Iranian regime escalates repression – new Amnesty International report

A new report by Amnesty International details how Iran’s crackdown on freedom of expression has dramatically escalated in the run-up to this week’s parliamentary elections. It highlights the regime’s targeting of minorities, including long prison sentences and denial of medical care for Kurdish human rights activists.

The report, entitled “We are ordered to crush you”: Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran, details how Kurdish and other minority rights activists “risk numerous human rights violations ranging from arbitrary arrest to the death penalty after unfair trial, as well as restrictions on movement and denial of other civil rights” and cites the following examples:

“Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, a Kurdish human rights defender and member of the OneMillion Signatures Campaign, was held between February and May 2010, including 80 days in solitary confinement. His trial on national security charges began in October 2010 and in February 2011 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which was reduced to four years by an appeals court. In March 2011, he was required to serve the sentence, but fearing for his safety, he fled the country. In 2011, he was a recipient of a Hellman-Hammett award, awarded to human rights activists by Human Rights Watch.

“Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, a 49-year-old Kurdish human rights defender, is serving sentences totalling 10-and-a-half years imposed in May 2008 for ‘acting against state security by establishing an illegal group [the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, HROK]’. He is also facing other charges brought against him while in prison for his writings on women’s rights and other human rights issues. Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand suffers from kidney and prostate conditions, exacerbated by poor prison conditions and lack of adequate medical care, and while in prison has developed heart problems. He is believed to have had one heart attack and two strokes while in prison and to have other serious health conditions, for which he has not received adequate medical attention. Since his imprisonment Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand has lost about 20kg.

“In January 2012, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was taken to hospital outside Evin Prison for medical tests, but his wife Parinaz Baghbani Hassani told Amnesty International that despite the recommendation of doctors that he remain in hospital, he was taken back to Evin prison.

“Sa’id Metinpour, a member of the Azerbaijani minority and advocate for the linguistic and cultural rights of the Azerbaijani minority is also still imprisoned. He is a journalist and amember of the board of editors of the weekly Azerbaijani Turkic publications Yarpagh (Page) and Moj-e Bidari (The Awakened Wave), in addition to writing his own blog.

“Following his arrest in May 2007, Sa’id Metinpour was tortured and later sentenced to an eight-year prison sentence by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran after being convicted of ‘espionage’ and ‘spreading propaganda against the system’. He is detained in Evin Prison. He suffers from severe back pain, but has not been granted temporary leave to see medical care”.