Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Active Cases

Iran: Inadequate medical treatment for imprisoned human rights defender Emadeddin Baghi

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender Emadeddin Baghi, imprisoned since October 2007, was returned to prison after suffering a heart attack on 7 May 2008. Emadeddin Baghi is the founder of the Association for the Defence of Prisoners' Rights and the Society of the Right to Life Guardians in Iran. He has written extensively on human rights, in particular to criticise the death penalty and to defend the right to freedom of expression. He has received several international awards for his work including the Civil Courage Prize in 2004, the French Human Rights Prize in 2005, and the International Journalist of the Year 2008 at the British Press Awards.  

• Emadeddin Baghi
• Front Line
• human rights
• Human Rights Defenders
• imprison
• inadequate medical treatment
• Iran

• Iran

Iran: Death threats against human rights defender Shirin Ebadi

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of death threats against human rights defender Shirin Ebadi received on 5 April 2008. Shirin Ebadi is a human rights lawyer and founder of the Centre of Defenders of Human Rights. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work to protect the rights of women and children in Iran.  

• death threats
• Front Line
• human rights
• human rights defender
• Iran
• Shirin Ebadi

• Iran

Iran: Arrest and detention of human rights defender Khadijeh Moghaddam

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of the arrest of Khadijeh Moghaddam, women's rights defender and member of the Mother's Committee of the One Million Signatures Campaign, on 8 April 2008 at her home. Security police reportedly entered her apartment by force and took her to Eshrat Abat Security Police where she was interrogated. She was later brought to the Revolutionary Courts and further interrogated by Mr Sobhani, the Investigative Judge in charge of her case. She was then transferred to Vozara Detention Centre.  

• arrest and detention
• Front Line
• human rights
• Human Rights Defenders
• Iran

• Iran

Human rights defenders in Iran are subjected to death threats, acts of harassment, arbitrary arrest, judicial harassment, stigmatization, violent attacks, ill-treatment, torture and killings. Women human rights defenders are particularly at risk in Iran. Freedoms of expression, association and assembly are severely restricted in Iran as they are usually associated with breaches of the security of the state or are reported to conflict with the teachings of Islam. E-security is a problem for human rights defenders in Iran as the authorities regularly close down human rights related websites.

According to the report on the situation of human rights defenders of the UN SRSG, “defenders in Iran reportedly come from many backgrounds and include journalists, critical Islamic scholars, writers, “cultural personalities”, cultural institutions and lawyers”. Particular issues of concern for defenders in Iran include the rights of women, rights of children, rights of prisoners, rights of minorities, environmental issues, freedom of expression, e-security, advocacy of human rights and campaigning against legislative restrictions which impede human rights. Women campaigning for equal rights are targeted by the authorities and subjected to arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and acts of torture. Defenders of LGBTI rights are also a very vulnerable group as homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Iran. Most defenders who are imprisoned in relation to their legitimate human rights activities are held at Evin prison which is notorious for acts of ill-treatment and torture. Human rights organizations in Iran face many difficulties due to the registration procedure as it is particularly restrictive for independent non-governmental organisations and they have very limited funding.