Corporate report

Iran - country of concern update, 30 June 2014

Updated 21 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

There has been no improvement in the human rights situation in Iran between April and June 2014. Significant institutional challenges remain, including for minority religious and ethnic groups, journalists and human rights defenders, prisoners and women.

The number of executions in Iran continues to be an issue of great concern. We believe at least 120 people were executed between 1 April and 30 June 2014, predominantly for drug-related offences. There was, however, notable domestic debate on the death penalty in Iran when, on 15 April, a man convicted of murder was pardoned by the victim’s mother just seconds before the execution was due to take place. This example of compassion struck a chord by illustrating the finality of the death penalty as a punishment; if the pardon had come just a few minutes later, it would have been too late.

Prison conditions in Iran also remain a concern. It was reported in Iranian media that on 17 April a number of political prisoners in ward 350 at Evin Prison were severely beaten by prison guards, intimidated, stripped naked, implicitly threatened with rape, and taken to solitary confinement. Iranian officials have played down the incident, claiming that only a couple of prisoners were slightly injured after they resisted a routine search of the ward. However, sources close to the families of prisoners claim that four prisoners had to be sent to hospital outside of the prison compound after the attack, several more had to be treated in the prison infirmary, and at least 32 were taken to solitary confinement.

Over the past quarter, there has been vibrant internal debate around freedom of expression and the filtering of social media applications such as WhatsApp. In April, it was announced that the filtering of WhatsApp had been approved by the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content. However, in May, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mahmud Va’ezi, said that President Rouhani had issued an order to suspend the blocking of WhatsApp. As of the end of June, WhatsApp has not been filtered in Iran.

President Rouhani spoke about freedom of expression when he opened the 27th Tehran International book fair in April, and urged greater freedom of speech, saying that writers should be “free from any form of restrictions and threat of censure”, adding that “the law and the government should work to support and protect the place and the dignity of authors and cultural creators”.

He also spoke in May about modern communications, social media and satellite TV. He urged access to the internet, saying “We recognise the right of connection with the world wide web as a right of every citizen”. He also called on Iranian youth to “swarm the net with spreading of Iranian-Islamic identity”.

However, there were still significant barriers to freedom of expression in practice. In May, a group of young Iranians were arrested after uploading a video to YouTube of them dancing on Tehran’s rooftops to Pharrell William’s “Happy”. There was international outcry, with Pharell Williams himself tweeting his sadness at their arrest. The individuals were arrested because the video showed men and women dancing together, and the women had uncovered hair. They were released a day later, although the director of the video is still in prison.

The wearing of the hijab has been a notable issue in Iranian internal politics over the past quarter. In May, a Facebook page titled “My Stealthy Freedom” was set up by prominent human rights activist Masih Alinejad, on which women in Iran posted pictures of themselves in public places with uncovered hair. The page became extremely popular with women in Iran, with thousands uploading photos. A few weeks later, it was widely reported in Iran that Masih Alinejad had been attacked and raped in front of her young son on a London street. It was claimed that the attack was a direct result of her not wearing a hijab. Ms Alinejad denied the attack had happened.

There have been a number of high-profile examples of infringement of the rights to freedom of religion or belief over the past quarter. Two Ahwazi Arab farmers and cultural rights activists were executed in June on charges of Moharebeh (“enmity against God”). They were arrested in November 2012, and had reportedly been subjected to severe mistreatment and beatings while in custody. There were also concerns over reports that they were not afforded due process or fair trial standards in accordance with both domestic and international law. In addition, in late April, a Baha’i cemetery was desecrated.