Dozens of juveniles on death row in Iran
National Council of Resistance of Iran said on Sat.: according to reports, a number of juveniles charged by the Iranian regime are being held at Gohardasht prison in the city of Karaj, with many of them already on death row. Identification documentations for some of these young prisoners have been expired and they are left with no legal identities. The NCRI named 12 people who are on death row and added: all of the prisoners named were under 18 years of age at the time of committing their alleged crimes. Some have been in prison for up to 3 years.
A Baha’i woman sentenced to 2 years in prison
The semi-official Mashregh news website said Saturday that Jinous Sobhani was arrested in early January with her husband and eight other members of the Baha’i faith after anti-government protests on the Muslim holy day of Ashura. The Baha’is were blamed for the protests, said Diane Ala’i, representative to the United Nations for the Baha’i International Community. “They had nothing to do with the demonstrations,” Ala’i said. “The accusations are completely false.” Iranian regime views followers of the the Baha’i faith, as “heretics” who may face repression on the grounds of apostasy. Baha’is may not establish places of worship, schools, or any independent religious associations in Iran. In addition, Baha’is are barred from the military and denied government jobs. Seven national Baha’i leaders are currently serving 10-year sentences.
US orders sanctions against 8 Iranian officials for rights abuses
Associated France Press reported: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered sanctions against eight senior Iranian officials for alleged human rights abuses during the crackdown against those protesting the 2009 elections. ’This is the first time the United States has imposed sanctions against Iran based on human rights abuses,’ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a press conference with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. ’We would like to be able to tell you that it might be the last, but we fear not,’ the chief US diplomat added. The eight targeted for sanctions ’share responsibility for the sustained and severe violation of human rights in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election,’ the Treasury Department said in a statement. Clinton added that ’on these officials’ watch or under their command Iranian citizens have been arbitrarily, beaten, tortured, raped, blackmailed and killed.’ Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, Prosecutor General Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi, the minister of welfare and social security, Sadeq Mahsouli, the deputy chief of Iran’s national police, Ahmad-Reza Radan, the deputy Revolutionary Guard commander for intelligence, Hossein Taeb, and the former Tehran prosecutor genera and the killer of Iranian-Canadian Zahar Kazemi, Saeed Mortazavi are the eight to be the target of the US’s sanctions. The eight will also be denied visas to the United States.
