March 8, 2013
Arseh Sevom — This week the mother of Neda, the young woman whose death was captured on camera during the demonstrations following the 2009 presidential […]
October 30, 2012
This week in the review of civil society in Iran we mark the passing of religious scholar and political dissident Ahmad Ghabel and the award of […]
March 23, 2012
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EN Brussels, 23 March 2012 7853/12 PRESSE 119 Human rights violations: Council tightens sanctions against Iran The Council today reinforced EU […]
March 21, 2012
The chances are high that you will be reading this review during the first days of the new Iranian year. Arseh Sevom wishes you a good […]
March 12, 2012
In this issue of the weekly review, Arseh Sevom provides an overview of the economic situation as the New Year approaches and Asghar Farhadi’s call for […]
October 17, 2011
Read the full post by clicking here.
The UN Special Rapporteur has released an initial report on the human rights situation in Iran. The report highlights several disturbing trends, which serve to cripple civil society activism. The report shows a concerted effort to prevent dissent and the development of an independent civil society by severely punishing those who speak out or act in a way deemed inappropriate or threatening by the state. In many cases, punishment is exacted for activities that were once sanctioned. The report demonstrates a clear trend towards increased state violence and disregard for its own legal system and constitution.
Some of the trends revealed in the report include:
- Exorbitant bails
- Persistent punishments
- Lack of due process
- High number of executions
- Muzzling activists and critics
- Religious intolerance
- Denial of health care
February 9, 2011
IRAN: Series of sentences, acts of judicial harassment and arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders
Paris-Geneva, February 8, 2011. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), deplores yet another massive wave of repression against human rights defenders and expresses its deepest concern over the arbitrary arrests, sentencing and judicial harassment faced by lawyers, journalists and other human rights activists in Iran.
The Observatory denounces the intensive judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of dozens of human rights defenders in Iran, which merely aims at sanctioning the legitimate exercise of their work, amid a general crackdown against the Iranian civil society.