human rights

 The 12^th June marked the anniversary of the elections in Iran. To pay tribute to those arrested during and after the protests in the last year, eight organisations worked together to produce a variety of events to raise awareness on the situation in Iran.

 
It's almost been a year since the disputed elections in Iran. In light of new protests marking the anniversary of the elections which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enter a second term as President, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of 81 people convicted of offences linked to the unrest following the elections. Names of those released has not been announced. 

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Further arrests have been carried out by the Iranian government in the run up to the anniversary of the elections last year. The most recent arrests were of Azam Veisameh and Mahboubeh Khansari at Midnight on Monday. According to Ahmadinejad, the journalists were arrested under the charge of communicating illegally 'with filtered foreign media', discussing 'information about certain issues'.  However, security agents were unable to arrest several other young reformist activists and a political prisoner's wife.

 Six new executions have been scheduled by Tehran's Prosecutor. Accordingly, Mohsen and Ahmad Daneshpour-Moghaddam, both arrested on Ashura with three family members have been given the death sentence. This verdict has not been given to the individuals, their families or relatives. Instead, they were denied representation on the grounds that a verdict has already been made. 
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Protests against the execution of the five political prisoners continue, resulting in the arrests of 15 protesters in the city of Marivan. Although 12 of the protesters were released, the fate of the remaining three have yet to be determined.
Amongst those arrested were Majid Tavakkoli, a Polytechnic University student, sentenced to 8.5 years of prison, a 5 year ban from engaging in political activity, and a 5 year ban from exiting the country. 

The three hikers arrested on 31st July 2009 will be allowed a visit from their families. Accordingly, Manouchehr Mottaki has ordered its UN mission in New York to issue visa's on humanitarian grounds. No date has been set for the visit as yet.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8673966.stm

 May has seen further arrests of political and media activists in Iran. The latest include Ham-Mihan website Mazyar Khosravi who was arrested for reporting an attack on the university dormitory by plain clothed agents and special unit guardsmen; student activist Maryam Abbasinejad for protesting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's secret visit to Tehran University on Saturday; and Mohammad Olyaifard, an attorney who was arrested prior to Khosravi and Abbasinejad. These protesters are being held in Evin Prison

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The Islamic Republic of Iran is preparing to reopen Kahrizak detention facility that was closed last year. The facility will be opened under the name 'Soroush 111' specifically targeting women's islamic attire and cleaning city streets off thugs and criminals. Mehdi Khazali, the son of Ayatollah Aboulghasem Khazali, one of Iran's most influential clerics published an open letter to the head of the country's judiciary criticising the plans to reopen Kahrizak under the new name.

The Islamic Republic's application to the Human Rights Council at the United Nations has been greeted with much protest by many human rights activists, such as the noble prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi argues that Iran's gross violation of human rights, such as the discrimination of women and the arrests of political, civil, and even cultural activists on unfounded charges. Iran will need 97 votes in order to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council. Voting will take place on the 13th May 2010 by the General Assembly.