Impunity Watch: Special Features

PRESS RELEASE: IHRDC Condemns Iran's Abuse of Human Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 24, 2009

 

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) condemns the Iranian regime’s abuse of the human rights of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental rights to free expression and association.

 

The Center has investigated and reported on human rights abuses committed by the Iranian government over the course of the last 30 years. These have included reports on the regime’s habit of arresting, torturing and executing Iranian citizens, as well as its brutal suppression of expression. Today, we are watching unfold another chapter of abuse by the regime.

 

Since the announcement that the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejd won the presidential election on June 12, the Iranian government has brutally quelled any expression of dissent. It has attacked demonstrators for exercising their human right of free expression; while the total numbers are unknown, hundreds have been arrested and killed. Hundreds of people have been arrested in their homes and offices. Countless people have simply disappeared.

 

The regime has implemented measures effectively shutting and slowing down electronic communications. Websites have been blocked, the Internet has slowed to a crawl, and cell phones work only intermittently. In short, information out of Iran in scattered and not always reliable. 

 

The perpetrators of these abuses of human rights must be held accountable.  To that end, the Center is documenting the abuses – in writings, photos, videos and interviews of witnesses. It encourages anyone with such evidence to contact the Center. Evidence may also be sent electronically through the Center’s secure encrypted system that can be found on its website, http://www.iranhrdc.org/.

 

IHRDC is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut that was founded in 2004 by a group of human rights scholars, activists, and historians. Its staff of human rights lawyers and researchers produce comprehensive and detailed reports on the human rights situation in Iran since the 1979 revolution. The Center’s goal is to encourage an informed dialogue among scholars and the general public in both Iran and abroad. The human rights reports and an archive of documents are available to the public for research and educational purposes on the Center’s website

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Renee C. Redman, IHRDC Executive Director, (203) 772-2218 Ext. 215

rredman@iranhrdc.org  

New Report from Aegis Trust Details War Crimes Suspects Evading Justice Due to Legal Loopholes

On June 16, 2009, the Aegis Trust published a new report, entitled Suspected War Criminals and Genocidaires in the UK:  Proposals to Strengthen our Laws.  The report describes loopholes in existing UK law that has resulted in war crimes suspects evading justice.

To see the entire report, visit http://www.aegistrust.org/images/PDFs/Suspected%20War%20Criminals%20and%20Genocidaires%20in%20the%20UK.pdf

PRESS RELEASE: Iran's Mistreatment of Women's Rights Activists Must Stop

June 12, 2009

USA, New Haven, CT -

Today is Election Day in Iran. But, it is also the anniversary of what the New York Times called the “first public display of dissent by women since the 1979 revolution.” On June 12, 2005, seventeen days before presidential elections, hundreds of women gathered publicly in Tehran chanting and demanding equality under the Islamic Republic’s laws. The protests were quickly broken up amid allegations of clubbing and police detentions.

Today also marks the third year anniversary of Aliyeh Eghdam Doust’s arrest for her participation in a women’s rights protest in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Other women were also arrested during the protest; however she was the first to have her sentence implemented. She was imprisoned in January 2009.

Arrests of women’s rights activists have escalated this year. In March, twelve women’s rights activists were arrested while meeting for a New Years visit of families of political prisoners. On May 7 and 8, two members of the One Million Signature Campaign—a campaign to end discrimination against women in Iran—were arrested after they investigated an honor killing.

Women continue to face legal and political discrimination in Iran. For example, a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man in court, and women have unequal divorce and inheritance rights. In the 2005 election, like the one taking place today, Iran’s Council of Guardians rejected all the women who applied for candidacy.

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) calls for the release of all women’s rights activists in Iran who have been detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, and implores the Iranian government to repeal laws that discriminate against women.

The IHRDC is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut that was founded in 2004 by a group of human rights scholars, activists, and historians. Its staff of human rights lawyers and researchers produce comprehensive and detailed reports on the human rights situation in Iran since the 1979 revolution. The Center’s goal is to encourage an informed dialogue among scholars and the general public in both Iran and abroad. The human rights reports and an archive of documents are available to the public for research and educational purposes at www.iranhrdc.org.

Contact: Renee C. Redman, IHRDC Executive Director, (203) 772-2218 Ext. 215 rredman@iranhrdc.org