{{hatnote|This article provides a very general overview of human rights in Iran. For more detailed information specifically referring to the pre-revolutionary state, see [[Human rights in the Imperial State of Iran]]. For specific information about the post-1979 state, see [[Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran]].}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}}

{{Politics of Iran}}

The state of '''human rights in Iran''' has been criticized both by [[Iran]]ians and international [[human right]] activists, writers, and NGOs since long before the formation of the current state of [[Iran]]. The United Nations [[UN General Assembly|General Assembly]] and the [[UN Human Rights Commission|Human Rights Commission]]<ref name=rejects>[http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/10/201110205193213355.html Iran rejects UN report on 'rights abuses'] aljazeera.net 20 October 2011</ref> have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions. The [[Politics of Iran|government of Iran]] is criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, and for actions that do not, such as the torture, rape, and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians.<ref>Ehsan Zarrokh (,Ehsan and Gaeini, M. Rahman). "Iranian Legal System and Human Rights Protection" The Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World e-journal, New York law school 3.2 (2009).</ref>

While the monarchy under the rule of the shahs had a generally abysmal human rights record according to most Western watchdog organizations, the new state of Iran does not have a positive reputation either, with its human rights record under the administration of President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] considered to have "deteriorated markedly," according to [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref name="ICHRIescalates">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2008/09/irancrackdown/ |title=Rights Crisis Escalates Faces and Cases from Ahmadinejad’s Crackdown, September 20, 2008 |publisher=Iranhumanrights.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Following the [[2009 Iranian election protests|2009 election protests]] there were reports of killing of demonstrators, the torture, rape and killing of detained protesters,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSDAH93169320090819 |title=Iran reformer says he wants to present rape evidence, Aug 19, 2009 |publisher=Reuters.com |date=2009-08-19 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref><ref name="NYTWorth">[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/world/middleeast/29iran.html?_r=1 Reports of Prison Abuse and Deaths Anger Iranians. ROBERT F. WORTH. July 28, 2009 ]</ref> and the arrest and publicized mass trials of dozens of prominent opposition figures in which defendants "read confessions that bore every sign of being coerced."<ref>{{cite web|author=Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director |url=http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/21/iran-appoint-special-un-envoy-investigate-rights-crisis |title=Iran: Appoint Special UN Envoy to Investigate Rights Crisis |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2009-09-21 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref><ref name=detained>{{cite news|author1=Robert F. Worth|author2=Nazila Fathi|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/middleeast/15iran.html?hp|title=Opposition Members Detained in a Tense Iran|publisher=The New York Times|date=14 June 2009|accessdate=14 June 2009}}</ref><ref name=times-arrests>{{Cite book | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6495691.ece | title=Iran reformists arrested after Tehran riots | publisher=[[Times Online]] | date=14 June 2009 | accessdate=2009-06-16 | location=London}}</ref> In October 2012 the United Nations human rights office stated Iranian authorities had engaged in a “severe clampdown” on journalists and human rights advocates.<ref name=severe-NYT>{{Cite book | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/middleeast/iran-engaged-in-severe-clampdown-on-critics-un-says.html| title=Iran Engaged in ‘Severe Clampdown’ on Critics, U.N. Says| publisher=[[nytimes.com]] | date=2 October 2012 | accessdate=2012-10-02 | location=New York}}</ref>

Restrictions and punishments in the Islamic Republic of Iran which violate international human rights norms include harsh penalties for crimes, punishment of "[[victimless crimes]]" such as [[fornication]] and homosexuality, execution of offenders under 18 years of age, restrictions on [[freedom of speech]] and [[Freedom of the press|the press]] (including the imprisonment of journalists), and restrictions on [[freedom of religion]] and gender equality in the [[Constitution of Iran|Islamic Republic's Constitution]] (especially attacks on members of the [[Persecution of Bahá'ís|Bahá'í]] religion). Reported abuses falling outside of the laws of the Islamic Republic that have been condemned include the [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners|execution of thousands of political prisoners]] in 1988, and the widespread use of torture to extract repudiations by prisoners of their cause and comrades on video for propaganda purposes.<ref name="TortAbrah">Abrahamian, Ervand, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=_mnrYNIVfCgC&dq=tortured+confessions+ervand+abrahamian&pg=PP1&ots=npYYcU-_Ae&sig=IouKxlCqAN3OD-r5Quo2AmEb9Kg&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Tortured+confessions,+Ervand+Abrahamian&btnG=Google+Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA2,M1 Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran]'', University of California Press, 1999, p.4</ref> Also condemned has been firebombings of newspaper offices and attacks on political protesters by "quasi-official organs of repression," particularly "[[Hezbollah of Iran|Hezbollahi]]," and the [[Chain murders of Iran|murder of dozens of government opponents]] in the 1990s, allegedly by "rogue elements" of the government.

Officials of the Islamic Republic have responded to criticism by stating that Iran has "the best human rights record" in the Muslim world;<ref>[http://tehrantimes.com/politics/95920-iran-has-the-most-successful-human-rights-record-in-muslim-world-salehi Iran has best human rights record in the Muslim world] quoting [[Ali Akbar Salehi]]| [[Tehran Times]]| 28 February 2012| accessed 29 February 2012</ref> that it is not obliged to follow "the West's interpretation" of human rights;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-22/0805157506142314.htm |title=Islamic world urged to stand against Western-style human rights Tehran, May 15, IRNA |publisher=.irna.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> and that the Islamic Republic is a victim of "biased propaganda of enemies" which is "part of a greater plan against the [[Darussalam|world of Islam]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-203/0804105767142324.htm |title=Human rights fully respected in Iran: Judiciary chief Tehran, April 10, IRNA |publisher=.irna.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> According to Iranian officials, those who human rights activists say are peaceful political activists being denied due process rights are actually guilty of offenses against the national security of the country,<ref name="hrw">{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/01/08/iran17692.htm |title=Iran: End Widespread Crackdown on Civil Society |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2008-01-07 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> and those [[2009-2010 Iranian election protests|protesters]] claiming Ahmadinejad stole the 2009 election are actually part of a foreign-backed plot to topple Iran's leaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081600274.html?hpid=sec-world |title=Testimony in Iran Trial Ties Mousavi to Unrest. Thomas Erdbrink. Washington Post. August 17, 2009 |publisher=Washingtonpost.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

== Background ==

The [[Imperial State of Iran]], the government of Iran during the [[Pahlavi dynasty]], lasted from 1925 to 1979. During that time two monarchs — [[Reza Shah Pahlavi]] and his son [[Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi]] — employed [[secret police]], [[torture]], and [[executions]] to stifle political dissent.

The Pahlavi dynasty has sometimes been described as a "royal dictatorship".<ref>[https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=Pahlavi+royal+dictatorship&btnG=&surl=1 Google search, Pahlavi royal dictatorship]</ref> or "one man rule".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=jRZ227eqm4sC&pg=PA15&dq=Pahlavi+dynasty+%22ours+is+a+one+man+system%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=v-mCUdHoIueEygHA8IDYCg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Pahlavi%20dynasty%20%22ours%20is%20a%20one%20man%20system%22&f=false Pahlavi Dynasty: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam] By (ed.) Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Jafar Elmi, Hassan Taromi-Rad, p.15</ref>

According to one history of the use of torture by the state in Iran, abuse of prisoners varied at times during the Pahlavi reign.<ref>Ervand Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran'', (University of California), 1999</ref>

===Reza Shah===

[[File:Antoin Sevruguin 48 12 SI.jpg|thumb|100px|right|[[Reza Shah]], founder of the Pahlavi dynasty]]

The reign of Reza Shah was authoritarian and dictatorial at a time when authoritarian governments and dictatorships were common in the region and the world and the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] was some years away.<ref>''The Age of the Dictators: A Study of the European Dictatorships, 1918-53'', D. G. Williamson</ref> Freedom of the press, workers' rights, and political freedoms were restricted under Reza Shah. Independent newspapers were closed down, political parties—even the loyal Revival party were banned. The government banned all trade unions in 1927, and arrested 150 labor organizers between 1927 and 1932.<ref>Ervand Abrahamian, ''Iran Between Two Revolutions'', (Princeton University Press), 1982, p.138</ref>

Physical force was used against some kinds of prisoners — common criminals, suspected spies, and those accused of plotting regicide. Burglars in particular were subjected to the [[Foot whipping|bastinado]] (beating the soles of the feet), and the [[strappado]] (suspended in the air by means of a rope tied around the victims arms) to "reveal their hidden loot". Suspected spies and assassins were "beaten, deprived of sleep, and subjected to the qapani" (the binding of arms tightly behind the back) which sometimes caused a joint to crack. But for political prisoners — who were primarily [[Communists#Marxist Communism|Communists]] — there was a "conspicuous absence of torture" under Reza Shah's rule.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions,'' 1999, p.39</ref> The main form of pressure was solitary confinement and the withholding of "books, newspapers, visitors, food packages, and proper medical care". While often threatened with the qapani, political prisoners "were rarely subjected to it." <ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions,'' 1999, p.41</ref>

===Mohammad Reza Shah===

[[File:Shah of iran.png|thumb|100px|right|[[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]], second shah of the Pahlavi dynasty]]

[[File:Mossadeghmohammad.jpg|thumb|100px|right|[[Mohammad Mosaddegh]], Iranian democracy advocate and deposed [[Prime Minister of Iran|PM]] in Pahlavi dynasty.]]

Mohammad Reza became monarch after his father was deposed by Soviets and Americans in 1941. Political prisoners (mostly Communists) were released by the occupying powers, and the shah (crown prince at the time) no longer had control of the parliament.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=qh_QotrY7RkC&pg=PA186&dq=%22Gone+were+the+days+when+the+shah+could+arrange+the+return+of+his+faithful+deputies%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rWuFUYezEuKFywH0s4H4Dg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Gone%20were%20the%20days%20when%20the%20shah%20could%20arrange%20the%20return%20of%20his%20faithful%20deputies%22&f=false Iran between two revolutions] By Ervand Abrahamian, p.186</ref> But after an attempted assassination of the Shah in 1949, he was able to declare martial law, imprison communists and other opponents, and restrict criticism of the royal family in the press.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=qmVUg_qHr2AC&pg=PA150&dq=crack+down+on+religious+militants,+communists,+and+other+opponents&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QlaAUbbQDsK6yQH3voHICg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=crack%20down%20on%20religious%20militants%2C%20communists%2C%20and%20other%20opponents&f=false The History of Iran] By Elton L. Daniel, 2012</ref>

Following the pro-Shah coup d'état that overthrew the Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]] in 1953, the Shah again cracked down on his opponents, and political freedom waned. He outlawed Mosaddegh's political group the [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]], and arrested most of its leaders.<ref name="ReferenceA">Iran in Revolution: The Opposition Forces by E Abrahamian – MERIP Reports</ref> Over 4000 political activists of the Tudeh party were arrested,<ref name="Abrahamian, Ervand 1999, p.89">Abrahamian, Ervand, ''Tortured Confessions'', (University of California), 1999, p.89-90</ref> (including 477 in the armed forces), forty were executed, another 14 died under torture and over 200 were sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Iran in Revolution: The Opposition Forces'' by E Abrahamian – MERIP Reports</ref><ref name="Abrahamian, 1999, p.92">{{cite book|last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_mnrYNIVfCgC&pg=PA92 |title=Tortured Confessions |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |page=92|isbn=978-0-520-21866-6| accessdate=18 March 2011 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>

<ref name="Abrahamian, 1999, p.84">{{cite book|last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |url=http://books.google.com/?id=_mnrYNIVfCgC&pg=PA84 |title=Tortured Confessions |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |page=84|isbn=978-0-520-21866-6| accessdate=18 March 2011 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>

===1971-1977===

In 1971 a guerrilla attack a [[gendarmerie]] post (where three police were killed and two guerrillas freed, known as the "[[Siahkal incident]]") sparked "an intense guerrilla struggle" against the government, and harsh government countermeasures.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=-QJgbEeoLfEC&pg=PA102&dq=torture+Siahkal&hl=en&sa=X&ei=M52BUf3MNaK1ywHdnIDwAg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=torture%20Siahkal&f=false Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions''], p.101</ref> [[Leftist guerrilla groups of Iran|Guerrillas]] embracing "[[Guerrilla warfare|armed struggle]]" to overthrow the Shah, and inspired by international Third World anti-imperialist revolutionaries ([[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], and [[Che Guevara]]), were quite active in the first half of the 1970s <ref>Kurzman, Charles, ''The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran'', Harvard University Press, 2004, p.145-6</ref><ref>In the two and half years from mid 1973 through 1975, three United States colonels, a Iranian general, sergeant, and a Persian translator of the United States Embassy were all assassinated by guerrilla groups (source: Fischer, Michael M.J., ''Iran, From Religious Dispute to Revolution'', Harvard University Press, 1980 p.128</ref> when hundreds of them died in clashes with government forces and dozens of Iranians were executed.<ref name="Abrahamian, 1999 p.135-6">Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' (1999), p.135-6, 167, 169</ref> According to [[Amnesty International]], the Shah carried out at least 300 political executions.<ref>''Washington Post'', March 23, 1980.</ref>

Torture was used to locate arms caches, safe houses and accomplices of the guerrillas, in addition to its possible ability to persuade enemies of the state to become supporters, instead.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', 1999 p.114</ref>

In 1975 the human rights group [[Amnesty International]] — whose membership and international influence grew greatly during the 1970s<ref>Amnesty International's membership increased from 15,000 in 1969 to 200,000 by 1979.

*{{cite book|title=Amnesty International Report 1968-69|publisher=Amnesty International|year=1969}}

*{{cite book|title=Amnesty International Report 1979|publisher=Amnesty International|year=1980}}</ref> — issued a report on treatment of political prisoners in Iran that was "extensively covered in the European and American Press".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=H20Xt157iYUC&pg=PA286&dq=%22amnesty+international%22+shah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TM6LUZz-K6KyyAHEs4B4&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22amnesty%20international%22%20shah&f=false The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7], edited by W. William Bayne Fisher, P. Avery, G. R. G. Hambly, C. Melville], p.286</ref> By 1976, this repression was softened considerably thanks to publicity and scrutiny by "numerous international organizations and foreign newspapers" as well as the newly elected President of the [[United States]], [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', p. 119.</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=JJEIQbUnGyYC&pg=PA224&dq=human+right+under+the+shah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=E3CFUdfXHOKbygHP14HICw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=human%20right%20under%20the%20shah&f=false Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movements of Iran ...]

By Houchang E Chehabi, p.225</ref>

===Islamic Revolution===

During the [[Iranian Revolution|1978-79 overthrow]] of the Pahlavi government, protestors were fired upon by troops and prisoners were executed. The real and imaginary human rights violations contributed directly to the Shah's demise,<ref>A Persian-speaking British diplomat noted that the gulf between shah and public was now unbridgeable - both because of Black Friday and because of the Abadan fire. (source: D. Harney, ''The Priest and the King: An Eyewitness Account of the Iranian Revolution'', (London: Turis, 1999), p.25)</ref> (although some have argued so did his scruples in not violating human rights more as urged by his generals<ref>see [[Casualties of the Iranian Revolution#Explanation]]</ref>).

The 1977 deaths of the popular and influential modernist Islamist leader [[Ali Shariati]] and the Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]]'s son Mostafa were believed to be assassinations perpetrated by SAVAK by many Iranians.<ref>Moin, ''Khomeini'', (2000), pp. 184–5.</ref><ref name = "Taheri 1985 182-3">Taheri, ''The Spirit of Allah'', (1985), pp. 182–3.</ref> On September 8, 1978, ([[Black Friday (1978)|Black Friday]]) troops fired on religious demonstrators in Zhaleh (or Jaleh) Square. The clerical leadership announced that "thousands have been massacred by Zionist troops" (i.e. rumored Israel troops aiding the Shah),<ref name="Taheri, 1985 p. 223">Taheri, ''The Spirit of Allah'', (1985), p. 223.</ref> [[Michel Foucault]] reported 4000 had been killed,<ref name="E. Baqi, p.160-1">E. Baqi, `Figures for the Dead in the Revolution`, ''Emruz'', 30 July 2003 (quoted in ''A History of Modern Iran'', p.160-1)</ref> and another European journalist reported that the military left behind a `carnage`.<ref>J. Gueyras, `Liberalization is the Main Casualty,` ''The Guardian'', 17 September 1978</ref>

The revolutionary government's official figure for the total killed by the Shah's forces during his overthrow is 60,000.<ref>Ashraf and A. Banuazizi, `The state, Classes and Modes of Mobilization in the Iranian Revolution,` ''State, Culture and Society'', Vol. I, No. 3, (Spring 1985), p.23</ref>

==Post-revolution==

The Islamic revolution is thought to have a significantly worse human rights record than the Pahlavi Dynasty it overthrew. According to political historian [[Ervand Abrahamian]], “whereas less than 100 [[political prisoner]]s had been executed between 1971 and 1979, more than 7900 were executed between 1981 and 1985. ... the prison system was centralized and drastically expanded ... Prison life was drastically worse under the Islamic Republic than under the Pahlavis. One who survived both writes that four months under [warden] [[Asadollah Lajevardi|Ladjevardi]] took the toll of four years under [[SAVAK]].<ref>source: Anonymous "Prison and Imprisonment", ''Mojahed'', 174–256 (20 October 1983-8 August 1985)</ref> In the prison literature of the Pahlavi era, the recurring words had been ‘boredom’ and ‘monotony’. In that of the Islamic Republic, they were ‘fear’, ‘death’, ‘terror’, ‘horror’, and most frequent of all ‘nightmare’ (‘kabos’).”<ref name="Abrahamian, 1999 p.135-6">Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' (1999), p.135-6, 167, 169</ref>

However, the vast majority of killings of political prisoners occurred in the first decade of the Islamic Republic, after which violent repression lessened.<ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/64606/akbar-ganji/the-latter-day-sultan "The Latter-Day Sultan, Power and Politics in Iran"] By Akbar Ganji

From ''Foreign Affairs'', November/December 2008</ref> With the rise of the Iranian reform movement and the election of moderate Iranian president [[Mohammad Khatami]] in 1997 numerous moves were made to modify the Iranian civil and penal codes in order to improve the human rights situation. The predominantly reformist parliament drafted several bills allowing increased freedom of speech, gender equality, and the banning of torture. These were all dismissed or significantly watered down by the [[Guardian Council]] and leading conservative figures in the Iranian government at the time.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}

According to ''The Economist'' magazine,

<blockquote>The [[Iranian reform movement|Tehran spring]] of ten years ago has now given way to a bleak political winter. The new government continues to close down newspapers, silence dissenting voices and ban or censor books and websites. The peaceful demonstrations and protests of the [[Khatami]] era are no longer tolerated: in January 2007 security forces attacked striking bus drivers in [[Tehran]] and arrested hundreds of them. In March police beat hundreds of men and women who had assembled to commemorate [[International Women's Day]].<ref>"Men of principle", ''The Economist''. London: Jul 21, 2007. Vol. 384, Iss. 8538; pg. 5</ref></blockquote>

=== International criticism===

Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, human rights violations of religious minorities have been the subject of resolutions and decisions by the United Nations and its human rights bodies, the [[Council of Europe]], [[European Parliament]] and [[United States Congress]].<ref name="affolter">{{cite journal | first = Friedrich W. | last = Affolter | title = The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran | journal = War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 59–89|year = 2005| url = http://www.aa.psu.edu/journals/war-crimes/articles/V1/v1n1a3.pdf}}{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

According to [[Minority Rights Group International|The Minority Rights Group]], in 1985 Iran became "the fourth country ever in the history of the United Nations" to be placed on the agenda of the General Assembly because of "the severity and the extent of this human rights record".<ref>{{cite book | first = R. | last = Cooper | title = The Bahá'ís of Iran: The Minority Rights Group Report 51 | publisher = The Minority Rights Group LTD | location = London, UK | year = 1995}}</ref>

From 1984 to 2001, [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] (UNCHR) passed resolutions about human rights violations against Iran's religious minorities especially the Bahá'ís.<ref name="affolter"/> The UNCHR did not pass such a resolution in 2002, when the government of Iran extended an invitation to the UN "Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression" to visit the country and investigate complaints. However, according to the organization [[Human Rights Watch]], when these officials did visit the country, found human rights conditions wanting and issued reports critical of the Islamic government, not only did the government not implement their recommendations", it retaliated "against witnesses who testified to the experts."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/iran9803.htm |title=Human Rights Overview 2005 |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2004-12-31 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

In 2003 the resolutions began again with [[Canada]] sponsoring a resolution criticizing Iran's "confirmed instances of torture, stoning as a method of execution and punishment such as flogging and amputations," following the death of an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, [[Zahra Kazemi]], in an Iranian prison.<ref name=cbcnov07>[http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/11/20/iran-canada.html?ref=rss Canadian-sponsored human rights resolution against Iran passes] from the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/un-assembly-chides-iran-on-human-rights/66828/ |title=U.N. Assembly Chides Iran on Human Rights By BENNY AVNI, Staff Reporter of the Sun &#124; November 21, 2007 |publisher=Nysun.com |date=2007-11-21 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> The resolution has passed in the [[UN General Assembly]] every year since.<ref name=cbcnov07/>

The [[European Union]] has also criticized the Islamic Republic's human rights record, expressing concern in 2005, 2007<ref>[http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_7805_en.htm European Parliament reviews progress on human rights in the world in 2007]{{dead link|date=September 2013}}</ref> and on 6 October 2008 presenting a message to Iran's ambassador in Paris expressing concern over the worsening human rights situation in Iran.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/08/europe/EU-France-EU-Iran.php EU chides Iran on human rights ] 8.10.2008</ref> On 13 October 2005, the [[European Parliament]] voted to adopt a resolution condemning the Islamic government's disregard of the human rights of its citizens. Later that year, Iran's government announced it would suspend dialogue with the European Union concerning human rights in Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/iran14703.htm |title=Iran, events of 2006 |publisher=Hrw.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> On 9 February 2010, the European Union and United States issued a joint statement condemning "continuing human rights violations" in Iran.<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/02/obama-european-union-combine-to-condemn-iran-over-human-rights/1 Obama, European Union combine to condemn Iran over human rights], usa today 8 February 2010</ref>

===Relative openness===

One observation made by non-governmental sources of the state of human rights in the Islamic Republic is that it is not so severe that the Iranian public is afraid to criticize its government publicly to strangers. In [[Syria]] "taxi driver[s] rarely talk politics; the Iranian[s] will talk of nothing else."<ref>Molavi, Afshin, ''The Soul of Iran'', Norton, (2005), p.296</ref>

A theory of why human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic are not as severe as Syria, Afghanistan (under [[the Taliban]]), or Iraq (under [[Saddam Hussein]]) comes from the American journalist [[Elaine Sciolino]] who speculated that <blockquote>[[Shiite]] Islam thrives on debate and discussion ... So freedom of thought and expression is essential to the system, at least within the top circles of religious leadership. And if the [[mullah]]s can behave that way among themselves in places like the holy city of [[Qom]], how can the rest of a modern-day society be told it cannot think and explore the world of experience for itself?<ref>Sciolino, Elaine, ''Persian Mirrors : the Elusive Face of Iran'', Free Press, 2000, 2005, p.247</ref></blockquote>

====Perspective of the Islamic Republic====

Iranian officials have not always agreed on the state of human rights in Iran. In April 2004, reformist president [[Mohammad Khatami]] stated "we certainly have political prisoners [in Iran] and ... people who are in prison for their ideas." Two days later, however, he was contradicted by Judiciary chief Ayatollah [[Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi]], saying "we have no political prisoners in Iran" because Iranian law does not mention such offenses, ... "The world may consider certain cases, by their nature, political crimes, but because we do not have a law in this regard, these are considered ordinary offenses."<ref>{{cite web|author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2004/16-030504.htm |title=Iran Report, A Weekly Review of Developments in and Pertaining to Iran, 3 May 2004 |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=2004-05-03 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Iran's president President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other government officials have compared Iran's human rights record favorably to other countries, particularly countries that have criticized Iran's record.<ref name="Mottaki">[http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=164534 Tehran Times. Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki has criticized discrimination against Muslim minorities in Western countries. March 6, 2008]</ref> In a 2008 speech, he replied to a question about human rights by stating that Iran has fewer prisoners than America and that "the human rights situation in Iran is relatively a good one, when compared ... with some European countries and the United States."<ref name="democracynow.org">[http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/25/iranian_president_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_on_the Democracy Now interview. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the Threat of US Attack and International Criticism of Iran’s Human Rights Record, September 25, 2008]</ref>

In a 2007 speech to the United Nations, he commented on human rights only to say "certain powers" (unnamed) were guilty of violating it, "setting up secret prisons, abducting persons, trials and secret punishments without any regard to due process, .... "<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/25/un.iran/index.html#cnnSTCVideo cnn.com, Iran's leader slams 'arrogant' powers in U.N. address, September 25, 2007 ] This was seen as "a veiled but unmistakable criticism of the United States" [[Extraordinary rendition by the United States|extraordinary rendition]] and domestic surveillance under the [[USA PATRIOT Act]]:</ref> Islamic Republic officials have also attacked Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights.<ref name="Mottaki"/>

== Constitutional and legal foundations==

===Explanations for violations===

Among the explanations for violations of human rights in the Islamic Republic are:

====Theological differences====

The legal and governing principles upon which the Islamic Republic of Iran is based differ in some respects from the principles of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]].

{{Further|Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam}}

* Sharia law, as interpreted in the Islamic Republic (and by many Muslims), calls for inequality of rights between genders, religions, sexual orientation, as well as for other internationally criticized practices such as stoning as a method of execution.<ref>[http://www.strasbourgconference.org/papers/Refah%20Revisited-%20Strasbourg's%20Construction%20of%20Islam.pdf Refah Revisited: Strasbourg's Construction of Islam], by Christian Moe, Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, published at the site of [[The Strasbourg Conference]]</ref> In 1984, Iran's representative to the United Nations, Sai Rajaie-Khorassani, declared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be representing a "secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims and did not "accord with the system of values recognized by the Islamic Republic of Iran" which would "therefore not hesitate to violate its provisions."<ref>United Nations General Assembly. 39th Session. Third Committee. 65th meeting, held on 7 December 1984 at 3&nbsp;pm New York. A/C.3/39/SR.65. quoted by Luiza Maria Gontowska, ''[http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=honorscollege_theses Human Rights Violations Under the Sharia'a, A Comparative Study of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran],'' May 2005, p.4</ref>

* According to scholar Ervand Abrahamian, in the eyes of Iranian officials, "the survival of the Islamic Republic – and therefore of Islam itself – justified the means used," and trumped any right of the individual.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions", 1999, p.137</ref> In a [[fatwa]] issued by [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] in early 1988, he declared Iran's Islamic government "a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God" and "among the primary ordinances of Islam," having "precedence over all secondary ordinances such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage."<ref>Hamid Algar, `Development of the Concept of velayat-i faqih since the Islamic Revolution in Iran,` paper presented at London Conference on ''wilayat al-faqih'', in June 1988 [p.135-8]</ref><ref>Also ''Ressalat'', Tehran, 7 January 1988,

[http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/khomeini_promises_kept.html#Laws_in_Islam Khomeini on how Laws in Iran will strictly adhere to God's perfect and unchanging divine law]</ref>

=== Rights under the constitution===

The [[Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran|Iranian fundamental law]] or constitution calls for equal rights among races, ethnic groups (article 19).<ref name="Leclerc ULaval">{{fr icon}} [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/asie/iran.htm L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde], Jacques Leclerc, ''CIRAL (Centre international de recherche en aménagement linguistique)'', [[Université Laval]]</ref> It calls for gender equality (article 20), and protection of the rights of women (article 21); freedom of expression (article 23); freedom of press and communication (article 24) and freedom of association (article 27). Three recognized religious minorities "are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies."<ref>Iranian constitution Article 13 "Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are the only recognized religious minorities, who, within the limits of the law, are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education."</ref>

However, along with these guarantees the constitution includes what one scholar calls "ominous [[Catch-22 (logic)|Catch-22s]]", such as “All laws and regulations must conform to the principles of Islam.”<ref>Abrahamian, Ervand, ''History of Modern Iran'', Columbia University Press, 2008, p.167</ref> The rights of women, of expression, of communication and association, of the press<ref name="http">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/iran/Iran99o-03.htm |title=The Iranian Legal Framework And International Law |publisher=Hrw.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> – are followed by modifiers such as "within the limits of the law", "within the precepts of Islam", "unless they attack the principles of Islam", "unless the Law states otherwise", "as long as it does not interfere with the precepts of Islam."<ref>{{cite web|author=Prof. Dr. Axel Tschentscher, LL.M. |url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html |title=Iran – Constitution |publisher=Servat.unibe.ch |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

=== Provisions in violation of Human Rights===

The Iranian penal code is derived from the [[Shari'a]] and is not always in compliance with international norms of human rights.

The Iranian penal code distinguishes two types of punishments: ''[[Hudud]]'' (fixed punishment) and the ''[[Qisas]]'' ([[retributive justice|retribution]]) or ''[[Diyya]]'' ([[Blood money (term)|Blood money]] or [[An eye for an eye|Talion Law]]). Punishments falling within the category of Hududs are applied to people committing offenses against the State, such as [[adultery]], alcohol consumption, burglary or [[petty theft]], [[rebellions]] against [[Islamic authority]], [[apostasy]] and [[homosexuality|homosexual intercourse]] (considered contrary to the spirit of Islam).<ref>`The Complete Text of the Retribution Law` ''Iran Times'', 6 March 1981. see also: 22 May 1981, 15 October 1982. quoted in ''Tortured Confessions'' by Ervand Abrahamian, University of California Press, 1999, p.133</ref> Punishments include death by [[hanging]], [[stoning]]<ref name="AmIntStoning">{{cite web|author=15 January 2008 |url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-death-stoning-grotesque-and-unacceptable-penalty-20080115 |title=Iran: Death by stoning, a grotesque and unacceptable penalty. 15 January 2008 |publisher=Amnesty.org |date=2008-01-15 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> or [[decapitation]], [[amputation]] or [[flagellation]]. Victims of private crimes, such as murder or rape, can exercise a right to retribution (Qisas) or decide to accept "blood money" (Diyyah or Talion Law).<ref name="NATLEX">{{en icon}} [http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.details?p_lang=en&p_country=IRN&p_classification=01.04&p_origin=COUNTRY&p_sortby=SORTBY_COUNTRY Iranian Civil Code], NATLEX . Retrieved 21 August 2006.</ref>

====Harsh punishments====

{{See also|Stoning #Iran}}

Following traditional [[shariah]] punishment for thieves, courts in Iran have sometimes sentenced offenders to amputation of both "the right hand and left foot cut off, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the condemned to walk, even with a cane or crutches." This was the fate, for example, of five convicted robbers in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in January 2008 according to the news agency ISNA.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html Spate of Executions and Amputations in Iran By NAZILA FATHI, January 11, 2008]</ref>

[[Shariah]] also includes stoning and explicitly states that stones used must be small enough to not kill instantly.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4166137.stm BBC article "Iran denies execution by stoning"], which includes the statement "Iranian law specifies exactly how stoning should be carried out, saying stones must be small enough not to kill instantly".</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6264257-iranian-women-escapes-death-penalty-by-stoning |title=Iranian women escapes death penalty by stoning (which includes the statement "Stoning is part of Sharia Law that mandates that a stone not be too big to kill too soon, or too small to unnecessarily prolong the death) |publisher=Allvoices.com}}</ref><ref>Book title: Death defying: dismantling the execution machinery in 21st century, Author: Pam McAllister, Page: 23</ref> As of July 2010, the Iranian penal code authorizes stoning as a punishment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stop-killing.org/files/Terman_stoning.pdf |format=PDF |title=The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women |publisher=Stop-killing.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mehr.org/Islamic_Penal_Code_of_Iran.pdf |title=Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran |format=PDF |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> However, Iran says a new draft of the penal code that has removed stoning is currently under review by the Iranian parliament and has yet to be ratified.<ref name="amnesty2">{{cite web|url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-must-not-execute-woman-spared-stoning-death-any-means-2010-07-09 |title=Amnesty International |publisher=Amnesty.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

The use of stoning as a punishment may be declining or banned altogether. In December 2002, [[Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi|Ayatollah Shahroudi]], head of the judicial system, reportedly sent judges a memorandum requesting the suspension of stoning and asking them to choose other forms of sanctions. In 2005, Amnesty International reported that Iran was about to execute a woman by stoning for adultery. Amnesty urged Tehran to give reprieve to the woman. Her sentence is currently on hold pending "consideration by the pardons commission." According to the Iranian officials "Stoning has been dropped from the penal code for a long time, and in the Islamic Republic, we do not see such punishments being carried out", said judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimirad. He added that if stoning sentences were passed by lower courts, they were overruled by higher courts and "no such verdicts have been carried out."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4166137.stm |title=BBC: Iran denies execution by stoning |publisher=BBC News |date=2005-01-11 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> According to Amnesty International, in July 2010, the Iranian parliament began considering a revision to its penal code that would ban stoning as a punishment.<ref name="amnesty2"/>

====Gender issues====

{{Main|Women's rights in Iran}}

The Iranian legislation does not accord the same rights to women as to men in all areas of the law.<ref name="mehr2007">[http://mehr.org/HumanRightsinIran07.pdf Human Rights in Iran 2007 MEHR.org] p.4,5</ref>

* In the section of the penal code devoted to blood money, or ''[[Diyya]]'', the value of woman's life is half that of a man ("for instance, if a car hit both on the street, the cash compensation due to the woman's family was half that due the man's")<ref>Ebadi, Shirin, ''Iran Awakening : A Memoir of Revolution and Hope'', by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House, 2006, p.117</ref>

* The testimony of a male witness is equivalent to that of two female witnesses.<ref name="mehr2007"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mehr.org/Islamic_Penal_Code_of_Iran.pdf |format=PDF |title= Islamic Penal Code of Iran, article 300 |publisher=Mehr.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/women-act-against-repression-and-intimidation-iran-20080228 |title=Women act against repression and intimidation in Iran, 28 February 2008 |publisher=Amnesty.org |date=2008-02-28 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

* A woman needs her husband's permission to work outside the home or leave the country.<ref name="mehr2007"/>

* Post-pubescent women are required to cover their hair and body in Iran and can be arrested for failing to do so.<ref>{{Wayback |date=20070227113508 |url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070224/wl_mideast_afp/iranjusticesocial |title=Iran vows crackdown on 'inappropriately' dressed women}}, ''[[Agence France Presse|AFP]]'' (''[[Yahoo! News]]''), 24 February 2007, via the [[Digital time capsule|Wayback Machine]]</ref>

In the inheritance law of the Islamic Republic there are several instances where the woman is entitled to half the inheritance of the man.<ref>{{fr icon}} {{Wayback |date=20080116012016 |url=http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2001/bilan2001/vol3/iranga.htm |title=Report by the special UN envoy }}, edited by ''Human Rights Internet'', 2001.</ref> For example:

* If a man dies without offspring, his estate is inherited by his parents. If both the parents are alive, the mother receives 1/3 and the father 2/3 of the inheritance, unless the mother has a hojab (relative who reduces her part, such as brothers and sisters of the deceased (article 886)), in which case she shall receive 1/6, and the father 5/6. (Article 906)

* If the dead man's closest heirs are aunts and uncles, the part of the inheritance belonging to the uncle is twice that belonging to the aunt. (Article 920)<ref name="zarrokh">{{cite web|url=http://legal-articles.deysot.com/civil-rights/analyses-private-relations-in-iranian-civil-code.html |title=Analyses Private Relations in Iranian Civil Code by ehsan zarrokh |publisher=Legal-articles.deysot.com |date=2007-04-07 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

* When the heirs are children, the inheritance of the sons is twice that of the daughters. (Article 907)<ref name="zarrokh"/>

* If the deceased leaves ancestors and brothers and sisters (''kalaleh''), 2/3s of the estate goes to the heirs which have relationship on the side of the father; and in dividing up this portion the males take twice the portion of the females; however, the 1/3 going to the heirs on the mother’s side is divided equally. (Article 924)<ref name="zarrokh"/>

According to Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ayatollah Khomeini, <blockquote>

"Discrimination here [in Iran] is not just in the constitution. As a woman, if I want to get a passport to leave the country, have surgery, even to breathe almost, I must have permission from my husband."<ref>''Daily Telegraph'', June 19, 2005, "If I want to breathe I must have permission of my husband", by Colin Freeman quoted in http://mehr.org/HumanRightsinIran07.pdf</ref></blockquote>

==== Freedom of expression and media ====

The 1985 press law prohibits "discourse harmful to the principles of Islam" and "public interest", as referred to in Article 24 of the constitution, which according to [[Human Rights Watch]] provides "officials with ample opportunity to [[Censorship|censor]], restrict, and find offense."<ref name="http"/>

==== Freedom and equality of religion ====

{{Main|Status of religious freedom in Iran}}

The constitution recognizes the freedom of [[Zoroastrian]], Jewish, and Christian [[Demographics of Iran|Iranians]] to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and accords non-Shia Muslims "full respect" (article 12). However the [[Bahá'í Faith]] is banned.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7409288.stm |title=Iran arrests Bahai 'leadership' 19 May 2008 |publisher=BBC News |date=2008-05-19 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> The Islamic Republic has stated Baha'is or their leadership are "an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular," that threaten Iran.<ref name=CNNdestroy>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/22/iran.bahais/index.html |title=May 22, 2008. "Iran 'plans to destroy Baha'i community'" |publisher=Cnn.com |date=2008-05-22 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> The International Federation for Human Rights and others believe the government's policy of [[persecution of Bahá'ís]] stems from some Bahá'í teachings challenging traditional Islamic religious doctrines – particularly the [[Seal of the prophets|finality of Muhammad's prophethood]] – and place Bahá'ís [[Apostasy in Islam|outside the Islamic faith]].<ref name="fdih1">{{cite web

| url = http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ir0108a.pdf

|format=PDF| title = Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran

| publisher = [[International Federation of Human Rights]]

|date=August 2003

| accessdate = 2008-10-07

}}

</ref> [[Irreligious]] people are also not recognized and do not have basic rights such as education, becoming member of parliament etc.<ref name="iheu.org">Kamguian, Azam. "[http://www.iheu.org/node/1540 The Fate of Infidels and Apostates under Islam]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}", [[International Humanist and Ethical Union]], 21 June 2005.</ref>

''[[Hudud]]'' statutes grant different punishments to Muslims and non-Muslims for the same crime. In the case of adultery, for example, a Muslim man who is convicted of committing adultery with a Muslim woman receives 100 lashes; the sentence for a non-Muslim man convicted of adultery with a Muslim woman is death.<ref name="framework">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-04.htm |title=hrw.org, Iran – THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK |publisher=Hrw.org |date=1992-05-22 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> In 2004, inequality of "blood money" (diyeh) was eliminated, and the amount paid by a perpetrator for the death or wounding a Christian, Jew, or Zoroastrian man, was made the same as that for a Muslim. However, the International Religious Freedom Report reports that Baha'is were not included in the provision and their blood is considered ''Mobah'', (i.e. it can be spilled with impunity).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35497.htm |title=Iran. International Religious Freedom Report 2004. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |publisher=State.gov |date=2004-01-01 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Freedom to [[Apostasy in Islam|convert from Islam to another religion]] (apostasy) is prohibited, and may be punishable by death. Article 23 of the constitution states, "the investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief." But another article, 167, gives judges the discretion "to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa (rulings issued by qualified clerical jurists)." The founder of the Islamic Republic, Islamic cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, who was a grand [[Ayatollah]], ruled "that the penalty for conversion from Islam, or apostasy, is death."<ref name="framework"/>

At least two Iranians – [[Hashem Aghajari]] and [[Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari]] – have been arrested and charged with apostasy (though not executed), not for converting to another faith but for statements and/or activities deemed by courts of the Islamic Republic to be in violation of Islam, but which appear to outsiders to be simply expressions of political/religious reformism.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2415751.stm Iranian academic sentenced to death]| bbc.co.uk| 7 November 2002.</ref> [[Hashem Aghajari]], was found guilty of apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/11/iranacademic.htm |title=hrw.org, November 9, 2002 Iran: Academic’s Death Sentence Condemned |publisher=Hrw.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari was charged with apostasy for attending the reformist-oriented [['Iran After the Elections' Conference]] in Berlin Germany which was disrupted by anti-government demonstrators.<ref name="ITFCA">{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2000/11/02/iran610.htm |title=Iran: Trial for Conference Attendees |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2000-11-02 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

The small Protestant Christian minority in Iran have been subject to Islamic "government suspicion and hostility" according to Human Rights Watch at least in part because of their "readiness to accept and even seek out Muslim converts" as well as their Western origins. In the 1990s, two Muslim converts to Christianity who had become ministers were sentenced to death for apostasy and other charges.<ref name=hrw97Minorities>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-05.htm |title=Human Rights Watch: Religious minorities in Iran (1997) |publisher=Hrw.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

==== Political freedom ====

In a 2008 report, the organization [[Human Rights Watch]] complained that "broadly worded `security laws`" in Iran are used to ”to arbitrarily suppress and punish individuals for peaceful political expression, association, and assembly, in breach of international human rights treaties to which Iran is party." For example, "connections to foreign institutions, persons, or sources of funding" are enough to bring criminal charges such as "undermining national security" against individuals.<ref name="hrw" />

[[Ahmad Batebi]], a demonstrator in the [[Iran student riots, July 1999|July 1999 Student demonstrations]] in Iran, was given a death sentence for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic System." (His sentence was later reduced to 15, and then ten years imprisonment.) A photograph of Batebi holding a bloody shirt aloft was printed on the cover of ''The Economist'' magazine.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}<!--<ref>[http://www.iranmania.com/news/currentaffairs/features/dissidentmurders/default.asp The Dissident Murders ] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> Spam filter notice:The following link has triggered a protection filter: http://www.iranmania.com

Either that exact link, or a portion of it (typically the root domain name) is currently blocked. -->

==== Children's rights ====

Despite signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran, according to human rights groups, is the world's largest executioner of juvenile offenders.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-17-child-executions_N.htm Iranian activists fight child executions]</ref><ref>[http://www.enmcr.net/site/assets/files/1382/child_execution_in_iran_and_its_legality_under_islamic_law.pdf CHILD EXECUTION IN IRAN AND ITS LEGALITY UNDER THE ISLAMIC LAW]</ref><ref>[http://www.johnhowellmp.com/news/execution-of-children-in-iran/435 Execution of children in Iran]</ref>

As of May 2009, there were at least 137 known juvenile offenders awaiting execution in Iran, but the total number could be much higher as many death penalty cases in Iran are believed to go unreported. Of the 43 child offenders recorded as having been executed since 1990, 11 were still under the age of 18 at the time of their execution while the others were either kept on death row until they had reached 18 or were convicted and sentenced after reaching that age.<ref>[http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/background-information-stop-child-executions-in-iran Child Executions in Iran]</ref> Including at least one 13 year old<ref>[http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-execution-child-offender-makwan-moloudazdeh-mockery-justice-2007120 Iran: Execution of child offender Makwan Moloudazdeh is a mockery of justice]</ref> and 14 year old.<ref>[http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2896 Execution of Juveniles in Iran: prisoner executed for murder committed at age 14; another juvenile offender scheduled for execution Tomorrow - 2013/09/23]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

A bill to set the minimum age for the death penalty at 18 years was examined by the [[Majlis of Iran|parliament]] in December 2003, but it was not ratified by the [[Guardian Council|Guardian Council of the Constitution]], the unelected body that has veto power over parliamentary bills.<ref name="safir">{{fr icon}} {{PDFlink|[http://www.safir-france.com/general/conf2005/statut%20juridique%20des%20femmes%20et%20peine%20de%20mort%20des%20mineurs%20en%20Iran.pdf ''Eléments sur le statut juridique des femmes et la peine de mort des mineurs en Iran'']{{dead link|date=February 2014}}|90.6&nbsp;KB}}, ''SAFIR'', 28 February 2005</ref> In a September 2008 interview President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was asked about the execution of minors and replied that "the legal age in Iran is different from yours. It’s not eighteen ... it’s different in different countries."<ref name="democracynow.org"/>

On 10 Feb 2012 Iran's parliament changed the controversial law of executing juveniles. In the new law, the age of 18 (solar year) would be for both genders considered and juvenile offenders will be sentenced on a separate law than of adults.”<ref>[http://www.iranwpd.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3066:iran-changes-law-for-execution-of-juveniles&Itemid=64 ]{{dead link|date=September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ghanoononline.ir/NSite/FullStory/News/?Serv=19&Id=16270 |title=ghanoononline.ir |publisher=ghanoononline.ir |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

==Extralegal violations of human rights==

A 2005 [[Human Rights Watch]] document criticizes "Parallel Institutions" (''nahad-e movazi'') in the Islamic Republic, "the quasi-official organs of repression that have become increasingly open in crushing student protests, detaining activists, writers, and journalists in secret prisons, and threatening pro-democracy speakers and audiences at public events." Under the control of the Office of the [[Supreme Leader]], these groups set up arbitrary checkpoints around Tehran, uniformed police often refraining from directly confronting these plainclothes agents. "Illegal prisons, which are outside of the oversight of the National Prisons Office, are sites where political prisoners are abused, intimidated, and tortured with impunity."<ref>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/iran9803.htm Overview of human rights issues in Iran], hrw.org 31 December 2004</ref>

According to dissident [[Akbar Ganji]], what might appear to be "extra-legal" killings in Iran are actually not outside the penal code of the Islamic Republic since the code "authorises a citizen to assassinate another if he is judged to be ‘impious’,"<ref>Interview with [[Akbar Ganji]], ''Le Monde'', 6 June 2006.</ref> Some widely condemned punishments issued by the Islamic Republic – the torture of prisoners and the [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners|execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988]] have been reported to follow at least some form of Islamic law and legal procedures, though they have also not been publicly acknowledged by the government.<ref>Abrahamian, Ervand, ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), p.209-228</ref>

Extra-legal acts may work in tandem with official actions, such as in the case of the newsweekly ''Tamadone Hormozgan'' in Bandar Abbas, where authorities arrested seven journalists in 2007 for “insulting Ayatollah [[Khomeini]],” while government organizations and [[Quran]]ic schools organized vigilantes to "ransacked and set fire" to the paper's offices.<ref name="RSF, Iran - Annual Report 2007">[http://www.rsf.org/country-43.php3?id_mot=92 RSF, Iran – Annual Report 2007 ] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref>

===Torture and mistreatment of prisoners===

Article 38 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic forbids "all forms of [[torture]] for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information" and the "compulsion of individuals to testify, confess, or take an oath." It also states that "any testimony, confession, or oath obtained under duress is devoid of value and credence."<ref name=autogenerated1>''[http://books.google.com/books?id=_mnrYNIVfCgC&dq=tortured+confessions+ervand+abrahamian&pg=PP1&ots=npYYcU-_Ae&sig=IouKxlCqAN3OD-r5Quo2AmEb9Kg&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Tortured+confessions,+Ervand+Abrahamian&btnG=Google+Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA2,M1 Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran]''</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Manou & Associates Inc. |url=http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-3.html |title=3-The Rights of the People |publisher=Iranonline.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Nonetheless human rights groups and observers have complained that torture is frequently used on political prisoners in Iran. In a study of torture in Iran published in 1999, Iranian-born political historian [[Ervand Abrahamian]] included Iran along with "[[Stalinism|Stalinist Russia]], [[History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)|Maoist China]], and early modern Europe" of the [[Inquisition]] and [[Witch-hunt#Early Modern Europe|witch hunts]], as societies that "can be considered to be in a league of their own" in the systematic use of torture.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' 1999, p.5</ref>

Torture techniques used in the Islamic Republic include:

<blockquote>whipping, sometimes of the back but most often of the feet with the body tied on an iron bed; the qapani; deprivation of sleep; suspension from ceiling and high walls; twisting of forearms until they broke; crushing of hands and fingers between metal presses; insertion of sharp instruments under the fingernails; cigarette burns; submersion under water; standing in one place for hours on end; mock executions; and physical threats against family members. Of these, the most prevalent was the whipping of soles, obviously because it was explicitly sanctioned by the sharia.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions,'' 1999, p.139</ref></blockquote>

Two "innovations" in torture not borrowed from the Shah's regime were

<blockquote>the ‘coffin’, and compulsory watching of – and even participation in – executions. Some were placed in small cubicles, [50cm x 80cm x 140cm (20&nbsp;inches x 31.5&nbsp;inches x 55&nbsp;inches)] blindfolded and in absolute silence, for 17-hour stretches with two 15-minute breaks for eating and going to the toilet. These stints could last months – until the prisoner agreed to the interview. Few avoided the interview and also remained sane. Others were forced to join firing squads and remove dead bodies. When they returned to their cells with blood dripping from their hands, Their roommates surmised what had transpired. ...."<ref>Democratic Society of Iranians in France, ''Dar Rahruha-ye Khon: Yazdah Gozaresh'' (''In the Labyrinth of Blood: Eleven Eyewitness Accounts'') (Paris, 1984), p.12 (p.139)</ref></blockquote>

According to Abrahamian, torture became commonly used in the Islamic Republic because of its effectiveness in inducing political prisoners to make public confessions.<ref>[http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/062/2012/en/b294be89-0e88-4bed-992c-ef7f8032fe0e/mde130622012en.html Amnesty international document – ''Iran TV “confessions” breach suspects’ rights'' 10 Sep. 2012] {{dead link | date=January 2013}}</ref> {{dead link | date=January 2013}} Recorded and edited on videotape, the standard statements by prisoners included not only confessions to subversion and treason, but praise of the Islamic Revolution and denunciation or recantation of their former beliefs, former organization, former co-members, i.e. their life. These recantations served as powerful propaganda for both the Iranian public at large – who by the 1980s almost all had access to television and could watch prime time programs devoted to the taped confessions – and the recanters' former colleagues, for whom the denunciations were demoralizing and confusing.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', 1999, p.5</ref> From the moment they arrived in prison, through their interrogation prisoners were asked if they were willing to give an "interview." (''mosahebah'') "Some remained incarcerated even after serving their sentences simply because they declined the honor of being interviewed."<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions,'' 1999, p.138</ref>

Scholars disagree over whether at least some forms of torture have been made legal according to the ''Qanon-e Ta'zir'' (Discretionary Punishment Law) of the Islamic Republic. Abrahamian argues statutes forbidding ‘lying to the authorities’ and ability of clerics to be both interrogators and judges, applying an "indefinite series of 74 lashings until they obtain `honest answers`" without the delay of a trial, make this a legal form of torture.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions,'' 1999, p.133</ref> Another scholar, Christoph Werner, claims he could find no Ta'zir law mentioning lying to authorities but did find one specifically banning torture in order to obtain confessions.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/view/13530194/ap030020/03a00250/0 Review by Christoph Werner] of ''Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran'', in ''British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies'' © 2000, p.239-40 {{dead link|date=November 2010}} {{dead link | date=January 2013}}</ref> {{dead link | date=January 2013}}

Abrahamian also argues that a strong incentive to produce a confession by a defendant (and thus to pressure the defendant to confess) is the Islamic Republic's allowing of a defendant’s confession plus judges "reasoning" to constitute sufficient proof of guilt. He also states this is an innovation from the traditional sharia standard for (some) capital crimes of `two honest and righteous male witnesses`.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', 1999, p.134</ref>

Several bills passed the [[Majlis of Iran|Iranian Parliament]] that would have had Iran joining the international convention on banning torture in 2003 when [[Iranian reform movement|reformists]] controlled Parliament, but were rejected by the [[Guardian Council]].<ref name=PayvandGuarCou>[http://www.payvand.com/news/03/aug/1073.html Iran: Guardian Council turns down Majlis bills on women's rights, torture ban], ''Payvand's Iran News'', 13 August 2003</ref>

<ref name="NYT_2003-01-10">[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE4DF1F3EF933A25752C0A9659C8B63 Iran: Ban on Torture Rejected], ''[[New York Times]]'', 10 January 2003</ref>

[[Chronicle of Higher Education]] International, reports that the widespread practice of [[rape|raping]] women imprisoned for engaging in political protest has been effective in keeping female college students "less outspoken and less likely to take part" in political demonstrations. The journal quotes an Iranian college student as saying, "most of the girls arrested are raped in jail. Families can't cope with that."<ref>1 August 2008, "Among Scholars, Resistance and Resilience in Iran, Tradition of dissent survives despite government pressure" By AISHA LABI, ''Chronicle of Higher Education International''</ref>

==Notable issues concerning human rights==

===Extra-judicial killings===

In the 1990s there were a number of unsolved murders and disappearances of intellectuals and political activists who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way. In 1998 these complaints came to a head with the killing of three dissident writers ([[Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh]], [[Mohammad Mokhtari (protester)|Mohammad Mokhtari]], [[Majid Sharif]]), a political leader ([[Dariush Forouhar]]) and his wife in the span of two months, in what became known as the [[Chain murders of Iran|Chain murders]] or 1998 Serial Murders of Iran.<ref name=NYTJehl>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E2DE173DF937A25751C1A96E958260 "Killing of three rebel writers turns hope into fear in Iran"], Douglas Jehl, ''New York Times'', 14 December 1998 p.A6</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2001/5-050201.html |title=RFE/RL Iran Report. 5 February 2001 |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=2001-02-05 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> of Iranians who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way.<ref>Sciolino, ''Persian Mirrors'', 2000, p.241</ref> Altogether more than 80 writers, translators, poets, political activists, and ordinary citizens are thought to have been killed over the course of several years.<ref name=NYTJehl/> The deputy security official of the Ministry of Information, [[Saeed Emami]] was arrested for the killings and later committed suicide, many believe higher level officials were responsible for the killings. According to Iranterror.com, "it was widely assumed that [Emami] was murdered in order to prevent the leak of sensitive information about [[Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran|Ministry of Intelligence and Security]] operations, which would have compromised the entire leadership of the Islamic Republic."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranterror.com/content/view/33/52/ |title=A Man Called Saeed Emani |publisher=Iranterror.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

The attempted murder and serious crippling of [[Saeed Hajjarian]], a Ministry of Intelligence operative-turned-journalist and reformer, is believed to be in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of Iran and his help to the Iranian reform movement in general. Hajjarian was shot in the head by [[Saeed Asgar]], a member of the [[Basij]] in March 2000.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}<!--<ref>[http://www.iranmania.com/news/currentaffairs/features/hajjariancase/default.asp Hajjarian assassination attempt] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> Spam filter notice:The following link has triggered a protection filter: http://www.iranmania.com

Either that exact link, or a portion of it (typically the root domain name) is currently blocked. -->

{{Main|Chain murders of Iran}}

At the international level, a German court ordered the arrest of a standing minister of the Islamic Republic – [[Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran|Minister of Intelligence]] [[Ali Fallahian]] – in 1997 for directing the 1992 murder of three Iranian-Kurdish dissidents and their translator at a Berlin restaurant,<ref>Ebadi, ''Iran Awakening'', 2006, p.132</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/world/berlin-court-says-top-iran-leaders-ordered-killings.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm BERLIN COURT SAYS TOP IRAN LEADERS ORDERED KILLINGS], ''New York Times'' 11 April 1997</ref> known as the [[Mykonos restaurant assassinations]].

Two minority religious figures killed during this era were Protestant Christians Reverend [[Mehdi Dibaj]], and Bishop [[Haik Hovsepian Mehr]]. On 16 January 1994, Rev. Mehdi, a [[Apostasy in Islam|convert to Christianity]] was released from prison after more than ten years of confinement, "apparently as a result of the international pressure." About six months later he disappeared after leaving a Christian conference in [[Karaj]] and his body was found 5 July 1994 in a forest West of [[Tehran]]. Six months earlier the man responsible for leading a campaign to free him, Bishop [[Haik Hovsepian Mehr]], had met a similar end, disappearing on 19 January 1994. His body was found in the street in Shahr-e Rey, a Tehran suburb.<ref name=hrw97Minorities/>

=== Capital punishment ===

{{Main|Capital punishment in Iran}}

Iran retains the death penalty for a large number of offenses, among them cursing the Prophet, certain drug offenses, murder, and certain hadd crimes, including adultery, incest, rape, fornication, drinking alcohol, “[[sodomy]]”, same-sex sexual conduct between men without penetration, lesbianism, “being at enmity with God” ([[moharebeh|mohareb]]), and “corruption on earth” (''[[Mofsed-e-filarz]]'').<ref name=hrwchild>[http://hrw.org/reports/2008/crd0908/2.htm#_Toc208305498 Iran and Saudi Arabia: Laws that Treat Children as Adults] hrw.org</ref>

Although it is a signatory to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which states that "[the] sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age.”,<ref>[http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm#part3 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights: Article 6]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, ''Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights''</ref> Iran continues to execute minors for various offenses.

In 2008 at 346 confirmed executions were carried out in Iran.<ref>[http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/index.php?tipotema=arg&idtema=12000547]{{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref>

In 2009, 252 people were officially executed but 300 more executions were unacknowledged by the government according to Human rights groups,<ref name=upi/>

In the first half of 2011, human rights groups estimated that an average of two people a day were being executed. Officially, the executions are related to drug trafficking, but independent observers have questioned this claim.<ref name=upi>{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/07/08/Rights-groups-Iran-increasing-executions/UPI-44891310133683/#ixzz1ReUDa48C |title=Rights groups: Iran increasing executions|publisher= Upi.com |date=8 July 2011}}</ref> An Iranian man, Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, was scheduled to be executed on 10 September 2012, on the charge of "enmity against God" (moharebeh) for his alleged support of a banned Iranian opposition group.<ref>[[Amnesty International]], [http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/uaa24012.pdf "Iran: Man at Risk of Execution (UA 240/12)"], 13 August 2012.</ref>

=== Political freedom ===

The Islamic government has not hesitated to crush peaceful political demonstrations. The [[Iran student riots, July 1999]] were sparked by an attack by an estimated 400 paramilitary<ref>Ebadi, ''Iran Awakening'', 2006, p.149</ref> [[Hezbollah]] vigilantes on a student dormitory in retaliation for a small, peaceful student demonstration against the closure of the reformist newspaper, ''Salam'' earlier that day. "At least 20 people were hospitalized and hundreds were arrested," in the attack.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9907/11/iran.unrest.03/ Iran sacks police chiefs over student protest crackdown ] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webmepcountries/IRAN?OpenDocument Report 2001, Islamic Republic of Iran], ''[[Amnesty International]]''</ref>

On 8 March 2004, the "parallel institution" of the [[Basij]] issued a violent crackdown on the activists celebrating [[International Women's Day]] in Tehran.<ref>[http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2004/13-04.htm Confronting State Terrorism]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, [[Asian Centre for Human Rights]] Review, Special Issues for 60th Session of the UNHCR, 24 March 2004</ref>

=== LGBT issues ===

{{Main|LGBT rights in Iran}}

Homosexual acts and [[adultery]] are criminal and punishable by life imprisonment or death after multiple offenses, and the same sentences apply to convictions for [[treason]] and [[apostasy]]. Those accused by the state of homosexual acts are routinely flogged and threatened with execution.<ref>[http://www.abfiran.org/english/memorial-search.php?do_search=Search&charges=1778515990&pagenum=0 Individuals executed for homosexual offences], ''Omid: A Memorial in Defense of Human Rights''. Retrieved 30 September 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.washblade.com/2005/7-29/news/worldnews/iran.cfm Mixed reports on Iran hangings], ''[[Washington Blade]]'', 29 July 2005, regarding the executions of [[Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni]] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{PDFlink|[http://www.safraproject.org/Reports/SP_Country_Information_Report_Iran.pdf Country Information Report: Iran, 2004]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}|356&nbsp;KB}}, ''[http://www.safraproject.org/ Safra Project]'', 2004</ref><ref>[http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2003/documentation/tbodies/cat-c-30-d-190-2001.htm Communication No.190/2001]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, ''Decisions of the United Nations Committee Against Torture under article 22 of the

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment'', 26 May 2003</ref><ref>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/19/nether14428.htm Netherlands: Asylum Rights Granted to Lesbian and Gay Iranians], ''[[Human Rights Watch]]'', 19 October 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.petertatchell.net/international/iranstatemurder.htm Iran's state murder of gays: Victims framed for kidnap and rape]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, ''[[Peter Tatchell]]'s blog'', 20 April 2006</ref><ref>[http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/interview/052797in.htm Saviz Shafaie: An Iranian gay activist leader], interview by Jack Nichols, ''[[Badpuppy]] Gay Today'', 27 May 1997</ref>

Iran is one of seven countries in the world that apply the death penalty for homosexual acts; all of them justify this punishment with Islamic law. The Judiciary does not recognize the concept of [[sexual orientation]], and thus from a legal standpoint there are no homosexuals or bisexuals, only persons committing homosexual acts.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/24/us.iran/index.html Ahmadinejad speaks; outrage and controversy follow], [[CNN|CNN.com]], 24 September 2007</ref>

For some years after the [[Iranian Revolution]], [[transgender]] people were classified by the Judiciary as being homosexual and were thus subject to the same laws. However, in the mid-1980s the Judiciary began changing this policy and classifying transgender individuals as a distinct group, separate from homosexuals, granting them legal rights. [[Gender identity disorder]] is officially recognized in Iran today, and the Judiciary permits [[sexual reassignment surgery]] for those who can afford it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/Maryam/Maryam.html |title=The story of Maryam Hatoon Molkara (Iran) |publisher=Ai.eecs.umich.edu |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> In the early 1960s, [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] had issued a ruling permitting gender reassignment, which has since been reconfirmed by [[Ayatollah Khamenei]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4115535.stm Iran's sex-change operations], ''[[BBC]] [[Newsnight]]'', 5 January 2005</ref>

Currently, Iran has between 15,000 and 20,000 transsexuals, according to official statistics, although unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 150,000. Iran carries out more gender change operations than any country in the world besides [[Thailand]]. Sex changes have been legal since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, passed a fatwa authorising them nearly 25 years ago. Whereas homosexuality is considered a sin, transsexuality is categorized as an illness subject to cure. While the government seeks to keep its approval quiet, state support has increased since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. His government has begun providing grants of [[Pound sterling|£]]2,250 for operations and further funding for hormone therapy. It is also proposing loans of up to £2,750 to allow those undergoing surgery to start their own businesses.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2177277,00.html Sex change funding undermines no gays claim], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 26 September 2007</ref>

===Gender inequality===

{{See also|Domestic violence in Iran}}

Unequal value for women's testimony compared to that of a man,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iran-bulletin.org/women/RAPE.html |title=Rape under a fundamentalist regime |publisher=Iran-bulletin.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> and traditional attitudes towards women's behavior and clothing as a way of explaining rape<ref>{{cite web|last=Terzieff |first=Juliette |url=http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1650/context/cover/ |title=Women in Iran Deem Rape Laws Unfair, 12/21/03 By Shadi Sadr |publisher=Womensenews.org |date=2003-07-31 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> have made conviction for rape of women difficult if not impossible in Iran. One widely criticized case was that of [[Atefah Sahaaleh]], who was executed by the state for 'inappropriate sexual relations', despite evidence she was most probably a rape victim.<ref>[http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/036/2004/en/dom-MDE130362004en.html IRAN: Amnesty International outraged at reported execution of a 16 year old girl] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217424.stm |title=Execution of a teenage girl |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Differences in blood money for men and women include victims and offenders. In 2003, the parents of [[Leila Fathi]], an 11-year-old village girl from Sarghez who was raped and murdered, were asked to come up with the equivalent of thousands of US dollars to pay the blood money ([[diyya]]) for the execution of their daughter's killers because a woman's life is worth half that of a man's life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-16051213_ITM |title=Why is Shirin Ebadi still risking her life? |publisher=Accessmylibrary.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

===Religious freedom===

==== Bahá'í issues ====

{{Main|Persecution of Bahá'ís}}

[[File:Mona Mahmudnizhad.jpg|thumb|right|130px|[[Mona Mahmudnizhad]], executed at the age of 17 in Shiraz in 1983, along with 9 other Bahá’í women.]]

[[Amnesty International]] and others report that 202 Bahá’ís have been killed since the Islamic Revolution,<ref name="amnesty1">{{cite web |title=Dhabihullah Mahrami: Prisoner of Conscience |author=Amnesty International |date=October 1996 |accessdate=2006-10-20 |url=http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE130341996?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES%5CIRAN |publisher=AI INDEX: MDE 13/34/96}}{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref> with many more imprisoned, expelled from schools and workplaces, denied various benefits or denied registration for their marriages.<ref name="affolter" /> Iranian Bahá'ís have also regularly had their homes ransacked or been banned from attending university or holding government jobs, and several hundred have received prison sentences for their religious beliefs, most recently for participating in [[Bahá'í study circle|study circles]].<ref name="fdih1" /> Bahá'í cemeteries have been desecrated and property seized and occasionally demolished, including the House of Mírzá Buzurg, Bahá'u'lláh's father.<ref name="affolter" /> The House of the Báb in [[Shiraz, Iran|Shiraz]] has been destroyed twice, and is one of three sites to which Bahá'ís perform [[Bahá'í pilgrimage|pilgrimage]].<ref name="affolter" /><ref>{{cite web | publisher=Netherlands Institute of Human Rights | title = Iran, Islamic Republic of | date=8 March 2006 | accessdate=2006-05-31 | url=http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/0/e7b8824bdd987268c1256fa8004a8753?OpenDocument}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | work=Bahá'í International Community | publisher=Religion News Service | title= Bahá'í International Community dismayed at lack of Human Rights Resolution on Iran | date=14 April 2005 | accessdate=2006-03-08 | url=http://www.religionnews.com/press02/PR041505.html |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060221195213/http://www.religionnews.com/press02/PR041505.html |archivedate = 21 February 2006}}</ref>

The Islamic Republic has often stated that arrested Baha'is are being detained for "security issues" and are members of "an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular."<ref name=CNNdestroy/> Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, replies that "the best proof" that Bahais are being persecuted for their faith, not for anti-Iranian activity "is the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom if they recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam ..."<ref name=CNNdestroy/>

==== Jewish issues ====

{{Main|Persian Jews|History of the Jews in Iran}}

Jews have lived in Iran for nearly 3,000 years and Iran is host to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of [[Israel]]. An estimated 25,000 Jews remain in the country, although approximately 75% of Iran's Jewish population has emigrated during and since the Islamic revolution of 1979 and Iran-Iraq war<ref name="VirtLib">[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/iranjews.html The Jews of Iran], ''Jewish Virtual Library''</ref> In the early days after the Islamic revolution in 1979, several Jews were executed on charges of Zionism and relations with Israel.<ref name="forward.com">[http://www.forward.com/articles/9834/ Iranian-Jews reject calls to leave Iran], ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', 10 January 2007</ref> Jews in Iran have constitutional rights equal to other Iranians, although they may not hold government jobs or become army officers. They have freedom to follow their religion, but are not granted the freedom to proselytize. Despite their small numbers, Jews are allotted one representative in parliament.

Iran's official government-controlled media published the [[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]] in 1994 and 1999. Jewish children still attend Jewish schools where Hebrew and religious studies are taught, but Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslim ones, the curricula are government-supervised, and [[Shabbat|the Jewish Sabbath]] is no longer recognized.<ref name="forward.com"/> According to Jewish journalist [[Roger Cohen]]:

<blockquote>Perhaps I have a bias toward facts over words, but I say the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran – its sophistication and culture – than all the inflammatory rhetoric. That may be because I'm a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jeffrey Goldberg |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2009/02/roger-cohen-apos-s-very-happy-visit-with-iran-apos-s-jews/9629/ |title=Roger Cohen's Very Happy Visit with Iran's Jews (Feb 2009) |publisher=The Atlantic |date=2009-02-26 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref></blockquote>

Cohen's depiction of Jewish life in Iran sparked criticism from columnists and activists such as [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] of ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]''<ref>[http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/02/roger_cohens_very_happy_visit.php "Roger Cohen's Very Happy Visit with Iran's Jews]. Jeffrey Goldberg's ''Atlantic Blog''. Published 26 February 2009.</ref> and [[Rafael Medoff]], director of the [[David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies]]. In his ''[[Jerusalem Post]]'' [[op-ed]], Medoff criticized Cohen for being "misled by the existence of synagogues" and further argued that Iranian Jews "are captives of the regime, and whatever they say is carefully calibrated not to get themselves into trouble."<ref>{{cite news |first=Rafael|last=Medoff|title=Don't turn Iran's Jews into a political football |work=[[Jerusalem Post]] |date=26 February 2009 |accessdate=22 April 2009 |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410717966&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull}}</ref> The [[American Jewish Committee]] also criticized Cohen's articles. Dr. Eran Lerman, director of the group's Middle East directory, argued that "Cohen’s need to argue away an unpleasant reality thus gives rise to systematic denial".<ref>[http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=6903267 AJC Responds to Roger Cohen Columns on Iran]. By Dr. Eran Lerman. [[American Jewish Committee]]. Published 13 April 2009.</ref> Cohen responded on 2 March, defending his observations and further elaborating that "Iran’s Islamic Republic is no [[Third Reich]] redux. Nor is it a totalitarian state." He also stated that "life is more difficult for them [the Jews] than for Muslims, but to suggest they [Jews] inhabit a totalitarian hell is self-serving nonsense."<ref name="NYT302">{{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=Iran, the Jews and Germany |date=1 March 2009 |accessdate=4 May 2009 |last=Cohen|first=Roger|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/opinion/02cohen.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss}}</ref>

==== Non-government Muslim Shia issues ====

Muslim clerical opponents of the Islamic Republic's political system have not been spared imprisonment. According to an analyst quoted by [[Iran Press Service]], "hundreds of clerics have been arrested, some defrocked, other left the ranks of the religion on their own, but most of them, including some popular political or intellectual figures such as Hojjatoleslam [[Abdollah Noori]], a former Interior Minister or Hojjatoleslam [[Yousefi Eshkevari]], an intellectual, or Hojjatoleslam [[Mohsen Kadivar]]", are "middle rank clerics."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2006/october-2006/broujerdi-arrested_101006.shtml |title=Arrest of a High Ranking Cleric is a Return to Revolutionary Times, October 10, 2006 |publisher=Iran-press-service.com |date=2006-10-10 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

==== Darvish issues ====

Iran's ''Darvish''<ref>{{cite web|author=Posted May 3, 2011 by Tom Thumb. |url=http://www.roadjunky.com/article/581/iran-sufis-dervishes-in-kurdistan |title=Dervishes in Iran and Sufis in Kurdistan |publisher=Roadjunky.com |date=2011-05-03 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> are a persecuted minority. As late as the early 1900s, wandering darvish were a common sight in Iran.<ref>Ali Morteza Samsam Bakhtiari. ''The Last of the Khans: The life of Morteza Quli Khan Samsam Bakhtiari.'' iUniverse, New York, 2006. 215 pages. ISBN 978-0-595-38248-4.</ref> They are now much fewer in number and suffer from [[Sufi#Iran|official opposition to the Sufi religion]].

==== Unreligious people ====

According official Iranian census from 2006 there has been 205,317 [[Irreligion|unreligious]] or irreligious people in Iran, including [[atheism|atheists]], agnostics, [[Religious skepticism|sceptics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amar.sci.org.ir/Detail.aspx?Ln=E&no=98322&S=TP |title=Statistical Centre of Iran: 11. Population by sex and religion (2006) |publisher=Amar.sci.org.ir |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> According Iranian constitution, irreligious person can't become [[president of Iran]].

=== Ethnic minorities ===

Iran is a signatory to the convention to the elimination of racism. UNHCR found several positive aspects in the conduct of the Islamic republic with regards to ethnic minorities, positively citing its agreement to absorb Afghan refugees and participation from mixed ethnicities. However, the committee while acknowledging that teaching of minority languages and literature in schools is permitted, requested that Iran include more information in its next periodic report concerning the measures it has adopted to enable persons belonging to minorities to have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue and to have it used as a medium of instruction.<ref name=UNHCR>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CERD.C.63.CO.6.En?Opendocument |title=United Nations Human Rights Website – Treaty Bodies Database – Document – Concluding Observations/Comments – Iran (Islamic Republic of) |publisher=Unhchr.ch |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

== Current situation ==

[[File:Executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran 2003 - 2013.svg|thumb|Number of executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2003 to 2013 based on [[Ahmed Shaheed]]'s report.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shaheedoniran.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/A-HRC-25-61.pdf|title=Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran|last=Ahmad|first=Shaheed|date=13 March 2014|page=18|accessdate=20 March 2014}}</ref>]]

[[File:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia 13 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|When Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] spoke at [[Columbia University]] a sign on campus noted a rally against child executions in Iran.]]

Under the administration of President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], beginning in 2005, Iran’s human rights record "has deteriorated markedly" according to the group [[Human Rights Watch]]. The number of offenders executed increased from 86 in 2005 to 317 in 2007. Months-long arbitrary detentions of "peaceful activists, journalists, students, and human rights defenders" and often charged with “acting against national security,” has intensified under President Ahmadinejad

<ref name="ICHRIescalates"/> In December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly voted to expressed "deep concern" for Iran's human rights record<ref>[http://www.iranhumanrights.org/themes/documents/un-secretary-general-report.html REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> – particularly "cases of torture; the high incidence of executions and juvenile executions ... ; the persecution of women seeking their human rights; discrimination against minorities and attacks on minority groups like the Baha'is in state media ..."<ref>[http://www.iranhumanrights.org/themes/news/single-news/article/united-nations-general-assembly-deeply-concerned-about-human-rights-conditions.html United Nations General Assembly “Deeply Concerned” about Human Rights Conditions] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> Following the protests over the June 2009 presidential elections, dozens were killed,<ref name="DAREINI"/><ref name="LAtimesDaragahi">{{cite web|author=July 29, 2009|author=Borzou Daragahi |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran29-2009jul29,0,484157.story |title=Iran hard-liners warn Ahmadinejad he could be deposed |publisher=Latimes.com |date=2009-07-29 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> hundreds arrested – including dozens of opposition leaders<ref name="detained"/><ref name="times-arrests"/> – several journalists arrested or beaten, foreign media barred from leaving their offices to report on demonstrations, and Web sites and bloggers threatened.<ref name="DAREINI">[http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD98SIN8O1 Iran accuses US of meddling after disputed vote. By ALI AKBAR DAREINI] 17-June-2009 {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> Basij or Revolutionary Guard were reportedly responsible for at least some of the slain protesters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/06/endviolenceprotest/ |title=16th June 2009, End Violence against Peaceful Protests |publisher=Iranhumanrights.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

=== Freedom of the press ===

In [[Freedom House]]'s 2013 press freedom survey, Iran was ranked "Not Free",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/iran|title= 2013 Freedom of the Press Report: Iran|date=November 2013}}</ref> and among "The world’s eight worst-rated countries" (coming in 5th out of 196).<ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTP%202013%20Booklet%20Final%20Complete%20-%20Web.pdf Freedom of the Press 2013]</ref><ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press-2013/overview-essay Freedom of the Press 2013 Overview Essay]</ref> According to the [[Reporters Without Borders]] Press Freedom Index for 2013, Iran ranked 174th out of 179 nations.<ref>[http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html 2013 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX]</ref>

According to the [[International Press Institute]] and [[Reporters Without Borders]], the government of [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] and the [[Supreme National Security Council]] had imprisoned 50 journalists in 2007 and had all but eliminated press freedom.<ref>[http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?ctxid=CH0056&docid=CMS1210003883133 nine journalists remain in prison at year’s end and the opposition press has all but been quashed through successive closure orders]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, International Press Institute region review.</ref> RWB has dubbed Iran the "Middle East's biggest prison for journalists."<ref>[http://en.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6688 IRAN - 2003 ANNUAL REPORT]</ref><ref>[http://en.rsf.org/iran-emadoldin-baghi-freed-but-iran-23-06-2010,37798.html IRAN STILL MIDDLE EAST’S BIGGEST PRISON FOR JOURNALISTS]</ref>

85 newspapers, including 41 dailies, were shut down from 2000 to the end of 2002 following the passing of the "April 2000 press law."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6688 |title=Reporters without Borders, Iran – 2003 Annual report |publisher=Rsf.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> In 2003,that number was nearly 100.<ref>[http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/doc-2236.pdf THE INTERNET UNDER SURVEILLANCE OBSTACLES TO THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION ONLINE - REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS 2003 REPORT]</ref> There are currently 45 journalists in prison a number surpassed only by Turkey with 49.<ref>[http://www.cpj.org/2012/12/journalists-in-prison-reach-record-high-turkey-ira.php Journalists in prison reach record high]</ref> The "red lines" of press censorship in Iran are said to be questioning rule by clerics (''velayat-e faqih'') and direct attacks on the [[Supreme Leader]]. Red lines have also drawn against writing that "insults Islam, is sexually explicit, "politically subversive," or is allegedly "confusing public opinion."<ref>Molavi, Afshin, ''The Soul of Iran,'' Norton, (2005), p.130</ref>

Journalists are frequently warned or summoned if they are perceived as critical of the government, and topics such as U.S. relations and the country's nuclear program are forbidden subjects for reporting.<ref name=BBCMedia>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5334828.stm The press in Iran], BBC country profile. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gelb |first=Leslie H. |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/index.html?inline=nyt-geo |title=US |publisher=Topics.nytimes.com |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

In February 2008 the journalist Yaghoob Mirnehad was sentenced to death on charges of "membership in the terrorist [[Jundallah (Iran)|Jundallah]] group as well as crimes against national security."<ref name=NYTJournalist>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/world/asia/21iran.html?fta=y Journalist Sentenced to Death in Iran, Accused of Terrorism], Nazila Fathi, ''[[New York Times]]'', 21 February 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref> Mirnehad was executed on 5 July 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottengods.com/2008/08/yaghoob-mehrnehad-first-executed.html |title=First executed Iranian blogger: Yaghoob Mehrnehad |publisher=Rottengods.com |date=2008-08-07 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

In November 2007 freelance journalist Adnan Hassanpour received a death sentence for "undermining national security," "spying," "separatist propaganda" and being a ''mohareb'' (fighter against God).<ref name=RWB>[http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25431 Iran – Annual report 2008], Reporters Without Borders. {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> He refused to sign a confessions, and it is theorized that he was arrested for his work with US-funded radio stations [[Radio Farda]] and [[Voice of America]].<ref name=RWB/> Hassanpour's sentence was overturned on 4 September 2008, by the Tehran Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article5865 |title=Quashing of the death sentence of Mr. Adnan Hassanpour – IRN 007 / 0807 / OBS 092.2 |publisher=Fidh.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Hassanpour still faces espionage charges.<ref>[http://adnanhassanpour.blogspot.com/ Adnan Hassanpour blog] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpj.org/news/2008/mideast/iran05sep08na.html |title=IRAN: Court overturns death sentence but journalist faces espionage charges |publisher=Cpj.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

In June 2008 the Iranian Ministry of Labor stated that the 4,000 member journalists' union, founded in 1997, was "fit for dissolution."<ref name=Union>[http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTIzMDA3NTcwNQ== Iran journalists union to resist government pressure]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, ''[[Kuwait Times]]'', 29 June 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref>

Human rights blogger and U.S. [[National Press Club (USA)|National Press Club]] honoree [[Kouhyar Goudarzi]] has twice been arrested for his reporting, most recently on 31 July 2011. He is currently in detention, and his whereabouts are unknown.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/iran-missing-activist-kouhyar-goudarzi |title=Pressure on Iran over missing activist |author=Saeed Kamali Dehghan |date=4 October 2011 |work=The Guardian |publisher= |accessdate=1 January 2012}}</ref> Following his second arrest, [[Amnesty International]] named him a [[prisoner of conscience]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/087/2011/en/25317220-c315-4fbd-871a-a07349387ea4/mde130872011en.html |title=Urgent Action: Increasing concerns for safety of Goudarzi |date=30 September 2011 |work= |publisher=Amnesty International |accessdate=1 January 2012}}</ref>

=== Artistic freedom===

In 2003, Iranian expatriate director [[Babak Payami]]'s film ''Silence Between Two Thoughts''<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379511/ Sokoote beine do fekr (2003) - IMDb<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> was seized by Iranian authorities, and Payami smuggled a digital copy out of Iran which was subsequently screened

in several film festivals.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668165/news#ni0102620 Iranian Director Smuggles Film Into Venice]</ref>

=== Political freedom ===

Blogger and political activist [[Samiye Tohidlou]] was sentenced to 50 lashes for her activities during protests at the [[Iranian presidential election, 2009|2009 presidential campaign]].<ref name=ICHRI>{{cite web|author=Richard Hooker says: |url=http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/09/somayeh-tohidlou/ |title=Young Political Activist Receives 50 Lashes for Blogging |publisher=Iranhumanrights.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Activist Peyman Aref was sentenced to 74 lashes for writing an "insulting" open letter to [[President Ahmadinejad]], in which he criticized the president's crackdown on politically active students. An unnamed Iranian journalist based in Tehran commented: "Lashing Aref for insulting Ahmadinejad is shocking and unprecedented."<ref name="guardian insult ahmadinejad">{{cite news | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/09/iranian-lashed-insult-ahmadinejad | title=Iranian lashed 74 times for 'insult' to Ahmadinejad | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=9 October 2011 | accessdate=13 October 2011 | author=Dehghan, Saeed Kamali | quote=Peyman Aref [...] has been lashed 74 times for insulting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. [...] In a letter to the president during his 2009 election campaign, Aref attacked Ahmadinejad for his crackdown on students who had been politically active at university and barred from continuing with their studies. [...] "Lashing people sentenced to various charges such as those caught drinking alcohol is common in Iran but political activists are usually lashed for ambiguous charges such as desecrating Islam or prophets," said an Iranian journalist based in Tehran who asked not to be named. "Lashing Aref for insulting Ahmadinejad is shocking and unprecedented."}}</ref>

=== Freedom of movement ===

On May 8, 2007, [[Haleh Esfandiari]] an Iranian-American scholar in Iran visiting her 93-year-old mother, was detained in [[Evin Prison]] and kept in solitary confinement for more than 110 days. She was one of several visiting Iranian-Americans prohibited from leaving Iran in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|last=Menkes |first=Suzy |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/09/africa/ME-GEN-Iran-US-Missing-Woman.php |title="Iranian-American academic held in notorious Iran prison", May 9, 2007 |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=2013-09-17 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> In December 2008, the presidents of the American [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] issued a warning to "American scientists and academics" against traveling to Iran without "clear assurances" that their personal safety "will be guaranteed and that they will be treated with dignity and respect", after Glenn Schweitzer, who had coordinated the academies’ programs in Iran for the past decade, was detained and interrogated.<ref>[National Academies Presidents Issue Warning on Travel to Iran, 29 December 2008]</ref>

=== Internet freedom ===

{{Main|Internet Censorship in Iran}}

The Internet has grown faster in Iran than any other Middle Eastern country (aside from Israel)<ref name="theguardian.com">[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/dec/04/news.iran Censorship fears rise as Iran blocks access to top websites]</ref> since 2000 but the government has censored dozens of websites it considers "non-Islamic" and harassed and imprisoned online journalists.<ref>{{Wayback |date=20080224063811 |url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10733 |title=RSF Internet Iran}} (circa 2004)</ref> In 2006 and again in 2010, the activist group [[Reporters Without Borders]] labeled [[Iran]] one of the 12 or 13 countries it designated "Enemies of the Internet" for stepped up efforts to censor the Internet and jail dissidents.<ref name="guardianuk">Tait, R. (2006.) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1963099,00.html "Censorship fears rise as Iran blocks access to top websites"]. ''The Guardian UK''. Retrieved December 9, 2006.</ref><ref>Reporters Without Borders. (2010). [http://en.rsf.org/web-2-0-versus-control-2-0-18-03-2010,36697 "Web 2.0 versus Control 2.0 - The Enemies of the Internet 2010"]. Retrieved November 25, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hBSpUfRZiVKueedTCg4WxktuHFUgD9ECLTS00 Report finds online censorship more sophisticated By ANICK JESDANUN]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, (AP) 11 March 2010</ref>

It also ranked worst in "Freedom on the Net 2013 Global Scores".<ref>http://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/resources/FOTN%202013_Full%20Report_0.pdf</ref>

Reporters Without Borders also believes that it is the Iranian "government’s desire to rid the Iranian Internet of all independent information concerning the political opposition, the women’s movement and human rights”.<ref>[http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19016 Independent news website closed, blog platform briefly blocked], ''[[Reporters Without Borders]]'', 28 September 2006 {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref> Where the government cannot legally stop sites it uses advanced blocking software to prevent access to them.<ref>[https://opennet.net/studies/iran Internet Filtering in Iran in 2004-2005: A Country Study]</ref><ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/10/us-iran-internet-idUSBRE9290CV20130310 Iran blocks use of tool to get around Internet filter]</ref> Many major sites have been blocked entirely such as Google,<ref name="Iran blocks YouTube & Google">[http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/world/meast/iran-youtube-blocked/index.html Iran blocks YouTube & Google]</ref> YouTube<ref name="theguardian.com"/><ref name="Iran blocks YouTube & Google"/> Amazon.com,<ref name="theguardian.com"/> Wikipedia,<ref name="theguardian.com"/> IMDB.com,<ref name="theguardian.com"/> Voice of America,<ref name="Iran issues list of banned websites">[http://al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/meii/features/main/2010/01/12/feature-03 Iran issues list of banned websites]</ref> BBC.<ref name="Iran issues list of banned websites"/>

=== Deaths in custody ===

In the past several years many people have died in custody in the Islamic Republic, raising fears that "prisoners in the country are being denied medical treatment, possibly as an extra punishment." Two prisoners who died, allegedly after having "committed suicide" while in jail in northwestern Iran – but whose families reported no signs of behavior consistent with suicidal tendencies – are:

* [[Zahra Bani Yaghoub]], (aka Zahra Bani-Ameri), a 27-year-old female physician died in October 2007 while in custody in the town of [[Hamedan]].

* [[Ebrahim Lotfallahi]], also 27, died in a detention center in the town of [[Sanandaj]] in January 2008. "On January 15, officials from the detention center contacted Lotfallahi’s parents and informed them that they had buried their son in a local cemetery."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/01/18/iran17819.htm |title=Iran: Investigate Detention Deaths |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2008-01-18 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Political prisoners who recently died in prison under "suspicious circumstances" include:

* [[Akbar Mohammadi (student)|Akbar Mohammadi]], a student activist, died in Evin prison on 30 July 2006, after waging a hunger strike.<ref name="mysterious">{{cite web|author=Posted by IHRV |url=http://www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=2063 |title=Mysterious death of the Political prisoners in Iran. By IHRV &#124; March 25, 2009 |publisher=Ihrv.org |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> Originally sentenced to death for his participation in the pro-democracy [[Iran student riots, July 1999|July 1999 student riots]], his sentence had been reduced to 15 years in prison. "Several sources told Human Rights Watch that after his arrest in 1999, Mohammadi was severely tortured and ill-treated, leading to serious health problems."<ref name="hrw.org">[http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/03/iran13895.htm Iran: Imprisoned Dissident Dies in Custody]</ref>

* [[Valiullah Faiz Mahdavi]], also died after starting a hunger strike when his appeal for a temporary relief from prison was denied. His cause of death was officially listed as suicide.<ref name="mysterious"/>

* [[Omid Reza Mir Sayafi]], a blogger, died in [[Evin Prison]] 18 March 2009, less than six weeks after starting a 30-month sentence.<ref>[http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/05/releaseosanloo/ Mother and Wife of Ailing, Imprisoned Labor Leader Plead for His Release. 18th May 2009] Retrieved 19 May 2009.</ref>

* [[Amir Hossein Heshmat Saran]], died "in suspicious circumstances" on 6 March 2009 after five years in prison for establishing the United National Front political party.

* [[Abdolreza Rajabi (1962-2008)]] was a member of the [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]] (PMOI), who died unexpectedly in Reja'i Shahr Prison on 30 October 2008.<ref>[http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/deaths-custody-iran-highlight-prison-authorities039-disregard-life-20090320 Deaths in custody in Iran highlight prison authorities' disregard for life. 20 March 2009 ] Retrieved 19 May 2009.</ref> He was transferred from Evin to Raja’i Shahr Prison before the news of his death was announced.<ref name="mysterious"/>

=== Freedom of religion ===

==== Bahá'í issues ====

Around 2005 the situation of Bahá'ís is reported to have worsened;<ref name="cnn2008-05">{{cite news | title = Iran'sااتتنه arrest of Baha'is condemned | publisher = CNN | date = 16 May 2008 | accessdate = 2008-05-17 | author = CNN | url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/16/iran.bahais/}}</ref> the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] revealed an October 2005 confidential letter from Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Iran to identify Bahá'ís and to monitor their activities<ref name="unhchr">{{cite web | author=Asma Jahangir | publisher=United Nations |title = Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or belief concerned about treatment of followers of Bahá'í Faith in Iran | date=20 March 2006 | accessdate=2006-06-01 | url=http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/5E72D6B7B624AABBC125713700572D09?opendocument}}

</ref> and in November 2005 the state-run and influential [[Kayhan]]<ref>{{cite web | author= Michael Rubin | title=Iran Means What It Says | publisher=Middle East Forum | accessdate=2006-06-01 | date=25 January 2006 | url=http://www.meforum.org/article/892}}</ref> newspaper, whose managing editor is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, [[Ali Khamenei|Ayatollah Khamenei]],<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4308203.stm The press in Iran], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', 2005-08-16. Retrieved 2006-06-01.</ref> ran nearly three dozen articles defaming the Bahá'í Faith.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=Iran Human Rights Documentation Center | title=A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran | year=2007 | accessdate=2007-02-25 | url=http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/pdfs/Reports/bahai_report.pdf | format=PDF }}{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

Due to these actions, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stated on 20 March 2006 that she "also expresses concern that the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards. … The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating."<ref name="unhchr" />

In March and in May 2008, "senior members" forming the leadership of the Bahá'í community in Iran were arrested by officers from the Ministry of Intelligence and taken to [[Evin prison]].<ref name="cnn2008-05" />

<ref name="cnn2008-05" /><ref>{{cite news

| title = IRAN: Bahais rounded up

| url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iran-bahais-rou.html

| author = Daragahi, Borzou

| publisher = [[Los Angeles Times]]

| date = 15 May 2008

| accessdate = 2008-10-07

}}</ref><ref name="ihrdc2008">{{cite web

| title = IHRDC Condemns the Arrest of Leading Bahá'ís

| url = http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/pdfs/PressReleases/2008/Press-05-15-08.pdf

| format = PDF

| author = [[Iran Human Rights Documentation Center]]

| publisher = [[Iran Human Rights Documentation Center]]

| date = 15 May 2008

| accessdate= 2008-10-07

}}</ref><ref name="ihrdc2008" />

They have not been charged, and they seem to be prisoners of conscience.<ref>{{cite web

| title = Document – Iran: Arbitrary arrests / Prisoners of conscience

| url = http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/068/2008/en/25f1bbd2-2339-11dd-89c0-51e35dab761d/mde130682008eng.html

| author = [[Amnesty International]]

| publisher = [[Amnesty International]]

| date = 15 May 2008

| accessdate = 2008-10-07

}}</ref>

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has stated that they are concerned for the safety of the Bahá'ís, and that the recent events are similar to the disappearance of 25 Bahá'í leaders in the early 1980s.<ref name="ihrdc2008" />

==== Muslim Shia issues ====

One opponent of theocracy, [[Ayatollah]] [[Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi]] and many of his followers were arrested in Tehran on 8 October 2006. According to mardaninews website, judicial authorities have reportedly released no information concerning Boroujerdi's prosecution and “associates” of Ayatollah Boroujerdi have told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran “that his heart and kidney conditions are grave but he has had no access to specialist care.”

<blockquote>He only receives painkillers for his diseases inside prison. In addition to his physical health, his psychological well-being has also deteriorated due to ill-treatment and lengthy solitary confinement episodes. He has lost 30 kilograms in prison.<ref>[http://mardaninews.de/Deutsch/?p=178 News/Imprisoned Cleric’s Life in Danger/Ayatollah Boroujerdi in need of urgent medical care] {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Ethnic issues ===

According to Amnesty international's 2007 report, "Ethnic and religious minorities" in the Islamic Republic "remained subject to discriminatory laws and practices which continued to be a source of social and political unrest".<ref name=AI>[http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/middle-east-and-north-africa/east-gulf/iran#report Iran Human Rights | Reports, News Articles & Campaigns | Amnesty International]{{dead link|date=September 2013}}</ref>

=== Gender inequality ===

In 2003, Iran elected not to become a member of the UN [[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women]] ([[CEDAW]]) since the convention contradicted the Islamic [[Sharia]] law in Clause A of its single article.<ref name=PayvandGuarCou/>

In a report released 20 Oct 2008, UN Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]] called "discriminatory provisions" against women in criminal and civil laws in Iran "in urgent need of reform," and said gender-based violence was "widespread."<ref>[http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre49j8fg-us-iran-rights-un/ U.N. concerned on Iran human rights ]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>

==== Compulsory hijab ====

{{Wikiquote|religious police}}

In Spring 2007, Iranian police launched a crackdown against women accused of not covering up enough, arresting hundreds of women, some for wearing too tight an overcoat or letting too much hair peek out from under their veil. The campaign in the streets of major cities is the toughest such crackdown since the Islamic revolution.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3069312 Iran Cracks Down on Women's Dress], ''[[Associated Press]]'' (''[[ABC News]]''), 23 April 2007 {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070424134010.0b19xyx9&show_article=1 Criticism mounts over Iran headscarf crackdown]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}, ''[[Agence France Presse]]'', (''Breitbart.com''), 24 April 2007</ref> More than one million Iranians (mostly women) have been arrested in the past year (May 2007 – May 2008) for violating the state dress code according to a May 2008 [[NBC]] Today Show report by Matt Lauer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztDPcAKcUKA&feature=related |title=YouTube, Matt Lauer in Tehran 1 of 4 |publisher=Youtube.com |date=2007-09-13 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

"Guidance Patrols" (''gasht-e ershâd'') — often referred to as "religious police" in Western media – enforce Islamic moral values and dress codes. Reformist politicians have criticized the unpopular patrols but the patrols ‘interminable’ according to Iranian judicial authorities who have pointed out that in the Islamic Republic the president does not have control over the enforcement of dress codes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cuminet.blogs.ku.dk/2009/04/19/too-late-for-a-reformist-momentum/ |title=Too late for a reformist momentum? April 19, 2009 by Rasmus Christian Elling |publisher=Cuminet.blogs.ku.dk |date=2009-04-19 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

====Banning of women from universities====

{{main|Iranian restrictions on women's education}}

In August 2012, following years in which Iranian women students have outperformed Iranian male students, 36 universities announced that 77 BA and BSc courses would be "single gender" and not co-ed.<ref name="Ynet banned">{{cite web | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4270873,00.html | title=Report: Women banned from Iranian university programs | publisher=Yedioth Ahronot | date=20 August 2012 | accessdate=21 August 2012}}</ref> Under this policy, undergraduate women are excluded from a wide variety of studies in leading institutions, including English literature, English translation, hotel management, archaeology, nuclear physics, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and business management. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian Nobel laureate and human rights lawyer exiled in the United Kingdom, wrote to United Nations Secretary General [[Ban ki-Moon]] and High Commissioner for Human Rights [[Navi Pillay]] over the move, saying that Iran's true agenda was to lower the proportion of female students from 65% to below 50%, which would weaken Iran's feminist movement in its campaign against discriminatory Islamic laws.<ref name="HuffPo ban women">{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/iran-universities-women-ban_n_1819281.html?utm_hp_ref=world | title=Iran Universities Reportedly Ban Women | publisher=The Huffington Post | date=21 August 2012 | accessdate=21 August 2012 | author=Bennett-Smith, Meredith}}</ref> Some Iranian parliamentarians have also criticized the new policy.<ref name="Anger as Iran">{{cite web | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9487761/Anger-as-Iran-bans-women-from-universities.html | title=Anger as Iran bans women from universities | publisher=The Telegraph | date=20 August 2012 | accessdate=21 August 2012 | author=Tait, Robert}}</ref>

=== Executions of minors in Iran ===

Iran "leads the world in executing juvenile offenders – persons under 18 at the time of the crime" according to [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/20/iran16211.htm |title=Iran: Prevent Execution of Juvenile Offender |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2007-06-20 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran states that of the 32 executions of juvenile offenders that have taken place in the world since January 2005, 26 occurred in Iran.<ref name="ICHRIescalates"/> In 2007 Iran executed eight juvenile offenders.<ref name="hrwchild"/>

In July of that year, [[Amnesty International]] issued a comprehensive 46-page report titled ''Iran: The last executioner of children'' noting Iran had executed more children between 1990 and 2005 than any other state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/059/2007 |title=Iran: The last executioner of children |publisher=Amnesty.org |date=2007-06-27 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Article 6.5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) declares: “Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age” and the article 37(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that: “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age”.<ref>[http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/the_row.aspx The Row — Minors on Death Row in Iran], StopChildExecutions.com {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref>

In January 2005, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors states' compliance with the CRC, urged Iran to immediately stay all executions of child offenders and to abolish the use of the death penalty in such cases. In the summer of 2006, the Iranian Parliament reportedly passed a bill establishing special courts for children and adolescents. However, it has not yet been approved by the Council of Guardians, which supervises Iran's legislation to ensure conformity with Islamic principles. During the past four years, the Iranian authorities have reportedly been considering legislation to ban the death penalty for child offenders. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson indicates that the proposed law would only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes, and not all crimes committed by children.

In spite of these efforts, the number of child offenders executed in Iran has risen during the past two years. As of July 2008, [[Stop Child Executions Campaign]] has recorded over 130 minors facing executions in Iran.

In late 2007, Iranian authorities hanged Makwan Mouludzadeh in Kermanshah prison for crimes he is alleged to have committed when he was 13 years of age. According to Human Rights Watch, this was despite the fact that his accusers had recanted their statements and Mouladzadeh had repudiated his confession as being coerced by the police, and despite the fact that the head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, had ordered a unit of the Judiciary to investigate the case and refer it back to the Penal Court of Kermanshah, before any final decision on an execution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/12/05/iran17482.htm |title=Iran: Prevent Execution of Juvenile Offender |publisher=Hrw.org |date=2007-12-05 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref>

A 2004 case that gained international attention was the hanging of 16-year-old schoolgirl [[Atefah Sahaaleh]].<ref name=Sahaaleh>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217424.stm |title=Programmes &#124; Execution of a teenage girl |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref><ref>http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=18928 {{dead link|date=November 2010}}</ref>

=== Significant activists ===

The following individuals represent a partial list of individuals who are currently, or have in the past, significantly attempted to improve the human rights situation in Iran.

* [[Shirin Ebadi]]

* [[Nasrin Sotoudeh]]

* [[Akbar Ganji]]

* [[Mehrangiz Kar]]

* [[Emad Baghi]]

* [[Abdolfattah Soltani]]

* [[Mohammad Ali Dadkhah]]

===Organizations===

Iran has an [[Islamic Human Rights Commission]], but it is "housed in a government building and headed by the chief of the judiciary," and is not considered to be particularly concerned with human rights abuses, according to Nobel peace prize laureate and founder of [[Defenders of Human Rights Center]] [[Shirin Ebadi]].<ref>Ebadi, ''Iran Awakening'', (2006), p.133-4</ref>

== See also ==

{{Portal|Iran|Human rights}}

* [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]

* [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners]]

* [[2009 Iranian election protests]]

* ''[[Be Like Others]]'', a documentary film about transsexuality in Iran

* [[Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam]]

* [[Defenders of Human Rights Center]], Iran's leading Human Rights organization.

* [[Ethnic minorities in Iran]]

* [[Freedom of speech in Iran]]

* [[History of Islamic Republic of Iran]]

* [[International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran]]

* [[International rankings of Iran]]

* [[Judicial system of Iran]]

* [[Religion in Iran]]

* [[Status of religious freedom in Iran]]

* [[Stop Child Executions Campaign]]

* [[Ahmad Reza Radan]], who was in charge of 2007 moralization plan

===Notable prisons===

* [[Evin Prison]]

* [[Gohardasht Prison]]

* [[Kahrizak detention center]]

* [[Prison 59]]

* [[Prison 209]]

* [[Towhid Prison]]

<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->

===Notable prisoners===

* [[Kamiar and Arash Alaei incident|Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei]]

* [[Reza Alinejad]]

* [[Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani]]

* [[Emadeddin Baghi]]

* [[Delara Darabi]]

* [[Nazanin Fatehi]]

* [[Kouhyar Goudarzi]]

* [[Zeynab Jalaliyan]]

* [[Ateqeh Rajabi]]

* [[Nasrin Sotoudeh]]

* [[Majid Tavakoli]]

== References ==

{{Reflist|2}}

=== Further reading ===

* {{cite book | last=Abrahamian |first= Ervand |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_mnrYNIVfCgC&pg=PP1&hl=en |title= Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran| publisher= University of California Press |year= 1999 | isbn = 0-520-21866-3 }}

* {{cite book | last=Sciolino | first = Elaine |title = Persian Mirrors : the Elusive Face of Iran |publisher = Free Press |year= 2000 | isbn = 0-684-86290-5 }}

* {{cite book | last= Ebadi |first = Shirin |title = [[Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope]]|author2=Azadeh Moaveni |publisher= Random House|year= 2006 |isbn=1-4000-6470-8}}

== External links ==

{{Wikisource|Report on Human Rights Practices in Iran – 1999}}

{{commons category|Human rights in Iran}}

* [http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/mde130022012en.pdf ‘We are ordered to crush you.’ Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran.] Amnesty International 2012

* [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/010/2009/en Iran: Human Rights in the spotlight on the 30th Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution], 5 February 2009

* [http://payvand.com/blog/blog/2010/05/29/amnesty-international-report-2010-on-iran/ Amnesty International report 2010 on Iran]

* {{Wayback |date=20111128052827 |url=http://www.realite-eu.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=9dJBLLNkGiF&b=2315291&ct=6447799 |title=REALITE-EU Human Rights Violations and Torture in Iran 2009}}

* [http://iranhr.net/ Iran Human Rights]

* [http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/iran/index.do Amnesty International's Concerns about Iran]

* {{Wayback |date=20070313232527 |url=http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/irn-summary-eng |title=International 2005 report }}

* [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2011&country=8057 Freedom House: Freedom in the World Country Report: Iran]

*[http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010&country=7842 Freedom House: Freedom of the Press 2010 Report: Iran]

*[http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/Iran2011.pdf Freedom House: Freedom on the Net 2011: Iran] {{dead link | date=January 2013}}

* [http://hrw.org/doc/?t=mideast_pub&c=iran Human Rights Watch – Iran Documents]

* [http://hrw.org/doc?t=mideast&c=iran Human Rights Watch's Developments in Iran]

* [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/iran9803.htm Human Rights Watch 2005 report]

* [http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=5&start=0 Various human rights news stories at ''Iran Focus'']

* {{Wayback |date=20070207145709 |url=http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/221/ |title=Freedom of Expression violations in Iran }}, [[International Freedom of Expression Exchange|IFEX]]

* {{Wayback |date=20070311041453 |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGMDE130742006 |title=Human rights violations against Iranian Azeri Turks}}{{verification needed|date=January 2013}}

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1830835,00.html Guardian Newspaper – Special Report – Death of a Teenager]

* [http://iranhrdc.org/ Iran Human Rights Documentation Center]

* [http://www.abfiran.org/ Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran]

* [http://mehr.org/Islamic_Penal_Code_of_Iran.pdf Translation of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran] Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran (MEHR Iran)

* [http://www.alaviandassociates.com/documents/civilcode.pdf Translation of the Iranian Civil Code] by Alavi and Associates

{{Asia topic|Human rights in}}

{{Human rights in the Middle East}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Rights In The Islamic Republic Of Iran}}

[[Category:Human rights in Iran| ]]

[[Category:History of the Islamic Republic of Iran]]

[[Category:Women's rights in Iran]]

[[Category:Human rights by country|Islamic Republic of Iran]]