share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
Things are clearly changing in Iran. It is too early to think that human rights defenders can all safely go back, but the fact that Arseh Sevom – a moderate and informative blog voice on Iran – devotes a part of today’s post by Peyman Majidzadeh to this question is telling. Here are some excerpts: Read the rest of this entry »
The Tehran Times of 24 October 2013 , the governmental english-language newspaper of Iran, devoted a big piece on the reaction of the Government to the latest report by Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran. According to Reuters, in an address to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee Ahmed Shaheed, said, “Any renewed or revitalized dialogue between Iran and the international community must include and not seek to sideline the issue of human rights” and “Human rights considerations must be central to the new government’s legislative and policy agenda, and to international dialogue and cooperation.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Afkham, responded on Thursday that the mechanism for the appointment of the rapporteur was “completely political,” adding, “Terrorist groups and the groups which are seeking violence and have innocent people’s blood on their hands have been used as sources to prepare this report so it has no legal weight. In addition, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the UN issued a statement in which it defended the country’s human rights record. For those who are interested here follow some long excerpts which in tone and content are still very tough but perhaps the last paragraph reflects a bit more the hope that many have since Rouhani’s election: “Finally, notwithstanding our strong criticism of the report, we will continue our efforts to promote human rights in our country, including through enhancing our cooperation with the UN human rights machinery, particularly OHCHR, the UPR, thematic mandate holders and bilateral dialogue on human rights.” Read the rest of this entry »
That there can be a risk in accepting (monetary) awards is demonstrated again by the case of Massoumeh Dehghan, retired teacher and wife of imprisoned human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani in Iran. She told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her one-year prison sentence for accepting her husband’s human rights award has been upheld (suspended for five years, and five years’ ban on foreign travel). Read the rest of this entry »
Today, 18 September 2013, the BBC and other news media brought the good news that Iran lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is among the freed political prisoners which Iran is reported to have freed (at least eight). Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested in 2010 and jailed for six years on charges of acting against national security. She was one of the three Final Nominees of the MEA in 2012 and winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov award.
The release of the political prisoners comes just days before Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani visits New York for the UN General Assembly. In his election campaign, he promised to free political prisoners.
via BBC News – Iran lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh among freed political prisoners.
On 23 August 2013, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, expresses its deep concern about the Iranian blogger and human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki, whose health status has been deteriorating. On August 9, 2013, Mr. Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki started a hunger strike to protest the authorities’ ongoing refusal to allow him to continue his medical treatment out of Evin prison in Tehran. His mother, Ms. Zolaykha Mousavi, also started a hunger strike on August 20, 2013 to draw attention to his plight. Ronaghi-Maleki has been suffering from kidney and heart problems and bladder inflammation. Since the beginning of his hunger strike, he has suffered kidney bleeding, blood pressure oscillations and arrhythmic heart beats. He has already undergone several operations on his kidneys that were damaged after being repeatedly tortured during his detention, including 13 months in solitary confinement. He has been serving a 15-year prison sentence after being arrested on December 13, 2009 and convicted on charges of “membership of Iran-Proxy Internet Group”, “spreading propaganda against the system”, “insulting the Iranian Supreme Leader and the President”. 
via Iran : IRAN: Grave concern over health status of human … – FIDH.
Since 13 July 2013, five ethnic Azerbaijani human rights defenders detained in Tabriz prison have taken part in an ongoing hunger strike in protest at their conviction following an unfair trial. Mahmud Fezli, Latif Haseni, Ayat Mehrali Baglou, Behboud Gholizadeh and Shahram Radmehr are members of the organisation Yeni Gamoh, Read the rest of this entry »
Whilst attention within Iran, as well as abroad, is focused on the upcoming presidential elections, Read the rest of this entry »
When North Korea, Iran and Kazakhstan start praising your human rights records, it may be time to change tactics. Turkmenistan came under fire at a recent session of the United Nations Human Rights Council where it was questioned by its peers for its torture programs, systematic suppression of free speech and persecution of human rights defenders. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes my eyes fall on more esoteric contributions to the protection of human rights defenders. Let me share with you Mark Laham’s blog post for the Huffington Times of the 1st of May 2013 which calls for a “borderless” one-hour live online yoga class in honour of Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian lawyer in jail, recipient of the Sakharov Award and Nominee of the MEA 2012. Mark got inspired – through AI – by what he read about Nasrin’s struggle and other brave human rights defenders around the world. “How does Nasrin’s story make you feel?” he asks, ” Me, I…I feel the need to do something that will create positive change for this woman and countless others like her. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 