Never-ending Death in Prisons
Sattar Beheshti, 35, a laborer who criticzed the Iranian government for its oppressive policies in his blogs, was arrested on Tuesday, October 30. His arrest came after several warnings and summonses by Iran’s Cyber Police who had at one point threatened Beheshti that if he kept writing his critical blogs, they would “make his mother wear black” in mourning for him. After his arrest at his home in the low income neighborhood of Robat Karim, 35 kilometers outside Tehran, his family was unable to gather any information about his whereabouts. Several days later, he was transferred to Evin Prison’s Ward 350 for one night, where cellmates reported he had been brutally tortured and “not a single healthy spot was visible on his body.” Tehran Security Police officials informed his family on Tuesday that they were to buy a grave and go to collect Beheshti’s body. Sources close to Beheshti family reported later that he had suffered facial and head injuries and that his shroud was splattered with blood at the time they took the body for burial.
Signs of Torture on Body of Deceased Blogger, Family Under Pressure to Keep Silent
A source close to the family of Sattar Behesthi, a blogger whose family was told on November 6 that he had died in a detention center, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the blogger’s family was threatened with arrest if they spoke with the media. The source told the Campaign that the blogger’s family is under a state of unofficial house arrest.
Cartoon 30: Women Prisoners, Dignity and Hunger Strike
On October 30, a group of female political prisoners inside Evin Prison’s Ward 350 embarked on a hunger strike to protest their inhumane treatment by Evin Prison authorities following a raid by prison authorities during which the prisoners were subjected to degrading treatment. The group ended their hunger strike on November 5, after prison authorities promised to pursue their grievance and review the conduct of prison staff involved in the incident. According to prisoner reports, female prison guards subjected them to humiliating and degrading body searches and subsequently confiscated some of their personal belongings on Tuesday, October 30. The Prison Disciplinary Committee sentenced the prisoners on hunger strike to three weeks’ ban on visitation and transfer to solitary cells, but after objections suspended enforcing the sentence for six months. The prisoners on hunger strike were: Shiva Nazar Ahari, Nazanin Deyhimi, Bahareh Hedayat, Jila Baniyaghoub, Mahboubeh Karami, Raheleh Zokaee, Mahsa Amrabadi, Nasim Soltan Beigi, Hakimeh Shakouri, and Jila Karamzadeh-Makvandi.
Blogger Dies in Detention, Torture Suspected
Rampant Impunity leads to another Death in Iran’s Prisons
(November 8, 2012) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately investigate the death of a young blogger, Sattar Beheshti, during interrogations and hold the responsible officials accountable, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.
Beheshti’s death in custody raises serious concerns about the ongoing ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience in Iran while security and intelligence agents operate in an atmosphere of complete impunity.
Sakharov Prize-winner Sotoudeh’s Detention Highlights Denial of Basic Rights
(Paris, London, New York, October 31, 2012) – Iran’s judiciary and prison authorities should end mistreatment of the prominent rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and six human rights organizations said today. Ebadi and the rights groups also called on Iran’s authorities to allow all prisoners access to necessary medical care and family visits to which they are entitled under international human rights law.
Commentary: Iran’s Lonely Islamic Laws
Commentary: In his most recent reaction to the third report by UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed the Head of Iran’s Judiciary states that the report is “a violation of Islamic laws.” In order to disagree with Ahmed Shaheed’s report, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani uses a two-pronged approach. First, he begs other Islamic countries for help, and then, for those people who feel ambivalent towards Islamic laws, he tries to agitate them into feeling offended.
UN Special Rapporteur: Iran’s Reputation Worsens Every Day Journalists Spend in Jail
“For every day [journalists] spend in jail, Iran suffers a reputational problem somewhere in the world,” UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed said in an exclusive interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “I signify … a heightened sense of caring by the international community about the plight of people in Iran.”
Cartoon 29: Persevering Even in Prison
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian lawyer, has dedicated her life to fighting for human rights and defending prisoners of conscience in Iran. For her work, she was recently awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. For her work, she is serving a six-year prison sentence on charges of “acting against national security,” “collusion and propagation against the Islamic Republic,” and “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center.” She has also been banned from foreign travel for 20 years and from practicing law for 10.
Imprisoned Iranian Lawyer Awarded Sakharov Prize, Family Says She Is in Critical Condition
The European Parliament today awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for human rights and freedom of thought to imprisoned Iranian lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and prominent filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Both awardees have been sentenced to long prison sentences in Iran and bans on travel and their careers because of their opposition to the country’s leadership.
Student Activist’s Psychological Health Suffers at Evin
“Siavash shares a room with 30 other political prisoners, many of whom don’t have a bed and are forced to sleep on the floor. His visits with his family are all through the booth and only last a few minutes. This isn’t only Siavash’s problem; all prisoners have to deal with this. His family said that they were only able to visit with him through a booth for four minutes this week, because at visitation hour they bring in a group of prisoners into a hall where the number of booths does not match the number of prisoners present,” the source told the Campaign.
