And here's the State Department's latest report on Human Rights in Denmark, er, Iran. A long piece so it wil be in two sections:
Iran
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 8, 2006
The Islamic Republic of Iran,* with a population of approximately 68 million, is a constitutional, theocratic republic in which Shi'a Muslim clergy dominate the key power structures. Article four of the constitution states that "All laws and regulations…shall be based on Islamic principles." Government legitimacy is based on the twin pillars of popular sovereignty (Article Six) and the rule of the Supreme Jurisconsulate (Article Five).
The supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dominated a tricameral division of power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. He is not directly elected but chosen by an elected body of religious leaders. Khamenei directly controlled the armed forces and exercised indirect control over the internal security forces, the judiciary, and other key institutions. Reformist President Mohammad Khatami headed the executive branch until August when conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office. Ahmadinejad won the presidency in June in an election widely viewed as neither free nor fair.
An unelected 12-member council of guardians reviewed all legislation passed by the majles for adherence to Islamic and constitutional principles and also screened presidential and majles candidates for eligibility. Prior to the June presidential elections, the guardian council excluded all but 8 candidates of the 1,014 who registered.
The government's poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. On December 16, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution expressing detailed, serious concern over the country's human rights problems.
In preparation for the June presidential elections, there was intense political struggle between a broad popular movement favoring greater liberalization of human rights and the economy, and hard-line elements within government and society that viewed such reforms as a threat to the Islamic Republic. Reformists and hard-liners within the government engaged in divisive internal debates.
The following human rights problems were reported:
significant restriction of the right of citizens to change their government
summary executions, including of minors
disappearances
torture and severe punishments such as amputations and flogging
violence by vigilante groups with ties to the government
poor prison conditions
arbitrary arrest and detention, including prolonged solitary confinement
lack of judicial independence
lack of fair public trials, including lack of due process and access to counsel
political prisoners and detainees
excessive government violence in Kurdish areas
substantial increase in violence from unknown groups in an Arab region of the country
severe restrictions on civil liberties--speech, press, assembly, association, movement, and privacy
severe restrictions on freedom of religion
official corruption
lack of government transparency
violence and legal and societal discrimination against women, ethnic and religious minorities, and homosexuals
trafficking in persons
incitement to anti-Semitism
severe restriction of workers' rights, including freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively
child labor
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were reports of political killings. The government was responsible for numerous killings during the year, including executions following trials that lacked due process. Exiles and human rights monitors alleged that many of those supposedly executed for criminal offenses, such as narcotics trafficking, actually were political dissidents.
The law criminalized dissent and applied the death penalty to offenses such as apostasy, "attempts against the security of the State, outrage against high-ranking officials, and insults against the memory of Imam Khomeini and against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic."
On April 15, there were violent protests in the ethnically Arab province of Khuzestan (see section 5). The protests followed publication of a letter (denounced as a forgery by the government) that allegedly discussed government policies to reduce the percentage of ethnic Arabs in the province. A government official said clashes with security services resulted in 3 or 4 deaths, but Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported at least 50 deaths.
On June 12, 4 bombs exploded in Khuzestan and 2 in Tehran with as many as 10 killed and approximately 100 injured.
In July and August, demonstrations and strikes in Kurdistan followed the killing of a Kurdish political activist by security forces. According to HRW, security forces killed at least 17 persons during this period.
On August 2, the deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Massoud Moghaddasi, the judge involved in the prosecution of free speech advocates and dissident Akbar Ganji (see section 1.e.), was shot and killed; the Armed Youth of Cherikha-ye Fada'i (the self-sacrificing guerillas) claimed responsibility. Police arrested a suspect, and the government claimed counterrevolutionary groups had hired him. The judiciary spokesman said the same group threatened to kill the Tehran prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi. Later in August, unknown assailants shot and seriously wounded a prominent judge in Tehran involved in anticorruption cases.
In August 2004 Iranian media reported that 16-year-old Ateqeh Rajabi was hanged in public for "acts incompatible with chastity." Rajabi was not believed to be mentally competent and had no access to a lawyer. The supreme court upheld her sentence. An unnamed man arrested with her received 100 lashes and was released.
No action was taken in the 2004 cases in which security forces killed strikers (January) and suppressed post-election demonstrations (February).
In 2003 an Iranian-Canadian photographer, Zahra Kazemi, died in custody after being arrested for taking photographs at Evin prison in Tehran. After initially claiming that she died following a stroke, the government admitted that she died as a result of a blow to the head. In July 2004 a court acquitted an intelligence ministry official accused of her death. In December 2004 the Kazemi family protested the failure of the court to convict anyone and requested a criminal investigation, which led to a May 16 appeals court hearing. After the family protested the judge's decision to close the hearing to the public, the judge ended the session. When it reopened on July 25, the judge banned foreign observers, rejected the appeal, upheld the 2004 judgment that Kazemi's death had been accidental, and ruled that the court was not in a position to reopen the case. The court did not release the hearing's dossier.
On November 23, the judiciary released its verdict on the Kazemi case, confirming that the intelligence agent originally charged was not guilty and expressing that there were "shortcomings in the investigation." The judiciary stated that the case was being transferred to another court for further investigation. The judiciary spokesman said the case was not closed and further examination was needed, including reviewing potential suspects, but indicated no timeframe for the investigation. The Kazemi lawyers charged that someone from the judiciary, not the intelligence ministry, was responsible for her death. At year's end there had been no further action.
The 1998 killings of prominent political activists Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar, writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh, and the disappearance of political activist Pirouz Davani continued to cause controversy over a perceived government cover-up of involvement by senior officials.
In 2001 the Special Representative for Iran of the Commission on Human Rights (UNSR) reported claims that there were more than 80 killings or disappearances over a 10-year period as part of a wider campaign to silence dissent. Members of religious minority groups, including the Baha'is, evangelical Christians, and Sunni clerics, were killed in the years following the revolution, allegedly by government agents or directly at the hands of authorities.
On February 12, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that Ayatollah Khomeini's 1989 religious decree calling for the killing of author Salman Rushdie remained in effect.
b. Disappearance
Little reliable information was available regarding the number of disappearances during the year.
According to Internet press reports, Massoumeh Babapour, a journalist for Tabriz newspapers and activist for Azeri rights, disappeared on October 3. She was found stabbed nine times, but still alive. According to her husband, she had received death threats calling her an atheist and claiming religious authorities passed a death sentence on her. At year's end there was no information regarding the perpetrators.
According to a report during the year, over the past 15 years there have been reports of at least 8 evangelical Christians killed in Iran, and between 15 and 23 reportedly missing or "disappeared."
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The constitution prohibits torture. In April 2004 the judiciary announced a ban on torture, and the majles passed related legislation, approved by the guardian council in May 2004. Nevertheless, there were numerous credible reports that security forces and prison personnel tortured detainees and prisoners.
On December 16, the UN General Assembly adopted a human rights resolution on Iran that expressed, among other points, serious concern at the continuing use of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, such as floggings and amputations, as well as public executions. It also called on the country to uphold the moratorium on executions by stoning and legally abolish the practice.
The penal code includes provisions for the stoning, or lapidation, of women and men convicted of adultery. In 2002 the head of the judiciary announced a moratorium on stoning. There were several subsequent reports of sentences of stoning imposed by judges, including two during the year, but no proof of these sentences being carried out. A woman's rights group claimed "Fatemeh" was sentenced to stoning in May for adultery and murder. On October 15, domestic press reported that "Soghra" was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, as well as given a 15-year prison sentence for complicity in murdering her husband.
In June a court sentenced a man to have his eyes surgically removed for a crime he committed 12 years earlier, when he was 16. The Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) of the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs quoted human rights specialists as saying that while such unusual sentences were occasionally passed by Islamic courts, they were rarely implemented; rather they were used as leverage to set blood money. Nonetheless, in November domestic press reported prison authorities amputated the left foot of a convicted armed robber.
Some prison facilities, including Tehran's Evin prison, were notorious for the cruel and prolonged torture of political opponents of the government. Additionally, in recent years authorities have severely abused and tortured prisoners in a series of "unofficial" secret prisons and detention centers outside the national prison system. Common methods included prolonged solitary confinement with sensory deprivation, beatings, long confinement in contorted positions, kicking detainees with military boots, hanging detainees by the arms and legs, threats of execution if individuals refused to confess, burning with cigarettes, sleep deprivation, and severe and repeated beatings with cables or other instruments on the back and on the soles of the feet. Prisoners also reported beatings about the ears, inducing partial or complete deafness, and punching in the eyes, leading to partial or complete blindness. HRW noted that student activists were physically tortured more than critics within the system. It also noted abuse sometimes occurred in the presence of high-level judges. As reported by a radio broadcast on May 5, Judiciary Head Shahrudi complained about security forces' treatment of some detainees. He said judges must conduct interrogations and confessions without a judge present were inadmissible.
In February 2004 Amnesty International (AI) reported that it had documented evidence of "white torture," a form of sensory deprivation. Amir Abbas Fakhravar (see section 1.e.), a political prisoner, was sent to the "125" detention center, controlled by the revolutionary guards. According to AI his cell had no windows, and the walls and his clothes were white. His meals consisted of white rice on white plates. To use the toilet, he had to put a white piece of paper under the door. He was forbidden to speak, and the guards reportedly wore shoes that muffled sound. The Committee against Torture has found that sensory deprivation amounts to torture.
According to domestic press, in July Abbas Ali Alizadeh, the head of the Tehran judiciary and head of the supervisory and inspection committee to safeguard civil rights, provided Judiciary Chief Shahrudi with a detailed report, as a follow-up to Shahrudi's directive on respect for citizenship rights. This unreleased report was described in detail in the media and outlined abusive human rights practices in prisons, including blindfolding and beating suspects, detainees left in a state of uncertainty, and prolonged investigations. For example, authorities jailed a 13-year-old in the worst detention center for stealing a chicken, jailed a woman in her 80s for financial difficulties, and arrested a woman for drug charges against her husband.
Separately in July according to domestic press, the deputy national police commander for criminal investigation said police would investigate any reports of torture. He said torture was against regulations, but its existence in the criminal investigation departments was undeniable, and that forensic and scientific advances have made torture unnecessary.
In an effort to combat "un-Islamic behavior" and social corruption among the young, the government relied on a "morality" force, referred to merely as "special units" (yegan ha-ye vizhe), to complement the existing morality police, "Enjoining the Good and Prohibiting the Forbidden" (Amr be Ma'ruf va Nahi az Monkar). The new force was to assist in enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict rules of moral behavior. Credible press reports indicated members of this force chased and beat persons in the streets for offenses such as listening to music or, in the case of women, wearing makeup or clothing regarded as insufficiently modest or accompanied by unrelated men (see section 1.f.).
There was no further action in the 2004 case of the person who died in February after receiving 80 lashes, the November death of a 14-year old Kurdish boy after receiving 85 lashes, or punitive amputations in September and October.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions in the country were poor. Many prisoners were held in solitary confinement or denied adequate food or medical care to force confessions. After its 2003 visit, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions reported that "for the first time since its establishment, [the working group] has been confronted with a strategy of widespread use of solitary confinement for its own sake and not for traditional disciplinary purposes." The working group described Sector 209 of Evin prison as a "prison within a prison," designed for the "systematic, large-scale use of absolute solitary confinement, frequently for long periods."
The UNSR reported that much of the prisoner abuse occurred in unofficial detention centers run by unofficial intelligence services and the military. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention raised this issue with the country's Article 90 parliamentary commission during its 2003 visit, generating a commission inquiry that reportedly confirmed the existence of numerous unofficial prisons. In June 2004 HRW documented a number of unofficial prisons and detention centers such as "Prison 59" and "Amaken," an interrogation center where persons are held without charge, questioned intensively for prolonged periods, physically abused, and tortured.
The Tehran province judiciary tasked its branches to address and compile complaints about civil rights violations and reportedly received 143 complaints, including a person jailed since 1989 without a conviction or indication of criminal record. In the unreleased report described in July in domestic press, the judiciary committee, called the supervising and inspection committee for preserving citizens' rights, reported visiting detention centers of the police security and intelligence, criminal and intelligence departments, and army security and intelligence departments to assess condition of detainees, sanitation, visiting procedures, and procedures used to summon and arrest suspects.
In its findings, the committee noted arrests without warrants. It said the IRGC intelligence department detention center would not allow the committee to enter its facility. The report also called for an investigation of suicides by female inmates in Rajai'i Shahr prison. The committee report stated every military camp or intelligence or security department had its own detention center, which defied the judiciary head's directive. Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) facilities operated without the required oversight of the Prisons Organization. Serious problems were found in a wide range of detention centers, jails, drug control centers, and prisons, including Section 209 at Evin prison and the Tehran revolutionary court.
The committee reported that contrary to instructions from the judiciary head on size of a detention area, the committee found that some suspects had been held for eight or nine months in much smaller spaces. The report noted torture and solitary confinement in detention centers and claimed it had taken steps to resolve the issue. The report stated that confessions obtained under duress were legally invalid. The committee also called for investigations into possible violations committed against arrested and detained girls and women.
Alizadeh claimed the problems cited in the report were resolved, at the order of the judiciary, and the culprits were presented to authorities. Government spokesman Ramezanzadeh praised the report and said the defense and information ministries were expected to turn over names of those responsible for torture to the judiciary. However, at year's end there was no indication that anyone had been held responsible for the abuses cited in the report.
In July the secretary general of the administration of justice of Tehran said in interview that, following investigation into prison conditions and corrective actions, every prison had an average of 12 square meters, and all detention centers were now under the supervision of the organization of prisons.
Separately, the judiciary spokesman called the committee's report a complete falsehood. Among his charges he said the report's claim that there were unlawful detention centers administered contrary to prison regulations and in which defendants are blindfolded and beaten was untrue.
Shahrudi asked the judiciary to investigate reports of abuse of Internet writers, arrested in a crackdown in 2004 (see section 1.e.). The judiciary's report also was not released, and although it was acknowledged that some were abused, there was no information that anyone was held accountable.
In July 2004 the UK-based International Center for Prison Studies reported that 133,658 prisoners occupied facilities constructed to hold a maximum of 65 thousand persons.
On February 9, HRW warned that the confinement of the country's political prisoners with violent criminals endangered their lives. On January 25, six prisoners in Rajai'i Shahr prison started a hunger strike to protest their confinement with dangerous criminals who assaulted and intimidated them. According to an Internet source, inmates raped and killed a 17-year-old male in a Shiraz prison on November 19. He had been convicted of a minor crime, sent to the juvenile section of the prison, but then transferred to a cell that included convicted adult murderers (see section 1.e.).
In May Judiciary Chief Shahrudi directed that convicts imprisoned for lesser offenses and gravely ill prisoners should be given leave for three months; the directive's implementation was unknown.
The government generally has granted prison access only to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); however, it permitted visits to imprisoned dissidents by UN human rights officials during 2003 (see section 4). UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention officials visited Evin prison in Tehran--including sector 209, in which many political prisoners were believed held--as well as other prisons and police stations. The working group interviewed approximately 140 "ordinary" prisoners plus 14 out of a requested 45 inmates described as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. It described the authorities' cooperation as "on the whole positive," although it noted problems with government response to follow-up requests generated by the visit and disappointment over arrests after the group's departure.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, these practices remained common.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
Several agencies share responsibility for law enforcement and maintaining order, including the ministry of intelligence and security, the law enforcement forces under the interior ministry, and the IRGC. A paramilitary volunteer force known as the basiji and various informal groups known as the Ansar-e Hizballah (Helpers of the Party of God) aligned with extreme conservative members of the leadership and acted as vigilantes. The size of the Basij is disputed, with officials citing anywhere from 11 to 20 million, and a recent Western study claiming there were 90 thousand active members and up to 300 thousand reservists. Civilian authorities did not maintain fully effective control of the security forces. The regular and paramilitary security forces both committed numerous, serious human rights abuses. According to HRW since 2000 the government's use of plainclothes security agents to intimidate political critics became more institutionalized. They were increasingly armed, violent, and well equipped, and they engaged in assault, theft, and illegal seizures and detentions.
Arrest and Detention
In practice there is no legal time limit for incommunicado detention nor any judicial means to determine the legality of detention. In the period immediately following detention or arrest, many detainees were held incommunicado and denied access to lawyers and family members.
Security forces often did not inform family members of a prisoner's welfare and location. Authorities often denied visits by family members and legal counsel. Prisoners released on bail did not always know how long their property would be retained or when their trials would be held. According to the July report on prisons, approximately 1,400 persons were held in Rajai'i Shahr prison without being convicted. In addition families of executed prisoners did not always receive notification of their deaths. On occasion the government forced family members to pay to retrieve the body of their relative (see section 1.a.).
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution regarding the country's human rights expressed serious concern at the use of arbitrary arrest, targeted at both individuals and their family members. Also in July 2004, police arrested Simin Mohammadi and her father Mohammad Mohammadi, sister and father respectively of jailed student activists Manuchehr and Akbar Mohammadi, reportedly for "acts against state security." Police released Simin after posting bail following two weeks' imprisonment in solitary confinement; her father also was released on bail after having a heart attack in solitary confinement.
In 2003 the government released Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, formerly the designated successor of the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, amid reports of health problems after five years of house arrest. In recent years the government has used house arrest to restrict the movements and ability to communicate of senior Shi'a religious leaders whose views regarding political and governance issues were at variance with the ruling orthodoxy; however, there was no information on this practice during the year.
Numerous publishers, editors, and journalists (including those working on Internet sites) were detained, jailed, tortured, and fined, or they were prohibited from publishing their writings during the year (see section 1.e. and 2.a.).
Adherents of the Baha'i Faith continued to face arbitrary arrest and detention (see section 2.c.).
In September Judiciary Head Shahrudi issued new sentencing guidelines under which minor offenders would be fined and receive punishments other than imprisonment. This change was reportedly due in part to prison overcrowding. It is not known whether this change was implemented. According to HRW most prisoners were eligible for release after serving half of their sentences.
Amnesty
According to domestic press, in April the supreme leader granted amnesty or commuted the sentences of 3,631 prisoners; in May several prisoners sentenced by military courts; in September 7,780 prisoners; and in November 2,185 prisoners. These amnesties marked Muslim and national holidays.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution provides that the judiciary is "an independent power"; however, in practice the court system was subject to government and religious influence. After the 1979 revolution, the judicial system was revised to conform to an Islamic canon based on the Koran, Sunna, and other Islamic sources. The constitution provides that the head of the judiciary shall be a cleric chosen by the supreme leader. The head of the supreme court and prosecutor general also must be clerics. Women are barred from serving as certain types of judges.
There are several court systems. The two most active are the traditional courts, which adjudicate civil and criminal offenses, and the Islamic revolutionary courts. The latter try offenses viewed as potentially threatening to the Islamic Republic, including threats to internal or external security, narcotics and economic crimes, and official corruption. A special clerical court examines alleged transgressions within the clerical establishment, and a military court investigates crimes committed in connection with military or security duties. A press court hears complaints against publishers, editors, and writers in the media. The supreme court has limited review authority.
HRW noted in a 2004 report that the judiciary was at the core of suppressing political dissent and that, in practice, it violated due process rights at every level, including the right to be promptly charged; have access to legal counsel; be tried before a competent, independent, and impartial court in a public hearing; and have right of appeal. Detainees were often not clear of their legal status. Numerous observers considered Tehran Public Prosecutor Mortazavi the most notorious persecutor of political dissidents and critics.
According to the civil code, persons under 18 years of age may be prosecuted for crimes as adults, without special procedures, and may be imprisoned with adults. The age of criminal responsibility is set at 15 years for males and 9 years for females. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the country is obligated not to execute persons for crimes committed when they were younger than 18.
In January government officials told the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that for many years there had been a moratorium in place on the death penalty for minors under 18. The same day, however, a man was executed for a crime committed when he was 17, and credible reports corroborated such action. AI cited a domestic press report that at least 30 minors sentenced to death were detained in juvenile detention centers in Tehran and Rajai'i Shahr. It was widely reported in the press that 2 teenage boys were hanged in public on July 19 in Mashhad, charged with raping a 13-year-old boy. Their ages differed in press reports, but apparently at least one was a minor at the time of the offense. In this case, some international observers claimed the two were executed for homosexual behavior; however, it was not possible to verify this allegation (see section 5).
In October 2004 20 local human rights groups called on the judiciary not to sentence minors to death. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called for a demonstration, but the authorities denied the request. During the year the UNGA adopted a resolution denouncing the country's practice of executing minors, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the country to suspend execution of juvenile offenders.
Trial Procedures
Many aspects of the prerevolutionary judicial system survived in the civil and criminal courts. For example, defendants have the right to a public trial, may choose their own lawyer, and have the right of appeal. Panels of judges adjudicate trials. There is no jury system in the civil and criminal courts. If postrevolutionary statutes did not address a situation, the government advised judges to give precedence to their own knowledge and interpretation of Islamic law. Trials are supposed to be open to the public; however, frequently they are held in closed sessions without access to a lawyer; the right to appeal often is not honored.
UN representatives, including the UNSR, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and independent human rights organizations noted the absence of procedural safeguards in criminal trials. The UNGA resolution on the country's human rights expressed serious concern at "the persistent failure to comply fully with international standards in the administration of justice…."
Trials in the revolutionary courts were notorious for their disregard of international standards of fairness. Revolutionary court judges were chosen in part based on their ideological commitment to the system. Pretrial detention often was prolonged, and defendants lacked access to attorneys. Charges were often undefined such as "anti-revolutionary behavior," "moral corruption," and "siding with global arrogance." Defendants did not have the right to confront their accusers. Secret or summary trials of five minutes' duration occurred. Others were show trials intended to publicize a coerced confession.
The legitimacy of the special clerical court system continued to be subject to debate. The clerical courts, which investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics and which are overseen directly by the supreme leader, are not provided by the constitution and operated outside the domain of the judiciary. In particular critics alleged the clerical courts were used to prosecute clerics for expressing controversial ideas and participating in activities outside the sphere of religion, such as journalism. The recommendations of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention included a call to abolish both the special clerical courts and the revolutionary courts.
In its 2003 report, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted failures of due process in the court system caused by the absence of a "culture of counsel" and the previous concentration of authority in the hands of a judge who prosecuted, investigated, and decided cases. The working group welcomed the 2002 reinstatement of prosecution services, after a 7-year suspension, but noted that this reform had been applied unevenly, with the judge still having major investigative responsibilities in many jurisdictions.
On January 27, authorities released Afsaneh Noroozi from prison after being pardoned for a murder that she and police and forensic experts claimed was in self-defense. Police arrested her in 1997 for killing a senior security and intelligence officer. She claimed she killed him in self-defense after he attempted to rape her. According to AI, police tortured and threatened Noroozi and her husband, eliciting false confessions. In a 2000 trial, she was given the death penalty. Her 2004 retrial was also held behind closed doors but supervised by the judiciary. The court did not change the ruling, but it announced on January 11 that the family had agreed to forgo the death penalty in exchange for blood money. Upon her release the judiciary repeated its rejection of Noroozi's self-defense claim.
In December 2004 a Tehran justice department official alleged that the government tried and sentenced fugitive al-Qa'ida members detained in the country. The government did not identify those convicted, the verdicts, or their sentences and provided no further information during the year.
Political Prisoners
Then President Khatami stated in April 2004 that, "absolutely, we do have political prisoners and people who are in prison for their beliefs." No accurate estimates were available regarding the number of citizens imprisoned for their political beliefs. In 2003 the UNSR for the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion estimated the number to be in the hundreds. Although there were few details, the government has reportedly arrested, convicted, and executed persons on questionable criminal charges, including drug trafficking, when their actual "offenses" were political. The government has charged members of religious minorities with crimes such as "confronting the regime" and apostasy and conducted trials in these cases in the same manner as threats to national security. Political prisoners occasionally were given suspended sentences or released for short or extended furloughs prior to completion of their sentences, but could be ordered to prison at any time. Political activists were also controlled by having a file placed in the courts that could be opened at any time.
On September 6, the spokesman for the justice ministry, Jamal Karimi-Rad, said the judiciary was ready to present parliament with a bill to define political offenses. The guardian council earlier rejected a similar bill passed by the previous parliament. At year's end there had been no action.
In a September 4 open letter, a local prisoners' rights group, the Association in Defense of Prisoner's Rights, appealed on the basis of human rights to Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Shahrudi for progress in cases of political prisoners. On September 18, Sharq newspaper reported that Shahrudi ordered these cases investigated.
On September 26, Shahrudi directed leaves of absence to all imprisoned students, regardless of their crimes, and asked the government to provide a list of their names. By October 25, no students had been released and the spokesman of the Student Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners said problems faced by student and other prisoners were worsening. In November Justice Minister Karimi-Rad said that 18 names of proreform students arrested during previous years' protests had been provided, and the judiciary would ask the supreme leader to pardon them. At year's end it did not appear that any further action had been taken.
There were reports that some persons have been held in prison for years and charged with sympathizing with outlawed groups, such as the domestic terrorist organization, the MEK.
Akbar Ganji, a former IRGC leader turned political activist and journalist, has been imprisoned since 2000 in connection with his reports linking the government with the "serial murders" of 80 dissidents in the country and abroad. He was sentenced in 2001 to six years in prison on charges including acting against national security and spreading propaganda. In May he received a furlough for medical treatment but was returned to Evin prison in June. He went on a 70-day hunger strike to protest his detention, transferred to a hospital on July 17, and ended his strike in mid-August. On September 3, he was discharged from the hospital and returned to prison. At year's end he was held in a high security section of Evin prison, known as "Alef 2" controlled by the IRGC.
In July the head of the judiciary reportedly said Ganji could be pardoned if eligible; Tehran Judiciary Chief Alizadeh subsequently said he would not be released until the end of his sentence. The UN, European Union (EU), and numerous countries have called for Ganji's release. Ganji's wife said in an open letter in late October that she believed her husband was being beaten, had been moved to solitary confinement, and was not receiving medical care. In November HRW reported Ganji said judiciary officials tortured him to try to make him renounce his writings.
In 2004 the government said it detained several citizens accused of transferring nuclear secrets to Western states. The suspects were tried, but the verdict remained secret. On July 30, while acting as an attorney for the accused, Abdol Fattah Soltani also was accused of espionage. Soltani's lawyer, human rights specialist Mohammad Dadkhah, and HRW claimed the reason for his arrest was his work in the investigation into the death of Zahra Kazemi. Despite calls for his release from almost 200 members of the national bar association, he remained in jail at year's end; his bail was set at $800 thousand (700 million toman).
Naser Zarafshan, an attorney who represented families of the victims of the 1998 extrajudicial killings of dissidents by intelligence ministry officials, was sentenced in 2002 to five years in prison for charges including disseminating state secrets. In 2003 the supreme court reportedly dismissed his appeal. According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) PenCanada, in September 2004 a group of prisoners in collusion with prison authorities attempted to kill Zarafshan. On June 8 and 10, prodemocracy activists and Zarafshan's family demonstrated at Evin prison, calling for his release. On July 9, his attorney, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ebadi, announced he had received a furlough for medical treatment; however, at year's end he remained in Evin prison.
Police arrested journalist Siamak Pourzand in 2001 and tried him in March 2002 behind closed doors. He was denied free access to a lawyer of his choice and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for "undermining state security through his links with monarchists and counterrevolutionaries." He was kept in solitary confinement for months and physically and psychologically tortured to force him to make a televised confession. He was reportedly urged to implicate others, refused, was released but then returned a month later to Evin prison. In March 2004 Pourzand suffered a heart attack that left him in a coma. After repeated hospitalizations and reimprisonment, Pourzand was furloughed again in 2004 but kept under house arrest, not allowed to leave the country, and could be returned to prison at any time. His wife, Mehrangiz Kar, a human rights defender residing outside the country who face charges in connection with her participation in a 2000 conference in Berlin, was formerly a political prisoner.
In February the special court for the clergy sentenced Mojtaba Lotfi, a cleric who wrote social and political commentary on his Web site, to 3 years and 10 months in prison. He was released on August 28.
Afshin Zarei, an Internet writer arrested at the beginning of the year, was charged with insulting the supreme leader. According to press accounts by his lawyer in August, Zarei had been held in "temporary detention" for eight months. At year's end no further information was available.
On February 2, Internet writer and journalist Arash Sigarchi received a sentence of 14 years in prison for charges including espionage, aiding "hostile" governments, and insulting the country's leaders. On March 17, he was released pending appeal, after posting $127 thousand (100 million tomans) bail. In August he was summoned again to court and charged with insulting religious and political leaders and having a satellite dish, but was out of prison at year's end.
On February 6, according to domestic media, Hojatoleslam Hassan Yussefi-Eshkevari was released from jail. The cleric was arrested in August 2000 and sentenced to four years for saying that dress codes for women are unnecessary in Islam, one year for participating in the 2000 conference in Berlin about reform in the country, and two years for disseminating allegedly false information.
Mojtaba Saminejad, an Internet writer, was arrested on February 13 and sentenced to more than two years in prison on charges including insulting the supreme leader. He was first detained in October 2004 after reporting the arrest of other Internet writers and, according to HRW, tortured and held for 88 days in solitary confinement. On January 27, he was released on $62,500 (50 million toman) bail. He started another Internet site but was detained again, and his bail tripled, which he could not pay. His trial in May was held behind closed doors; he was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting Khomeini and the supreme leader and charged with apostasy. He was later acquitted of apostasy but remained in Rajai'i Shahr prison.
In April two Kurdish journalists, Ejlal Qavami and Said Saedi, had a hearing in the revolutionary court on charges including undermining national security by calling for an election boycott, insulting the leadership, and portraying the system as ineffective. Between July 28 and August 2, authorities detained both again, along with two Kurdish human rights activists, Roya Tolui and Madeh Ahmadi. In October the public prosecutor in Sanandaj accused Qavami, Saedi, and Tolui of acting against national security and referred their cases to the revolutionary court. At year's end Ahmadi, Tolui, and Qavami were released on bail; Saedi's situation was unknown.
On July 25, police arrested journalist Massoud Bastani for covering a demonstration to support political prisoner Akbar Ganji. Bastani was held in Evin Prison, released August 6, then reimprisoned and sent to Arak prison, normally used for nonpolitical prisoners. He was released for a month but returned to prison on November 5. In December the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists called for Bastani's release and said he was in poor health.
On September 26, at the same time of Judiciary Chief Shahrudi's directive to give leave to all student prisons, the revolutionary court sentenced Ali Afshari, a student leader, to six years in prison and five years deprivation of his civil rights for acting against national security. This ruling came approximately six weeks after Afshari's public call for Akbar Ganji's release. After posting $250 thousand (200 million tomans) bail, Afshari was allowed to travel outside the country while appealing his sentence. In November student activist Akbar Atri was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison for his activities. In December student leader Abdullah Momeni was given a five-year suspended prison sentence.
Former Deputy Prime Minister and longtime political dissident Abbas Amir-Entezam has been imprisoned for 26 years and reportedly tortured. He has been on leave from prison for more than two years for medical reasons but could be forced to return to prison at any time. He was first released in 2002 but reimprisoned in 2003 for calling for a referendum on whether the country should remain under clerical rule.
Author and journalist Taqi Rahmani has spent 17 years in prison since 1981 for his writings. In 2003 Tehran's chief prosecutor, Mortazavi ordered the arrest of Rahmani and two journalist colleagues, Hoda Saber and Reza Alijani. After a long detention without charges, all three were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. In November 2004 Alijani, Saber, and Rahmani were released on bail of approximately $63 thousand (50 million tomans) each. At year's end they remained furloughed.
Abbas Deldar, arrested after the July 1999 student demonstrations in Tehran, has been in prison seven years. He has been periodically furloughed, but at year's end he was in Rajai'i Shahr prison.
Mehrdad Lohrasbi was also arrested in the 1999 student demonstrations. The revolutionary court condemned him to death, but his sentence was later reduced to 15 years, 10 of which were suspended. He was released in 2004 for several months but then returned to jail. He is believed to have been tortured. As of year's end, he remained in Rajai'i Shahr prison and reportedly was in poor health.
Manuchehr and Akbar Mohammadi were also arrested during the July 1999 student demonstrations and sentenced to 15 years prison after appeal. At year's end both were on furlough. Ahmad Batebi received a death sentence for "endangering national security" by participating in the 1999 student demonstrations, later reduced to 10 years by an appeals court in 2000. Batebi was temporarily released in 2004, in advance of the fourth round of talks on human rights with the EU. Subsequently, he was returned to prison and then furloughed again early in the year.
Journalist Amir Abbas Fakhravar was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2002, reportedly because of his comments on the country's political leadership in the book, This Place Is Not a Ditch. In February 2003 he and Ahmad Batebi wrote an open letter criticizing the government and calling for a referendum. He was summoned to court, beaten, and transferred to Evin prison, from which he received periodic furloughs, most recently on June 10 (see section 1.c.)
In 2003 police arrested freelance journalist Ensafali Hedayat at the University of Tabriz while he was covering student demonstrations; he was accused of inciting students to revolt. In January 2004 he was arrested after attending a conference abroad organized by a group advocating a democratic, secular state. In May 2004 the Tabriz appeals court confirmed an 18-month prison sentence against him. He subsequently left the country.
Amir Saran, a member of the "National Unity Front," has been in and out of prison since 2003, after being severely beaten during Students Day 2002. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, a decision upheld by the appeals court. At year's end he was in Rajai'i Shahr prison.
In 2003 Hussein Qazian and Abbas Abdi (a revolutionary leader in 1979 who later became a reformist) were sentenced to nine years --later reduced--in the National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls case. In 2002 judicial authorities closed the institute, which had found in a poll commissioned by the majles that a majority of citizens supported dialogue with the United States. Among other offenses, the defendants were charged with spying for a foreign power, although government intelligence officials and then President Khatami publicly stated they were not spies. The supreme court dismissed espionage charges against Abdi in May; at year's end Qazian was released on temporary furlough.
Arjang Davoudi, a teacher, engineer, and poet, was arrested in 2003 for assisting a Canadian reporter making a documentary about Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi. During the year he was condemned by a revolutionary court to either 14 or 15 years in jail (varied by source), exile to a harsh climate, 5 years' suspension of his civil rights, and 70 lashes; reportedly he was beaten and kept in solitary confinement for approximately 100 days. Davoudi wrote a book from prison about interrogations, torture, and extended solitary confinement and had his manuscript privately delivered to a publishing company. According to one report, the information ministry attacked the publishing house, intercepted the manuscript, severely injured the employees, and arrested and imprisoned the publisher.
In April 2004 Peyman Piran, a student activist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for acting against national security, contacting foreigners, disturbing public opinion, and behaving insultingly(see section 1.d.). In July 2004 security forces forcibly evicted his father, retired teacher Mostafa Piran, and his family. Mostafa Piran had reportedly tried to organize a teachers' strike to mark the anniversary of the July 1999 student demonstrations, in defiance of a ban. He was reportedly beaten and held in solitary confinement. Mostafa was released on March 19, but Peyman remained in Evin prison.
Behruz Javid-Tehrani, a member of the Democratic Party of Iran, was first arrested in 1999 and spent four years in prison. He was then rearrested in July 2004 and condemned to 7 years in prison and 54 lashes. In August it was reported that he was held in solitary confinement for three months and had told relatives that he was severely beaten.
Bina Darabzand, held at Rajai'i Shahr prison, was arrested June 2004 while demonstrating at the UN building in Tehran for the release of political prisons. He was imprisoned, and at year's end he reportedly had medical problems. In December 2004 student leader Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, jailed since June 2003, was sentenced by the revolutionary court to 16 years in prison. He was temporarily furloughed August 24, but at year's end he was in Evin prison.
Mohsen Sazgara, IRGC founder, turned activist and publisher of now suspended reformist dailies Jameh, Neshat, and Tous, was sentenced on appeal in March 2004 to a year in prison. A week before his release, he was charged with "undermining national security," "insulting the supreme guide," and "antigovernment propaganda" but left the country for medical treatment. On October 2, the revolutionary court sentenced him in his absence to five years in prison. Currently living in a foreign country, Sazgara helped organize an Internet-based referendum for citizens to choose their political system.
In November 2004 local press reported that after an early October trial, a Tehran revolutionary court sentenced former foreign minister Ebrahim Yazdi, leader of the banned Freedom Movement opposition party, to an unspecified but long imprisonment, based on charges of actions against national security, insulting the supreme leader, and other charges. At year's end he was not in prison, but his court case remained pending. He registered as a presidential candidate in the elections this year but was rejected by the guardians council.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution states that "reputation, life, property, (and) dwelling(s)" are protected from trespass except as "provided by law"; however, the government infringed on these rights. Security forces monitored the social activities of citizens, entered homes and offices, monitored telephone conversations, and opened mail without court authorization. There were widespread reports that the homes and offices of reformist journalists were entered, searched, or ransacked by government agents in an attempt to intimidate.
Vigilante violence included attacking young persons considered too "un-Islamic" in their dress or activities, invading private homes, abusing unmarried couples, and disrupting concerts. At year's end there was no systematic campaign, although greater enforcement was reported on university campuses.
Authorities entered homes to remove television satellite dishes, although the vast majority of satellite dishes in individual homes continued to operate. Early in 2004, Western media reported that Islamist militia confiscated approximately 40 thousand satellite dishes from 4 factories secretly manufacturing satellite equipment in eastern Tehran.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The constitution provides for freedom of expression and the press, within limits. Article 23 of the constitution states "investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief." Article 24 of the constitution states "publications and the press have freedom of expression except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public…." At the same time, penal code states that "anyone who undertakes any form of propaganda (undefined) against the state" can be imprisoned up to a year. The press law forbids censorship but also forbids disseminating information that may damage the Islamic Republic or offend its leaders and religious authorities. It also subjects writers to prosecution for instigating crimes against the state or insulting (not defined) Islam, which in the case of the latter, can be punished by death.
In practice the government severely restricted freedom of speech and of the press. Harassment of journalists increased after President Ahmadinejad assumed office in August. The December UNGA resolution on the human rights in the country expressed, among other abuses, serious concern at the continuing harassment, intimidation, and persecution of human rights defenders, nongovernmental organizations, clerics, journalists and Internet writers, parliamentarians, students and academics. It cited unjustified closure of newspapers and blocking of Internet sites.
The government continued to harass senior Shi'a religious and political leaders and their followers who dissented from the ruling conservative establishment. In May 2004 the special court for the clergy in Qom arrested Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Lotfi, an aide to Ayatollah Montazeri, for publishing a book that detailed the ayatollah's five years under house arrest. The court confiscated all copies of the book (see section 1.e.).
Members of parliament who spoke out against arrests of journalists and students were summoned to court. These included Elaheh Kula'i, former member of the majles and deputy secretary general of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, who was summoned on July 24 and charged with engaging in propaganda against the system and acting against national security but was not sentenced.
In the spring of 2001, security forces arrested then majles deputy Fatima Haqiqatju for inciting public opinion, insulting the judiciary by criticizing the arrest of a female journalist, and claiming that the government tortured prisoners. She was the first sitting majles member to face prosecution for statements made when protected by parliamentary immunity. Haqiqatju was sentenced to 17 months in prison but released from custody. In June 2004 the public prosecutor summoned her to court and charged her with "propaganda against the system," and "insulting the council of guardians, the judiciary, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." She was released on bail but forbidden to leave the country. In November 2004 Haqiqatju was summoned to court on a complaint by the public prosecutor about her 2003 majles resignation speech and faced similar charges. During the year there was no further juridical action, and she was allowed to travel outside the country.
There were reports of bans on election material (see section 3). Two reformist political groups, the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization and the Islamic Iran Participation Front reported in June that an election-related brochure was banned on the excuse that it insulted a candidate. The interior ministry criticized state television in April for lack of impartiality in the elections and accused it of providing publicity for some of the conservative candidates (see section 3).
After the 1997 election of President Khatami, the independent press, especially newspapers and magazines, played an increasingly important role in providing a forum for an intense debate regarding reform in the society. However, the press law prohibited the publishing of a broad and ill-defined category of subjects, including material "insulting Islam." Self-censorship, rather than formal governmental censorship, was practiced. Basic legal safeguards for freedom of expression did not exist, and since approximately 2000, the independent press has been subjected to arbitrary enforcement measures by elements of the government, notably the judiciary. During this period approximately 100 newspapers and magazines have been closed for varying periods.
Early in the year, judiciary officials made statements that suggested reduced repression for journalists. On February 28, Tehran Justice Department Chief Alizadeh said that new judiciary guidelines mandated that, in the first instance, a reporter should be cautioned, and if that were not sufficient, he or the managing editor should be summoned. On March 9, Judiciary Head Shahrudi stated that judiciary departments were asked not to close newspapers--as far as possible--and to pursue cases against individuals rather than publications. Reportedly, he said "the press can be a strong factor in preventing corruption among officials." No formal directive was issued; however, on the same day, a court lifted a ban on Neshat, a reformist daily closed six years earlier.
Nevertheless, freedom of the press continued to deteriorate during the year, and journalists were frequently threatened and sometimes killed because of their work. The government closed a number of reformist newspapers and magazines and sentenced many of their managers to jail and, sometimes, lashings. A handful of proreform newspapers continued to publish, most with heavy self-censorship, but new reformist newspapers no longer opened to replace those closed. As of July 1, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that there were 12 journalists and cyberdissidents in prison in the country (see section 1.e.).
According to the Tehran-based Association for Advocating Freedom of Press, state pressure on journalists increased since Ahmadinejad became president in August. In October according to foreign press, a so-called Islamic Army in Iran circulated a list of 210 dissident journalists that it wanted to eliminate, calling them enemies of Islam. In an August statement printed in local press, Ansar-e Hizballah decried "hypocritical journalism" and stated that government hesitance in ripping out these "weeds" does not absolve Hizballah from doing their duty.
In November RSF accused ministry of intelligence officials of harassing journalists, claiming government officials recently had summoned at least 10 journalists for questioning and advised them not to criticize the new president or write articles on sensitive issues like the nuclear program. In November the culture minister was quoted as saying that newspapers that attacked the country's religious values would be under stricter surveillance but that, for the time being, members of the press would receive warnings and not be arrested.
HRW asserted, "By attacking a small percentage of those critical of the government, Iranian authorities have been able to silence a much larger body of journalists, activists, and students."
The press law established the press supervisory board, which is responsible for issuing press licenses and examining complaints filed against publications or individual journalists, editors, or publishers. In certain cases the board may refer complaints to the press court for further action, including closure. Its hearings were conducted in public with a jury composed of clerics, government officials, and editors of government-controlled newspapers. On September 20, domestic media reported that the Association of Young Journalists protested the composition of the press jury as too limited in representation.
In the last few years, some human rights groups asserted that the increasingly conservative press court assumed responsibility for cases before press supervisory board consideration, often resulting in harsher judgments. Efforts to amend the press laws have not succeeded, although in 2003, parliament passed a law limiting the duration of temporary press to stop the practice of extending "temporary" bans indefinitely.
The press law allows government entities to act as complainants against newspapers, and often public officials lodged criminal complaints against reformist newspapers that led to their closures. Offending writers were subjected to lawsuits and fines.
Among those prosecuted or threatened were journalists writing about ethnic issues. On April 25, police arrested Yusuf Azizi Banitaraf, a reformist Iranian-Arab journalist, during a press conference at the Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Tehran. Formerly with the daily newspaper Hamshari, Banitaraf wrote extensively on ethnic minorities, defended protestors, and condemned the violence after ethnic clashes on April 15 in Khuzestan between security forces and the Arab community. On June 28, he was released on bail of $25 thousand (20 million toman) (see sections 1.a. and 5).
On March 8, the Islamic culture and guidance ministry closed the proreform magazine Jameh-yi No and closed the monthly Karnameh on April 7 for publishing "immoral" news and poems.
On April 18, the government closed the Tehran bureau of Al-Jazeera after its correspondent reported on the clashes in Khuzestan and concurrently banned journalist travel to the region.
On June 20, the Tehran prosecutor's office banned the newspapers Eqbal, Aftab-e Yazd, Etemaad, and Hayat No after they published a letter to the supreme leader from presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who finished third in the first round of the presidential elections on June 17. Karroubi accused military organizations of breaking the law by supporting Ahmadinejad. All newspapers except Eqbal were allowed to resume publication on June 21; the editor of Eqbal was told the newspaper faced other complaints (see section 3).
In August authorities sentenced Mohammad Sedigh Kabovand, editor of the weekly newspaper Payam-i Mardom-i Kurdistan, to 18 months in prison. According to RSF, Kabovand's lawyer, Abdolfattah Soltani, was not present, as Soltani was also in prison (see section 1.e.).
On October 16, the publishers of three magazines were tried in open court, with a jury selected by the judiciary, culture ministry, and Tehran city council. One was accused of publishing photographs of attractive celebrities to attract readers, thereby undermining Islamic values. Another was charged with spreading lies about the risk of AIDS in a local prison. At year's end there was no further information.
The government increased control over the Internet as more citizens accessed it for news and political debate. HRW cited an online February 2004 "census" ranking Farsi the third-most-popular language for Internet Web sites (many of these were written from outside the country). An 2004 poll found many citizens trusted the Internet more than other news media. During the year approximately 6.2 million citizens used the Internet, and there were 683 Internet Service Providers.
In 2003 a government spokesman acknowledged state attempts to block access to "immoral" Internet sites. The judiciary also announced the creation of a special unit to handle Internet-related issues. According to press reporting, the judiciary highlighted over 20 subject areas to be blocked, including: insulting Islam; insulting the supreme leader or making false accusations about officials; undermining national unity and solidarity; and propagating prostitution and drugs.
Beginning in 2004 the government launched a major crackdown on sites based in the country, including "weblogs," reportedly blocking hundreds of Internet sites. According to HRW, since September 2004 Tehran's Chief Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, reportedly ordered more than 20 Internet journalists and civil society activists arrested and held in a secret detention center in Tehran.
In December 2004 in a public letter to President Mohammed Khatami, Rajabali Mazrui, the father of one of those detained as well as president of the Association of Iranian Journalists and a former majles member, implicated the judiciary in the torture and secret detention of these individuals. His son, Hanif Mazrui, a computer technician for the banned newspaper Vaghayeh Etefaghieh, was arrested in September 2004. He was freed on November 11 after paying bail of approximately $19 thousand (15 million tomans).
In December 2004 four "weblog" detainees were presented at a televised "press conference" arranged by Judge Mortazavi and denied mistreatment. However, widespread and credible reports indicated that while in secret detention, threats, torture, and physical abuse were employed to obtain false confessions and letters of repentance (see section 1.e.). After release some detainees testified to a presidential commission. Commission member and former presidential advisor Mohammad Ali Abtahi later wrote in his Internet site that they claimed they were beaten, held in solitary confinement, denied access to lawyers, and forced to make false confessions. On January 2, Abtahi reported that the government blocked access to his Internet site.
On January 11, Judiciary Head Shahrudi and other judiciary officials met with several Internet writers about their claims of mistreatment. On January 16, domestic media reported that Shahrudi instructed the public prosecutor's office to transfer the case to a special committee from the judiciary. The report on the treatment of the Internet writers was never publicly released (see section 1.c.). By year's end most were released on bail. After their release, RSF reported that authorities summoned the bloggers for questioning several times a week, and they received threats from government officials.
On October 18, RSF accused the government of increasing control, surveillance, and censorship of the Internet. A study published by HRW listed Internet sites in the country blocked in mid-October. These sites included women's rights Web sites, several foreign based Farsi-language news sites, some popular Internet writer sites, the Freedom Movement Party Web site, a Web site promoting the views of Ayatollah Montazeri, some Kurdish Web sites, Web sites dedicated to political prisoners, and a Baha'i Web site. In October government authorities blocked access to the Baztab news Web site. The Web site manager said they received a judicial order saying the temporary ban was based on a complaint related to the nuclear issue. During November and December, three other Internet sites dealing with news and political issues were blocked. On December 13, 13 majles deputies protested Internet censorship in a letter to President Ahmadinejad and urged him to end the ban on these three sites.
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