Workers of Iran, Unite!

The Centre for the Defenders of Human Rights has reviewed the situation of human rights in Iran during the month of Azar 1397 [Iranian month corresponding to 22 November to 21 December 2018]:

Workers of Iran, Unite!

In continuation of its monthly reports, the Centre for the Defenders of Human Rights has reviewed the situation of human rights in Iran during the month of Azar 1397 [22 November to 21 December 2018].

The Centre for the Defenders of Human Rights, which is presided over by Shirin Ebadi, has referred to the workers’ objections to their livelihood situation and called for unity of workers and independent labour organisations.

This people-instituted organization has expressed its belief that the state officials do not care about the workers’ legitimate demands and the only solution is to continue protests in the peaceful way, just as they have done in the past.

The Centre for the Defenders of Human Rights has written in its report: “In the same way that the adroit workers have exercised a high level of vigilance and ultimately protected their collective against infiltration by non-worker agitators, they must also prevent the ill-omened intrusion of security agents and provide the basis for the national unity of the workers through the election of genuine and brave representatives selected from the ranks of well-known people. This will enable them to come to the streets with more and more power, and with their justice-seeking cries and chants, awaken the authorities from their slumber of complacency and force them to respond to their demands.”

Furthermore, in its report, which is published in both Farsi and English languages, this people-instituted organisation has reviewed the situation of human rights in Iran under the three main headings of “Civil and political rights”, “social and economic rights”, and “cultural heritage and the environment”.

According to the website of the Centre for the Defenders of Human Rights, the text of the report by the said centre for the month of Azar 1397, which has been published on 2nd of Dey 1397 [23 December 2018], is as follows:

A Brief Report on Human Rights Situation in Iran in November-December 2018

Introduction:

A number of Iranian workers started huge street protests in the month of Azar due to their unpaid wages. They had not achieved any results following numerous contacts and correspondence with the relevant state officials at different levels, and therefore, and inevitably, they decided to follow their legitimate demands by staging street protests in some cities, especially Shush and Ahvaz.

It is interesting to note that by learning lessons from the events in “Golestan-e Haftom St” [in Tehran’s Pasdaran district] and the extensive arrest of the “Gonabadi Darwishes”, several workers acted as

security wardens and prevented the entry of agitators and violence-mongers, so as to ensure the protests go ahead in a calm atmosphere. During the event, no stones were thrown, no windows were smashed and there were no clashes. For this reason, they were able to continue their street demonstrations in Ahvaz for more than a month.

Although participation in street rallies and the formation of civil and labour organisations on the condition of peacefulness is a part of the rights of the citizens and no one can object to them, unfortunately, a number of workers were arrested in Shush, Ahvaz and some other cities. For instance, on 26 of Azar (17 Dec 2018) in Shush, security forces violently attacked the homes of a number of workers and arrested and incarcerated 41 of them – althoughsome of the detainees were later released temporarily on bail. However, regardless of how difficult it is for a worker to prepare a bail given that he has not been paid for several months, the bail is essentially being used as a means of controlling the released person, so that he will not be able to contemplate actions to redeem his wages again.

Therefore, as state officials do not appear to care about the workers’ rightful demands, the only solution is to continue protests in the peaceful way as in the past, and this requires maintaining the unity of workers and striving towards the establishment of independent labour organisations. Thus, as adroit workers have shown the ultimate vigilance and prevented the entry of non-working agitators into their ranks, they must also prevent the evil intrusion and influence of the security agents and provide the basis for the national unity of the workers through the election of genuine and brave representatives selected from the ranks of well-known people. In this way, they will be able to continue to come to the streets more powerfully and extensively, and with their justice-seeking cries and chants, awaken the authorities from their slumber of complacency and force them to respond to their demands.”.

The report also provides a summary of the human rights situation in Iran during the month of Azar 1397, as follows. This report is based on information published by various media channels and websites, whose accuracy has been verified. The report is appearing under three separate sections, and in Farsi and English languages.

Human Rights Situation in Iran in November-December 2018

Section 1: Civil, Cultural and Political Rights

1. A) Situation of Nonconformist Political and Social Activists 
2. During this month, more than 71 people were detained and the names of them have been specified, who were:

Amirsalar Davudi – a lawyer; Asal Mohammadi – a university student; Meymanat Hosseini Chavoshi – a researcher and a citizen with dual nationality; Hamed Nargesi – a teacher trade union activist; and Asghar Firuzi – a former political prisoner.

Moreover, some workers were incarcerated because of street protests such as Morteza Akbarian, Amin Alavani, Karim Sayahi, Gharib Havizavi, Jafar Sobhani, Isa Marei, Majid Janadeleh, Mehdi Tahmasebi, Ahmad Nur, Meysam Qanavati, Hamed Judaki, Tareq Kholfi, Kazem Heidari, Masud Afarinejad, Kurosh Esmaeili, Ali Oghba, Mostafa Abiat, Hossein Davudi, Mohsen Beluti, Mohsen Pahbani, Mohammad Purhassan, Seyyed Habib Tabatabaei, Abdolreza Dasti, Jasem Safar Rumazi, Yaser Ebrahimian, Ali Etmami, Seyyed Ali Javadpur, Javad Gholami, Hafez Kanani, Ali Nejati, Meysam Ale Mehdi, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Sohrab Na’ami, Hossein Asakareh, Fariborz Sheikhrobat and Ali Javadpur.

On the other hand, some news sources have reported the detention of Mahvash Edalati (Zaeiri), Neda Shabani and Sorush Agahi – three Baha’i citizens; Jamshid Derakhshan, Shima and Shokufeh Zanganeh, Farzad Behzadizadeh and Abdollah Yusefi Sheikhrobat – five newly converted Christians; Abdolbaqi Saeidi – a Sunni religious activist; Seyyed Reza Musavi – a citizen from Ahvaz; Reza Jafarlu, Akbar Qolizadeh and Kazem Safabakhsh – three citizens from Azarbaijan.

Iran Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has reported the detention of 12 individuals in Esfahan Province – without mentioning their names – and state-controlled media have reported the detention of some individuals in Alborz Province – without mentioning their names – because of what has been called as being the member of the Erfaneh Halqeh [The Mystic Ring religious sect]. Moreover, state-controlled media have reported the incarceration of a number of activists in the field of population control – without mentioning their names and numbers – and the detention of some individuals – without mentioning their names and numbers – due to what has been called as dependency on the Christian-Zionism movement.

There are other cases of arrest of protesting citizens in Azar 1397: The detention of citizens in some cities such as Sarvabad, Baneh, Sanandaj, Piranshahr, Oromieh, Kermanshah, Solas Babajani and Divandarreh because of various reasons such as communicating and cooperating with Kurdish opposition parties; the incarceration of some citizens of Sistan Va Baluchestan Province due to suicide operation in Chabahar and the detention of some citizens in Khuzestan Province.

It should be noted that some of the detainees were released temporarily on bail after a few days until the date of their trial.

In addition, Reza Shahabi, Hassan Saeidi, Amirabbas Azarmvand, Roham Yeganeh and Keyvan Mohtadi – five labour activists – have been detained for a short time.

2. Ezat Nasri – a labour activist – was sent to prison to spend three months in jail; Shayadn Tafazoli – a Baha’i citizen – was sent to jail for one year; Abdollah Alirezanejad – a citizen from Gachsaran – was sent to prison for three years; Mehrdad Saburi and Omid Ahmadi – two citizens from Kamyaran – were sent to jail for three months imprisonment; Aram Mohamamdi and Shahu Sadeqi – two citizen from Kamyaran – were sent to prison to spend three months in jail; Amir Chamani – a civil activist – was sent to jail for six months incarceration; Matin Khaledi – a citizen from Oromieh who has been detained during the protests of Dey 1396 [Jan 2018] – was sent to prison for a one year term; Ali Baqeri – a civil activist – was sent to jail for three years and six months imprisonment; Amir Reza Alipur Hashtaliamoli – a university student – was sent to prison to spend six month in jail and Alireza Moinian – a civil activist who has been detained during the protests of Dey 1396 [Jan 2018] – was sent to jail for a term of eight months.

Moreover, the appeal court issued the six months imprisonment sentence for Eqbal Ahmadpur – a citizen from Oromieh who is currently in jail.

3. Yekta Fahandez Sa’di – a Baha’i citizen – was sentenced to 11 years incarceration; Mostafa Daneshju – lawyer and a Gonabadi Darwishes’ right activist – was sentenced to eight years imprisonment; Mohamamdhossein Heidari – a media activist – was sentenced to three years in jail; Amin Zendehdel – a citizen from Oromieh who has been detained during the protests of Dey 1396 [Jan 2018] – was sentenced to one year incarceration; Naser Hassani – a citizen from Oromieh who has been detained during the protests of Dey 1396 [Jan 2018] – was sentenced to two months in prison; Hossein Habibvand – a citizen from Oromieh who has been detained during the protests of Dey 1396 [Jan 2018] – was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment; Delnia Saburi and Rojin Ebrahimi – two citizens from Kamyaran – each were sentenced to three days in jail; Hengameh Shahidi – a journalist and political activist – was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail; Qasem Sholesadi and Arash Keykhosravi – two lawyers – each were sentenced to six years incarceration; Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei – the former vice President – was sentenced to six and half years in jail; Ali Baqeri – a civil activist – was sentenced to 13 years in prison; Masud Ajlu and Behzad Alibakhshi – two civil activists – each were sentenced to two years in prison; Masud Babapur – a political activist – was sentenced to 13 years in jail and two years deprivation of social rights and Mohamamd Najafi – a lawyer who is currently in jail – was sentenced to one year in jail in one case and 13 years imprisonment in another case.

In addition, some news websites have reported the issuance of lashes and imprisonment sentences for the supporters of Yamani Movement.

On the other hand, Kiyumars Eslami – a citizen from Ardebil – was sentenced to one year in jail, Mahmud Masumi – a civil activist – was sentenced to 12 years incarceration, Mohammadnaeim Mohammadpur – a citizen from Sanandaj – was sentenced to one year in jail and Elham Rasulbaghi – a civil activist – was sentenced to a fine of 5,000,000 Toman by the appeal court.

4. Nazar Mohamamd Dehqani – a Sunni religious activist – was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence and was interrogated and Javad La’lmohammadi – a teacher union activist – was summoned to IRGC and was interrogated.
5. Bahram Javadi – a media activist – was released on bail after he was briefed.
6. Based on remarks by some news websites, Vahid Sayyadi Nasiri – who was spending his imprisonment in jail – died because of hunger strike.
7. B) Situation Regarding Cultural Rights
8. Press Jury found the editor in chiefs of “Ruzeh Nu” Website, Cheshmandaz Magazine and Sharq Newspaper guilty.
9. Relevant officials prevented the holding of ceremonies to marks the 20th anniversary of murder of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammadjafar Puyandeh in Imamzadeh Taher Cemetery.
10. Relevant officials prevented the performing of a play in the Islamic Azad University of Quchan.
11. The appeal of Taraneh Qiami – a Baha’i student who has been deprived from studying – was rejected by the Administrative Court of Justice.
12. C) Other Instances of Human Rights Abuse
13. At least Six individuals were executed in this month. The complete names of some of them are still not clear but judicial authorities or government-controlled media have confirmed their executions. Some of the names are as follows:

One individual was executed in public in Taft, one individual was executed in Mashhad, one individual was executed in Shahreza and one individual in Rasht. News media in Iran have expressed that their crime was murder. Moreover, one individual was executed in Qazvin and one individual was executed in Gorgan. News media in Iran have reported that their crime was rape.

On the other hand, some unofficial news websites have reported executions in the prisons ofTabriz, Oromieh, Bandarabbas, Kerman and Karaj; these reports have not been confirmed or denied by the Judiciary officials or state-controlled media.

2. News media in Iran have reported the issuance of death sentences for two individuals in Tehran province due to murder and one individual in Tehran Province because of rape.

Moreover, the death sentences of Hamid Baqeri Dermani – a defendant accused of economic crimes – and three individuals in Mahabad and one individual in Tehran because of murder were confirmed by the Supreme Court.

3. News media in Iran have reported the issuance of suspended lashes sentence for one individual in Shaft due to cruelty to animals.

In addition, the Supreme Court has confirmed the lashes sentences for two individuals due to having relationship without marriage and some individuals in Tehran Province because of economic crimes.

4. The health situation of some political prisoners is still reported to be unfavourable to the extent that some of them – such as Mohamamd Habibi and Majid Azizi- are sick but no serious action has been taken for their treatment.
5. Some prisoners such as Nasrin Sotudeh, Mahmud Naji, Rohollah Mardani and Qasem Qanbari went on hunger strike in protest at what they claim to be undesirable conditions for prisoners and violations of their legal rights.
6. Elham Ahmadi – a member of the Gonabadi Darwishes Sect who is currently in jail – refused to attend his court hearings in protest against the failure to comply with legal procedures during the trial.
7. The Intelligence Protection Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reported the detention of 11 individuals in Shiraz due to what has been called as activities in the field of producing and performing music and holding private parties.

Section 2: Social and Economic Rights

Reports concerning the social and economic situation also point to the continued presence of unfavourable conditions in these areas. For example, news reveals unsatisfactory employment conditions and salaries of workers in a number of units such as:

Workers of technical lines of the railways of the southeast, Andimeshk Municipality, Tabas Municipality, Shushtar Municipality, Barfab Factory, Tansim Nush Cooperation, Sazehpardazan Shamsabad Coperation, Iran National Group, Arya Still Alvand Factory, Jahan Edible Oil Factory, Water Supply Project of Sistan Plain and phase No.2 of Abadan Refinery, retirees of Shiraz Telecommunications industries, personnel of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj and Samen Institute.

1. Many workers have not received any payments for several months. The names of the offending units, number of workers affected, and the period of time when they have not paid (at the time of writing this report) are as follows:

Some workers of Borujerd Municipality for nine months, dredging workers of Kutabdollah for six months, workers of ball bearing factory for four months, workers of Bavers Steel for 18 months, workers of Iranian gas industry for 18 months, workers of Iran Energy Meter Making Factory for 16 months, workers of Shomal Drilling Company for one month, workers of Hamedan Municipality for two months, workers of Ahvaz Urban Railway for 18 months, workers of Qaemshahr Municipality for two months, workers of Bijar Municipality for three months, workers of Bandar Imam Khomeini Municipality for three months, workers of Takestan Wire Industry Factory for six months, workers of Amku Cooperation for three months, workers of Abadan Municipality for three months and workers of Talun Company for four months.

2. Some 400 personnel of Gaj Institute, 270 workers of Line No.6 of Tehran Urban Railway and 30 workers of Sadid Factory have been sacked from their jobs.

Moreover, 260 workers of Shahab Shams Industrial design and Manufacturing Company were fired due to the closure of this trading unit.

3. The working places of Saeid Afshar, Bahman Afshar, Farhad Afshar, Mohammad Afshar, Kamal Afshari, Shokrollah Azizi, Alireza Afshar, Mostafa Ebadi, Arsalan Farzaneh and Jahan Behbahani – 10 Baha’i citizens – were sealed.

In addition, the Administrative Justice Court has refused the appeal of 17 Baha’i citizens for the closure of their working places.

Section 3: Cultural Heritage and Environment

One individual has been killed in Dehloran due to a mine explosion. Three individuals were injured because of two mine explosions in Baneh.

Conclusion:

At the end of the report for the month of Azar of 1397, the Centre for the Defenders of Human Rightsannounced that the continuation of the repression of people whose only demands are for “bread” and “work” is an erroneous and inhuman course of action according to any logic and law. The Centre emphasized that the continuation of this situation will only cause more destruction.