Iran Focus

London, 5 Sep – The following report by Human Rights Watch is and indicative and an illustration of the methods of retaliation of the ruling system in Iran against student activists who want nothing but their normal civil rights, many talented students are denied higher education only for being active in peaceful demonstrations against the theocratic government:

This time of year in Iran, graduate school applicants learn if they’ve been accepted into the programs they’ve strived for based on their national exam rank. But over the past decade, authorities have been quietly barring student activists from furthering their education, marking their application status with a “star” that indicates their application is “missing documents.”

Iran Focus

London, 3 Sep – Those being targeted include lawyers and activists associated with the campaign against forced wearing of the hijab Today Amnesty International reported in a press release
‘The human rights situation in Iran has reached crisis point’ – Philip Luther
The Iranian authorities have arrested three human rights lawyers and a women’s rights activist over the past four days, part of an escalating crackdown to crush civil society in the country.

Iran Focus

London, 1 Sep – December 2017 through January 2018 saw a mass uprising in Iran that began in the holy city of Mashhad and quickly spread across some 140 cities in the country. Some 30 people were killed in the protests, but officials have still not conducted impartial investigations into their deaths, nor has law enforcement’s excessive use of force to repress protests been addressed.

Demonstrations and protests continue in the country, and since August 2, 2018, authorities have detained more than 50 people during protests in Tehran.

In a statement Human Rights Watch issued on August 31st, the group said that Iranian authorities should drop all charges brought against protesters for peaceful assembly and release those detained on that basis.

Iran Focus

London, 30 August – According to her lawyer and Iranian media, 21-year-old Parisa Rafei, a student of fine arts at the University of Tehran, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for taking part in university protests.

On Monday, it was reported by the reformist newspaper Shargh, that she was convicted of “assembly with the intention of acting against national security, propaganda against the system and disrupting public order.”

In a post on Twitter, her lawyer, Saeed Khalili, described the sentencing as “unfair and unreasonable”. He was also quoted by Shargh as saying, “In my view, none of these charges are logical or a legally sufficient reason to indicate that she has committed a crime.”