Human Rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Members of Parliament, European Parliament and several State Parliaments have taken on a political sponsorship for political prisoners in Iran. Politicians want to be personally involved in fighting for the release of arbitrarily imprisoned human rights activists, journalists and other political prisoners in Iran.

Mehdi Mahmoudian is a member of the "Union for the Defense of Political Prisoners and Human Rights in Iran." Because he made statements about the falsification of the 2009 presidential election results to foreign media (among other things), he was arrested on September 18, 2009 and sentenced to five years in prison. He is spending his sentence in the infamous Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, which is well-known for its torture and inhumane conditions.

he Iranian regime has once-again made an example of its imprisoned critics. The prison sentences of the prominent student activists Bahareh Hedayat, Mahdieh Golroo and Majid Tavakoli were each increased by six months. The reason was a letter made public under their names upon the International Day of Students on December 7, 2010.

At least eleven political prisoners have been moved to the infamous and completely overfilled "Ghezel Hesar" prison in the city of Karaj. Among them is the well-known student activist and journalist Mohammad Pour Abdollah, who was sentenced to six years in prison.

Political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran are systematically denied urgently needed medical treatment. The ISHR/IGFM is aware of a series of cases in which political prisoners have been denied life-critical medical care or have been treated far too late. Namely, we refer to the story of Hossein Ronaghi Maleki.

In cooperation with the ISHR/IGFM, CDU European Parliament member Michael Gahler has assumed the political sponsorship of the student activist and Iranian prisoner Majid Tavakoli. According to ISHR/IGFM information, Tavakoli received a nine-year prison sentence due to, among others, "propaganda against the regime" and "insulting the Supreme Leader." Gahler praises the young man’s courage in speaking out against the Mullah regime.

In May 2011, the chairman of the Iranian Parliaments Human Rights Committee, Mohammad J. Larijani, declared that they would not refuse a visit from the UN Human Rights Councils rapporteur, specifically the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran. At the same time, however, Larijani did critisize the "imprecision and a lack of pressionalism" in the creation of the UN Human Rights Council’s reports.

There has still been no talk of truly sanctioning the Iran Bank in Hamburg.

By Matthias Küntzel

Houshang Asadi, a political activist against the Shahs regime, was imprisoned for the first time at the beginning of the 1970s. As a supporter of the Islamic Revolution and a cellmate of Ayatollah Khamenei, he initially deemed his imprisonment a mistake, a misunderstanding. But he was wrong. After many years in prison - both under the Shah and, after the revolution, under Khomeini - as well as a death sentence, he wrote the book "Letters to My Torturer" in French exile.

The ISHR/IGFM has recently introduced the App "Think Ink" - "signature collection for the new generation." A digital signature on the screen of an iPhone or iPad results in a rising volume of ink - and little by little, the ink rises up to the Iranian dictator’s neck. In this way, the achievements of a signature campaign are visualized and the participants can directly understand the effect.

Ahmad Zeidabadi began his professional work as a journalist in 1989 for the newspaper Ettela'a. Contributions by him, the former chief editor of the newspaper "Azad", were published in the Tehran daily "Hamshahari", the BBC Persian Service and the Persian-English news website "Rooz." In his articles he has always defended ethnic and religious minority rights without attacking people or making compromises in the struggle for minority rights. His courage and integrity is admired by many of his colleagues, even if they do not hold his same opinions.

On November 23, 2009 he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. He also received a lifetime ban on social and political activities.

Amir Rashidi is one of the activists of the Iranian womens rights and democratic movement. He is an active member of the "One Million Signature Campaign Against Discriminating Laws." His work is focused on equality before the law, secularism and democracy. Additionally, he is publisher and co-founder of the "Free My Family Campaign," which fights for political prisoners and their families in Iran.

Amir Rashidi: "I believe that we have to build pressure on our government as well as continue to educate the people. We need a change of daily pattern and culture - the human rights must become a part of culture."

Nearly every year, the UN general assembly passes a new resolution on severe human rights abuses within the Islamic Republic Iran. The last UN resolution of the general assembly (No. A/RES/64/176), which was passed on March 26, 2010, condemns the Islamic Republic in many cases.  Among others the government is blamed with its behavior surrounding the 2009 presidential elections and its heavy limitations of civil rights.

According to reports, misinformation has been purposely disseminated in order to hide the brutality and arbitrariness of the government. This follows the ever-increasing circulation of reports exposing the wrongdoings of the Iranian government. On February 14, 2011, Saneh Jaleh, a 26-year-old Kurd, was shot dead by government forces during a demonstration. A drama student at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Teheran, he participated in the protest expressing solidarity with people in Tunisia and Egypt.

by Parisa Najafi Tonekaboni

To begin I would like to recall one particular blogger, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki. For 15 months he has been in prison and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Although he has suffered from a kidney disease for months, Iranian authorities have not released him, not even for medical treatment.

That leads to the question: why is the Iranian regime so afraid of bloggers and the internet? ...

The European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (German: Europäisch-Iranische Handelsbank, EIHB), which was founded in 1971 as the German-Iranian Trade Bank AG, continues to thrive in the heart of Hamburg. According to the information of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR/IGFM), the bank is one of the most significant monetary supporters of the Iranian regime.