
Committee in the Islamic Majlis, minute dust particles [caused by dust
storms mainly in Iraq] have penetrated some 22 provinces of Iran. This
has caused damage to such an extent that around 50 to 100 per cent of
the Zagros forests in Ilam Province have gone dry. Furthermore,
according to a member of the environment fraction in the Islamic
Consultative Majlis, the incidents of throat cancer have increased among
the people of provinces which are grappling with the problem of air
pollution by dust particles. In addition, dust particles caused by the
drought-hit Zayandeh Rud river [in Esfahan] have been reported to be
toxic.
Conclusion:
The need to respect the freedom of expression and ensure the free flow
of information is one of the duties of governments. I would therefore
like to draw the attention of the Islamic Republic’s authorities to this
point, and I hope Mr. Hassan Rouhani, as the country’s elected
president, is going to put a stop to such unlawful actions by the state
officials.
Shirin Ebadi
Human Rights Defendant and 2003 Nobel Laureate
Note: For further information regarding the above reports, please refer
to the following news websites: Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA),
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA),
Fars news agency, Mehr news agency, Young Journalists Club news agency,
CDHR website, JARAS, Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Nedaye Azadi,
Baztab, HRANA, Ghanoon, Kaleme, Mohebbat News, Sunni Online,
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Majzooban-e Noor, Melli
Mazhabi, Nedaye Sabze Azadi, Radio Zamaneh, Radio Farda and BBC.
Link:
http://www.humanrights-ir.org/php/view_en.php?objnr=920
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