Amnesty International's annual report: Human rights violations in Iran in eight areas

In its annual report, Amnesty International examined the human rights situation in 2017 in 159 countries, including Iran.

The report says that the progress achieved in the human rights situation, despite great hardships, shows that defending human rights can bring positive results.

Amnesty International has called the purpose of preparing this report to highlight people's struggles to gain their rights and the failure of governments to respect human rights.

"These countries either violated human rights or asked others to violate human rights," said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has examined the human rights situation in Iran in 2017 in eight areas:

• In the section on freedom of expression, association and assembly, it is recalled that a large number of critics, protesters, journalists, online media workers, students, filmmakers, musicians, writers, human rights activists, environmental activists, trade union activists, women's rights activists, minorities, opponents of the death penalty, lawyers and those who sought justice for the perpetrators and perpetrators of mass executions in the 1960s have been arrested and imprisoned.
• Authorities have detained and imprisoned hundreds of people who took part in peaceful protests in dozens of cities more than a month ago. The judiciary has called the Telegram channel a threat to national security. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have also been blocked. Authorities have continued to crack down on mixed parties. And censorship is widespread.
• Regarding torture and other punitive measures, Amnesty International, while expressing concern about the prevalence of torture, says that detainees continue to be held in solitary confinement by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guard. In many cases, the authorities deny political prisoners access to medical care. This is a deliberate act aimed at pressuring them to repent.
• Another type of torture is the public execution of flogging sentences for teenagers accused of theft, breaking the fast, and participating in mixed parties.
• Unfair trials, violations of freedom of religion and belief, discrimination against ethnic minorities, and discrimination against women and girls are four other issues highlighted in the Amnesty International report.
• Regarding discrimination against ethnic minorities, discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Baluchis, Kurds, and Turkmens is specifically mentioned in detail.
• Amnesty International's report on women says: Women suffer discrimination both in practice and in law, including in the right to divorce, employment, inheritance equal to men, and political responsibilities.
• The execution of hundreds of people following unfair trials, in public, the execution of juveniles who were under the age of eighteen when they committed the crime, and the execution of stoning are other areas of concern for Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has been closely monitoring the human rights situation in Iran in recent years.

Source: Voice of America