Evidence of the wide, planned and systematic violation of Human Rights in Iran- 21 December - 20 January 2004 by IHRG ...<More

Evidence of the wide, planned and systematic violation of Human Rights in Iran- 21st January - 20th February 2004 by IHRG ... More

Reporters Without Borders warns of unfair trial for Ensafali Hedayat and urges release of Mostafa Sabti
Reporters Without Borders has expressed fears about the fairness of the forthcoming trial of freelance journalist Ensafali Hedayat, postponed to 14 April, and condemned coercion used against him since he was detained on 16 January 2004. ... More


Torture/Ill-treatment/Fear for safety/Medical concern
IRAN Manuchehr Mohammadi (m), aged 36, student More



League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran Iran : will the commission on human rights keep silent ?



Meeting with the press in Geneva in the margin of the UN Commission on Human Rights

14 April 2004

Geneva

Speakers:

- Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize

- Karim Lahidji, President of the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran and Vice-president of the FIDH


Moderator :

Antoine Bernard, Executive Director of the FIDH




Up to now, no state tabled a draft resolution concerning the situation of human rights in Iran. However, the Commission has as a mandate to denounce human rights violations by taking into account the victims and by establishing appropriate mechanisms to prevent further violations.


“The absence of any initiative at the Commission on Human Rights is even more chocking since two UN human rights mechanisms went recently in Iran and their conclusions are overwhelming”, said Karim Lahidji, President of the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran and Vice-président of the FIDH. The mechanisms in question are the UN working group on arbitrary detention and the Special rapporteur on freedoms of opinion and expression.


In addition, the election of February 2004 was largely criticised by the international community since more than two thousands reformist candidates were rejected before the election.


The trial following the death of the Irano-Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi as a result of beatings while in detention is not progressing. Journalists are still in jail for having expressed their opinions. Religious minorities are victims of discrimination – in particular the largest among them – the Bahá'is.


« The yearly assessment of human rights by the Commission should be based on violations established by independent institutions and organisations, and not according to subjective political criteria. The silence of the Commission would be an insult for democrats and human rights defenders in Iran, who struggle for fundamental rights, in spite of the risks for their freedom», said Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize and President of the Defenders of Human Rights Center.


Access to the press room will only be allowed for journalists accredited to the UN

Amnesty International
The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2003
Iran

Stays of execution were announced in the cases of two women, Afsaneh Nourouzi and Kobra Rahmanpour, who had been sentenced to death for murder. Both said they had been acting in self-defence. The stays of execution were announced following widespread public opposition to the sentences.

...

At least 108 people were executed in 2003, many in public. The death penalty was carried out on long-term political prisoners, apparently to intimidate political or ethnic groups such as Kurds and Arabs.

In February, long-term political prisoner Sasan Al-e Ken'an, a supporter of the banned Komala party, was executed. At the time of his execution his mother was in the capital, Tehran, seeking a meeting with members of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention who were visiting Iran. On her return home to the town of Sanandaj, she went to visit her son in prison. She was informed that he had been hanged and was told not to make a "fuss" but to bury him quickly.

In November, four men in northeastern Iran were sentenced to death by stoning on allegations of rape and adultery. EU officials had been informed in March that the Head of the Judiciary had called on judges not to pass sentences of stoning and to find alternative punishments. On 13 December, however, revised regulations appeared to provide instructions on the implementation of the death penalty, including stoning and crucifixion. Amnesty International is studying the regulations.

...

In December the parliament approved a bill raising to 18 the minimum age for imposition of the death penalty. At year end the bill was awaiting approval by the Guardian Council, the country's highest legislative body.

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Amnest International

Health concern/ possible torture or ill-treatment and new concern:

fear for safety IRAN Siamak Pourzand (m), aged 74, Intellectual, Head of Majmue-ye Farhangi-ye Honari-ye Tehran (Tehran Artistic and Cultural Centre)
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