Crumbs of human rights

Since the presidency of Ahmadinejad, students and academics have been targeted for their political activism, engagement in peaceful protests or for exercising their right to freedom of expression. In the aftermath of the 2009 election, the authorities sought to tighten their grip over the universities even more. Professors have been fired or forcibly retired; many academics have been persecuted for attending conferences abroad, having connections to other academics in their field or being linked to reformist political groups. Retired professor seen as enemy because of his party affiliation   The latter seems to be the trigger for the imprisonment of the retired chemistry professor, Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood (Hossein Rafiee). He was arrested without a warrant by Ministry of Intelligence officials in mid-June and later transferred to the Evin Prison. So, why exactly is he serving a prison sentence for his peaceful political activism? Because of his “membership of an illegal ...

The Iranian Female Football Star can’t take part in the next international tournament due to the travel ban imposed by her husband. Niloufar Ardalan (alias Lady Goal) is one of Iran's best female players and the captain of the national team. She was meant to kick the ball at the Asian Football  Confederation's championship in futsal, held at the end of September in Malaysia. (Source: www.dailymail.co.uk) As Ms Ardalan said, her husband has refused to grant her permission to travel abroad. Allegedly, the reason: her husband wants her to be at home on the first day of school for their 7-year-old son. In Iran, married women need the consent of their spouses to leave the country . They can be banned from travelling abroad if their husbands refuse to sign the papers needed to get or renew a passport. This is not the first discriminatory measure that favours men, related to sports. We have learnt from the story of Ghoncheh Ghavami that women aren’t allowed to ent...