KARIM MAHMOUDI "TAGHANA"s blogg

Att dö

2011-10-03T16:22:00.001+02:00

Av: Sherko Bekas
Översättning: Karim Mahmoudi Taghana

När ett blad dog.. dog en bokstav i mig.

När ett källvatten dog.. dog ett ord i mig.

När en trädgård dog.. dog en mening i mig.

Men du, tioåriga flicka

från ”Halladin”s by,

när du dödades

dog tio dikter i mig!
----------------------------------------

Halladin:
En av de byar i södra Kurdistan som under flera år bombarderades med kemiska vapen av Saddams regim.

Ödmjukhet

2011-09-03T17:52:00.002+02:00

Det regnade mjukt. Vi vandrade under regnet, hand i hand.

– du har två sorgsna ögon

och ett fint leende! Det räcker för mig

att leva på!

Sa du.

Månen log i fjärran.

Regnet fortsatte.

Karim

02.09.2011

Det sista leendet!

2011-07-26T17:33:00.001+02:00

”En farlig situation i Iran”

2011-07-26T17:11:00.001+02:00

Iraniernas och omvärldens blickar riktas alltmer mot de väpnade styrkorna i den islamiska republiken. Med sina hundratusentals soldater och milismän och mängder av vapen kan de med ohämmat våld stoppa protesterna mot presidentvalet som nu har pågått i snart två veckor.

Läs fortsättningen här:

2010-11-20T13:07:00.004+01:00

Kyssens galleri

Av: Ghobad Jalizada
Översättning från kurdiska: Karim Taghana

1
Kyssen är glödens resa
Från en eldstad
Till en annan!

2
Kyssen är fröjdens mina
Den spränger kroppens källor!

3
Jag tappade ner en kyss i havet
Den blev en fisk!

4
Kyssen är en grön nyckel
Den öppnar alla själar och kroppars stängda dörrar!

5
Kyssen mellan två läppar
Är en bro av regnbåge!

6
Kyssen
Är fjärilens sömn
Ovan gevärets ansikte!

7
Från mun till mun,
Kyssen är en viskning
Fullt av hemlig glöd!

2010-11-06T17:05:00.006+01:00

Fjäril

Av: Sherko Bekas

Översättning: Karim

Sörj ej, du fjäril
Över att ditt liv är så kort.. sörj ej!
I det korta ögonblick
Så mycket längre liv du gett dikten
Inte ens Noahs ålder gjort det
Sörj ej, du fjäril!

Yah.. Shame on you!!

2010-10-24T22:48:00.003+02:00

19 års fängelse för iransk bloggare

2010-10-01T15:57:00.005+02:00

Hossein Derakhshan, en pionjär i den iranska bloggvärlden, har dömts till 19 års fängelse i Iran för att bland annat ha "spridit propaganda", enligt AP.

Hossein Derakhshan var den första att blogga på farsi och var från början en kritiker av Irans religiösa styre.

Bloggade från Kanada
Han bloggade från Kanada och initierade 2001 en våg av bloggande iranier då han, på farsi, publicerade lätta instruktioner på hur man startade bloggar. Både hans egen blogg, och flera andra bloggar har under året utsatts för försök till censur och nedstängning.

Men Hossein Derakhshan har också ansetts kontroversiell inom bloggvärlden. Han som först startade som regimkritiker, började efter ett besök i Israel 2006 bloggade om att vilja bygga broar mellan de två stridande länderna.

Bytte linje
Senare bytte han linje och blev en ivrig påhejare av den kontroversiella presidenten Mahmoud Ahmadinejad och hyllade honom för han stod upp mot makten i väst.

Trots det arresterades Hossein Derakhshan när han besökte Iran 2008 och har sedan dess suttit fängslad. Enligt nyhetsbyrån AP dömdes han till 19 års fängelse för att han inlett samarbete med fiendeländer som Israel och för att i tidigare texter spridit regimkritisk propaganda.

2010-09-22T14:53:00.001+02:00

Ge mig gift att dö eller drömmar att leva!

Gunnar Ekelöf

2010-09-22T14:49:00.001+02:00

Fattiga har inte rätt att välja...

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

I dag har många asylsökande hamnat i Ljusne. De asylsökande får ett reskassekort från Migrationsverket som är laddat med 400 kronor. Fyra eller sex gånger per månad har de rätt att åka till Söderhamn, bestämmer Migrationsverket.

RelateratMen å andra sidan får de asylsökande som bor i Stugsund månadskort och orsaken till detta är att de ska åka buss för att handla i Söderhamn.

Men Migrationsverket bör veta att nästan alla asylsökande åker buss från Ljusne till Söderhamn varje dag för att handla i lågprisbutik. Jag undrar varför har man bara rätt att åka fyra eller sex gånger per månad? Jag försäkrar Migrationsverket att en asylsökande inte har råd att gå och handla (all mat) här i Ljusne med en dagersättning på 1 400 eller 2 000 kronor per månad. Ersättningen ska ju också räcka till annat också än mat som till exempel kläder och skor.

Det finns så många asylsökande som gärna betalar lite extra för att kunna få ett månadskort i stället. Men detta går inte heller för dem eftersom Migrationsverket, i stället för ett värdebeviskort, ger reskassa och ett reskassekort går inte att byta till månadskort.

Häromdagen var jag och en vän på Migrationsverket i Söderhamn. I receptionen pratade jag med någon på Migrationsverket och beskrev situationen. Men jag fick bara nej och nej som svar.

Jag lämnade Migrationsverket och på väg till biblioteket tänkte jag på det ordspråk som säger att de fattiga inte har rätt att välja.

Även här i Sverige?

Kanske.

LÄS TEXTEN I SÖDERHAMNSKURIREN

2010-08-18T16:11:00.002+02:00

Mord och avrättningar av författare och upplysta människor
i den islamiska regimen i Iran

(Del 2)

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Sanningen är den att frihetskämpar och människor med annorlunda åsikter inte har någon plats i dagens Iran.

Khamenei säger:

_ ”Friheten är inte fullkomlig. Den är precis så inskränkt som islam har sagt oss. Därför den frihet som driver folket till kätteriet och sublimeringen är en falsk frihet. Om någon person eller grupp planerar att utföra sådan frihet, är det inte accepterat av vår islamiska regim.”

LÄS FORTSÄTTNINGEN HÄR

2010-08-03T22:22:00.003+02:00

HÄR TIGGER STOLTHETEN!!

Karim

2010-08-03T17:23:00.008+02:00

Mord och avrättningar av författare och upplysta människor i den islamiska regimen i Iran

(Del 1)

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Död och avrättningar av författare, oppositionella och de journalister som tänker och analyserar saker på olika sätt är en av de viktigaste uppgifter för den islamiska regimen i Iran. Regimens historia är en bekräftelse på vad jag menar.

Här vill jag skriva kort om de författare och journalister som blev avrättade eller dödades på olika brutala sätt de senaste åren. Jag skriver också om de frihetskämpar som sitter i fängelse nu och lever i väntan på döden.

LÄS FORTSÄTTNINGEN HÄR

Den snöiga tigern

2010-07-27T19:59:00.006+02:00

Nu när den snötigern

har svalt mig

finns det inget val

jag måste sitta ned

och se den smälta bort.

Av: Shams Langroudi (Iransk författare)
Översatt av: Karim Taghana

De mänskliga rättigheterna och den islamiska regimen i Iran

2010-07-12T14:24:00.011+02:00

AV: KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

I dessa tider tappar man nästan hakan när man ser eller hör att en kvinna, en människa ska stenas till döds eller avrättas så lätt inför världens ögon.

Vad är det för tid vi lever i? Jo, i ett informationssamhälle där de mänskliga rättigheterna och de mänskliga värdena värderas högt. Men inte för den islamiska regimen där ordet och rättigheterna bara är meningslös prat.

Att prata om de mänskliga rättigheterna i samband med den islamiska regimen i Iran, går inte. Den islamiska regimen i Iran har ingenting att göra med de ovannämnda begreppen. Jag tror inte att det finns någon kraft som kan koppla ihop dem utom möjligen döden. Den Islamiska regimens död.

Denna regim är bekant med blod, en gammal vän till det. Den är bekant med avrättning. Den kan inte leva utan den. Regimen är förälskad i terror, uppbyggd av terror.

I den islamiska regimen finns det ingen plats för det som kallas de mänskliga rättigheterna och det fria ordet, där är det struntprat. Där är Frihet och demokrati två meningslösa ord för vilka folket blivit offrade för.

Ni kan också tänka på det och hålla med mig.

Detta är en tid där Internet och andra kommunikations teknologier har gjort världen lika nåbar som en liten by. Men varför hörs då inte ljuden av de oskyldiga människorna? Varför når då inte skriken av de olyckliga mödrarna fram? Det tycker jag är konstigt.

publicerat i Söderhamnskuriren

Torsdag 15 Juli 2010

BALLADEN OM HAVETS VATTEN

2010-06-15T14:19:00.013+02:00

FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA

Havet
ler i fjärran:
tänder av skum,
läppar av himmel.

- Vad säljer du, sorgsna flicka,
med brösten i vinden?

- Herre, jag säljer
havets vatten.

- Vad bär du på, unge neger,
blandat med ditt blod?

- Herre, jag bär på
havets vatten.

- dessa salta tårar,
varifrån kommer de, moder?

- Herre, jag gråter
havets vatten.

- Och denna djupa bitterhet,
mitt hjärta, hur har den uppstått?

- Mycket bittert är
havets vatten.

Havet
ler i fjärran:
tänder av skum,
läppar av himmel.

(1920)

En tragisk film

2010-06-02T14:11:00.007+02:00

AV: KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Häromdagen lånade jag hem en film, Soraya M. Det är en sann historia om en oskyldig kvinna som stenas till döds i den islamiska regimens Iran. Den här filmen är ett tragiskt drama som visar hur en kvinna behandlas av den islamiska regimen.

Jag, som kommer från Iran och är medveten om vad som händer i Iran och hur särskilt kvinnor behandlas, blev upprörd när jag tittade på filmen.

Filmen är också lärorik och viktig. Så om ni är intresserade av att få lite kännedom av kvinnors situation i Iran då ska ni se på denna film. Jag önskar också att politiker och andra beslutsfattare får möjlighet att se den.

Publicerad i Söderhamnskuriren (22 maj 2010)

”Tomma löften inte skydd mot tortyr”

2010-04-13T14:11:00.003+02:00

Publicerat 2010-04-12 06:04

Amnesty International uppmanar regeringarna i Europa att sluta lita till diplomatiska löften för att kunna lämna ut personer till länder där de riskerar tortyr.

Sådana försäkringar räcker inte för att skydda de utlämnade mot övergrepp, säger människorättsorganisationen i en rapport.

Enligt Amnesty har det efter 11 september-attackerna 2001 blivit allt vanligare att sådana försäkringar används för att juridiskt och politiskt försvara utlämnande av personer som anses hota säkerheten. I rapporten nämns en lång rad fall, bland annat Sveriges avvisning av två egyptier i december 2001. De två fördes från Sverige till Egypten av den amerikanska säkerhetstjänsten CIA. I Egypten förhördes männen med hjälp av tortyr.

Annons:
Ett annat exempel i Amnestyrapporten är en man som lämnades ut från Italien till Tunisien i juni 2008, sedan tunisiska myndigheter lovat att han inte skulle bli illa behandlad efter hemkomsten. Han har senare uppgett att han torterades under ett förhör.

Genom att hänvisa till dessa ofta vaga löften så underminerar regeringar i Europa förbudet mot tortyr, sade Julia Hall, Amnestys expert på mänskliga rättigheter och terrorbekämpning i Europa.

Läs här

IRAN/ Europadomstolen stoppar utvisning

2010-03-11T12:13:00.004+01:00

Den 9 mars fastslog Europadomstolen i en dom att Sveriges beslut att avslå en iransk mans asylansökan och att utvisa honom till Iran strider mot Europakonventionens artikel 3 om förbud mot tortyr eller annan grym eller omänsklig behandling eller bestraffning.

Mannen, som kom till Sverige och sökte asyl 2003, uppgav som skäl att han år 2001 gripits tillsammans med ett antal andra personer under en demonstration mot den iranska regimen. Han ska sedan ha suttit fängslad i nästan två år och då utsatts för tortyr, innan han lyckades fly från fängelset och lämna landet illegalt. Svenska myndigheter ifrågasatte hans trovärdighet och uppgifterna om tortyr, trots att mannen ingivit ett rättsmedicinskt utlåtande. Man ansåg inte heller att han, vid ett återvändande till Iran, skulle riskera att fängslas och torteras.
Europadomstolen anför i sin dom att mannen i det stora hela har givit en sammanhållen redogörelse av omständigheterna. Att det fanns vissa omständigheter som var mindre klara, förtar inte hans trovärdighet som helhet. Domstolen påpekar vidare att mannen har ett läkarutlåtande där det konstateras att de skador han uppvisar kan ha tillkommit genom tortyr. Om svenska myndigheter ifrågasätter dessa uppgifter är det, enligt domstolen, upp till dem att tillkalla expertis för ytterligare undersökning.

Domstolen konstaterar vidare att den iranska regimen griper och fängslar inte bara ledare för den politiska oppositionen och andra profilpersoner utan vem som helst som demonstrerar mot regimen. Alla dessa riskerar att utsättas för tortyr i fängelset. Personer som återvänder till Iran och inte kan visa att man lagligen lämnat landet, riskerar också att gripas, fängslas och utsättas för tortyr. Uppgifterna om att mannen ska ha lämnat landet illegalt har heller inte ifrågasatts av svenska myndigheter.
Författad av: Elisabeth Löfgren

Utskriftsvänligt format

Fler pressnotiser

Goda nyheter

http://www.amnesty.se/ed/hem/xml-pressnotiser-latest/D1CFE1E8889E8B9DC12576E2005B7E85/

De politiskt aktiva iranierna är pressade

2009-12-04T13:11:00.011+01:00

Karim Mahmoudi
Nu pressar de iranska myndigheterna de politiska flyktingar som är bosatta i Kurdistan i Irak för att gå till det iranska konsulatet. Den iranska regimen pressar och hotar de flyktingar i Kurdistan (Irak), rapporterar kommittén för de mänskliga rättigheterna i sin rapport.
Flyktingarna hotas via telefonsamtal och i Iran förhörs och fångas deras familjer av den islamiska regimen också.

Den politiskt aktive Mehrdad Haydary, en av de tidigare fängslade i Iran, nu bosatt i Irak, informerade de mänskliga rättigheternas nyhetsbyrå att han har blivit hotad och av några personer och avslöjade också att han attackerats av okända beväpnade människor för ett tag sedan.

En annan iransk journalist som heter Fariborz Seroush, har blivit hotad via telefon av okända personer och uppmanades att komma till det iranska konsulatet i Suleimania annars skulle han skickas tillbaka till Iran med tvång och med händer och fötter hopbundna.

Läs på Renesans.info:

http://www.renesans.info/index/index.php?id=304

IRAN/ Hennes man hängdes - nu ska hon stenas till döds

2009-10-27T13:43:00.003+01:00

Den 5 oktober hängdes Rahim Mohammadi och nu är risken stor att hans hustru, Kobra Babaei, kommer att stenas till döds. Paret dömdes till döden för äktenskapsbrott, efter att hustrun prostituerat sig för att få ihop pengar eftersom bägge varit arbetslösa under lång tid och var mycket fattiga.

Straffet för personer som döms för äktenskapsbrott i Iran är stening till döds. Trots att Irans högsta juridiska råd, 2002, gav instruktioner om att steningsstraff inte skulle verkställas har sedan dess minst fem män och en kvinna stenats till döds. Amnesty har uppgifter om att ytterligare sju kvinnor och två män har dömts till stening i Iran, det verkliga antalet kan vara högre.

Rahim Mohammedi dömdes även för "otukt" och straffet för det är hängning, Avrättningen genomfördes i hemlighet utan att advokaten informerades, vilket strider mot iransk lag. Enligt advokaten är det troliga skälet till att mannen också dömdes för otukt att det gav myndigheterna möjlighet att hänga Rahim Mohammedi i stället för att stena honom till döds. För att på så sätt minska uppmärksamheten kring avrättningen.

Amnesty protesterar mot avrättningen av Rahim Mohammedi och har inlett en kampanj för att stoppa avrättningen av Kobra Babaei.

http://www.amnesty.se/ed/hem/xml-pressnotiser-latest/607CA7E885B955A900257656006C14A5/

UPPSKATTA ETT UPPEHÅLLSTILLSTÅND!

2009-10-17T12:21:00.003+02:00

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

I Sverige finns det många asylsökande som fått stanna efter bara några veckor eller månader.
Frågan är det hur kan man veta att alla dessa personer inte är skadliga för oss och det svenska samhället?
Jag, som har varit i Sverige sedan 2005 och väntar fortfarande på något skydd, har träffat flera människor som fått uppehållstillstånd så lätt efter så kort tid. Otacksamma människor som klagar jämt. Människor med konstiga och dumma tankar, kan jag säga.
Ni borde uppskatta Migrationsverket som gett er uppehållstillstånd så fort och respektera detta land och dess folk mer än andra brukar jag säga till dem när vi träffas.
Medan jag känner flera asylsökande också som har varit i Sverige i flera år utan uppehållstillstånd och problem. Flera asylsökande med fina och humana tankar som egentligen skulle kunna vara i samhällets tjänst.
Det svenska samhället förtjänar inte att bli överraskat och chockat av oss!
* Publicerades i Södehamnskuriren (16 October 2009)

Lögnaren Ahmedinejad och hans brutala ...

2009-10-08T13:05:00.010+02:00

Lögnaren Ahmedinejad och hans brutala och äckliga islamiska regim.

(detta händer i Iran varje dag, kolla!)

MAHMOUD AHMEDINEJAD:

- " Är det egentligen vårt samhällsproblem våra söners och döttrars hår..?? Vad spelar det för roll hur de vill ha det?? Låt de behålla håret som de vill. Vi ska inte bestämma över dem. Regeringen måste förbättra den ekonomiska situationen och lösa folkets problem. Regeringen måste stödja folkets röst. Detta är regeringens plikt. Det finns olika minoriteter och olika traditioner och kulturer. Var för måste man göra någon illa eller inte respektera andras åsikter. Är det vårt problem att inte låta ungdomarna behålla deras hårstil? Regeringen och myndigheterna måste lyssna på dagens ungdomar och lösa deras problem. Vi får inte kränka folket. Våra döttrar till exempel… Hur klär de sig och vilken klädstil väljer de. Är det vårt samhällsproblem?? Ska våra problem lösas med deras klädstil?? Nej! Låt de göra som de vill. "

Översatt av: KARIM MAHMOUDI " TAGHANA "

Härifrån ser jag er!

2009-10-01T16:51:00.002+02:00

Härifrån ser jag er!

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Här snöar det ständigt och jämt. Rösten fryser och stelnar i löften. Det är gryning och jag sitter i köket och tittar ut genom fönstret. Snö och snö och snö… Snön har omfamnat allting. Vad lycklig snön är! I denna ensamhet och desperation avundas jag ofta snön!
Jag stirrar ut. Som alla andra vardagar ser jag vår snygga granntjej gå med sitt barn till dagis.
Jag observerar lite och sedan vänder jag mitt huvud och ser er! Hör er jämmer.
_ ”Köp det här barnet av mig för guds skull! Se på henne. Så
söt hon är..”

Jag känner igen din röst, Fatima! Jag är säker på att detta är din svaga och trista röst. Jag är också säker på att du på den folkfyllda gatan i Tehran vill sälja ditt barn inte en docka.

Masuma!
Jag ser på dig och hör din gråt och jämmer. Jag vet att du är yngre än femton år men utan att du vet det, har du givits bort till en femtioårig man. Där borta ser jag en man med en lång mustasch som med lysten blick stirrar på din smala rumpa och dreglar.

Imorgon i gryningen, är det galge för dig också, Leila! Jag vet det. Då ska du skickas till gud. Jag hör din hjärtklappning.

Sirwa!
Blommor skulle ha kastats mot dig men ikväll ska du stenas i stället. Du kommer och går och river ditt bröst. Dina rop och skrik når fram till mig.

Men du tant Khaje! *

Varje dag är du inför mina trötta ögon.
På torget i stan sitter du på huk väntande på att välvilliga män ska komma och ge dig allmosor. Härifrån ser jag dig och önskar att jag kunde komma fram till dig, böja mig ner och kyssa dina rynkiga händer.

Här är jag. Sitter och tittar ut men jag ser er alla. Hör era hjärtklappningar och smälter bort från mitt inre.

*Iranska namn.

Mediafrihet i IRAN (i bild!)

2009-09-21T17:24:00.000+02:00

Mediafrihet i IRAN (i bild!)

På bilden ovan, Irans TV gör ett reportage om gårdagens protester i Iran, de visar en lapp framför folk som intervjuar och tvingar dem att läsa upp den istället deras egna åsikter!( på lappen står att de är idioter som protesterar och måste bli straffad!- Att de tackar medias frihet i Iran!)- Bilden är sänd från en tjänsteman på Irans Tv, som är trött på deras begränsade yttrandefrihet!

Från: http://www.metrobloggen.se/jsp/public/permalink.jsp?article=19.11946161

En gång i Bagdad!

2009-09-15T13:13:00.002+02:00

En gång i Bagdad!
KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Jag var på Söderhamnskuriren för att lämna in en insändare. I receptionen pratade jag med en kvinna. Trevligt och enkelt samtidigt. Fick två stycken av tidningen som mina insändarna var med och gick sedan hemåt.
På väg hem kom jag ihåg en dag när jag som flykting var i Al- Tash lägret i Irak. Där jag tillsammans med tre andra personer publicerade en tidskrift som hette REBEEN vilken var mot den islamiska regimen av Iran. Den publicerades med stöd av Kurdistans demokratiska parti i Iran (KDPI) och FN som gav presstöd.
Det var år 2001. Jag åkte till huvudstaden Bagdad och hade med mig några stycken av REBEEN för att ge dem till de kurdiska och arabiska tidningar som publicerades i Bagdad då. De skulle också publicera den eller göra reklam för tidskriften eftersom den var från den iranska oppositionen och var mot Iran precis som den irakiska regeringen och dess tidningar.
I Bagdad tog jag en taxi och snart befann jag mig framför en stor byggnad i vilken tidningen HAWKARI och andra tidskrifter publicerades.
I receptionen introducerade jag mig. Mannen som var där granskade mig från topp till tå och tappade hakan när han såg på min legitimation att jag kom från Iran. Vi flyktingar i Al - Tash lägret hade bara rätt att besöka den närmaste staden till lägret.
Efter att han hade överöst mig med konstiga frågor, visade han mig trapporna. Jag suckade och gick mot trapporna. Jag hade inte tagit första steget när han kallade på mig igen och sa med en rå ton:
– har du inte pistol med dig?!
Jag log, tog upp min penna från fickan och visade honom. Sedan fortsatte jag vägen.

* PUBLICERAT I SÖDERHAMNSKURIREN (22 OCT 2009)

Vi är också människor!

2009-08-26T13:52:00.000+02:00

Vi är också människor!

KARIM MAHMOUDI
Under åren 1979–1980 tvingades tusentals kurdiska familjer i Iran att lämna sitt land på grund av den politiska situationen som då rådde att fly till Irak.
Där hamnade de i ett läger som heter Al-Tash. Jag var ett litet barn då men minns att vi fick tält av den irakiska regeringen.
Efterhand började folket bygga hus av soltorkat tegel vilket var gjort av dy.
Åren gick och så småningom blev Al-Tash-lägret uppmärksammat av dess omgivning och världen. Röda Korset (ICRC) var verksam där och senare också FN (UNHCR).
Folkets liv och deras situation var ändå i fara. Irakiska regimen hade omringat lägret med taggtråd. Islamiska agenter hade nästlat sig in i lägret.
Efter Saddams fall blev situationen värre i lägret. Många dödades och hotades och många kidnappades.
Slutligen tvingades folket att lämna Al-Tash-lägret och söka skydd på andra platser. En del flydde till ett område mellan Irak och Jordan. En massa folk flydde till norra Irak och Turkiet.
Efter några år av förväntan fick några familjer skydd i europeiska länder men många av dem är fortfarande kvar där, förvirrade.
I några få meningar kan man inte beskriva de olyckliga människor och 25 år av deras liv som varit så hemska och fyllda av tragedi.
I Sverige finns också ett tiotal av dessa skyddslösa människor som kommit från Al-Tash-lägret utan att ha något skydd. De åldras småningom och varje dag begraver de sina önskningar själva. Jag är också en av dem som har bott i Sverige sedan 2005, förhoppningsfullt.
Frågan är vad är vårt brott som gjort att vi måste fortsätta leva så här i väntan på något skydd?! Vem ska ta ställning angående vårt liv och när?
PUBLICERAT I SÖDERHAMNSKURIREN (26 augusti 2009)

Mycket konstigt knyckande

2009-08-24T13:32:00.000+02:00

Mycket konstigt knyckande

KARIM MAHMOUDI
* För några dagar sen gick jag och en vän in till Lidl för att handla. Vid korridoren till höger såg jag fyra personer som stod bredvid pantmaskinen. De hade knutit burken med en tråd.
För några veckor sen var jag på en loppis. Kul att vara där och leta efter saker. Förut hade de ett provrum där, men det var nu borttaget. En kvinna hade lämnat sina kläder i provrummet, klätt på sig kläder från loppisen, och sedan försökt sticka iväg utan att betala.
Detta berättade mannen som jobbar på loppisen för mig, när jag frågade var provrummet var. Jag blev mer nyfiken. Jag frågade om hon var en flykting. Mannen tittade snällt på mig, och svarade att det var hon inte. Och att de hade haft problem med både svenskar och flyktingar, som gjort så. På väg hem tänkte jag på vad mannen sagt till mig. En svensk. Ja, men han ville inte säga ”en flykting” och besvära mig. Kanske.
* För några dagar sen gick jag och en vän in till Lidl för att handla. Vid korridoren till höger såg jag fyra personer som stod bredvid pantmaskinen. De hade bara en två-kronors colaburk. De hade knutit burken med en tråd.
Tre av dem vaktade och såg sig omkring medan den fjärde drog burken ned och sen upp. Ned och upp. För varje gång kunde de få två kronor.
Jag hade hört om detta tidigare så jag blev inte så förvånad. En man hade sett det och berättat för mig. Jag gick in och informerade personal så fort jag kunde. Man kan se konstiga saker om man öppnar sina ögon.
Karim Mahmoudi

Publicerat i Söderhamns-kuriren (15 augusti 2009)

IRAN - ett stort slakteri för frihetskämpar

2009-08-12T13:30:00.000+02:00

Ett slakteri för frihetskämpar

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Den islamiska regimen längtar bara efter blod. Tjejer och killars blod. Den kan inte leva utan detta blod som spills varje dag. I Iran är det så lätt och enkelt att bli dödad idag. Orden ”kärlek”, ”frihet”, ”fred” eller ”håller inte med dig” kan innebära döden. Jag vet att detta kan vara som en hemsk saga för en svensk men detta är realiteten i Iran.

Oroligheterna i Iran fortsätter fortfarande. Regimen försöker att kväva folkets röst. Inför världens ögon fångar den folket och skjuter ihjäl människor.
Regimen hotar och stänger tidningar varje dag. Sedan sätter den journalister och frihetskämpar i fängelse där en säker död väntar på dem.

De senaste dagarna har kroppar börjat dyka upp här och var. Kroppar till de killar eller de våldtagna tjejer som torterats brutalt till dötts.

Det iranska folket, som jag skrev om i en tidigare artikel, är trötta på regimen och de tvingas att välja mellan pest och kolera. Mousavi. Här vill jag påminna att Mousavi är också shiit-muslim. Han tror att man måste följa den islamiska grundlagen fullständigt. Under Mousavis tid, när han var premiärminister, avrättades tiotusentals människor som var politiskt aktiva mot regimen. Vad som sker i Iran idag, visar att den islamiska regimen inte kan heller acceptera en åsikt av en person som Mousavi.

Jag tror att Sverige måste som EU-ordförande ta ställning angående situationen i Iran och reagera på vad den islamiska regimen gör mot folket. Genom ordförandeskapet har Sverige möjlighet att påverka och spela en stor roll för de mänskliga rättigheterna i Iran…

Publicerat i Söderhamns-kuriren (17 augusti 2009)

2009-08-11T12:49:00.000+02:00

ÄR JAG PRESIDENTEN NU, PAPPA?!

2009-08-11T12:45:00.000+02:00

SKÄRP DIG DU!!

2009-08-11T12:43:00.000+02:00

Ja....!

2009-08-11T12:33:00.000+02:00

ITN News August 08: British Embassy worker goes on trial in Iran

Detta land tycker jag om

2009-07-17T13:16:00.000+02:00

Detta land tycker jag om

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)
Det är gryning. Vid köksfönstret sitter jag och tänker på de senaste händelserna i mitt land, Iran.
Ute ser jag en kvinna som tar sitt barn till dagis. En kvinna som jag känner. En asylsökande.
Det leder mina tankar till kvinnan och barnets liv i Iran. De svältande kvinnor som i sitt land tvingas sälja sitt barn inför allas ögon. Jo, härifrån ser jag hur de gör det gråtande. Och så klart ser jag också hur de kvinnor som inte får tak över sina huvuden tvingas sälja bara för att få lite pengar och äta sig mätta för en stund.
På en sida ser jag också hur de kära människorna piskas, stenas, hängs eller avrättas... På andra sidan ser jag den islamiska regimens president. Hur han berömmer sin äckliga och förbannade regim utan att skämmas.
Jag suckar och vänder mig om. Genom mitt öppna fönster tittar jag ut och ler. Detta land och dess system tycker jag mycket om och jag uppskattar och berömmer det jämt.

* publicerat den 17 juli 2009 i Söderhamnskuriren

Iranska folket vill också ha frihet

2009-07-07T12:41:00.000+02:00

Iranska folket vill också ha frihet

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

Valet i Iran är bara en lek. Dessa protester och demonstrationer efter presidentvalet den 12 juni, visade den iranska regimens rätta ansikte för hela världen och samtidigt visade att iranska folket längtar efter fred och frihet.
Det var dock inte folket som valde den sittande presidenten Mahmoud Ahmedinejad för fyra år sedan, utan det var den mäktige ledaren Khamenei.

Varje dag protesterar hundratusentals mot presidentvalet och Ahmedinejads omval. Under 30 års makt av den islamiska regimen är det här det största "nej" som folket någonsin sagt till regimen, tror jag. Nej till avrättning och hängning, nej till stenkastning, nej till terror och terrorism. Folk är trötta på regimen och då speciellt på den extreme presidenten Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

Den islamiska regimen i Iran har aldrig lagt märke till folkets röst, Den är alldeles värdelös för regimen. Det är bara deras diktatoriska makt som är värdefull.

Å ena sidan anklagar regimen andra länder för oroligheterna och å andra sidan sätter den demonstranter och journalister i fängelse – polisen och "basij" öppnar eld mot folket och dödar oskyldiga människor.

Bilderna av Neda, som fick ett skott i bröstet, skakade världen. I dag är Neda en symbol för frihet. Om vi tar en titt på tidigare revolutioner i världshistorien så ser vi att friheten har kostat blod och lidande. Frihetens träd ska tyvärr vattnas med blod, annars ger det ingen frukt!

Dessa folkrörelser mot regimen är mäktigare än regimens makt. Regimen har redan knäat, blivit förvirrad och svagare. Jag tror att det islamiska systemets tid håller på att ta slut. Man väntar på ett demokratiskt och federalt system som kan vara värt alla dessa offer.

Med en enda blick på de senaste händelserna och oroligheterna i Iran, förstår vi att regimens livstid har blivit kortare.

Vi kurder har ett bra ordspråk som säger: "när getens död närmar sig, äter den herdens mat!

Karim Mahmoudi

* publicerat i kuriren den 7 juli 2009

2009-06-27T12:45:00.000+02:00

Doktor Hejazi som var bredvid NEDA när hon fick ett skott i bröstet:
Från BBC

Karim hoppas på ny regim

2009-06-24T16:03:00.000+02:00

36-årige Karim Mahmoudi följer händelserna i hemlandet med stor oro.
Fotograf:
Malin Hedman

Karim hoppas på regimskifte

Söderhamn/Söderhamns-Kuriren Valet i Iran har lett till våldsamma protester. Över hundra personer befaras ha dött. I Söderhamn följer asylsökande oroat kravallerna i hemlandet. - Folket har tröttnat på Irans regim, förhoppningsvis kan protesterna få världen att förstå, säger den politiske skribenten Karim Mahmoudi, som har bott i Söderhamn sedan 2005.
36-årige Karim Mahmoudi är kurd och flydde på grund av det politiska läget från Iran till Irak redan 1980, när han var sju år gammal. När USA invaderade Irak 2005 flydde han därifrån till Sverige.
1993 började han skriva för irakiska tidningar. I dag skriver han kritiska artiklar om Irans islamska regim på sina tre bloggar och även för andra hemsidor och tidningar i Iran.
Det är misstänkt valfusk som ligger bakom det oroliga läget i Iran för tillfället. Sittande presidenten Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vann och valets förlorare Mir Hossein Mousavi klagade över oegentligheter.
- Jag tror att valet i Iran bara är som en lek. De vill visa länderna i Europa att de också kan hålla demokratiska val. Men Iran är en diktatur, säger Karim Mahmoudi.

Läs hela intervjun i onsdagens Söderhamns-Kuriren.
Oskar Klingbornoskar.klingborn@soderhamnskuriren.se

2009-06-22T12:31:00.000+02:00

Vad som händer i IRAN

2009-06-22T12:30:00.002+02:00

2009-06-22T12:30:00.001+02:00

2009-06-22T12:29:00.002+02:00

2009-06-22T12:29:00.001+02:00

2009-06-22T12:28:00.001+02:00

2009-06-22T12:27:00.002+02:00

2009-06-22T12:27:00.001+02:00

2009-06-22T12:26:00.000+02:00

2009-06-22T12:24:00.000+02:00

2009-06-16T13:10:00.000+02:00

Demonstration against the Iran Regime:

2009-06-16T13:05:00.000+02:00

7 people were killed

Tuesday 16 June 2009
Iran Human Rights, June 16: At least 7 people were killed under the demonstrations in Tehran last night reported the state run Iranian radio today.

According to sources in Iran at least 11 people could have been killed during yesterdays demonstrations in Tehran. It has been told that 5 people were also killed after the pro-regime forces attacked Tehran Universty’s dormitory.

Observers have seen guards shooting at the demonstrators from the Basidj base close to the Azadi square in Tehran (picture).

Several explosions have been heard around shahrak-e-ghar in Tehran last.

More than one million took part in yesterday’s pro democracy demonstration in the Valy-e Asr street in Tehran. A new demonstration is going to take place at 5 pm today. However supporters of Ahmadinejad are planning a meeting at the same place at 3 pm.

We are concerned that more people will be killed by the pro-regime forces today.

The spokesperson of Iran Human Rights asks the European countries to condemn killing of the peaceful demonstrators by the Iranian regime.

Several European countries have summoned Iranian ambassadors to express their concern about the situation in Iran.

2009-03-24T21:12:00.000+01:00

kränkningar av de mänskliga rättigheterna i tredje största Irans provinsen

2009-02-26T15:39:00.000+01:00

2008 Human Rights Report: Iran*
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
February 25, 2009
The Islamic Republic of Iran, with a population of approximately 70 million, is a constitutional, theocratic republic in which Shia Muslim clergy dominate the key power structures. Government legitimacy is based on the twin pillars of popular sovereignty-–albeit restricted--and the rule of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution. The current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not directly elected but chosen by a directly elected body of religious leaders, the Assembly of Experts, in 1989. Khamenei's writ dominated the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. He directly controlled the armed forces and indirectly controlled the internal security forces, the judiciary, and other key institutions. The legislative branch is the popularly elected 290-seat Islamic Consultative Assembly, or Majles. An unelected 12-member Guardian Council reviewed all legislation passed by the Majles for adherence to Islamic and constitutional principles and also screened presidential and Majles candidates for eligibility. In 2005 hardline conservative Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad won the presidency in an election widely viewed by the international community as neither free nor fair. Civilian authorities did not fully maintain effective control of security forces.
The government's poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. The government severely limited citizens' right to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections. The government executed numerous persons for criminal convictions as juveniles and after unfair trials. Security forces were implicated in custodial deaths and committed other acts of politically motivated violence, including torture. The government administered severe officially sanctioned punishments, including death by stoning, amputation, and flogging. Vigilante groups with ties to the government committed acts of violence. Prison conditions remained poor. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals, often holding them incommunicado. Authorities held political prisoners and intensified a crackdown against women's rights reformers, ethnic minority rights activists, student activists, and religious minorities. There was a lack of judicial independence and fair public trials. The government severely restricted civil liberties, including freedoms of speech, expression, assembly, association, movement, and privacy, and it placed severe restrictions on freedom of religion. Official corruption and a lack of government transparency persisted. Violence and legal and societal discrimination against women, ethnic and religious minorities, and homosexuals; trafficking in persons; and incitement to anti-Semitism remained problems. The government severely restricted workers' rights, including freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively, and arrested numerous union organizers. Child labor remained a serious problem. On December 18, for the sixth consecutive year, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on Iran expressing "deep concern at ongoing systematic violations of human rights."
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were reports that the government and its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
On January 6, security forces arrested Kurdish-Iranian student Ebrahim Lotfallahi as he left a university exam. According to a domestic human rights group, the revolutionary court in the province of Sanandaj had issued an arrest warrant, but Lotfallahi's family was not aware of the charges against him. Nine days later, the authorities notified Lotfallahi's family of his death and told them he had committed suicide in prison. Intelligence officials buried Lotfallahi in secret against the wishes of his family, who did not believe he had committed suicide. On February 9, the judiciary announced there would be no autopsy conducted on Lotfallahi, nor an investigation into his death. According to the domestic press, intelligence officials threatened to file charges against Lotfallahi's family for publicly questioning the suicide claim.
On May 16, family members alleged that Kurdish political prisoner Kaveh Azizpour died in police custody due to torture, according to press reports. Authorities had arrested Azizpour in 2006 and charged him with supporting the banned Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran. Judiciary officials stated that 25-year-old Azizpour died as a result of a stroke, but family members argued that the stroke was caused by torture.
On November 27, according to domestic human rights activists, security agents in Zahedan entered a private home and severely beat Bahman Rigi and a man identified only as "Mohammad" before taking them to an undisclosed location. Four days later, officials notified Mohammad's family that he had died in custody due to withdrawal from methamphetamines. Mohammad's family stated he did not have a history of drug use and that his body showed obvious signs of severe abuse such as a cranial fracture, bruises, and broken fingers. According to activists, authorities targeted Rigi and Mohammad because they were members of the Baluch ethnic group.
On December 21, according to domestic press reports, Ali Sadeqi, a prisoner in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan whom authorities arrested on charges of drug trafficking, allegedly died from torture while in custody.
There were no updates in the May 2007 killing of 11-year-old Roya Sarani, reportedly by members of the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF). The government did not investigate the incident.
On February 26, judiciary officials reportedly agreed to exhume the body of Zahra Bani-Ameri (also known as Zahra Bani-Yagoub) at the request of her family to determine the cause of her death; by year's end this had not happened. In October 2007 Bani-Ameri, a 27-year-old female physician, died while in custody in the town of Hamedan. Security forces arrested her and her fiance in a public park on charges of having an "illegal relationship." The next day, officals informed her family that she committed suicide while in detention.
According to international press reports, authorities executed approximately 240 individuals during the year following unfair trials (trials conducted in secret or without adhering to basic principles of due process). Exiles and human rights monitors alleged that many persons supposedly executed for criminal offenses, such as narcotics trafficking, were political dissidents. The law criminalized dissent and applied the death penalty to offenses such as apostasy (conversion from Islam), "attempts against the security of the state," "outrage against high-ranking officials," and "insults against the memory of Imam Khomeini and against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic."
On August 4, authorities in Zahedan executed journalist and education activist Yaghoob Mirnehad after a secret trial in which he was accused of ties to the militant group People's Resistance Movement of Iran (formerly Jundallah). Human rights organizations believe Mirnehad, an ethnic Baluch, was targeted because he criticized local government officials in Sistan va Baluchistan province.
Public executions continued throughout the year despite the judiciary chief's January 30 directive banning them (except in cases he approved). On July 10, officials in Bushehr province hanged four men in a public square in Borazjan. On July 14, a government-owned radio station reported that six men were publicly hanged in Khorasan province. The report did not identify the men by name and provided no details of the charges against them.
The government executed minors and juvenile offenders despite an October 15 judicial directive banning the practice. Three days after the prohibition was announced, Hussein Sebhi, deputy for judicial affairs to the prosecutor general, told the press the ban applied only to narcotics cases and judges did not have the authority to vacate the death penalty in murder cases. On September 2, UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on the government to end the practice of juvenile executions. According to press reports, authorities executed at least eight juvenile offenders during the year, and approximately 130 remained on death row at year's end.
For example, on June 10, authorities in Sanandaj executed 16-year-old Mohammed Hassanzadeh for his alleged role in the death of another youth. Hassanzadeh was 14 at the time of the incident.
On August 19, authorities in Isfahan hanged 20-year-old Seyyed Reza Hejazi for his alleged role in the death of a man during a fight involving several others. Hejazi, who was 15 at the time, insisted he did not intend to kill the man. According to human rights organizations, authorities failed to give Hejazi's lawyer 48 hours' notice of the pending execution as required by law.
During the year, the government did not investigate allegations from human rights groups that authorities in the southeastern province of Sistan va Baluchistan executed at least 50 detainees in 2007 after reportedly unfair trials for attacks against government officials.
In January 2007 three UN independent experts released a joint statement calling on the government to halt the imminent executions of seven Ahvazi Arabs--Ghasem Salami, Mohammad Lazem Kaabpour, Abdolamir Farjolah Kaab, Alireza Asakereh, Majad Albughbish, Adolreza Sanawati and Khalaf Dohrab Khanafereh--after unfair trials in Khuzestan province. The status of these individuals was unknown at year's end. On January 29, officials executed Ahvazi activist Zamel Bawi without providing his lawyer 48 hours' notice, as required by law.
Adultery remained punishable by death by stoning. On July 20, the international press reported that courts sentenced eight women and one man to death by stoning for adultery and sex-related offenses. On August 5, judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi announced that the government had suspended several stoning sentences and commuted four to lashings or prison terms. However, according to domestic human rights activists, on December 25, officials in Mashhad executed two men by stoning, including Houshang Koudadadeh, who was convicted of rape and adultery. A third convicted man, identified only as Mahmoud G., escaped during the stoning.
On January 14, according to domestic press reports, the case of the 2003 death of Zahra Kazemi, a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen, was returned to the public prosecutor's office and the Tehran appeals court to be reinvestigated. This action followed the Supreme Court's December 2007 annulment of the original verdict of the primary court. Kazemi, a photojournalist arrested for taking pictures outside Tehran's Evin Prison during a student-led protest, died in custody in 2003 after security forces tortured her. Authorities admitted she died as a result of a blow to the head but claimed the death was "unintentional," and acquitted an intelligence officer in 2004.
b. Disappearance
There were reports of politically motivated abductions during the year. Plainclothes officers or security officials often seized journalists and activists without warning and held them in incommunicado detention for several days before permitting them to contact family members. Families of executed prisoners did not always receive notification of their deaths.
In January Sunni cleric Ayoub Ganji disappeared after delivering a Friday sermon in Sanandaj in which he criticized the government's exclusion of candidates in the Majles elections, as well as the custodial death of Ebrahim Lotfallahi. After two weeks, an unmarked car dropped Ganji off in Sanandaj; supporters had threatened to hold mass protests over his disappearance. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Ganji was in poor physical condition and suffered from hallucinations and amnesia.
The Iranian-American Jewish Federation reported that 11 Jewish men who disappeared in 1994 and 1997 remained missing. In 2007 witnesses claimed they saw some of the men in Evin Prison.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The constitution and law prohibit torture; however, there were numerous credible reports that security forces and prison personnel tortured detainees and prisoners.
Common methods of torture and abuse in prisons included prolonged solitary confinement with sensory deprivation, beatings, long confinement in contorted positions, kicking detainees with military boots, hanging detainees by the arms and legs, threats of execution, burning with cigarettes, sleep deprivation, and severe and repeated beatings with cables or other instruments on the back and on the soles of the feet. Prisoners also reported beatings on the ears, inducing partial or complete deafness; punching the area around the eyes, leading to partial or complete blindness; and the use of poison to induce illness. According to HRW, student activists were particularly likely to be subjected to torture and abuse.
In March 30-year-old student activist Ahmad Batebi fled the country; authorities had permitted him to leave Evin Prison temporarily for medical treatment related to a partial stroke. Batebi, whose death sentence for his involvement in a 1999 student protest was commuted to 15 years in prison, stated prison and security officials thrashed him with a metal cable, beat his testicles, kicked in his teeth, and forced his face into a pool of excrement. Batebi stated authorities often tied him to a chair and kept him awake for multiple days and nights, cutting him and rubbing salt into the wounds.
In October Peyman Fatahi was hospitalized after security officials reportedly beat him severely after summoning him for questioning related to his association with a group known as the "Ale-Yasin community." Authorities first arrested Fatahi in June 2007 and conditionally released him after holding him for six months in Evin Prison on charges of "acting against national security." Group members alleged that he was also severely beaten during his 2007 imprisonment.
In January 2007 former political prisoner Kianush Sanjari alleged that he was subjected to "white torture" for extended periods of time while detained at Evin Prison in late 2006. This is a form of extreme sensory deprivation in which prisoners are not shown colors and are held in complete silence (solitary confinement). According to activists, this kind of torture leaves no physical trace, but instead attempts to crush the prisoner psychologically.
In July 2007 the families of three student activists arrested in May and June 2007 sent an open letter to the judiciary chief alleging that security forces tortured their sons in Evin Prison where they remained in solitary cells during the year. Although the judiciary chief reportedly ordered an investigation into the allegations, according to human rights activists, the results of the investigation were not released to the public.
On April 10, HRW called for the government to investigate allegations of torture of activists Behrooz Karimizadh, Peyman Piran, Ali Kantouri and Majid Pourmajid, members of the organization Students Seeking Freedom and Equality whom authorities arrested in December 2007.
Some judicially sanctioned corporal punishments constituted cruel and inhuman punishment, including amputation for multiple theft offenses and lashings and execution by stoning for adultery. In January authorities in Sistan va Baluchistan province amputated the right hands and left feet of five men convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping. On December 15, according to domestic press reports, prison authorities amputated the hand of a man convicted of robbery. Also in December a court sentenced a man to be blinded with battery acid after the man was convicted of doing the same to a woman who had declined his marriage proposals. The sentence had not been carried out by year's end.
During the year the government did not initiate any investigations into reports of torture or punish those believed to be responsible.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were poor. Many prisoners were held in solitary confinement or denied adequate food or medical care as a way to force confessions. Overcrowding was a significant problem. In September the UK-based International Center for Prison Studies reported that more than 150,000 prisoners occupied facilities constructed to hold a maximum of 65,000 persons. Numerous prisoners complained that authorities intentionally exposed them to extreme cold for prolonged periods.
Some prison facilities, including Evin Prison, were notorious for cruel and prolonged torture of political opponents of the government. Authorities also maintained "unofficial" secret prisons and detention centers outside the national prison system, where abuse reportedly occurred.
Human rights activists and international press reported cases of political prisoners confined in the same wing as violent felons. In December journalist Shahnaz Gholami, imprisoned for "jeopardizing national security," began a hunger strike to protest being held in a ward with convicted murderers and drug dealers. There were also reports of juvenile offenders detained with adult offenders. Pretrial detainees occasionally were held with convicted prisoners.
The government did not permit independent monitoring of prison conditions by any outside groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In September 2007 the government granted foreign journalists a tour of Evin Prison for the second time in two years. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), during the visit the director of Tehran prisons, Sohrab Soleimani, denied that there were political prisoners in Evin Prison but told the journalists there were 15 prisoners in Evin on "security" charges.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, these practices remained common.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
Several agencies share responsibility for law enforcement and maintaining order, including the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the LEF under the Interior Ministry, and the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Basij and various informal groups known as the "Ansar-e Hizballah" (Helpers of the Party of God) were aligned with extreme conservative members of the leadership and acted as vigilantes.
Corruption and impunity were problems. The regular and paramilitary security forces both committed numerous, serious human rights abuses, but there were no transparent mechanisms to investigate security force abuses and no reports of government actions to reform them.
Arrest and Detention
The constitution and penal code require warrants or subpoenas for arrests and state that arrested persons must be informed of charges within 24 hours; however, these safeguards rarely occurred in practice. Detainees often went weeks or months without charges or trial, and authorities held detainees incommunicado, frequently denying them prompt contact with family or timely access to legal representation. In practice there was neither a legal time limit for incommunicado detention nor any judicial means to determine the legality of the detention. According to the law, the state is obligated to provide indigent defendants with attorneys only for certain types of crimes. The courts set bail at prohibitively high levels, even for lesser crimes. Detainees and their families were often compelled to submit property deeds to post bail. Prisoners released on bail did not always know how long their property would be retained or when their trials would be held.
There were numerous reports of arbitrary and false arrests during the year.
On February 21, authorities arrested Ebrahim Mirnehad, the brother of journalist Yaghoob Mirnehad, executed on August 4 for alleged ties to separatists. Security agents also reportedly arrested his companion, Fazlorahman Jahras. On September 16, a court in Zahedan sentenced Mirnehad to five years' imprisonment on charges of "acting against national security" and "spreading propaganda." According to Amnesty International (AI), these charges related to his public condemnation of the death sentence imposed on his brother. Authorities reportedly did not grant Mirnehad access to a lawyer and tortured him in custody. Authorities released Jahras.
Adherents of the Baha'i faith continued to face arbitrary arrest and detention. In March and May intelligence agents arrested all seven members of the Baha'i national leadership body and held them in incommunicado detention. On November 26, authorities extended the detention orders for all seven prisoners by an additional two months. At year's end charges had not been filed against the group.
In late June security agents seized brothers Arash and Kamiar Alaei from their mother's home in Tehran. The two physicians, both internationally known HIV/AIDS experts, were held incommunicado in Evin Prison. On December 31, prosecutors in a revolutionary court began to try the brothers for "communicating with an enemy government," a crime which carries a sentence of up to 10 years' imprisonment. According to the doctors' attorney, the government also made secret charges against the brothers. Neither the brothers nor their attorney were informed of the charges, or provided a chance to defend themselves against them. At the end of the year, the Alaeis remained in Evin Prison, and authorities did not allow them to post bail.
In August authorities arrested university professor Mehdi Zakerian for offenses related to national security, including espionage, according to reports from his family. AI speculated that Zakerian's arrest may have been related to his plans to leave the country for a job at a foreign university. After an October 7 meeting with him supervised by security agents, members of Zakerian's family expressed concern that he might have been tortured in prison. Authorities released Zakerian from detention in mid-October.
In early December, three men claiming to be security officers detained and interrogated an American academic for unspecified reasons on two separate occasions for a total of nine hours in his hotel room. The men threatened to prevent the American, traveling in the country as part of a science exchange program, from leaving the country.
During the year and in 2007 security forces separately arrested several Iranian-American activists and academics on charges of espionage and "acting against national security." Prison authorities subjected the individuals to harsh interrogation techniques and solitary confinement and in most cases kept them in prison for several months.
During the year, authorities released Somaye Bayanat, ex-wife of former political prisoner Ahmed Batebi. Bayanat, a dentist, had been detained on charges of forging medical documents and performing illegal abortions since her arrest by plainclothes security forces in February 2007. Pretrial detention often and arbitrarily was lengthy, particularly in cases in which violations of national security laws were alleged. Of the prisoners held in state prison facilities, reportedly about one-quarter were pretrial detainees.
In recent years the government used house arrest to restrict the movements and communications of senior Shia religious leaders whose views regarding political and governance issues were at variance with the ruling orthodoxy; however, there were no new instances of this practice publicly reported during the year.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution provides that the judiciary is "an independent power"; in practice the court system was corrupt and subject to government and religious influence. After the 1979 revolution, the judicial system was revised to conform to an Islamic canon based on the Koran, "Sunna" (the traditions of the Prophet), and other Islamic sources. The constitution provides that the head of the judiciary shall be a cleric chosen by the supreme leader. The head of the Supreme Court and prosecutor general also must be clerics. Women continued to be barred from serving as certain types of judges.
There are several court systems. The two most active are traditional courts, which adjudicate civil and criminal offenses, and Islamic revolutionary courts. The latter try offenses viewed as potentially threatening to the Islamic Republic, including threats to internal or external security, narcotics and economic crimes, and official corruption. A special clerical court examines alleged transgressions within the clerical establishment, and a military court investigates crimes connected with military or security duties. A press court hears complaints against publishers, editors, and writers. The Supreme Court has review authority over some cases, including appeals of death sentences.
Trial Procedures
Many aspects of the prerevolutionary judicial system survive in the civil and criminal courts. For example, according to the constitution and the criminal procedure code, a defendant has the right to a public trial, presumption of innocence, a lawyer of his or her choice, and the right of appeal in most cases involving major penalties. However, these rights were not respected in practice. Panels of judges adjudicate trials. There is no jury system in the civil and criminal courts. In the press court, a council of 11 persons specifically selected by the court adjudicates the case. Defendants did not have the right to confront their accusers, and were not granted access to government-held evidence. UN representatives, including UN special representatives (UNSRs) and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, as well as independent human rights organizations, noted the absence of procedural safeguards in criminal trials. Numerous human rights groups condemned trials in the revolutionary courts for disregarding international standards of fairness. Revolutionary court judges were chosen in part due to their ideological commitment to the system. Authorities often charged individuals with undefined crimes, such as "antirevolutionary behavior," "moral corruption," and "siding with global arrogance." If postrevolutionary statutes did not address a situation, the government advised judges to give precedence to their knowledge and interpretation of Islamic law. Secret or summary trials of only five minutes' duration occurred frequently. Other trials were deliberately designed to publicize a coerced confession.
The legitimacy of the special clerical court system continued to be subject to debate. The clerical courts, which investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics and which are overseen directly by the supreme leader, are not provided for in the constitution and operated outside the domain of the judiciary. According to a 2007 AI report, defendants could only be represented by court-nominated clerics who are not required to be legally qualified. AI reported that in some cases the defendant was unable to find a person among the nominated clerics willing to act as defense counsel and was tried without legal representation. Critics alleged clerical courts were used to prosecute clerics for expressing controversial ideas and participating in activities outside the sphere of religion, such as journalism or reformist political activities.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
Exact data regarding the number of citizens imprisoned for their political beliefs were not available; however, human rights activists estimated the number in the hundreds. Although there were few details, the government arrested, convicted, and executed persons on questionable criminal charges, including drug trafficking, when their actual "offenses" were political. The government charged members of religious minorities with crimes such as "confronting the regime" and apostasy, and conducted trials in these cases in the same manner as it would treat threats to national security.
Authorities occasionally gave political prisoners suspended sentences or released them for short or extended furloughs prior to completion of their sentences, but they could be ordered back to prison at any time. These suspended sentences often were used to silence and intimidate individuals. The government also controlled political activists by holding a file in the courts that could be opened at any time and attempted to intimidate the activists by calling them in repeatedly for questioning. Numerous observers considered Tehran public prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi the most notorious persecutor of political dissidents and critics.
Authorities routinely held political prisoners in solitary confinement for extended periods of time and denied them due process and access to legal representation. Political prisoners were also at greater risk of torture and abuse while in detention. The government did not permit access to political prisoners by international humanitarian organizations.
The government reportedly held some persons in prison for years under charges of sympathizing with outlawed groups, such as the terrorist organization Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).
On January 14, police arrested writer and student leader Amin Ghazain Tehran along with 14 other students. At year's end, according to AI, authorities reportedly held him in solitary confinement in Evin Prison without charge or trial despite several health problems. Authorities reportedly tortured him and denied him access to family or counsel.
On July 19, a court sentenced political prisoner Behrouz Javid-Tehrani, first arrested during the 1999 student uprising, to three more years in prison following a secret trial in which he did not have legal representation. According to human rights organizations, he was convicted of having contact with foreign opposition groups. At the time of the most recent conviction, Javid-Tehrani was in solitary confinement in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj. Javid-Tehrani alleged security agents severely tortured him on numerous occasions while he was incarcerated.
On February 27, authorities released Azeri cultural and linguistic rights activist Jelil Ghanilou after he posted bail of 860 million rials (approximately $86,000). Ghanilou claimed he faced torture and constant interrogation after his February 2007 arrest. He was neither charged nor given access to legal representation. AI considered Ghanilou a "prisoner of conscience," detained solely because of the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression in connection with his participation in International Mother Language Day. Authorities released him on bail but rearrested him in May 2007 following demonstrations marking the anniversary of the 2006 publication of a cartoon many Iranian Azeri activists considered offensive.
On May 11, a revolutionary court sentenced Azeri human rights lawyer Saleh Kamrani to a five-year suspended sentence after charging him with "publicity against the Islamic Republic." In August 2007 security forces detained Kamrani and did not inform his family of his whereabouts for several days. Authorities released him in December 2007 after he paid approximately 1.5 billion rials (approximately $150,000) in bail.
On July 12, a Tehran revolutionary court upheld an eight-year prison sentence against political activist Abbas Khorsandi for "acting against national security through formation of an illegal association." According to human rights groups, Khorsandi founded the Iran Democratic Party, an Internet forum for political debate. Security forces arrested him at his shop in Tehran province in September 2007 and held him incommunicado for three months. At year's end Khorsandi remained in Evin Prison and was reportedly not allowed to see a doctor despite being in ill health.
On April 7, Hadi Qabel, a reformist cleric and member of the reformist political group Islamic Iran Participation Front, began a 40-month term in prison for acting against national security, propaganda against the state, and disturbing public opinion. Qabel, who was tried by the special court for the clergy, also was defrocked. After his initial arrest in September 2007, more than 580 activists and academics released a statement calling for Qabel's release. According to press descriptions, the statement called Qabel's arrest and others an attempt by the government to create a "suffocating environment" in advance of the 2008 Majles elections.
On October 5, authorities officially released journalist and human rights lawyer Emadoldin Baghi, head of the Society for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights, three days before the end of the one-year sentence he was serving. Officials provisionally released Baghi on September 15 to seek treatment for severe health problems he developed while in custody. In July 2007 a revolutionary court convicted Baghi of "activities against national security" and "publicity in favor of the regime's opponents" for his public criticism of the death sentences imposed on several Iranian Arabs in 2005. The court also reportedly sentenced Baghi's wife and daughter to three years in prison, suspended in favor of five years' probation for "assembly and collusion with the aim of committing offenses against the country's national security." While serving his prison sentence, prosecutors brought new charges against Baghi related to his criticism of the treatment of imprisoned human rights activist Sayed Ali Akbar Mousavi-Kho'ini. At year's end these charges were pending.
On November 8, according to press reports, authorities rearrested Ali Nikunesbati, spokesman for the student group Office for Consolidating Unity. Nikunesbati's father said security agents also confiscated his computer and personal documents from his home. In 2007 security forces detained Nikunesbati twice for his role in student protests.
In November supporters of dissident cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi reported that prison authorities severely beat him and moved him from Evin Prison to an undisclosed location despite appeals for release on medical grounds. Police arrested Boroujerdi at his home in 2006, reportedly after he had come under increased pressure from the government for his belief that religion and the state should be separated. Boroujerdi has been arrested and imprisoned several times since 1992 and claimed he was tortured and threatened with execution. In October authorities also rearrested nine of 70 of his followers who were originally arrested in late 2006 and released in 2007.
On October 29, authorities released Azeri activist Abbas Lisani after he completed two consecutive sentences totaling 30 months in prison for participation in two demonstrations. According to AI, security agents interrogated Lisani for 10 hours in early October about his post-release plans, and the Ardebil general prosecutor personally threatened Lisani and his family.
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
By law, the judiciary was independent from the executive and legislative branches; in practice it remained under the influence of executive and religious government authorities. According to the constitution, under the supervision of the head of the judiciary, the Court of Administrative Justice investigates the grievances of citizens with regard to government officials, organs, and statutes. In practice, citizens' ability to sue the government was limited. It appeared that citizens were not able to bring lawsuits against the government for civil or human rights violations. Dispute resolution councils are available to settle minor civil and criminal cases through mediation before referral to courts.
Property Restitution
The constitution allows the government to confiscate property acquired either illicitly or in a manner not in conformance with Islamic law. The UNSR on adequate housing noted religious minorities, including members of the Baha'i faith, were particularly targeted. The UNSR's 2006 report noted the "abusive use of (the law) is seen as an instrument for confiscating property of individuals as a form of retribution for their political and/or religious beliefs." The report noted documentation of approximately 640 Baha'i properties confiscated since 1980, instances of numerous undocumented cases, and court verdicts declaring confiscation of property from the "evil sect of the Baha'i" legally and religiously justifiable. Rights of members of the Baha'i faith were not recognized under the constitution, and they had no avenue to seek restitution of or compensation for confiscated property.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution states that "reputation, life, property, (and) dwelling(s)" are protected from trespass except as "provided by law"; however, the government routinely infringed on these rights. Security forces monitored the social activities of citizens, entered homes and offices, monitored telephone conversations and Internet communications, and opened mail without court authorization. There were widespread reports that government agents entered, searched, or ransacked the homes and offices of reformist journalists in an attempt to intimidate them.
Vigilante violence included attacking young persons considered too "un-Islamic" in their dress or activities, invading private homes, abusing unmarried couples, and disrupting concerts. During the year, the government continued its crackdown on "un-Islamic dress" or "bad hijab" (headcovering). According to press reports, morality police stopped or detained more than two million individuals during the year and in 2007 for "inappropriate hairstyles" or wearing headscarves that revealed too much hair. There were reports that police used force in these instances less frequently after an image of a girl's face covered in blood following a beating by police for un-Islamic dress was circulated widely in 2007. According to press reports, the Tehran police chief stated the girl had "instigated the incident herself." In December, according to press reports, police in the northern city of Qaemshahr arrested 49 persons for "appearing in public wearing satanic fashions and unsuitable clothing."
There were also reports during the year that the MOIS pressured families of political prisoners, banning them from speaking to foreign press and blocking their telephone conversations. Radio Free Europe journalist Parnaz Azima, sentenced in absentia in March to a one-year prison sentence for "propaganda against the regime," stated the government threatened to seize her 95-year-old mother's home if she did not return to the country to serve the sentence.
Authorities entered homes to remove satellite TV dishes, although the majority of satellite dishes in individual homes reportedly continued to operate.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The constitution provides for freedom of expression and of the press, except when it is deemed "detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public." In practice the government severely restricted freedom of speech and of the press. HRW reported that authorities "systematically suppressed freedom of expression and opinion" during the year. Basic legal safeguards for freedom of expression did not exist, and the independent press was subjected to arbitrary enforcement measures by the government, notably the judiciary. Censorship, particularly self-censorship, limited dissemination of information during the year. Journalists were frequently threatened as a consequence of their work.
The government continued to crack down on underground music groups (any group that fails to obtain a recording license from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance). In October, according to human rights activists, security forces arrested a group of rap musicians returning from a trip to Dubai. Eyewitnesses reported seeing them in Evin Prison. Rap music is forbidden in the country; according to the BBC, it is particularly popular among young men due to its political, social, and sexual lyrics.
In December the Tehran prosecutor general announced the creation of a special office to review Internet and text message-related crimes associated with the June 2009 presidential election.
The country's media outlets were varied, including state-controlled television, radio, and print publications, as well as private newspapers and magazines that cover current affairs, politics, the arts, and sports. The government closely monitored all media outlets, and private media lacked independence in practice. Press members who failed to abide by the government's guidelines faced intimidation, arrest, or closure of their publications. As a result, the government held significant influence over all media in the country. The government's Press Supervisory Board (PSB) was responsible for issuing press licenses, which it sometimes revoked in response to critical articles, and for examining complaints filed against publications or individual journalists, editors, or publishers.
International media did not operate freely; the government required foreign correspondents to provide detailed travel plans and proposed stories before granting visas, and it closely monitored and attempted to influence reporting to garner more favorable coverage. Authorities did not renew the visa and residence permit for Robert Tait, a British correspondent for The Guardian, forcing Tait to leave the country on January 4. Tait had previously been ordered to leave the country in March 2007 but had successfully appealed the order. On July 22, authorities ordered AFP's Tehran bureau chief Stuart Williams to leave the country, despite Williams' possession of a valid resident's permit. This happened less than two weeks after the AFP reported that the government doctored pictures of a recent missile test.
The government, through a state-controlled entity called the Voice and Vision Organization, directly controlled and maintained a monopoly over all television and radio broadcasting facilities; programming reflected the government's political and socioreligious ideology. Because newspapers and other print media had limited circulation outside large cities, radio and television served as the principal news source for many citizens. Satellite dishes that received foreign television broadcasts were forbidden, and the government periodically confiscated them from homes. Private broadcasting was illegal.
The government imposed significant restrictions on press outlets and banned or blocked some publications that were critical of the government, including Zanan, Asr-e Panjshanbeh, Rah-e Ayandeh, Tehran Emrouz, Hamshahri, Sargarmi, and Sharvand-e Emrouz. The government banned Kargozaran for publishing an excerpt from a statement by a student group that criticized Hamas actions during the crisis in Gaza. The closure of reformist newspapers led to unemployment among progressive journalists, effectively silencing them. On March 16, the PSB announced the closure of nine cinema and lifestyle magazines for publishing pictures and stories about the life of "corrupt" foreign film stars and promoting "superstitions." On March 20, domestic press reported that the government had banned 27 publications in 2007.
The PSB referred complaints to the press court for further action, including closure. The court's hearings were conducted in public with a jury composed of appointed clerics, government officials, and editors of government-controlled newspapers. Public officials often lodged criminal complaints against reformist newspapers that led to their closure, along with fines for offending writers. Some human rights groups asserted that the increasingly conservative press court assumed responsibility for cases before PSB consideration.
The press law forbids censorship but also forbids disseminating information that may damage the Islamic Republic or offend its leaders and religious authorities, and censorship occurred. Government officials also routinely intimidated journalists into practicing self-censorship.
On January 15, an Interior Ministry official told an Iranian Students News Agency reporter the media could not use the names of unauthorized political parties. In September 2007 the deputy interior minister announced that "publications and other media outlets are forbidden from writing about parties or political groups that have not obtained a license." These actions followed other reports of government efforts to limit political debate and the spread of information in advance of the Majles elections.
On April 26, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi told publishers and writers that they "were aware of the vetting code, so (they should) censor pages which are likely to create a dispute" and urged writers to observe the country's "religious, moral, and national sensitivities."
On September 30, according to a press report, former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh stated that the government imposed censorship regarding the government's nuclear policy "to the greatest degree."
There were no updates to the July 2007 announcement by the head of the president's public relations office regarding the creation of a special team to confront publications critical of the government.
During the year, the government detained, jailed, tortured, or fined numerous publishers, editors, and journalists (including Internet media) for their reporting. The penal code states that "anyone who undertakes any form of propaganda against the state" can be imprisoned as long as one year; the law does not define "propaganda." The law also subjects writers to prosecution for instigating crimes against the state or national security or "insulting" Islam; the latter offense is punishable by death.
On June 13, authorities reportedly arrested journalist Mahboubeh Karami after she criticized police for beating demonstrators. She was held on a charge of "activity against national security" in Evin Prison. Authorities released Mahboubeh on August 26 after she paid bail.
On July 25, Intelligence Ministry officials arrested Kurdish journalist Saman Rasoulpour and detained him on charges of "distributing propaganda against the state." He was released on bail on August 13. Rasoulpour works for a domestic nongovernmental organization (NGO) and writes for the publication Rooz Online.
On September 10, authorities arrested four Azeri journalists--Alireza Safari, Said Mohamadi, Hossain Rashedi, and Akbar Azad--as they met with a political activist in Tehran. According to NGO reports, on September 17, a judge ordered they be detained without access to a lawyer and without informing their families of the charges against them. They were reportedly released on bail on November 11.
On March 1, a Tehran court sentenced Radio Free Europe journalist Parnaz Azima in absentia to a one-year prison sentence for "propaganda against the regime," according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Authorities confiscated Azima's passport in January 2007 when she entered the country and prevented her from leaving for eight months. At year's end she remained in self-imposed exile. In January authorities allowed French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki to leave the country, according to RSF. In February 2007 authorities arrested Solouki for "intent to commit propaganda against the regime" after she discovered a mass grave outside Tehran in the course of her research on the burial rites of some religious minorities. After one month in Evin Prison, she was released on bail, but the government held her passport and prevented her from leaving the country for 10 months.
On June 11, a Tehran revolutionary court reportedly gave journalist Said Matinpour an eight-year suspended sentence for "publicity against the Islamic Republic" and "maintaining relations with foreigners." Matinpour was arrested in May 2007 and held in pretrial detention until his release on bail on February 26, with no contact with his family or lawyer for most of that time.
In August the supreme leader conditionally released student journalists Ahmad Ghassaban, Ehsan Mansouri, and Majid Tavakoli from prison. They had been detained since May and June 2007 on national security charges related to a publication in a university newspaper.
On March 1, a court sentenced journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amoee to a six-month suspended sentence for "activity against national security." Police arrested Amoee, who works for the publication Sarmayeh, in June 2007 while he was covering a demonstration in Tehran. At year's end, authorities were holding his passport, preventing him from leaving the country.
On March 17, a court sentenced Kurdish journalist Abdolvahed "Hiva" Boutimar to death for a second time on espionage-related charges. The original July 2007 death sentence against Boutimar was overturned in October 2007 on a procedural point, but his case was retried. On September 4, the Supreme Court overturned a death sentence against Kurdish journalist Adnan Hassanpour. The death sentence against Hassanpour was originally issued in July 2007 and following an appeal was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2007. Hassanpour, the cousin and colleague of Boutimar, currently faces retrial on espionage-related charges.
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance must grant permission to publish any book, and it inspected foreign printed materials prior to their domestic release.
Internet Freedom
According to NGO reports, the government increased control over the Internet during the year as more citizens used it as a source for news and political debate. Government and independent reports estimated that approximately 18 to 23 million citizens used the Internet. The government imposed limits on Internet speed and technology, making it more difficult to download Internet material or to circumvent government restrictions to access blocked Web sites. In December RSF reported that the government censored 38 Web sites during the year.
All Internet service providers (ISPs) must be approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and the government used filtering software to block access to domestic blogs and some Western Web sites, reportedly including the Web sites of prominent Western news organizations and NGOs. The government required all owners of Web sites and blogs in the country to register with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance; however, in practice this regulation was rarely enforced.
In February authorities banned five Web sites "for poisoning the public domain," according to RSF. One of the sites, which was operating again at year's end, had criticized Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson after he questioned the government's disqualification of Majles election candidates.
On April 8, authorities arrested blogger and journalist Esmail Jafari and seized his computer equipment, which allegedly held photos of a demonstration in Bushehr. Officials released Jafari on April 24, but on December 6, a court sentenced him to five months in prison for "antigovernment publicity." At year's end he was free pending an appeal.
On April 22, security forces arrested blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi and detained him for 41 days in Evin Prison. On December 15, a revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced him to 30 months in prison for propaganda against the state and criticism of the supreme leader.
On May 9, authorities blocked access to Mehdi Mohseni's blog after a post describing problems caused by pollution in Khuzestan. The government has reportedly blocked access to this site four times since 2004.
On May 21, the government blocked access to at least 14 feminist Web sites in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election, according to NGO reports. All of the sites had supported the "One Million Signatures" campaign to change the country's laws that discriminate against women.
On August 12, the government began filtering the Web site Alef, making it inaccessible to users inside the country, according to a domestic report. The report indicated that the site had questioned the validity of new Interior Minister Ali Kordan's degree from Oxford University. The filtering was lifted on August 30, following an order from the judiciary chief.
On November 29, according to RSF, a clerical court sentenced online journalist Mojtaba Lotfi to four years in prison and a five-year banishment from his home city of Qom for publishing a sermon by Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri that was critical of the president. Authorities arrested Lotfi in October. He was previously arrested in 2004 on similar charges.
On November 20, security officers arrested well-known blogger Hossein Derakhshan in Tehran. At the end of the year, judiciary officials confirmed they were holding Derakhshan but did not specify the charges against him.
In November authorities arrested blogger and activist Shahnaz Gholami for publishing "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" and "jeopardizing national security." A court sentenced her to six months in prison.
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
The government significantly restricted academic freedom. In 2006 President Ahmadi-Nejad called for the removal of secular and liberal professors from universities. Reports indicated dozens of university professors were dismissed, forced to retire, or denied sabbaticals abroad since 2006. To obtain tenure, professors had to refrain from criticism of the authorities.
Admission to universities was politicized; in addition to standardized exams, all applicants had to pass "character tests" in which officials eliminated applicants critical of the government's ideology. Members of the Basij were given advantages in the admissions process. Student groups reported that a "star" system inaugurated by the government in 2006 to rank politically active students was still in use. Students deemed "antigovernment" through this system reportedly were banned from university or prevented from registering for upcoming terms.
The government censored cultural events with stringent controls on cinema and theater and a ban on Western music. It also monitored cultural associations. As the main source of production funding, the government also effectively censored domestic filmmaking. Producers were required to submit scripts and film proposals to government officials in advance of funding approval. Movies promoting secularism, feminism, unethical behavior, drug abuse, violence, or alcoholism were illegal, and some domestic directors were blacklisted. A 2006 NGO report noted that censorship by authorities and a culture of self-censorship strongly inhibited artistic expression in the country.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of Assembly
The constitution permits assemblies and marches "provided they do not violate the principles of Islam"; in practice the government restricted freedom of assembly and closely monitored gatherings to prevent antigovernment protests. Such gatherings included public entertainment and lectures, student meetings and protests, labor protests, women's gatherings and protests, funeral processions, and Friday prayer gatherings. According to activists, the government arbitrarily applied rules governing permits to assemble, with conservative groups rarely experiencing difficulty, and groups viewed as critical of the government experiencing harassment regardless of whether a permit was issued.
The government continued to prohibit and forcibly disperse peaceful demonstrations during the year. Paramilitary organizations such as the Ansar-e Hizballah also harassed, beat, and intimidated those who demonstrated publicly for reform. They particularly targeted university students.
From late February to early March, students at Shiraz University held a peaceful sit-in; they called for the university president's resignation, greater student freedom, and better dormitory conditions. According to Radio Farda and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, authorities arrested at least a dozen of the organizers, beat some of the students they arrested, and held some in solitary confinement during their detention.
On June 12, police arrested at least nine women who organized a meeting to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the largest feminist demonstration in Tehran. Officials banned the meeting in advance and stationed security forces outside the location. Authorities reportedly released the women the following day.
Many individuals who participated in demonstrations during 2006 and 2007 remained imprisoned at year's end. Ali Reza Hashemi, head of the Iranian Teachers Organization, remained under a three-year suspended sentence for "provoking teachers to gather and organizing to disrupt the national security of the country."
Freedom of Association
The constitution provides for the establishment of political parties, professional associations, Islamic religious groups, and organizations for recognized religious minorities, as long as such groups do not violate the principles of "freedom, sovereignty, and national unity" or question Islam as the basis of the Islamic Republic; however, the government limited freedom of association in practice through threats, intimidation, imposing arbitrary requirements on organizations, and arresting group leaders and members.
On October 1, security forces arrested teachers seeking to attend a trade union meeting to discuss World Teachers Day, according to Education International. Authorities released all of those arrested, although Education International alleged that some of the teachers had been beaten. According to foreign NGOs, authorities arrested as many as 400 teachers around the country during the year.
On May 25, authorities released Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, general secretary of the political party Democratic Iranian Front, who had been detained without charge in Evin Prison since November 2007 for founding the party and allegedly damaging national security.
c. Freedom of Religion
The constitution states that Shia Islam is the state religion and that all laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. The constitution also nominally protects other Islamic denominations, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Judaism; however, the government severely restricted freedom of religion in practice, particularly the Baha'i faith.
The central feature of the country's Islamic system was rule by the "religious jurisconsult." Its senior leadership consisted principally of Shia clerics, including the supreme leader of the revolution, the head of the judiciary, and members of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council.
Apostasy was punishable by death according to Shari'a law. There were no reported instances of the death penalty being applied for apostasy during the year. On August 20, Intelligence Ministry officials in Mashhad arrested Ramtin Soodmand, a Christian preacher, and took him to an unknown detention center. Authorities released Soodmand in November, and at year's end he was awaiting trial on charges of "promoting antigovernment propaganda," although his family maintained he was arrested solely for expression of his religious beliefs. The government executed Soodmand's father in 1990 for apostasy due to his conversion 30 years earlier from Islam to Christianity.
The government continued to repress Baha'is and prevent them from practicing their religion by closing their places of worship. It banned them from government and military leadership posts, the social pension system, and public schools and universities, unless they concealed their faith. The courts also denied Baha'is the right to inherit property and refused to recognize Baha'i marriages or divorces. According to the law, Baha'i blood is considered "mobah," meaning Baha'is may be killed with impunity. The government repeatedly pressured Baha'is to recant their religious beliefs in exchange for relief from mistreatment.
According to human rights groups, all seven members of the Baha'i national leadership body and a total of at least 40 Baha'is were imprisoned at year's end.
On December 28, authorities on Kish Island arrested and interrogated Faegheh Rafeie and eight of her relatives, including several minors, for discussing their Baha'i faith with a local shopkeeper. Authorities released some members of the group the following day but held others for two to three more days.
All religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in employment, education, and housing. In 2006 the UNSR for adequate housing visited the country and reported that rural land, particularly that belonging to minorities including Baha'is, was expropriated for government use, and owners were not fairly compensated. Inheritance laws favored Muslims over non-Muslims.
According to human rights activists, the government continued to grow increasingly intolerant of Sufism.
On November 16, a court sentenced Amir Ali Mohammad Labaf to a five-year prison term, 74 lashes, and internal exile to the southeastern town of Babak for "spreading lies," based on his religious practices as a member of one of the country's largest Sufi sects, the Nematollahis or "Gonabadi Dervishes." Security agents reportedly arrested numerous other Gonabadi Dervishes during the year in other cities, including Isfahan and Karaj.
On December 30, security services arrested five members of the Sufi community without official charges in Hormozgan province and confiscated their books and computer equipment.
During the year clerics in Qom accused the Sufi community of "opposing Islamic ideas." In 2006 police in Qom arrested approximately 1,200 Sufis and closed a major center of Sufi worship.
With the exception of Baha'is, the government allowed recognized religious minorities to conduct religious education of their adherents, although it restricted this right considerably in some cases. The law required all Muslim students to take Islamic studies courses.
Proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims was illegal. The authorities have been increasingly vigilant in recent years in curbing proselytizing activities by evangelical Christians.
The government carefully monitored the statements and views of all religious leaders, including the country's senior Muslim religious leaders. It restricted the movement of several Muslim religious leaders who had been under house arrest for years and continued to detain at least one dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, during the year. The government pressured all ranking clerics to ensure their teachings conformed to (or at least did not contradict) government policy and positions.
Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Government actions continued to support elements of society who created a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities.
Sunni Muslims and Christians encountered societal and religious discrimination and harassment at the local, provincial, and national levels. Some Mandeans reportedly fled the country in previous years to escape discrimination.
The government's anti-Israel stance, in particular the president's repeated speeches decrying the existence of Israel and calling for the destruction of its "Zionist regime," coupled with the perception among many citizens that Jewish citizens supported Zionism and Israel, created a threatening atmosphere for the community. Government officials also continued to make statements and organize events during the year designed to cast doubt on the Holocaust.
On June 2, President Ahmadi-Nejad said that Israel "will be wiped off the pages of history" and on August 24 that "the celebration of the elimination of Zionism and destruction of the arrogant will soon be held."
On August 17, the president made remarks in which he referred to the Holocaust as a "historical lie" perpetuated to justify Israel's existence.
On September 26, a Holocaust denial book by student members of the Basij was released. The cover depicted a hook-nosed Jew dressed in traditional Jewish clothing drawing outlines of dead bodies on the ground. Inside pages pictured bearded Jews leaving and re-entering a gas chamber with a counter reading 5,999,999. Another picture showed a hospital patient covered in an Israeli flag and on life support, breathing lethal Zyklon-B gas used in the Holocaust.
In previous years several programs broadcast on state-run TV reportedly espoused anti-Semitic messages; a domestic newspaper held a Holocaust denial editorial cartoon contest; and the government sponsored a conference focused on denial of the existence or scope of the Holocaust.
In recent years the government made the education of Jewish children more difficult by limiting distribution of nonreligious Hebrew texts and requiring several Jewish schools to remain open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. There were limits on the level to which Jews could rise professionally, particularly in government.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2008 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.
d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation; however, the government placed some restrictions on these rights. The government cooperated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with regard to some refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq.
The government required exit permits for foreign travel for all citizens. Some citizens, particularly those whose skills were in short supply and who were educated at government expense, had to post bond to obtain an exit permit. The government restricted the foreign travel of some religious leaders and individual members of religious minorities and scientists in sensitive fields, and it targeted journalists, academics, and activists for travel bans and passport confiscation.
On March 3, authorities removed human rights activist Parvin Ardalan from her flight, confiscated her passport, and served her with a court summons as she was leaving the country for Stockholm to receive a humanitarian award, according to Human Rights First. Authorities told her she must present invitations to conferences abroad as a precondition for the removal of her travel ban, although the law does not require individuals to seek prior permission to travel.
On October 26, authorities banned women's rights activist Sussan Tahmasebi from leaving the country, according to RSF. Authorities had summoned Tahmasebi to court for questioning regarding postings on a women's rights Web site. Police also placed Tahmasebi under surveillance.
At year's end Abdolfattah Soltani, a lawyer who represented several political prisoners, remained under a travel ban imposed in 2005.
A woman must obtain the permission of her husband, father, or other male relative to obtain a passport. A married woman must receive written permission from her husband before leaving the country.
The government did not use forced external exile; however, the government used internal exile as a punishment, and many dissidents practiced self-imposed exile to be able to express their beliefs freely.
There were indications that members of all religious minorities were emigrating at a high rate, although it was unclear whether the reasons for emigration were religious or related to overall poor economic conditions.
Protection of Refugees
The law provides means for granting asylum or refugee status to qualified applicants in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and the government had a system for providing protection to refugees. The government did not always provide protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened.
On December 1, UNHCR estimated that there were 915,000 registered Afghan refugees in the country, 3,166 of whom the UNHCR repatriated to Afghanistan during the year. The government continued to postpone discussions to renew the tripartite repatriation agreement; however, at an international conference on resettlement and repatriation held in Kabul in November, the government verbally committed to permit registered Afghan refugees to stay until they voluntarily repatriate or resettle elsewhere.
In addition to the 915,000 registered Afghan refugees, UNHCR estimated as many as 1.5 million Afghans illegally resided in the country as migrant workers. The government continued to deport illegal Afghan migrants. On March 4, the government announced it would deport all Afghans who lacked refugee documentation, and UNHCR reported that 403,000 Afghans were deported. There were reports of some registered refugees included in mass deportations during the last several years, although these reports were not officially documented. According to HRW, many of those deported received no warning that they were being deported, and many were separated from their families or had little time to collect belongings and wages. Other deportees claimed they were beaten, detained, or required to perform forced labor for several days before being deported. Among the deportees were vulnerable individuals and families who required humanitarian assistance upon arrival in Afghanistan. At the November conference on Afghan refugees in Kabul, the Iranian delegate stated that Afghan refugees would continue to be treated as "respected guests" and that the two countries were discussing the issuance of 300,000 visas to Afghan workers. However, no new visa arrangement had been announced by year's end.
Since 2007 authorities maintained approximately 19 "No Go Areas" in the country for Afghan refugees, according to UNHCR. Refugees were required to register and relocate in areas the government approved; those who did not were considered unregistered and remained subject to deportation. Afghan and Iraqi refugees faced a lack of job opportunities, and the government at times failed to grant them residence or work permits, effectively preventing them from obtaining health insurance coverage.
According to UNHCR, a total of 58,091 Iraqis were registered as refugees in the country during the year. The government's 2007 registration was open only to Iraqis who had arrived before 2005. UNHCR registered later arrivals. Voluntary repatriation by Iraqis increased over the past two years; UNHCR did not assist any Iraqi repatriations in 2006 but supported 238 in 2007 and 2,376 during the year. However, UNHCR noted that most repatriates were those who fled Iraq before 2007 and new Iraqi refugees continued to arrive in the country. The majority of Iraqi refugees lived in urban areas, but an estimated 5,000 Iraqis lived in 12 settlements and received UNHCR and World Food Program assistance.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The constitution provides citizens the right to change peacefully the president and the parliament through free and fair elections; however, the authority of unelected representatives over the election process severely abridges this right in practice. The Assembly of Experts elects the supreme leader, the recognized head of state, who can be removed only by a vote of the assembly. The assembly was composed of 86 members and was restricted to clerics, who served eight-year terms and were chosen by popular vote from a list approved by the Guardian Council (a 12-member body composed of government-appointed clerics and religious jurists). There was no separation of state and religion, and clerical influence pervaded the government. The supreme leader also approved the candidacy of presidential candidates, with the exception of an incumbent president.
Elections and Political Participation
On March 14, the country held Majles elections, which outside observers regarded as neither free nor fair. The Interior Ministry rejected the candidacy of almost 2,000 applicants, citing disqualifying reasons such as "having ill repute in their place of residency," "insulting religious sanctities," and "acting against the state," according to HRW. Authorities disqualified numerous other candidates following closed-door negotiations with the Guardian Council. Most of the disqualified candidates were considered reformists. Conservatives won approximately 70 percent of the seats.
The constitution allows for the formation of political parties, although the Interior Ministry granted licenses only to political parties with ideological and practical adherence to the system of government embodied in the constitution. There were more than 240 registered political organizations, but most were small entities, often focused around an individual, and did not have nationwide membership. Political parties approved by the Interior Ministry generally operated without restriction or outside interference.
According to the Guardian Council's interpretation, the constitution barred women and persons of non-Iranian origin or religions other than Shia Islam from becoming president. Women were also barred from serving as supreme leader or as members of the Assembly of Experts, Guardian Council, or Expediency Council (a body responsible for mediating between the Majles and the Guardian Council and serving as a consultative council for the supreme leader). Two of the 10 vice presidents were women. Eight women served in the Majles during the year. Five Majles seats were reserved for the recognized religious minorities. Other ethnic minorities in the Majles included Arabs and Kurds. There were no non-Muslims in the cabinet or on the Supreme Court.
Government Corruption and Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and official corruption remained a serious problem in all three branches of government, including the "bonyads" (tax-exempt foundations designed for charitable activity that control consortia of substantial companies).
All government officials, including cabinet ministers and members of the Guardian Council, Expediency Council, and Assembly of Experts were required to submit annual financial statements to the state inspectorate. There was no information available regarding whether these government officials obeyed the law.
In January authorities executed a customs contractor for corruption and sentenced three other customs employees to death for "office corruption and other economic crimes," including accepting a bribe of more than 10 billion rials (approximately one million dollars).
Also in January a court sentenced three state gas company managers to 10 years in prison and 74 lashes each for taking bribes totaling 23 billion rials (approximately $2.3 million), according to international press reports.
On June 11, authorities arrested former parliamentarian Abbas Palizdar for "spreading lies and slander" and "causing public distress," according to international press reports. In May, Palizdar publicly accused senior religious leaders and politicians of involvement in corruption. Following his speeches, which were widely circulated on the Internet, judiciary officials arrested and indicted 11 persons named by Palizdar, most of them government employees, on corruption charges. At year's end Palizdar had not gone to trial.
On June 18, according to domestic press reports, authorities detained Abdollah Shahbazi for several days on charges of "slander and spreading lies," after he claimed on his Web site that several high-ranking officials from Fars province had expropriated land.
There were no laws providing for public access to government information.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The government continued to restrict the work of human rights groups and sometimes responded to their inquiries and reports with harassment, arrests, monitoring, unlawful raids, and closures. The government continued to deny the universality of human rights and stated that human rights issues should be viewed in the context of a country's "culture and beliefs." On May 20, judiciary chief Hashemi Shahroudi told the Human Rights Task Force, an intragovernmental entity established in 2001, that the international community uses human rights as a weapon against the Islamic world.
Hundreds of domestic NGOs operated in areas such as health and population, women's rights, development, youth, environmental protection, human rights, and sustainable development during the year despite the restrictive environment, including pressure not to accept foreign grants. During the year, the government routinely restricted human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, and scholars from traveling abroad, particularly to attend international conferences.
According to AI, independent human rights groups and other NGOs faced intensifying harassment and threat of closure from government officials as a result of prolonged and often arbitrary delays in obtaining official registration.
Human rights activists also reported receiving intimidating phone calls and threats of blackmail from unidentified law enforcement and government officials. Government officials routinely harassed family members of human rights activists, including making false criminal charges against them and blocking their access to higher education. Courts routinely applied suspended sentences to human rights activists; this form of sentencing acted as de facto probation, leaving open the option for authorities to suddenly and arbitrarily arrest or imprison individuals. This threat was sometimes enough to silence activists or pressure them into providing information about other activists.
On December 21, security forces unlawfully raided and closed the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, a Tehran NGO headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. The raid occurred immediately prior to a scheduled ceremony to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government closed the center for operating without a valid permit. On December 29, government security officers posing as tax officials raided Ebadi's private law offices, seizing office files and computers.
Professional groups representing writers, journalists, photographers, and others attempted to monitor government restrictions in their respective fields, as well as harassment and intimidation against individual members of their professions. The government severely curtailed these groups' ability to meet, organize, or effect change.
In 2007 local NGO the Society for the Defense of the Rights of Prisoners published its second report about prison conditions in the country. There was no indication during the year that the government responded to the group's appeal for attention to cases of political prisoners.
In March 2007 a revolutionary court closed the offices of three prominent civil society and women's rights NGOs, the Iran Civil Society Organizations Training and Research Center, the Raahi Legal Center, and the NGO Training Center after authorities briefly detained activists affiliated with these organizations, including Sohrab Razzaghi, Shadi Sadr, and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, and charged them with violations related to their NGO activities.
Despite receiving numerous appeals, the government denied requests from international human rights NGOs to establish offices in or conduct regular investigative visits to the country. The last visit by an international human rights NGO was AI's 2004 visit as part of the European Union's human rights dialogue with the country. In October, according to domestic press reports, the interior minister stated that the government would refuse any request by the American-Iranian Council to open an office inside the country.
The ICRC and UNHCR both operated in the country with some restrictions. According to HRW, since the government issued a standing invitation to all UN human rights agencies in 2002, there have been six visits to the country by UN special human rights institutions; however, the government generally ignored recommendations these bodies made and failed to submit required reports to the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
The government ignored repeated requests for visits by UN special rapporteurs covering the areas of arbitrary executions, freedom of religion, torture, independence of judges, and minority issues.
The December 18 UNGA resolution on the country's human rights record called on the government to respect fully its human rights obligations and to abolish torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and juvenile and public executions, including stonings. The resolution also called on the government to eliminate discrimination and other human rights violations against women and religious, linguistic, and ethnic minorities. In an October report, the UN secretary-general criticized the country's human rights record and urged the government to do more to combat discrimination against women and minorities in the country.
In 2001 the supreme leader called for the creation of a human rights task force, chaired by the judiciary chief and comprising the ministers of intelligence, interior, foreign affairs, justice, and culture, as well as other judicial and military officials. The committee, which did not convene until 2006, was not considered effective. In one of his first public statements as the committee secretary, Mohammad Javad Larijani defended death by stoning as a punishment for adultery.
Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Although the constitution formally prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, language, and social status "in conformity with Islamic criteria," the government discriminated on the basis of religion, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Women
Rape is illegal and subject to strict penalties, but it remained a problem. Spousal rape is not illegal.
Spousal abuse and violence against women occurred. According to a study published during the year using 2005 data, 27 percent of women reported being physically abused during the survey year. Abuse in the family was considered a private matter and seldom discussed publicly, although there were some efforts to change this attitude. Domestic violence was not specifically prohibited by law, but some nongovernmental shelters and hotlines existed to assist victims.
According to a police official quoted in a domestic newspaper during the year, 50 honor killings were reported during a seven-month period, although official statistics were not available. The punishment for perpetrators was often a short prison sentence.
In May a man local papers identified as Ahmad allegedly killed his daughter in Isfahan after her former brother-in-law kidnapped and slept with her. Both men were in police custody at year's end.
In June a man identified as Morteza allegedly killed his sister near Bandar Abbas after she married a man without her family's permission. Local press reported that Morteza would be sentenced to only three to five years in prison since the victim's parents did not seek a murder charge.
Prostitution is illegal, but it took place under the legal cover of "sigheh," or temporary marriage. International press reports described prostitution as a widespread problem. The problem appeared aggravated by difficult economic conditions and rising numbers of drug users and runaway children. In March authorities arrested Tehran police chief Reza Zarei after he was discovered in a brothel during a police raid.
There was a lack of reliable data on the prevalence of sexual harassment in the country; however, media reports indicated unwanted physical contact and verbal harassment occurred. There are laws addressing sexual harassment in the context of physical contact between men and women. In June, thousands of university students in Zanjan protested an alleged episode of sexual harassment of a student by a university official.
The constitution nominally provides women with equal protection under the law and all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights in conformity with Islam; however, provisions in the Islamic civil and penal codes, in particular sections dealing with family and property law, discriminate against women. Shortly after the 1979 revolution, the government repealed the 1967 Family Protection Law that provided women with increased rights in the home and workplace and replaced it with a legal system based largely on Shari'a practices.
Although a male can marry at age 15 without parental consent, the law states that a virgin female needs the consent of her father or grandfather to wed, or the court's permission, even if she is older than 18. The country's Islamic law permits a man to have as many as four wives and an unlimited number of sigheh, based on a Shia custom in which a woman may become the wife of a Muslim male after a simple religious ceremony and a civil contract outlining the union's conditions. Such wives were not granted rights associated with traditional marriage. The government does not recognize marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men or Baha'i marriages.
Women have the right to divorce only if the husband signs a contract granting that right; cannot provide for his family; or is a drug addict, insane, or impotent. A husband was not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife.
Traditional interpretations of Islamic law recognized a divorced woman's right to part of shared property and to alimony. The law provides divorced women preference in custody for children up to seven years of age; however, divorced women who remarry are forced to give the child's father custody. After the child reaches seven years of age, the father is entitled to custody (except in cases in which the father was proven unfit to care for the child). The court determined custody in disputed cases.
A man could escape punishment for killing a wife caught in the act of adultery if he was certain she was a consenting partner; the same rule does not apply for women whose husbands committed adultery. Women sometimes received disproportionate punishment for crimes such as adultery, including death sentences. The law provides that a victim of stoning is allowed to go free if he or she escapes; however, it is much harder for women to escape, as they are buried to their necks, whereas men are buried to their waists.
The testimony of two women is equal to that of one man. The blood money paid to the family of a female crime victim is half the sum paid for a man.
Women had access to primary and advanced education. Reportedly 65 percent of university students were women; however, government officials admitted the use of quotas to limit women's university admissions in certain fields, such as medicine and engineering. In addition, social and legal constraints limited their professional opportunities. Women were represented in many fields of the work force, including the legislature, municipal councils, police, and firefighters. According to a World Economic Forum report, the unemployment rate for women was 17 percent, compared with 10 percent for men. Women cannot serve as president or as certain types of judges. Women may be consultant and research judges without the power to impose sentences.
The government enforced gender segregation in most public spaces, including medical care, and prohibited women from mixing openly with unmarried men or men not related to them. Women must ride in a reserved section on public buses and enter public buildings, universities, and airports through separate entrances.
The penal code provides that if a woman appears in public without the appropriate Islamic covering (hijab), she can be sentenced to lashings and/or fined. However, absent a clear legal definition of appropriate hijab or the punishment, women were at the mercy of the disciplinary forces or the judge. Pictures of uncovered or immodestly dressed women in the press or in films were often digitally altered.
The government intensified its campaign against members of the "One Million Signatures" campaign, which activists launched in 2006 to promote women's rights and demand changes to discriminatory laws. In a report released October 20, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon noted "an increasing crackdown in the past year on the women's rights movement."
On April 8, security forces arrested campaign member Khadijeh Moghaddam at her home. A revolutionary court reportedly charged her with "spreading propaganda against the state," "disrupting public opinion," and "actions against national security." Officials released her on bail on April 16.
On October 15, authorities arrested an Iranian-American dual citizen for an alleged traffic violation in Tehran and held her in solitary confinement in Evin Prison for one month. She was in the country conducting research on the women's rights movement for her graduate thesis. On November 10, authorities released her on bail, but she remained under a travel ban at the end of the year.
On October 17, authorities ordered Parastoo Alahyaari and several other campaign activists to submit their identity cards after security officers broke up their meeting in a public park in Tehran. On October 18, authorities searched Alahyaari's home and confiscated her computer and many personal belongings.
On November 21, according to human rights activists, authorities arrested Mehri Moshrefi, her husband, and two of her children and transferred them to Evin Prison. Security officers reportedly arrested them at a cemetery where the "One Million Signatures" campaign was staging a protest; activists claimed the family was not involved in the gathering. Authorities held Moshrefi's two children (one of whom was a minor) for one month; Moshrefi and her husband remained in Evin Prison at year's end. Prison officials did not allow the family to contact their third child, who was not with the rest of the family at the time of arrest, for more than two weeks.
Several members of the "One Million Signatures" campaign, including Parvin Ardalan, Nushin Ahmadi Khorasani, and Sussan Tahmasebi, remained under suspended prison sentences and travel bans at year's end. A court sentenced Fariba Davoudi Mohajer to one year in prison in absentia after she spoke publicly about these activists during a trip outside the country.
In May a court sentenced Amir Yaghoub Ali to one year in prison for "endangering national security" due to his work for the "One Million Signatures" but later suspended the sentence for four years. In July 2007 security forces detained him in Evin Prison for four weeks for collecting signatures on behalf of the campaign in Tehran's Andishe Park.
In July 2007 authorities sentenced women's rights activist Delaram Ali to 20 lashes and 34 months in prison for her participation in a 2006 women's rights rally. The judge charged her with "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the system." Following international protests, in November 2007 the judiciary reduced her sentence to 10 lashes and two and one half years in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence.
In August 2007 authorities sentenced Nasim Sarbandi and Fatemeh Dehdashti to six months in prison and two-year suspended sentences reportedly for collecting signatures for "One Million Signatures" at a Tehran train station.
On August 13, authorities charged Ronak Safazadeh with "spreading propaganda against national security." Security agents arrested Safazadeh in Sanandaj in October 2007 for collecting signatures for "One Million Signatures." On September 6, a court sentenced her to nine months in prison and fined her for publicizing the conditions of her detention; at year's end authorities had not tried Safazadeh for the original charges against her.
On June 18, a court sentenced Hana Abdi, whom police arrested in November 2007 for collecting signatures for "One Million Signatures," to five years' imprisonment. On October 7, a court reduced her sentence to 18 months.
On January 2, authorities released women's rights activists Maryam Hosseinkhah and Jelveh Javaheri. Police arrested both women in late 2007 for "propaganda against the system."
The government Center for Women and Family continued to publish reports on feminism with a negative slant and limited the debate on women's issues to only those related to the home.
Children
There was little current information available to assess government efforts to promote the welfare of children.
Although primary schooling up to age 11 is free and compulsory, media and other sources reported lower enrollment rates for girls than boys in rural areas.
There was little information available to reflect how the government dealt with child abuse, including child labor. Abuse was largely regarded as a private family matter, and there was no evidence of progress as a result of 2005 UN Children's Fund actions to prevent child abuse in the country. According to the UN's Integrated Regional Information Network, child sexual abuse was rarely reported.
The law requires court approval for the marriage of girls younger than 13 and boys younger than 15; however, it was reportedly not unusual in rural areas for parents to have their children marry before they become teenagers, often for economic reasons.
There were reportedly significant numbers of children, particularly Afghan but also Iranian, working as street vendors in Tehran and other cities and not attending school.
Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits human trafficking. However, according to foreign observers, the country was a source, transit, and destination point for trafficking. Women and girls were trafficked from the country to Pakistan, Turkey, Europe, and the Gulf states for sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. Boys from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan were trafficked through the country to Gulf states. Afghan women and girls were trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation and forced marriages. Internal trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor also occurred. In some cases, authorities tried and convicted persons involved in trafficking.
In September 2007 police reportedly disbanded an international smuggling network based in Tehran, but it was unclear how many, if any, of these were actual trafficking offenses. The group smuggled women and girls from Central Asia through the country to the Gulf states. Police reportedly arrested 25 persons for involvement in the network. There were also reports that the government arrested and punished several trafficking victims on charges of prostitution or adultery.
The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be found at www.state.gov/g/tip.
Persons with Disabilities
Discrimination against persons with disabilities was prohibited by law. The law also provided for state-funded vocational education for persons with disabilities, but according to domestic news reports, vocational centers were confined to urban areas and unable to meet the needs of the entire population of persons with disabilities. Building accessibility for persons with disabilities remained a widespread problem.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The constitution grants equal rights to all ethnic minorities and allows for minority languages to be used in the media and schools. The government disproportionately targeted minority groups, including Kurds, Arabs, Azeris, and Baluch, for arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, and physical abuse. These groups also reported political and economic discrimination, particularly in the provision of economic aid, granting of business licenses, university admissions, permission to publish books, and housing and land rights. State broadcasting had weekly programs in ethnic languages, but the government consistently denied minorities their constitutional right to study and use their language in school.
In 2007 then interior minister Mustafa Purmohammadi ranked ethnic divisions as one of the biggest problems his ministry had to address. The government blamed foreign entities, including a number of Western countries, for instigating some of the ethnic unrest. Other groups claimed the government staged the 2005 and 2006 Khuzestan bombings as a pretext for repression.
According to AI, in January authorities detained and questioned three child care facility directors in Kurdistan province on the grounds that they permitted the teaching of a nonnational language. Authorities threatened other facilities with closure. Kurds were not allowed to register certain names for their children in official registries.
On July 9, security forces arrested Zeinab Bayazidi in Kurdistan province and charged her with "acting against national security" and "belonging to an illegal organization" for her work with a human rights group. According to human rights activists, a court sentenced her to four years in prison after a secret trial with numerous irregularities.
On August 8, according to domestic human rights groups, security forces arrested journalist and Kurdish rights activist Massoud Kordpour on espionage charges related to interviews he gave to foreign media outlets. Authorities reportedly held Kordpour incommunicado for several months before a revolutionary court sentenced him to one year in prison.
On October 30, a Tehran appeals court upheld an 11-year prison sentence against Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand according to NGO reports. Police arrested Kaboudvand in July 2007 after he founded the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK) in 2005. He was serving his sentence at year's end, and family members reported he had severe health problems, including a second heart attack in December.
On February 25, a revolutionary court sentenced to death Farzad Kamangar, superintendent of high schools in Kamayaran, on charges of "endangering national security." Kamangar was involved with a number of civil society organizations, including the local teacher's union, an environmental group, and HROK. The court also sentenced fellow Kurdish activists Ali Heydarian and Farhad Vakili to death. In July the Supreme Court upheld the three death sentences. On November 24, according to AI, prison officials removed Kamangar from his cell, beat him, and threatened him with execution. Authorities originally arrested the three men in 2006 for their human rights activism.
In 2006 Kurds clashed with police, reportedly resulting in three deaths and more than 250 arrests. There were also strikes and demonstrations in 2005 following the killing of a Kurdish activist by security forces. According to HRW and other sources, security forces killed at least 17 persons and wounded and arrested large numbers of others.
In February authorities tried Sa'id Sa'edi, a founder of the East Kurdistan Cultural Research Institute, and Ajlal Qavami, a journalist and board member of HROK, on charges of criminal damage relating to their participation in a peaceful demonstration in 2005.
Foreign representatives of the Ahvazi Arabs of Khuzestan claimed their community of 2 to 4 million in the southwest section of the country suffered from oppression and discrimination, including the lack of freedom to study and speak Arabic. Ahvazi and human rights groups alleged torture and mistreatment of Ahvazi Arab activists, including detention of the spouses and young children of activists.
In September a court sentenced Arab journalist Mohammad Hasan Falahiezadeh to three years in prison. Authorities arrested Falahiezadeh in December 2007 for his reporting of street protests by members of the Arab minority in Ahvaz. On October 5, he began a hunger strike to protest prison officials' alleged denial of basic legal rights.
Ethnic Azeris comprised approximately one-quarter of the country's population, were well integrated into government and society, and included the supreme leader among their numbers. However, Azeris complained of ethnic and linguistic discrimination by the government, including banning the Azeri language in schools, harassing Azeri activists or organizers, and changing Azeri geographic names. Azeri groups also claimed there were a number of Azeri political prisoners jailed for advocating cultural and language rights for Iranian Azeris. The government charged several of them with "revolting against the Islamic state."
In a series of arrests beginning in July, police reportedly detained at least eight Azeri-Iranian students in Tabriz and charged them with "establishing illegal groups in order to disrupt national security" and "propaganda against the state." According to AI, the student activists were campaigning for greater cultural and linguistic rights, including the right to education using the Azeri language and the right to celebrate Azeri culture and history. On October 28, all but one were released on bail; at year's end, Dariush Hatemi remained in prison because he was unable to raise the bail of 500 million rials (approximately $50,000) required for his release.
On September 10, authorities arrested a group of Azeri cultural rights activists, including author Hasan Rashedi, poet Mehdi Naimi Ardabili, writer Alireza Sarafi, and journalist Saeed Mohammadi Moghalani, at an Iftar celebration. Authorities held the men incommunicado and without charge for several weeks before releasing them on bail on November 9.
In 2006 there were large-scale riots in the Azeri majority regions of the northwest following publication of a newspaper cartoon that depicted a cockroach speaking in Azeri. Police forcibly contained the protests and reported that four persons were killed and several protesters were detained. Authorities blamed foreign governments for inciting unrest.
Local and international human rights groups alleged serious economic, legal, and cultural discrimination against the Baluch minority during the year. The government did not investigate allegations that authorities in Sistan va Baluchistan executed at least 50 detainees in 2007 (see section 1.a.). Baluch journalists and human rights activists, including Yaghoob Mirnehad, faced arbitrary arrest, physical abuse, and unfair trials, often ending in execution.
Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination
The Special Protection Division, a volunteer unit of the judiciary, monitored and reported moral crimes. The law prohibited and punished homosexuality; sodomy between consenting adults was a capital crime. According to HRW, the last known death sentences for homosexual conduct were handed down in 2005, although there were allegations of executions related to homosexual conduct in 2006 and 2007. The punishment of a non-Muslim homosexual was harsher if the homosexual's partner was Muslim. On September 29, President Ahmadi-Nejad called homosexuality an "unlikable and foreign act" that "shakes the foundations of society."
On February 28, police reportedly raided a home in Isfahan and arrested approximately 30 men on accusations including consensual homosexual conduct. The men were held for multiple weeks without access to lawyers and without being charged, according to HRW.
Persons with HIV/AIDS reportedly faced discrimination in schools and workplaces. The government supported programs for HIV/AIDS awareness and generally did not interfere with private HIV/AIDS-related NGOs.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law provides workers the right to establish unions; in practice the government did not permit independent unions. A national organization known as Workers' House was the sole authorized national labor organization. It served primarily as a conduit for government control over workers. The leadership of Workers' House coordinated activities with Islamic labor councils in industrial, agricultural, and service organizations comprising more than 35 employees. These councils, which consisted of representatives of workers and a representative of management, also functioned as instruments of government control but nonetheless frequently blocked layoffs and dismissals in support of workers' demands. Restrictions on the ability of workers to associate continued during the year.
On June 24, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs threatened to dissolve the Association of Iranian Journalists (AIJ) because it allegedly failed to uphold its internal regulations. According to RSF, authorities sought the removal of the association's executive committee on grounds of alleged procedural irregularities in voting during its general assemblies. On July 6, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance sent a letter instructing domestic newspapers not to report on the group. The AIJ held internal elections to satisfy the Ministry of Labor's concerns but had yet to receive their approval at year's end.
On December 22, according to human rights groups, security agents arrested trade union member Mohsen Hakimi on unspecified charges. His whereabouts were unknown at year's end.
In April 2007 security forces arrested 45 members of the Hamedan Teachers' Association. Judiciary officials stated the teachers were arrested because of their continued affiliation with a banned organization. In December 2007 a court sentenced nine of the members to 91 days' imprisonment for "participating in unlawful strikes" and for closing schools.
On April 6, authorities released labor activist Mahmoud Salehi, former head of the Saqqez Bakery Workers' Union, after he spent one year in prison for "acting against national security"; the court immediately opened another case against him, for which Salehi reportedly posted bail of 430 million rials (approximately $43,000). He was free pending trial at year's end.
On August 25, authorities reportedly transferred labor leader Mansur Osanloo from Evin Prison to Rajayee Shahr Prison in the city of Karaj. Osanloo, who reportedly suffered from numerous health problems, remained in custody under a 2007 charge of "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the system." In July 2007 unidentified men arrested and detained him, following repeated arrests in 2006. Osanloo, head of the Syndicate of Bus Drivers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e-Vahed), had been targeted by the government because of his calls for labor rights.
On December 27, plainclothes security agents arrested Ebrahim Madadi in Tehran on unknown charges. Authorities previously arrested Madadi in August 2007 for protesting the arrest of Mansur Osanloo and released him in December 2007 following an appeals court ruling that cleared him of the charge of acting against national security.
Ali Reza Hashemi, head of the Iranian Teachers Organization, remained under a three-year suspended sentence on charges related to a March 2007 protest during which security forces arrested hundreds of teachers demanding pay and benefits equal to those government employees received. According to a domestic labor rights organization, authorities held dozens of the teachers in Section 209 of Evin Prison for as long as 60 days without charges, before releasing most of them on bail of approximately 300 million rials (approximately $30,000) each.
The law prohibits public sector strikes, and the government considered unlawful any strike deemed contrary to its economic and labor policies, including strikes in the private sector; however, strikes occurred. According to an October UNGA report, attempts to create a number of workers' associations and conduct labor strikes over wages have been met with arbitrary arrests and violence by security forces.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Workers did not have the right to organize independently or to negotiate freely collective bargaining agreements. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, labor legislation did not apply in export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The labor code prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred. Female citizens were trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution. Citizen children were trafficked internally, and Afghan children were trafficked to the country for the purpose of forced commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude as beggars and laborers.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The law prohibits employment of minors younger than 15 years and places restrictions on the employment of minors younger than 18; however, the government did not adequately enforce laws pertaining to child labor, and child labor was a serious problem. The law permits children to work in agriculture, domestic service, and some small businesses, but prohibits employment of minors in hard labor or night work. There was no information regarding enforcement of these regulations.
According to government sources, 3 million children were prevented from obtaining education because their families forced them to work. Unofficial sources claimed the figure was closer to 5 million. In 2007 Tehran reportedly opened several shelters for street children. There were reportedly significant numbers of children--particularly Afghan but also Iranian--working as street vendors in major urban areas. Many Afghan children were unable to attend school because they lacked birth certificates or identification cards, which the government reportedly refused to issue in an effort to curb illegal immigration.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The law empowers the Supreme Labor Council to establish annual minimum wage levels for each industrial sector and region. In March President Ahmadi-Nejad increased the minimum wage levels by 20 percent to 2.2 million rials (approximately $220) per month, which labor groups stated did not provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. There was no information regarding mechanisms to set wages, and it was not known whether minimum wages were enforced. Afghan workers, especially those working illegally in the country, often were paid less than the minimum wage.
The law establishes a maximum six-day, 48-hour workweek, with a weekly rest day, normally Friday, and at least 12 days of paid annual leave and several paid public holidays.
According to the law, a safety council, chaired by the labor minister or his representative, protects workplace safety and health. Labor organizations outside the country have alleged that hazardous work environments were common in the country and resulted in thousands of worker deaths annually. The quality of safety regulation enforcement was unknown, and it was unknown whether workers could remove themselves from hazardous situations without risking the loss of employment.
* The United States does not have an embassy in Iran. This report draws heavily on non-U.S. Government sources.

2009-01-09T20:18:00.000+01:00

Iran: End Repression in Kurdish Areas
Peaceful Dissidents Jailed, Books and Publications Banned
January 9, 2009
"Iranian authorities show little tolerance of political dissent anywhere in the country, but they are particularly hostile to dissent in minority areas where there has been any history of separatist activities."
Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division
Related Materials:
Iran: Freedom of Expression and Association in the Kurdish Regions
Other Material:
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/01/09/iran-freedom-expression-and-association-kurdish-regions-0
(New York, January 9, 2009) - The government of Iran should amend or abolish broadly worded national security laws used to stifle peaceful dissent in the country's Kurdish areas and end arbitrary arrests of Kurdish critics and dissidents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 42-page report, "Iran: Freedom of Expression and Association in the Kurdish Regions," documents how Iranian authorities use security laws, press laws, and other legislation to arrest and prosecute Iranian Kurds solely for trying to exercise their right to freedom of expression and association. The use of these laws to suppress basic rights, while not new, has greatly intensified since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005.
"Iranian authorities show little tolerance of political dissent anywhere in the country, but they are particularly hostile to dissent in minority areas where there has been any history of separatist activities," said Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division.
Kurds account for 4.5 million of the 69 million people in Iran, and live mainly in the country's northwest regions. Political movements there have frequently campaigned for greater regional autonomy. The main Iranian Kurdish parties with a long history of activism deny that they engage in armed activity and the government has not accused these groups of any such activity since the early 1990s.
"No one would contest a government's right to suppress violence," Stork said. "But this is not the case here. What is going on in the Kurdish areas of Iran is the routine suppression of legitimate peaceful opposition."
The new report documents how the government has closed Persian- and Kurdish-language newspapers and journals, banned books, and punished publishers, journalists, and writers for opposing and criticizing government policies. Authorities also suppress legitimate activities of nongovernmental organizations by denying registration permits or charging individuals working with such organizations with spurious security offenses.
One victim of the government's repression is Farazad Kamangar, a superintendent of high schools in the city of Kamayaran and an activist with the Organization for the Defense of Human Rights in Kurdistan. He has been in detention since his arrest in July 2006. The new report reproduces a letter Kamangar smuggled out of prison describing how officials subjected him to torture during interrogation.
On February 25, 2008, Branch 30 of Iran's Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death on charges of "endangering national security." Prosecutors charged that he was a member of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but provided no evidence to support the allegation. In July, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence. Kamangar's lawyer has appealed to the head of the judiciary to intervene, the only remaining option for challenging the sentence.
Also available in:
Persian
Japanese
Deutsch

2008-12-27T16:46:00.000+01:00

One woman and eight men hanged in Tehran , on the Christmas eve
Wednesday 24 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 24: One woman and eight men were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning, reported the state run Iranian news agancy Fars.
Iran Human Rights reported yesterday that 10 people were scheduled to be executed today. According to Fars news agancy, execution of one of the nine men who was convicted of murder, was postponed to a later time, due to absence of the offender’s family.
The report did not identify any of those executed by name. However, the woman who was hanged was yesterday identified as Tayebeh (Tayyebeh). She was convicted of murdering her stepdaughter. She had denied the charges against her, and said in the court that she had confessed to the crime under pressure from the authorities. But the court sentenced her to death and she was hanged early this morning.
Iran Human Rights will return with more information regarding identities of the eight men who were executed in Tehran today.
There have been some reactions on the fact that the Iranian authorities have chosen to execute so many people on the Christmas eve.

2008-12-23T12:54:00.000+01:00

URGENT: One woman and nine men are scheduled to be executed in Tehran tomorrow December 24
Tuesday 23 December 2008

Iran Human Rights, december 23: Ten people are scheduled to be hanged in tehran’s Evin prison, tomorrow Christmas eve, reported the Iranian state run news agency ISCA news today.
According to the report these ten include one woman, identified as Tayebeh and nine unidentified men. Tayebeh is convicted of killing her step daughter Elaheh.
However, Tayebeh denies having killed the girl, and said that the confession was given under pressure.
According to Tayebeh’s lawyer, there is no prove pointing at Tayebeh as the killer.
None of the other nine men who are scheduled to be executed tomorrow are identified in the report.
Behnood Shojaee, a minor offender, was originally on the execution list according to his lawyer Mr. Mohammad Mostafaei.
However, the Iranian daily newspaper Etemaad reported today that Behnood’s name was temporarily removed from the execution list tomorrow. This has not been confirmed by his lawyer yet.

2008-12-23T12:51:00.000+01:00

URGENT: THE MINOR OFFENDER BEHNOOD SHOJAEE IS ACHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED ON THE CHRISTMAS EVE
Tuesday 23 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 22: The juvenile offender, Behnood Shojaee is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday December 24, wrote his lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei in an e-mail to Iran Human Rights.
Behnood Shojaee is convicted of murdering another boy at the age of 17. He was sentenced to death by a court in Tehran and his execution has been halted several times, mainly due to the attention his case got internationally and among human rights defenders in Iran.
Iran has ratified UN’s convention for children’s rights, which bans death penalty for the offences committed under 18 years of age. However, so far in 2008 at least 7 minor offenders have been executed in Iran. More than 150 minor offenders are on the death row in the Iranian prisons today.

2008-12-22T13:46:00.000+01:00

En man som piskas inför allas ögon i IRAN:

2008-12-22T13:38:00.000+01:00

Iranian authorities shut down the center for human rights defenders in Tehran
Monday 22 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 21: According to the reports in the Iran, centre for human rights defenders, headed by the 2003 Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, was shut down by the Iranian security agents yesterday.
According to the journalist and human rights activist Asieh Amini, there was supposed to be a social gathering celebrating the international human rights day, on Sunday.
However the security forces shut the center and prevented the celebration to take place.
The Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told CNN that ""The collective activities of the human rights activists in Iran have angered the Iranian authorities so much that they have illegally ordered the closing down of two NGOs,"

2008-12-20T13:39:00.000+01:00

United Nations General Assembly “Deeply Concerned” about Human Rights Conditions in Iran

Resolution based on Secretary General’s Analysis
(18 December 2008) By a vote of 69 to 54 the United Nations General Assembly has repudiated and expressed “deep concern” for Iran’s human rights record. The Resolution cited inter alia documented cases of torture; the high incidence of executions and juvenile executions without proper legal safeguards; the persecution of women seeking their human rights; discrimination against minorities and attacks on minority groups like the Baha’is in state media; and the violation of a wide range of political rights.
“Iran’s human rights practices violate and help undermine an international consensus about human dignity and how to protect it,” stated Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
“The General Assembly vote demonstrates a broad international agreement that the Iranian government is depriving its people of their human rights and pursuing a policy that is isolating them and their citizens from international cooperation and partnership,” he added.
The Resolution calls on the Iranian Government to facilitate visits by UN Special Rapporteurs. Additionally, it called for the elimination of cruel or inhuman punishments; abolition of public executions and the executions of persons who were under 18 years at the time of their offence; abolition of the use of stoning as a method of execution; and elimination of discrimination against women and minorities, including the emancipation of the Baha’i community. It also urged the Iranian government to cooperate on human rights and justice reform with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN.
The Resolution follows a report on human rights in Iran by the United Nations Secretary General, mandated by a similar resolution in 2007, which was issued in October 2008. That report was broadly critical of the lack of an independent judiciary in Iran, and noted that the Human Rights Commission in Iran failed to comply with the Paris Principles by which the United Nations evaluates national human rights institutions. The Report criticized Iran’s draft penal code for mandating the death sentence in cases of apostasy. It noted a “sudden surge in executions” including 29 in July 2008 alone. Noting also the high number of juvenile executions, the Report said a recently announced “moratorium” on juvenile executions was not legally binding (the Campaign and other independent organizations have noted that the “moratorium” does not even apply to murder cases for which many of the juveniles have been convicted). The Report criticized penal practices in Iran, citing the widespread use of solitary confinement and incommunicado detention, and that numerous referrals by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture had been met only with denials by the authorities. The Report also focused on discrimination and persecution of minorities such as Baha’is and women’s rights activists, and also outlined a wide range of political rights violations including freedom of opinion and expression.
More recently, in November 2008, the UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders and on Violence against Women criticized Iran’s harassment of women’s rights activists including members of the Million Signatures Campaign whose peaceful work violates no laws. The Special Rapporteurs noted a lack of cooperation from Iranian authorities.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran advised that the various reports and statements by UN bodies should be taken as a positive effort to help Iran fulfill its international legal obligations as a member of the world body and signatory to major human rights treaties.
“The international community has no interest in singling out or isolating Iran concerning human rights,” the Campaign said. “We see these reports as evidence that the family of nations cares about Iran and its people and is reaching out with constructive advice.”
To read the text of the resolution visit:
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/themes/documents/iran-human-rights-resolution.html
To read the UN Secretary General’s Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran visit:
http://www.iranhumanrights.org/themes/documents/un-secretary-general-report.html

2008-12-18T11:56:00.000+01:00

Violation of human rights in Iran
Can you hear their sounds!

2008-12-17T14:52:00.000+01:00

One man was hanged in Mashad (northeast of Iran) today December 15

Tuesday 16 December 2008
Iran Human Rights, December 15: One man was hanged in the prison of Mashad, capital of the northeastern Iranian province of khorasan, reproted the Iranian daily newspaper Quds.
The man who was not identified by name, was sentenced to twice qesas death (retribution) convicted of two murders, said the report.
The man was hanged in the prison early this morning.

2008-12-17T14:50:00.000+01:00

Iranian authorities amputated a man’s hand in Kermanshah today December 15.

Tuesday 16 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 15: A man’s hand was amputated in the prison of Kermanshah today, reported the Iranian daily newspaper Quds.
The man who was not identified, was convicted of robbery, and sentenced to 6 months in prison and 30 lashes, besides amputation of his hand, according to the report.
Prosecutor of Kermanshah revolutionary court said tp the reporters that this is a warning to all who want to make the society unsafe.

2008-12-17T14:49:00.001+01:00

Two men were hanged in Tabas (eastern Iran) yesterday December 13

Sunday 14 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 14: Two men were hanged in the prison of Tabas (Khorasan province, eatern Iran) yesterday morning reported the site "Human Rights Activists in Iran".
The men are identified as Zahed Salehabadi (35) and Mohammad Amin Barahooi (28), and convicted of drug trafficking according to the report.

2008-12-17T14:46:00.000+01:00

One person was hanged in Semnan (east of Tehran) today December 13

Saturday 13 December 2008
[English] [فارسى]
Iran Human Rights, December 13: One person was hanged in the prison of Semnan (east of Tehran) early this morning, reported the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
The person, identified by the initials "M. Sh.", was convicted of attempting to murder a woman, according to the report.

2008-12-04T14:11:00.000+01:00

The executions in the islamic regime of Iran:

One man was hanged in Isfahan yesterday December 3.
Thursday 4 December 2008
See online : One man was hanged in Isfahan
One man was hanged in Isfahan (central Iran) early yesterday morning, reported the Iranian daily newspaper Quds today.
The man who was not identified by name, was convicted of murdering a couple in their home according to the report. He was sentenced to two times death and was hanged in the prison of Isfahan yesterday morning Wednesday December 3.

2008-12-01T16:34:00.000+01:00

The executions in the islamic regime of Iran:

Pregnant woman sentenced to death

by a court in Iran

A pregnant woman and her husband were sentenced to death convicted of drug trafficking, reported the state run news agency ISCA news.
According to the report, the couple identified as "Shahla" (wife) and "Shahram B." are convicted of keeping 800 grams of heroin, and were sentenced to death by the revolutionary court in the town of Roudan, south of Iran.
Under interrogations, they have confessed that poverty was the reason why they wanted to sell drugs, said the report.
The prosecuter of Roudan, Jafar Hamzei told ISCA news:"The court has sentenced them to death according to the law, but we have asked the judiciary to reduce their punishment to life in prison, due to their poverty and bacause they had not succeeded to sell any drugs yet"
"Another reason why we have asked for reduction of the punishment is because the woman is pregnant" he added.

2008-12-01T16:22:00.000+01:00

The executions in the islamic regime of Iran:

Two men were hanged in Zahedan (south-east of Iran)
November 29

Two men were hanged in Zahedan, capital of the southeast Iranian province of Baluchestan, two days ago November 29 reported the state run Fars news agency.
The men who were just identified with the initials "H.F." and "A.N." and whose ages were not mentioned, were convicted of drug trafficking according to the report.
They were hanged in the prison of Zahedan yesterday morning.

2008-11-27T13:30:00.000+01:00

One man is sentenced to "blindness in both eyes" by a court in the Iranian capital Tehran
Thursday 27 November 2008
See online : One man is sentenced to be blind in both eyes in a court in Tehran
Iran Human Rights, November 27: A court in the Iranian capital Tehran has sentenced a man to "blindness in both eyes" reported the state run news agency ISCA news yesterday.
According to the report, the man who is identified as Majid, is convicted of pouring acid on the face of Ameneh (27), a girl with whom he allegedly wished to marry. Majid said in the court that "Ameneh denied marrying him, and he thought by committing the offence she could be his for ever!"
As a result of the injuries she lost the sight on one eye and most of the sight on the other eye.
Yesterday Majid was literally sentenced to eye for eye retribution by the court. He is sentenced to lose the sight in his both eyes as well as economic compensation to Ameneh.
The news is also published in other Iranian newspapers such as Quds.

2008-11-27T13:22:00.000+01:00

10 people were hanged in Iran yesterday.

9 men and one woman were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning
Wednesday 26 November 2008
[English] [فارسى]
See online : 9 men and one woman were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning
Iran Human Rights, November 26: According to the Iranian state media 10 people were hanged in the Evin prison of Tehran early this morning.
According to the state run news agency ISCA news 9 men and one woman weere hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning.
The woman, Fatemeh Pajouh, whom we reported about in the previous report, was convicted of murdering his husband who tried to rape her 15 years old daughter from a previous marriage.
The others who were executed according to the report were:
Yousef G (36) and Mojtaba A. (25) convicted of joint rubery and murder
Ali (35) convicted of rubery and murder
Abbas J (age not mentioned) convicted of murder
Masoud (39) convicted of murder
Ali (age not mentioned) and Mohsen (age not mentioned) convicted of kidnaping and murder
Amir Hossein Sh. (age not given) convicted of armed rubery and murder
Salman (46) convicted of murder

2008-11-26T11:52:00.000+01:00

FATEMEH PAJOUH WAS EXECUTED THIS MORNING
Wednesday 26 November 2008

Iran Human Rights, November 26: According to reliable sources in Iran, the 37 years old woman, Fatemeh Pajouh, was hanged in Tehran’s vin prison few moments ago.
She was convicted of murdering her husband who allegedly wanted to rape her 15 years old daughter (from a previous marriage).
On Monday Iran Human Rights reported that Fatemeh Pajouh was transferred to solitary confinement, and was prepared for execution.
Fatemeh was hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning.
Iran Human Rights will return with further details on todays executions in Tehran.
The kurdish teacher and civil rights activist, Farzad Kamangar is among those who have been at risk of execution.

2008-11-21T12:30:00.000+01:00

En romantisk afton i Tehran

KARIM MAHMOUDI (TAGHANA)

______________________

”Vet du ingen plats som vi kan vara tillsammans på ikväll?” Sa hon.
Killen blev alldeles torr i munnen.
”Tyvärr gör jag inte det” Sa han med en djup suck medan han tittade sig runt omkring.
De hade slagit sig ner bredvid varandra på en grav i dalen. Han hade fört in sin hand under hennes slöja och hennes skjorta och smekte hennes kropp. Enstaka personer kom för att besöka gravar, dröjde där ett tag och sen gick de sin väg. Gravgården blev ofta till de förälskades mötesplats.

Till slut, bredde hon ut sin huvudduk på graven och lade sig på den.
”Vet du vad de kan utsätta oss för, ifall de upptäcker oss så här?” Sa hon.
Det sägs att när en törstig, i öknen vandrande människa plötsligt hittar en vattenkälla så faller hon på knä inför den och med munnen i den dricker hon sig mätt av den. Och så var det med dem.
Ju mörkare det blev, desto mer kunde deras händer ta för sig av sina kroppars honung.
”De kommer att köra oss omkring i hela stan skammärkta för det vi håller på nu, för att visa upp oss för alla och sen kommer de att piska oss.”
De andades häftigt…
Plötsligt närmade sig ljusen från en bil.
De brydde sig inte om det.
Den kom närmare och närmare men de brydde sig fortfarande inte. Bilen kom fram till dem. Det var en polisbil.
Flickan låg fortfarande på rygg.
”Vi håller på att bli gripna!” Skrek hon, ” Det är polisen!”
De särade på sig. Han hoppade över gravarna och sprang iväg fylld av skräck och rädsla.
Två personer hoppade ur bilen och på ett ögonblick var de framme vid flickan. De tog henne under armarna, fyllda av belåtenhet. Det var som att de hittat en skatt.
Killen såg på poliserna bortifrån. Han såg hur de förde flickan in i bilen leende och belåtna men de brydde sig inte ett dugg om honom.

2008-11-06T00:07:00.000+01:00

Foto: Fredrik Olsson
2008-09-06 kl. 01.00

Karim Mahmoudi skriver för livet

SÖDERHAMN

Karim MahmoudiÅlder: 35.

Yrke: Vet inte. Men har jobbat som bilmekaniker och skomakare i Rahmadi, Irak.

Familj: Min mamma i Irak, syster med ny familj, faster, och kusiner som bor här. Många vänner här och i Karlskrona.

Intressen: Att skriva. För mig är litteratur livet.

Men jag har spelat en hel del bordtennis och gillar att fiska.

Lyssnar på:

Persisk musik. Som den kurdiska gruppen Kamkar.

Läser: Om politik, religion och filosofi.

Äter: Min mamma tillagade kyckling på ett fantastiskt sätt. Jag har inte kunnat hitta något liknande. Men kyckling och pizza.

Litteratur är livet för Karim Mahmoudi. Eller skrivandet, kanske. Eller så skriver han för att livet ska vara möjligt.

– Det är ett litet vapen jag har, säger Karim Mahmoudi och skrattar.

Han formar handen som en penna.

På bordet i rummet han delar med en annan person har han dukat upp med läsk, choklad och pekannötter.

Han går ut i det kliniskt renstädade köket och fixar kaffe och jag kikar på en Pippi Långstrumpbok som ligger bland höga boktravar på fönsterkarmen vid hans säng. Ovanpå tidningarna Vi och Ordfront.

Sex asylsökande personer delar lägenheten på Tallvägen, ett tillfälligt hem som har slitits av människor som kommit och gått. Antingen till ett liv i Sverige eller ett liv på den plats de flytt ifrån. Eller till döden, som Karim fruktar att det blir om han får avslag på sin asylansökan ännu en gång. Fast migrationsverket är av en annan åsikt.I en av tallarna utanför fönstret hänger ett cykelhjul på en gren. Karim kommer in med kaffet.

– Ja, säger han och skrattar lite, det är barnen som har lekt därute.

När Karim var barn bodde han i byn Barkharbaran i provinsen Sarpilzahav i kurdistanska Iran. Han kommer inte ihåg så mycket från sin barndomsby. Mamman flydde med honom och systern efter att hennes man blivit mördad. Han hade relationer till Kurdiska demokratiska partiet i Iran, ett parti som slåss för kurdiska rättigheter. Karim har varit medlem i samma parti sedan han var 18 år.Större delen av sitt liv, sedan 1992, har Karim levt i flyktinglägret Al Tash i Irak. När USA invaderade Irak flydde han till Sverige. Lägret finns inte längre och många av hans vänner dog under kriget.

Jag har kommit till Karim för att få veta mer om hans skrivande, sedan han skickat noveller till kulturredaktionen. Och om hans liv såklart. Men det går ingen skiljelinje mellan dem båda.

– För mig är litteratur livet, säger han.

Men hans skrivande är också livet. På det sättet att hans skrivande handlar om överlevnad. För honom själv och för Irans befolkning.Han har ett stort litteraturintresse, och förutom att läsa om politik och religion läser han till exempel en samling med svenska författares noveller. Han häller upp kaffe och jag bläddrar bland Ivar Lo-Johansson, Moa Martinsson och Jan Fridegårds ord i kurdisk tappning.Han har bland annat översatt Sir Arthur Conan Doyles De fyras tecken till den kurdiska dialekten Sydkurdiska, eller Sorani, och översatt persisk poesi till kurdiska. Men mest skriver han artiklar som kritiserar Irans islamiska regim och noveller med politiska budskap. Historier hämtade ur vardagen. En vardag där homosexuella handlingar bestraffas med döden. Vissa artiklar är undertecknade Karim Mahmoudi, vissa Karim Taghana. Taghana är ett smeknamn som betyder Den ensamme, eller att man är ende sonen i en familj. Som Karim.

Vi läser en tillsammans.

En ung pojke står och säljer en tidning i en storstad i Iran. Det är kallt och snö faller på pojkens huvud. Han ropar ut nyhet efter nyhet, alla är exempel på brott som den iranska regimen begår mot människors rättigheter. Folket på gatan passerar. Ingen höjer ett ögonbryn. Ingen köper tidningen. När novellen slutar liknar pojken en liten farbror med vitt hår, fast det är all snö som täcker pojkens axlar och huvud.

I Al Tashlägret fyllde Karim en viktig funktion som engelskalärare för yngre barn. Och tillsammans med andra politiskt engagerade kurdiska ungdomar drev han tidningen Rebeen. I lägret fanns också hans faster, som numera lever i Söderhamn, och har uppehållstillstånd. Något som Karim inte har.

– Jag kan inte sluta skriva om vad som händer i Iran. Sådant som avrättningar och tortyr. Jag lever med en konstant smärta och måste se sanningen om vad som händer där, säger han.

Han visar mig en bild på en kvinna som är nedgrävd i jorden, så att bara huvudet syns. Hon har blivit dömd till döden genom stening, alltså att man kastar stenar på henne tills hon dör. Antagligen för så kallade äktenskapsbrott.

I januari i år rapporterade Amnesty att nio kvinnor och två män väntade på att få sin få sin dödsdom verkställd genom stening, trots att Iran år 2002 satt ett tillfälligt stopp för sådana dödsstraff. Artiklarna får han publicerade på olika oppositionella hemsidor, och han har själv två bloggar. Han berättar att Iran har föreslagit dödsstraff för regimkritiskt bloggande.

_Hur klarar du av att skriva i din livssituation?

– Bra fråga. Det är svårt. Ibland hatar jag mig själv, säger Karim.

Jag funderar febrilt på vad som kan vara anledningen att hata sig själv i hans fall. Det finns många andra instanser och personer han skulle kunna vara förbannad på.

– Jag ville komma till Sverige för att göra vad jag vill göra på ett bra sätt, men jag lever med en stress som försvårar det hela. När jag ska fokusera på en historia jag vill skriva så behöver jag vara klar i huvudet, ha en ren idé. Ibland kan jag sitta och försöka läsa en bok och bara kasta den i väggen, för att det inte går. På grund av stress och rädsla.

Han kom till Sverige av kärlek, säger han. Kärleken till livet. Han gillar Sverige och om han får stanna skulle han satsa på att lära sig språket så bra att han kan fortsätta sitt skrivande. Fast på svenska.

– Jag är bra på att lära mig språk. Jag har ingen universitetsutbildning utan allt jag vet har jag lärt mig själv och i Al Tashlägret.

Men framtiden vet han ingenting om. Han fick avslag från migrationsverket på sin asylansökan. Sedan överklagade han. Det verkade positivt under intervjun i migrationsdomstolen, tyckte Karim, och han såg ljust på framtiden. Men även där fick han avslag.

– Jag har överklagat och väntar på en kallelse till migrationsöverdomstolen. Jag har ingen aning om vad som kommer att hända. Det är riktigt svårt. Jag kommer inte direkt från Iran, utan från flyktinglägret. De vet att jag kommer därifrån, jag har inget pass, bara mitt flyktingkort. Om jag skickas till Iran blir jag avrättad.

– De säger att de tror på att jag är en skrivande person, men de tror inte att det är på "hard level". Men jag kan säga att enbart den här (han visar mig en artikel) är nog för att de ska döda mig.

Han ger mig exempel på flera journalister som har blivit dödade av Iranska myndigheter.

– Jag har stor respekt för migrationsverket och domstolen, men de är blinda och döva.

Apropå blind och döv så berättar Karim ett skämt från Iran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Irans president, som är djupt konservativ muslim, är ute och promenerar med sin assistent.

De ser en get.

– Geten kan flyga, säger assistenten.

Presidenten protesterar.

– Getter kan inte flyga. Vem har sagt det?

Det har Imamen sagt, säger assistenten.

– Aha. Ja, då kan den flyga. Litegrann, säger Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Imam är en högt uppsatt präst som har makt även över presidenten i den islamiska republik som Iran blev efter den muslimska revolutionen 1979.– Nu känner de flesta till hur läget är i Iran. Och folket i Iran är trötta på regimen, på avrättningar, hunger. Jag tror att de kommer att försvinna. Det här är slutet på deras styre.

2008-09-06 kl. 01.00

Hanna Wikman

An asylum- seeker who is looking after justice in SWEDEN!

2008-11-04T01:30:00.000+01:00

An asylum-seeker who is looking after justice in Sweden !
(An open letter)

By: Karim Mahmoudi “Taghana”
(File number: 10-315686)

08. October.2008

To those who care about the democracy and human rights.
A copy is sent to:
01. Migrationsöverdomstolen (kammarrattenistockholm@dom.se)
02. Migrationsdomstolen (lansrattenistockholm@dom.se)
03. Migrationsverket (migrationsverket@migrationsverket.se)
04. Migrationsminister Tobias Billström
05. Human rights watch (hrwgva@hrw.org) Geneva
06. Human rights watch (paris@hrw.org) Paris
07. European Court of Human Rights
08. European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ecre@ecre.org)
09. Amnesty International
10. UNHCR (swest@unhcr.org) Stockholm
11. UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency in Geneva )
12. United Nations Human rights (InfoDesk@ohchr.org)
13. International Committee of the Red Cross (webmaster.gva@icrc.org)
14. Svenska Röda Korset (joacim.gustafson@redcross.se ), (info@redcross.se)
15. Asylkommittén i Stockholm (asylkommitten@hotmail.com)
16. STHLMS ASYLBYRÅ (info@asylbyran.se)
17. Aftanbbladet
18. Expressen
19. Dagensnyheter (centralred@dn.se)
20. Svenska Dagbladet (lena.k.samuelsson@svd.se)

etc...

I am an asylum-seeker in Sweden . My name is Karim Mahmoudi. I am a writer and I am well-known as Karim Taghana. Taghana is my nickname and it means alone, having no relatives. I am a political Kurd refugee from Iran .
I was born in 04.01.1973 in Iran in a village called Barkhabaran. Because of my father’s political activities, we (my father, my mother, my sister and I) had to leave Iran in the year 1980 and took refuge to Iraq . In 1982 The Iraqi government settled us with thousands of other Iranian refugees in a Camp which is called AL- Tash.
I was brought up there in Al-Tash camp.
Thousands of Iranian families were in AL-Tash camp. AL-Tash camp was a very well-known place for the Islamic republic of Iran , because many oppositions parties were there having activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran. They had committees inside the camp. For instance, the committee of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), the committee of the Communism party of Iran (Komala), Mojahiddin of Iran Khalgh, the committee of Khabat…
I became familiar with Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in Al-Tash. When I was eighteen, I became a formal member of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and began doing my activities against the Islamic regime of Iran . I have been writing against the regime. I used to publish my writings with my own photo, in those newspapers and magazines which were published in Kurdish language, in Baghdad .
In Al-Tash camp I was registered to UNHCR in the 1995. My file number in UNHCR is 0001830.
In Al-Tash camp, I, with some other friends, could publish a magazine which is called “Rebeen”. I was the responsible of it. The magazine was supported by Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the help of UNHCR in AL-Tash camp. In “Rebeen”, I used to write against that brutal Islamic regime of Iran . I participated in all those political meetings and ceremonies which the committee of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan used to arrange them and which the famous and well-known members of DPIK were participating in them. I can say that I had an effective rule. I wrote plays for the festivals and then helped those who were to play as an actor, in separating the rules.
In 2001 I published a book in Baghdad which I had translated from English into Kurdish the year 1993. It was a story called “The sign of four”.
In Al-Tash camp, I had a school in the near of my home for the people. There I was teaching those who were interested in English and wanted to learn English language. Besides this, I did my political activities.
The Islamic regime of Iran , in Al-Tash camp, has always had undercover agents who were spying.
In 2003 and after that, when the Americans invaded Iraq , in the same time the Iranian spies and agents showed themselves more openly in Al-Tash. Before the war begins, UNHCR left Iraq and the camp. We, in AL-Tash camp, did not know what to do and where to go. Most of the refugees had been registered to UNHCR, but UNHCR went away and forgot the camp.
After that a part of the refugees in AL-Tash camp went to Jordan in order to save themselves, and another part went to north Iraq and there to Turkey , and a number stayed in Al-Tash camp.
A lot of people in AL-Tash camp were killed by the agents of the Islamic regime. Shaho Abbasi (Bawajani) a young member of DPIK were killed brutally, Kaykhusraw was a man who knew English. He was kidnapped and then his body was found dead. Those two persons were my friends and they were killed in 2005, the year in which I was threatened with death in a paper which I got it in our courtyard one morning and then I had to leave the camp and save myself.

In the date 23.07.2005 I arrived in Sweden . After three days I introduced myself to the Migration Board.
In the second of November 2006, the migration board in an unjust decision refused my residence permit. The Migration Board thought that all my activities are not in a high level.
In the date 01.07.2008 I was called to the court (Migrationsdomstolen). In 15.07.2008 the Migrtionsdomstolen, regretfully, did not see the truths either and rejected my complaint. Migrationsdomstolen was also agreed with Migration Board that my activities were not in a high level!
But where are the truths?
Where are the human rights and the human values?
I deem it very necessary to talk openly about my rights in detail. So that everyone will find out where the truth lies.
I have delivered the following documents to the Migration Board and Migrationsdomstolen:
1. A card with my own photo which all the refugees had it and it was given by Iraqi government.
2. The evidences of membership right, which shows that I am a formal member of DPIK.
3. An evidence from UNHCR in AL-Tash camp which shows that I am registered to UNHCR in the year 1995.
4. A certificate from UNHCR and the responsible of AL-Tash camp which shows that I had participated in a course for English, in the camp.
5. Two or three examples of the magazine “Rebeen” which I published in AL-Tash camp.
6. An example of the book “The sign of four” which I had translated and published in Baghdad 2001. (With my photo on it).
7. A lot of articles (with my photos) which I had published against the regime.
8. A lot of pictures with the famous persons and the leaders of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan which shows that I am a famous member.
9. A videocassette which is filmed in the year 1997 and 2001 which I am seen in it and it shows the life of the people in Al-Tash camp.
10. A certificate from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in Paris . They have emphasized that I am an active member of DPIK and I can not be alive in Islamic republic of Iran . (I should say that when I was interviewed in Migration Board in Uppsala , I was told that it had come by Fax and this is not original; I contacted with DPIK and then the original text even was sent by post to the Migration Board.
11. Two certificate from UNHCR in Stockholm .
The first one:
When I was interviewed in the Migration Board in Uppsala in 2006, the decision - maker asked for a certificate from UNHCR in Stockholm . My lawyer and I contacted UN in Stockholm . Karin Davin, a responsible in UNHCR in Stockholm sent a certificate to the Migration Board. There was some wrong in their letter. They have written “Karim Mahmoud”, instead of “Karim Mahmoudi”. And the date of registration was also wrong. But my file number and the name of my mother were correct.
The second one:
After that the Migration Board refused my application, I myself contacted with Karin Davin, the responsible and talked to her several times. I explained every thing and I informed her that there are some wrongs in their letter which can be one of the reasons for the rejection. I asked her warmly to give a copy of all my case to the Migration Board in order that they should know the truths. Karin Davin said to me that she had to get in contact with UNHCR in Amman, the main office. Then after a few months, she called me and she said that she has got enough information from Amman . So she sent just another certificate to my lawyer and after correcting the wrongs, she had also apologized about what had happened.
**
I have been writing for peace, freedom and democracy. I have been writing about those who are being executed daily in the Islamic regime of Iran, I have been writing about hunger, about those women who are being killed daily in that brutal regime, those who have to give themselves in order to obtain some foods just to be alive one day more, writing about those journalists and educated persons who are imprisoned, tortured, being executed every day in front of our eyes, just because they want to say that they were also a people who have also the right to talk.
I have been able to write against the brutal regime of Iran more easily since I have sought refuge in here. Sweden can be a shelter for me.
I always publish my writings with my photos in these sites:
www.khakelewe.com (The site of DPIK)
www.peshmergekan.com (The site of DPIK)
www.renesans.info (the site of the oppositions)
www.giareng.com (The site of DPIK)
www.qelem.com (the council of Iranian writers)
www.klawrojna.com (A site in America )
Etc… …

I myself have two weblogs as well. I publish all my writings and other things on it in two languages, Kurdish and Persian. Those are also two good places for me to fight for democracy and freedom and to write against the Islamic regime of Iran :
www.karimmahmoudi.kurdblogger.com
www.taghana.blogfa.com

**
Let’s have a look at a part of the unjust decision from Migrationsdomstolen:
((Klaganden har emellertid aldrig varit politiskt aktiv i Iran och att hans verksamhet i Irak har bestått i att han undervisat ungdomar och upplyst dem om deras rättigheter samt under pseudonym författat och publicerat regimkritiska skrifter. Han har även anfört att han med stöd av KDPI grundat och publicerat en tidskrift. Migrationsdomstolen anser, i likhet med migrationsverket, att det inte finns stöd för att utgå från att hans verksamhet varit särskilt omfattande eller på en hög nivå. Han har författat olika artiklar där han uttalat sig kritiskt om den iranska regimen men han har aldrig använt sitt riktiga namn. ))

-As I have explained many times, I was seven years old when we had to leave Iran and it is clear that a seven years old can never be a political person. But why did they not ask themselves about the reason of my being in AL-Tash Camp?
I have been an active member of DPIK in Al-Tash camp. I have had political activities in the camp against the Islamic regime of Iran and I have explained it in detail. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan also sent a certificate about me and my membership and emphasized that I will be executed in Iran . I asked Migration Board and Migrationsdomstolen to get in contact with DPIK in order to know the situation and be sure. But NO BODY heard me or saw me because all the ears and eyes were closed!
Before going to the court, my lawyer called me and asked if there is some witness to come to the court and give knowledge about me. I gave him the name of some persons in Sweden who were in AL-Tash camp before. They were ready to go with me to the court but they were not allowed. One of those persons is a close friend to me called Moghadam Khosrawi. Moghadam was in AL-Tash Camp and a friend who was working with me in “Rebeen”, the magazine. Today fortunately he is here in Sweden and has been accepted as a political refugee. This people could talk about me and give more information. A lot of people, who were in AL-Tash camp before, live here now; I asked Migrationsverket and Migrationsdomstolen to ask them and get information but they did not.

-I have been writing against that brutal regime. I have criticized it. I have written against Ahmedinejad, the president. Migrationsdomstolen asked for one of my articles to give it translated. I sent one example which have criticized Ahmedinejad and that situation in Iran . It was translated. But I do not know whether the translation was wrong or Migrationsdomstolen did not read it!

Pseudonym?
My first name is Karim. My family name is Mahmoudi. I write Karim Taghana in my writings. Karim is my first and real name and Taghana means alone, or a person who does not have brother or relatives, in Kurdish. And I am Taghana.
Taghana is also mentioned as a nickname in that card which I have given to the Migration Board but as it is clear no one has paid any attention to it!
But what about all those photos with my articles which I have published in the magazines and newspapers and different sites ??!!
What about the book which I have published with my photo?
And “Rebeen” the magazine?!
Or my membership and activities in Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan ?!
Or what about the certificate from Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan ?!
And what about (www.karimmahmoudi.kurdblogger.com) and (www.taghana.blogfa.com) my weblogs?!
It is very strange and surprise for me when the Migration board or Migrationsdomstolen think that all those activities and fighting for freedom, democracy and life are not in a high level and therefore they think that it is ok for me to be delivered to Iran and be alive there!!

I am sure that today the Islamic regime of Iran is well-known for the world and for Migration Board and Migrationsdomestolen as well. Migration Board and Migrationsdomstolen can also see the situation there. Arresting and killing the journalists and writers in strange and different ways, executions of all the types of the people is clear for the world. The question is that: Why? Have those executed and imprisoned writers and journalists in Iran said such things as I have done here against The Islamic regime of Iran ?! Have they criticized Ahmedinejad, the president and talked about all his crimes as openly as I have done here?!

And death penalty for Blogging in Iran !
“Under a new bill approved by Iran ’s parliament, those convicted of “establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution, and apostasy” will now be eligible to receive the death penalty. The international Freedom of Expression exchange (IFEX), a free speech watchdog, writes that the bill passed on first reading by a vote of 180 to 29, with 10 abstentions. Under Iranian law, the council of Guardians must now examine the bill to determine if it complies with Sharia and the Iranian constitution. If approved within ten days by a majority of the council, the bill will become law.” See www.citmedialaw.org
In recent years, the Islamic regime of Iran has killed a lot of Iranian bloggers and have had their sites filtered.
I gave my two weblogs to Migrationsdomstolen, but no one cared about it!
And the site of (www.khakelewe.com) is filtered in Iran now and a few months ago and before going to the court, it was hacked for a short period by the Islamic regime of Iran and all of my writings were taken in archive. The responsible of the site had explained it for me in a mail; when I gave it to the Migrationsdomstolen and explained about it, the court did not pay any attention to it!
I have the right to ask: where is the JUSTICE?! Who cares about the human rights and my LIFE?! Here in Sweden it seems a little surprise to ask such questions but it is not strange and surprise in my case. I am looking for my rights and that justice which regretfully I have not seen yet.

Migrationsdomstolen says:
((Han har själv uppgett att han aldrig har utsatts för något av iranska myndigheter på grund av sina aktiviteter inom KDPI under de 15 år som han vistats i Irak. Detta trots att det, enligt klagandens uppgifter, fanns personer i AL-Tash som rapporterade om politiska aktiviteter i lägret till iranska myndigheter.))

There were Iranian agents in the Camp and this is clear for all the people who were living in Al-Tash camp. Two of my friends were killed in 2005 and in the same year I was threatened with death in a paper which I got it in our courtyard one morning.
What a surprise! In the court, Migration Board asked me this question:
-Did the Islamic regime of Iran come home to you to kill you with gun in AL-Tash camp?!
I answered: No. But I am threatened with death in a paper. It was a question and I answered a correct reply.
But why should the court understand like this?! Where lie the wrongs?! Who is responsible of this?

Migrationsdomstolen says:
((När det gäller klagandens uppgivna verksamhet i Sverige och de artiklar som publicerats här saknas redovisning i vad mån dessa lett till några reaktioner i hemlandet. Klaganden har i målet inte kunnat visa att myndigheterna i Iran har kännedom om hans politiska aktiviteter. Det finns således ingen anledning till att anta att hemlandets myndigheter skulle ha ett sådant särskilt intresse av honom att han riskerar särskild utsatthet om han återvänder till hemlandet. Vad som framkommit i målet kan, mot bakgrund av den landinformation som kommit fram, således inte läggas till grund för antagandet att han är att betrakta som flykting eller skyddsbehövande i övrigt. Han har därmed inte rätt till uppehållstillstånd, flyktingförklaring och resedokument.))

Then in the end it comes:
((Den omständigheten att han endast har tillbringat de första sju levnadsåren i Iran är visserligen ömmande men inte att betrakta som udda. Vid en sammantagen bedömning av klagandens situation kommer domstolen därför fram till att det inte finns förutsättningar att bevilja uppehållstillstånd enligt 5 kap.6 § UtlL.))

I should reveal this truth that when I read this decision and the way which the court is thinking, I became suspicious of the human rights in Sweden and even began thinking that Migrationsdomstolen is probably working for the Islamic regime of Iran !
In Iran tens and hundreds of people are being executed, imprisoned and tortured daily because of the simplest refraction. Those journalists who are being arrested daily because of a simple act or an article have not been a member of an opposition party like me. And their articles have not made a reaction as the court says.
This brutal regime of Iran is well-known for the world and I do not see it necessary to introduce it now.
This regime is thirsty for my blood because I have been a member of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan for years and I am well- known for the regime as a member of DPIK and a person who have written and said a lot of truths against the regime.

Migrationsdomstolen has made a great mistake about me. I refuse the decision of Migrationsdomstolen and call it UNJUST.
I have the right to stay in Sweden and live in peace, because:
· I have left Iran with the family because of political activity
· I am a political refugee, a member of Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan since I was eighteen
· I have been against the Islamic regime of Iran , I have had political activities and have written and criticized the regime.
· Peace, freedom and democracy have been my dreams and have been fighting for them hardly and that is why I am here today.
· After all these open activities for peace and freedom,
· After all these activities against that bloodsucking regime, I assure every one that I will be executed if I would be delivered to the Islamic regime of Iran . I love this country, Sweden . And of course it is my shelter or it can be a shelter for me as well.

In the end, I inform every one that those who have signed under that unjust decision are responsible of my life.

Waiting for your help.

Karim Mahmoudi (Taghana)
Tel. 073 72 99 289
Adress:
Karim Mahmoudi
Tallvägen 17 C 12
824 35 Söderhamn

2008-10-25T11:31:00.000+02:00

Tidningsförsäljaren

Karim Mahmoudi (Taghana)

Det är en kall och snöig vinterdag.
En tolvårig tidningsförsäljare har några tidningar under sin arm. Han går omkring på det folk fyllda gatorna för att sälja sina tidningar.
”Kayhan! Risalat!, Azadi!* snälla kom och köp dagstidning”, ropar han.
Det är så kallt så om man spottar, fryser spottet till is i luften.
Från alla håll skyndar sig människor fram och tillbaka. De klarar inte av att stanna, ta händerna ur sina jackfickor och köpa en tidning.

Av rädsla för att falla på den isiga gatan går människorna med blicken sänkt utan att notera vad som händer runt omkring dem.

Pojken fortsätter ropa:
”Köp en tidning! Läs senaste nytt! Hör här: fattiga människor ska bli rika!”

Ingen bryr sig om det.

”Igår hittades två missbrukare döda i stadsparken.”

Ingen bryr sig om det.

”En kille och en tjej ska piskas i Kurdistan inför allas ögon!”

Ingen bryr sig om det.

Kylan är så omild att pojkens röst stelnar i lyften och når inte de förbipasserandes öron.

Snöandet har get en intressant vy till tavlan.
Så mycket snö har fallit ner på pojkens huvud och axlar så att han på håll ser ut som en liten gammal man som säljer tidningar.
* Iranska tidningar.