Iran Human Rights Monitor, Monthly Report – September 2018

Iran Human Rights Monitor, Monthly Report – September 2018

Introduction

September was marked with at least 33 executions including executions of 9 political prisoners, wave of arrests of human rights defenders, civil activists and lawyers, two cases of flogging, mistreatment of political prisoners and depriving Baha’i students from higher education.

The Iranian regime made fresh arrests and issued sentences for human rights activists, women’s rights activists and human rights lawyers in September. The unprecedented wave denotes a crisis in the situation of human rights in Iran.

Human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist Hoda Amid, human rights lawyers Payam Derafshan, Farokh Forouzan, Arash Keykhosravi and Ghasem Shole Assadi, women’s rights activists Rezvaneh Mohammadi and Reza Khandan are among those arrested.

Amnesty International issued a statement on September 3, 2018, in which it warned against the arrests of lawyers and women’s rights activists in Iran. AI pointed out, “These latest arrests are a blatant attempt to silence those advocating for human rights in Iran.” It also noted that this is part of the officials’ efforts to prevent lawyers from defending their clients.

The right to life

             a. Executions

Iran Human Rights Monitor has registered 33 executions.

Nine of them were Kurdish and Balouch political prisoners who were hanged in Rajaie Shahr Prison of Karaj, Zahedan and Urmia for the charge of “Moharebeh” (waging war against God) and disturbing the security of the state.

They include three Iranian Kurdish men, Zaniar Moradi, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi, who were executed on September 8, in Rajaie Shahr prison, despite widespread condemnation of their death sentences and calls from UN human rights experts and other bodies to halt their executions.

Eight prisoners were executed collectively on September 5 in Rajaie Shahr Prison. One prisoner was hanged publicly in Marvdasht.

             b. Arbitrary murders

Iran Human Rights Monitor recorded seven arbitrary murders including killing of four porters and merchants and a 17-year old Balichi man.

• A man from Zabol was shot dead on September 2014, for carrying two gallons of gasoline which he intended to sell in border region. He was identified as Isa Jadidoleslam and was father of five.
• Ali Bameri, 17, was shot dead by the IRGC forces in Delgan, Sistan and Baluchistan Province.
• Mahmoud Ketabi, a Kurdish porter from Baneh and father of an eight-year-old boy, was shot dead by the IRGC forces after he was arrested in Sardasht.

             c. Deaths in custody

At least nine prisoners lost their lives due to being denied medical access, torture or commiting suicide in Iran’s prisons.

• Hojjat Eghtesadi was arrested by the State Security Force on September 11. He died of torture a day after his arrest.
• Alireza Tobragh Ghal’e Reza Malek Rezaie and Sajjad Jamadi Fard lost their lives due to being denied medical access. Biok Lotfollahzadeh, 61, also lost his life in Tabriz Prison due to being denied adequate medical care.
• Farid Yadegari and Rouhollah in Hashtgerd Prison of Isfahan committed suicide due to pressure in prison. Both lost their lives.

Inhuman treatment and cruel punishments

Two flogging sentences, one in public, were carried out.

• The Razavi Khorasan judiciary announced the news of public flogign in the city of Nishabur on September 26.
• Six activists who where arrested during a May 10 rally, were each sentenced to 74 lashes.
• Aref Moradi, 32, who was arrested during December 2017 protests, was 70 times flogged on September 5. The sentence was carried out in Qazvin Court.

Arrests

Iran Human Rights Monitor registered 197 arrests across the country including 153 politically motivated arrests, 22 arrests on religious and ethnic grounds, and 22 arbitrary arrests.

Here are some instances:

• Reports from Ahvaz, southwest Iran, indicate security forces launched a mass arresting campaign targeting Ahvazi Arab activists. In some districts security forces opened fire on young activists attempting to flee. There is no news on the identity and exact number of detainees so far.
• As the new round of truckers’ strike in Iran entered its 5th day on September 27, state media reported that dozens of truckers have been arrested by the State Security Forces. The number of truckers arrested has reached 80, so far.
• In an effort to prevent a general strike from spreading to further cities, Iranian authorities arrested more than a dozens of Kurdish civil activists on charge of “disturbing public order.” On September 12, merchants in at least 13 cities of Iran’s western provinces went on strike in protest to the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners and attacks against Kurdish groups in early September.

Prison condition

Prisoners are being subjected to abuse, mental and physical torture including being denied proper medical treatment, being denied furlough or harassment of their families.

At least 22 prisoners are on hunger strike in different prisons, protesting their condition, pressures imposed on their familis and lack of judicial due process.

• The Iranian authorities are torturing jailed human rights defender Arash Sadeghi, who has cancer, by deliberately depriving him of the specialist medical care health professionals have said he desperately requires. After major surgery on September 12, Arash Sadeghi needed to spend at least one hour in the recovery room. Unbelievably, security forces removed him prematurely and shackled his left hand and left leg while he was still unconscious. Security forces then blocked the area around his hospital bed, which resulted in the medical team being unable to conduct routine post-op checks, despite protests from hospital staff.

On 15 September 2018, Arash Sadeghi was transferred back to Raja’i Shahr prison. This was against strict explicit medical advice that required him to spend at least 25 days hospitalized following the operation so that he could be monitored by specialist doctors. Doctors said that they needed this post-operative recovery period to assess whether Arash Sadeghi required chemotherapy, radiation therapy or additional surgery.

On 22 September, Arash Sadeghi was booked for a morning appointment with his cancer surgeon who had specified his availability being limited to the morning.  However, the prison guards transferred Arash Sadeghi in the afternoon, by which time the surgeon was no longer present.

Arash Sadeghi was instead examined by a general practitioner who diagnosed a serious infection in his surgical wound. The general practitioner assessed that the infections would have been much less likely if Arash Sadeghi had been hospitalized following his operation as advised by the specialist doctors.

Persecution of religious minorities

Authorities intensified crackdown on Baha’i citizens by denying at least 57 students higher education and launching a campaign of arrest against the followers of the faith.

At least 50 students have been deprived from pursuing higher education due to their Baha’i conviction.

They had participated in and passed the national university entrance examination, some with outstanding results, but when checking in for their computer records, they received a message stating “deficient records” in the Evaluation Organization (Sanjesh).

“Deficient records” is an option used to block Baha’i students’ access to their computer records and inform them of being barred from continuing their higher education.

At least 20 Baha’is have been arrested in September.