Monitoring Human Rights in Iran Death sentences

May 2004

Human trafficking from Iran to the Persian Gulf Shiekhdoms
Shargh daily, May 26 – A group of Iranian boys and girls will be sold in an auction today (May 26) in Fojeyreh, United Arab Emirates. At a round table discussion on human trafficking held yesterday (at the office of) the Young Iranian Society news agency, it was announced that the preparations for this auction were made two weeks before by hunters of Iranian women and girls in the course of an international exhibition…

The human hunters were able to choose 54 Iranian girls out of the 286 that were put on show in an Arab country's booth. They were then sent to a Persian Gulf country on May 17 to get ready for the Fojeyreh auction on May 26…

Mostafa Ben Yahya, a pilot of Iranian descent who works for the United Arab Emirates airline, announced in the meeting yesterday, "An average of between 10 to 15 girls are sent to the United Arab Emirates everyday on nine ordinary flights and 20 irregular flights from Iran to Dubai,… Moreover, corpses of three to five Iranian girls are taken from these countries to Iran every month…"

The pilot of Iranian descent said: "Some of these girls are so young that they have to work as house maid for some time before starting work at the night clubs."

Public execution in Khorram Abad

Jomhouri Islami daily, May 2 – Hossein Pirdadeh Piranvand was arrested by the State Security Forces and executed Sunday morning on court order. His execution was carried out in public in Asad Abad Square in the presence of provincial authorities and his family.

19 year old girl sentenced to death Khorassan daily,

May 5 – A 19-year-old girl named Leila was sentenced to death. This sentence was issued despite the fact that her sentence could be commuted because of her age.

Public hanging Iran National TV,

May 4 – A man was hanged in public at 8 am Sunday, on Naderi Bridge. The people present chanted slogans against the security forces and said: (The government) brings these drugs itself, why do you treat the people like this..

Execution in Karaj prison Iran daily,

May 5 - A man was hanged in Rajaii Prison in Karaj. He was 43 years old and was sentenced to life imprisonment and payment of bail.

Execution in Ahwaz Jomhouri Islami daily,

May 6, Ahwaz– According to reports from the intelligence and foreign relations offices in the Justice Department of Khorassan Province, the death decree for Abolqassem G. was carried out in Ahwaz.

Young woman sentenced to execution, Roshangari website, May 6 – A young woman in Karaj was sentenced to death. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Judge. The woman's three sisters were sentenced to 30 months prison each.

Iran critic faces death penalty,

BBC News, May 10 - The death sentence imposed on liberal Iranian academic Hashem Aghajari has been confirmed, his lawyer has said. Saleh Nikbakht says he has been officially told of the re-imposition of the death penalty originally passed on his client in 2002. Aghajari was charged with blasphemy for saying that Muslims should not blindly follow religious leaders.

Five death sentences for a man in Ahwaz, Jomhouri Islami daily, May 22 - A man in Ahwaz was sentenced to five times execution. The head of judiciary in Khuzistan Province said the execution will be carried out in public.

Arrests, Tortures and inhumane punishments Mass arrest of girls at a restaurant,

Peik-e Iran website, Apr. 28 – A number of girls were arrested en masse while eating lunch at a restaurant. This took place in Qazvin and at least one member of the Guards Corps was involved.

40 females taken into custody,

On Sunday, April 25, about 40 female students in Qazvin were taken into custody by plain-clothes agents.

Labor Day arrests in Iran

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU Online), May 3, Brussels - Following the arrests of 40 workers on Saturday 1st May 2004, during a Labor Day march in Saqqez, in Iran’s Kurdistan Province, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has lodged a formal complaint with the UN’s International Labor Office on Sunday 2 May. It has also requested that the ILO intervene urgently with Tehran’s authorities to obtain the release of those arrested.

Political prisoner in critical condition

Peik-e Iran website, May 2 – Mohammad Ibrahim Behboudi was arrested in 2003 by intelligence agents and transferred to ward 209 of Evin prison. After 70 days of solitary confinement and enduring torture that tore the stitches on his abdomen, he was sentenced to three and a half years prison for disrupting security and being a member of the Mojahedin in 1981. He is in critical physical and psychological condition and suffered a minor heart attack two weeks ago.

Man sentenced to 10 years prison,

74 lashes in public Jomhouri Islami daily, May 5, Shushtar- A man named Alireza Q. was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, 74 lashes in public and payment of bail. The sentence for lashes in public was carried out in Beheshti town market on April 30.

Incarceration of students

ILNA, May 8 – A student of Amir Kabir University was sentenced to a 3-year suspended prison term. Farrokhi had participated in the student gatherings of December 9, 2002, and was charged with "acting against national security by staging illegal gatherings".

Imprisonment,

Radio Farda, May 8 – A Tehran University student was sentenced to one-year imprisonment. The 26th branch of the Islamic revolutionary tribunal sentenced Ahmad Moshkelati to one-year suspended prison term. Ahmad Moshkelati was one of the students detained in the unrests last June.

Political prisoner testifies on 1988 massacre,

Iran va Jahan, May 11 – Testimony by Mr. Hossein Mokhtar, a survivor of the 1988 massacre in Iran: I am one of some 900 survivors of the massacres of almost 30,000 helpless political prisoners who were executed by the Islamic regime. Most of these victims were killed in less than 10 days in July and August of 1988. These killings were done by shooting, hanging or even by grenade and TNT explosives. The executions were carried out in the hills surrounding Evin... It is interesting to know that those who are running the government today are the same people in charge of that massacre… Many political prisoners still linger inside prisons of the Islamic regime. Some have been killed by the regime's secret agents, and made it look like a car or other types of accidents.

Man received 80 lashes

Jomhouri Islami daily, May 13, Ahwaz – A man named Sammy Kh. was sentenced to 80 whips for drinking alcoholic beverages after undergoing the legal procedures. Agents came across the man as he was drunk. They arrested and handed him to the judicial authorities after arresting him.

Four Yazd University students detained,

Radio Farda, May 19 – Four students of the University of Yazd were detained on court order. The students are Dabir, Khaleqi, Gholami, and Eshaqi. The court has set a bail of 80 million rials for each student.

Hand of man in Andimeshk cut off,

Aftab daily, May 26 – The hand of a man in Andimeshk was cut off in public. The sentence for cutting of the right hand of the 25-year-old Ruhollah N. was carried out in the presence of the judiciary representative of the State Security Forces on Andimeshk Boulevard.

Two more female students arrested

ILNA, May 26 – Hanieh Nemati, student of management at Tehran University and Shiva Nazari Ahari, student of urban development in Sadra University, were arrested at their homes this morning by Tehran's judiciary.

Two youth flogged in Gonbad Kavous, Peik-e Iran website, May 23 – The flogging verdict for two young men who were sentenced to 75 whips each was carried out at 10 am on Sunday at the revolutionary tribunal intersection on Taleqi Avenue in the city of Gonbad Kavous. The sentence was carried out in public while the two young men were half naked. State Security agents invited people to watch while reading out the verdicts.

Freedom of expression

RSF: Khamenei is great enemy of press freedom Radio Farda, May 3 – The Reporters Without Borders published its annual report on the World Press Freedom Day, calling the year 2003 a dark year for the world press. The organization once again described Iran as the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East and said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, is among the 37 great enemies of press freedom throughout the world.

Judicial authority shuts down 12 Internet provider centers

Sharq daily, May 9 - A judicial authority issued a warrant for dispatching different groups to some of the internet service businesses in Tehran for inspection, and shut down a number of these units. Twenty internet service businesses have been inspected so far and more than 12 of them have been closed down. The cases of the businesses that have been shut down were presented to the judicial authorities after being sent to the department of Public Places. K

hatami urges "new type of filtering" for electronic media,

IRNA, May 2, Tehran - Referring to the spread of electronic media, President Mohammad Khatami said access to books has become easy, while filtering them has become difficult. "In the era of electronic media, we need a new type of 'filtering' to ensure safety of the society, which we need for progress," President Khatami pointed out.

Iran slammed for expelling Guardian Reporter Reuters, May 20, Paris - Iran's expulsion of the only U.S. journalist based in Tehran is a new sign that it does not readily accept criticism, says a press freedom group. Iran ordered out Dan de Luce, a reporter for the Guardian, because he reported the aftermath of the Bam earthquake without permission, the daily said… "This decision is an obstacle to the freedom of the press and shows once again that the Iranian authorities react badly to criticism," Robert Menard, the secretary-general of Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers, said in a statement.

Women Rise in young women suicides

Peik-e Iran website, May 1 – The number of suicides in 2003 had a 46% increase compared to 2002, and 74% of the successful suicides (that led to death), were those of women. The director general of social affairs of the governorate of Kohkiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad said this and added: "90% of these women were between 17 and 35 years old. The real number of suicides is much higher than what we have."

TV series encourages misogynic acts,

Reuters, May 6, Tehran - An Iranian television series in which a woman introduces a friend to her husband for marriage has outraged female activists in the Islamic state who say it encourages polygamy and reinforces prejudice against women. Protest gatherings and editorials in feminist publications have singled out the "Another Woman" mini series, whose run on state monopoly IRIB ended last month, as a prime example of the broadcaster's negative portrayal of women… Men in Iran, where Islamic law has been in force since 1979, can marry up to four permanent wives and as many "temporary wives" -- via religious contracts lasting as little as a few hours to several years -- as they wish. Women, in contrast, require their husband's permission to work or travel abroad and enjoy far weaker divorce and custody rights than men.

UN rights group ignores Iran,

VOA News, May 2 - The annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission has ended in Geneva with no rebuke of Iran. The commission's silence comes after a year of particularly grievous violations by Tehran's Islamic fundamentalist regime…

A U.N. whitewash for Iran

Associated Press, May 10 - When it came to the Iranian government's brutal treatment of its own citizens, the UNHRC stood mute. At this year's session, which concluded in Geneva late last month, the organization declined to rebuke the Iranian government for violating human rights, despite a large body of evidence that it has engaged in summary executions, torture, and arbitrary arrests and detention. In January, U.N. special investigator Ambeyi Ligabo, a Kenyan diplomat, issued a report documenting the cases of journalists and intellectuals who have received severe punishment for criticizing the Islamist government and clerical leadership that controls the country… But even though Mr. Ligabo documented these and other cases in his report, the UNHRC has ignored his findings and refused to condemn the Iranian government.

Half of Iranians populace involved with drugs Fars news agency, May 26 – The president of the Scientific Society of Social Harms in Iran said, "Over 50% of the Iranian people are involved either directly or indirectly with drugs. Neglecting the economic and cultural needs of society is leading to a very dangerous crisis.

Amnesty International report:

Continued torture and ill-treatment

AFP, May 26 - Amnesty reported that "flagrant violations of Iranian and international law continued in the administration of justice. Scores of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continued to serve sentences imposed in previous years following unfair trials. Scores more were arrested in 2003, often arbitrarily and many following student demonstrations," the annual report said. "Judicial authorities curtailed freedoms of expression, opinion and association, including of ethnic minorities; scores of publications were closed, Internet sites were filtered and journalists were imprisoned. At least 108 executions were carried out, including of long-term political prisoners and frequently in public. At least four prisoners were sentenced to death by stoning while at least 197 people were sentenced to be flogged and 11 were sentenced to amputation of fingers and limbs. The true number may have been considerably higher."…

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