• Human Rights in Iran
    In 2012, Iranian authorities prohibited opposition candidates from participating in parliamentary elections. They have held prominent opposition leaders under house arrest for more than a year-and-a-half. Executions, especially for drug-related offenses, continued at a high rate. The government targeted civil society activists, especially lawyers, rights defenders, students, and journalists. It also continued to clamp down on Baha’is and other minorities, and announced plans for the first phase of a halal (legitimate) internet. Authorities continued to block access to the United Nations special rapporteur on Iran.
  • An Iranian worker carries car parts in Tehran on June 20, 2011.
    © 2011 Reuters
    Iran: Government Trampling Workers’ Rights
    The Iranian government is increasingly violating workers’ rights to peaceful assembly and association. Dozens of labor and independent trade union activists are in prison for speaking out in defense of workers.Human Rights Watch called for the government to end the crackdown and free labor rights advocates in anticipation of International Workers’ Day on May 1, as part of a joint campaign by Iranian and international rights groups to highlight the plight of workers.
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Iran

  • Iran: Government Trampling Workers’ Rights
    Apr 30, 2013
    The Iranian government is increasingly violating workers’ rights to peaceful assembly and association. Dozens of labor and independent trade union activists are in prison for speaking out in defense of workers.Human Rights Watch called for the government to end the crackdown and free labor rights advocates in anticipation of International Workers’ Day on May 1, as part of a joint campaign by Iranian and international rights groups to highlight the plight of workers.
  • The Dark Side of Iran's Drug Policy
    Apr 12, 2013
  • Letter to UN HRC on Renewal of Mandate of Special Rapporteur on Iran
    Mar 12, 2013
    On 21 or 22 March 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) will vote on the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The situation has continued to deteriorate since the adoption of the last resolution by the Council in March 2012. Yet the government of Iran has refused to cooperate with the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran. It remains critical that the Human Rights Council affirm that the abuses in Iran should end and continue to mandate an in-depth monitoring of the situation in the country, in particular ahead of the presidential election scheduled for June 2013.
  • Iran: Prosecute Officials in Detained Blogger’s Death
    Mar 7, 2013
    Iran’s judiciary should conclude a speedy, independent, and transparent criminal investigation followed by prosecution of those believed responsible for the death of the blogger Sattar Behesht. Beheshti died in the custody of Tehran’s cyber police in November 2012. Iranian officials should stop harassing his family and hampering their efforts to seek justice and ensure that those responsible for the blogger’s death are held to account.
  • Iran: Guarantee Rights of ‘Terror’ Suspects
    Feb 23, 2013
    (Beirut) – Iranian judiciary authorities should allow at least 20 detainees charged with terrorism, in connection with the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists, access to their lawyers and family members. Iran’s judiciary has failed to provide basic information about these cases, even to their families, despite the seriousness of the charges, which carry severe punishments, including death.
  • Iran: End House Arrests of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard
    Feb 14, 2013
    The Iranian authorities should immediately release from arbitrary house arrest two former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, an author and political activist, the Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and six leading human rights groups said today. The authorities should also stop harassing or detaining without cause the couple’s two daughters and Karroubi’s son.
  • Iran: Top Official Should Face Justice for Rights Abuses
    Feb 6, 2013
    Any criminal investigation against Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran Prosecutor General, should include the serious human rights abuses of which he has been accused and conclude speedily and transparently, leading to a prosecution if the evidence implicates him in crimes. Mortazavi, now head of Iran’s Social Security Organization, is accused of involvement in the deaths, torture, and arbitrary detention of dozens of protesters following the disputed presidential poll in 2009 and other rights abuses perpetrated over more than 12 years. He was arrested and then released on February 6.
  • Iran: Consolidating Power as Elections Near
    Jan 31, 2013
    Authorities arrested, detained, and harassed some of Iran’s most celebrated rights lawyers, and stepped up their assault on critical journalists, bloggers, and their families in 2012, HumanRightsWatchsaidtodayinitsWorld Report 2013.The government also prevented reformists and opposition leaders from participating in parliamentary elections, and is holding the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard under house arrest as Iran prepares for its presidential election in June 2013.
  • Iran: Free Journalists Swept Up in Raids
    Jan 29, 2013
    Iran’s judiciary should charge or immediately free more than a dozen journalists arrested in recent days,. Any criminal charges would have to be based on clear evidence, and not in themselves amount to a violation of the journalists’ fundamental rights, including their freedom of expression or association. The judiciary and all Iranian authorities should ensure that the rights of all journalists in Iran to freedom of expression are fully protected, particularly in the period leading up to the 2013 presidential election.
  • Iran: Stop Execution of Ahwazi Arab Political Prisoners
    Jan 24, 2013
    Iran’s judiciary should quash death sentences against five members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority and immediately cancel their execution, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The sentences were handed down by a revolutionary court and upheld by the country’s Supreme Court on January 9, 2013.
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