Crumbs of human rights

The Iranian prisons have never promised any kind of humane treatment. Not only the lack of light and hygiene threaten the health conditions of prisoners of conscience, but it is fairly easy to develop infections and severe diseases there. Moreover, the prospects of getting adequate medications and accessing specialised medical care are drastically low. The authorities frequently transfer prisoners in need of medical care to hospital, but they are very often not provided actual treatment, instead are simply returned to prison. There are two recent and significant cases I’d like to draw your attention to.  The first, I’d like to mention to you is the case of Narges Mohammadi, that already know quite well. But in the meantime, her health conditions have been further worsened. Our latest information about her: Narges was taken to hospital on 1 August. On that day, she was  suffering from partial paralysis. Although doctors at the hospital advised her to be examined by a s...

Our high-profile human rights defender of the month is Narges Mohammadi, who is well-known within Iran and beyond. In early May, she was arrested at her home. Security forces took her to Tehran's Evin Prison. Amnesty International considers Narges Mohammadi a prisoner of conscience, who has been held solely for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Latest information: Amnesty International's has just learnt that Narges Mohammadi was taken to hospital on 1 August suffering from partial paralysis. She is being denied the specialis ed treatment she needs, and is facing charges based on her human rights activities. You can read more about her case and take action for her here. Send your own tweet! Tweet #FreeNargesMohammadi You can also read the latest tweets about here below. Feel free to post your own tweet on Twitter and use the hashtag #NargesMohammadi to join the conversation. #NargesMohammadi Tweets

On 15 June, shortly after the day of solidarity with Iranian women (12 June), about three dozen people gathered at Amnesty International UK’s Human Rights Action Centre to take part in an event on women’s rights in Iran. They came to learn more about Iranian women’s fight for gender equality and take various actions for female human rights defenders. The evening kicked off with an excellent documentary by Sheema Kalbasi, which gave the audience a good overview on the restrictions imposed on women’s daily lives. With the help of this film, ‘Women on the Front Line’, we learnt about the discriminatory laws and practices that exist in the country, such as the fact that a woman’s testimony at court is valued half as that of a man. Or to name another typical example: the law says that the guardianship of a child is with her father. After the film, we turned to our special guests who enlightened us about the situation of women in some specific contexts. Our first speaker, Dr ...