As time goes on, the official Iranian figures of up to 21 people killed during the demonstrations against the disputed election result look increasingly meagre.
Information remains extremely hard to come by, with swingeing restrictions in place on the transfer of news and videos out of Iran. Over the last week, the number of photo-journalists in detention has risen to seven.
Many Iranians are now simply too frightened to pass on verifiable details of human rights violations. Yet the stories which are trickling out of Iran show a different picture.
Continue reading ‘Mourning mothers weep for victims of excessive force in Iran’
Massive street demonstrations were met with waves of arrests, reported killings and, it is now becoming clear that human rights activists are now also being targeted.
On 16 June, lawyer human rights defender Abdolfattah Soltani was arrested at his office. His case has been taken up by Amnesty International and its global membership is campaigning for his release.
Continue reading ‘And now the human rights defenders…’
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is greeted by supporters after arriving at the airport in Tehran, 1 Feb 1979. ©AP/PA Photo
The 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution provides a timely opportunity to take stock and review the sweep of human rights developments in Iran over the past three decades.
Looking back, Anne Burley, who led Amnesty International’s work on Iran from before the Revolution until the 1980s, described how opponents of the last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, would come to protest and seek action against human rights violations committed under his rule.
This group included some who no longer gave attention to human rights after the Shah was ousted and the new authorities began to commit grave abuses.
Continue reading ‘Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran’
