NEWS))))))

On Sat. Dec. 10 on Human Right's Day the Iranian- Canadians during their weekly protest in front of the Parliament and across from Primre Minister's office called for the freedom of all political, Bahai', Sunni ...prisoners. In particular they called for the release of Narges Mohammadi, Ali Moezi, Arash Sadeghi, Maryam Akbari Monfared, Arzhang Davoodi, and Mohammad Ali Taheri.

On Dec. 6, 2016 the Iran-Democratic Association held an exhibition in the Common Wealth room of the Canadian parliament call: "the enchained Human Rights". Along side the pictures of  the victims of 1988 massacre, Reyhaneh Jabbari's, and Sattar Beheshti's pictures were noticeable.



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According to State-run Digarban website Dec. 4, Minoo Aslani, director of Iranian regime's women's Bassij Force, said the efforts promoting gender equality are "against the interests of women". She criticized the government for undertaking commitments with the UN to establish gender equality within the next 15 years. Aslani also condemned the international campaign to eliminate violence against women. She expressed her opposition to equal employment opportunities for women and men and said that she believed it to be an obstacle preventing women from attending to their families' needs.

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Political prisoner Shahla Mohammadiani, 28, has been tortured viciously under interrogation for 67 days while detained in solitary confinement of Mahabad's Intelligence Department in Iranian Kurdistan. Heman, her brother, said Shahla had been tortured so much so that her left shoulder has been rendered disabled.
Shahla Mohammadiani is charged with membership in one of the Kurdish parties and of disseminating anti-government propaganda. Her brother has denied the trumped up charges.

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16 Iranian female high school students poisoned by gas leakage were taken to hospital on December 9, the state-run Tasnim news agency reported. The students were sleeping in the dormitory of Kardanesh Rezvan High School for girls when gas leaked from the dormitory's worn-out heating system. Kardanesh High school is located in a deprived district called Margoon in the southwestern province of Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad.

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Security forces prevented a seven-year-old girl from entering Tehran's Azadi Stadium to watch a football game along with her father. She had traveled to Tehran from Shabestar (northwestern province of East Azerbaijan) to watch an important competition between two of the country's best teams, Esteghlal and Trakhtorsazi. The World Football Federation has repeatedly warned the Iranian regime against forbidding women from entering the stadiums. (The state-run Khabaronline website, December 10, 2016)

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Forces of the municipality of Ahwaz attacked and wounded an old street vendor on December 6. The 70 year old woman was hit by electric shockers. She's receiving treatments in a hospital, according to her son.



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A human chain called, "I am a the next victim," was formed by residents of Piranshahr (northwest Iran) on December 8, to protest the increase in the number of casualties of road accidents in this city. Most of the protesters were young women and girls. They demanded expedition of the construction of Piranshahr-Naghadeh highway and the repair of Piranshahr-Sardasht Road. Protesters were dispersed after the State Security Force intervened.

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According to published news, Mona Houshmand, a Bahai' student, was expelled from university due to her faith. Mona had been admitted in October 2016 to the University of Art and Architecture of Bojnurd-Capital of North Khorasan province, North of Iran- in architectural engineering.



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In the wake of her effort to defend the rights of other prisoners, political prisoner Afsaneh Bayazidi was badly beaten up by prison guards in the Central Prison of Kerman when she started to shout: Down with dictator, Down with Islamic Republic. The political prisoners were protesting the shut off of warm water for showers in the ward that had lasted for 2 weeks.


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Christian prisoner of conscience Maryam Naghash Zargaran returned to prison on December 6, after the Iranian Judiciary refused her conditional freedom.
Ms. Zargaran, 35, had been on a medical leave for treatment of her various illnesses including a serious heart condition, deteriorated due to pressure and unsuitable conditions in prison. She has been imprisoned in the women's ward of the Evin Prison in Tehran since July 15, 2013.

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With the approach of the International Human Rights Day, Amnesty International launched a new petition for freedom of a number of human rights activists around the world. Among them the Kurdish Iranian woman, Zeinab Jalalian, who is denied treatment for her eyes.
Amnesty International explained, "Zeynab Jalalian,34, was a political activist working to empower Iran’s ethnic minority Kurds, particularly women.
In 2008, she was jailed for life for her supposed links to the military wing of a Kurdish opposition group. Her trial was grossly unfair. Not only was it over within a few minutes, but she was sentenced based on “confessions” she says she made after enduring months of torture. There was also no evidence linking her to armed activities, and she was not allowed to communicate with her lawyer.
Before her trial, she was held in a cell on her own for eight months. During this time, says Zeynab, she was flogged on the soles of her feet, and her head was repeatedly rammed against a wall, fracturing her skull and causing bleeding in the brain.
Today Zeynab suffers from a severe eye condition that urgently needs specialist surgery. Yet the authorities won’t permit it. She needs our help. Iran’s authorities took away her freedom – we can’t let them take away her sight.

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According to state-run Isna news agency, holding mixed-sex camping ventures by universities has been officially banned in Iran. The announcement was made by the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Mohammad Farhadi, on December 7, just one day after Iran's Students Day. He told the parliament that such camping events would be punished.


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Nine Iranian women and 14 men were arrested on Dec. 5 in a co-ed party in Kahoo village garden, announced the IRGC commander of Chenaran, in the northeastern province of Khorasan. Those arrested were handed over with their files to the city's judiciary officials.
(The state-run ROKNA news agency – December 6, 2016)



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Civil activist Laila Mir-Ghaffari was summoned to the Intelligence Department in Tehran on December 6, to be interrogated on her activities. The young woman was arrested in a protest rally outside the Evin Prison last year on November 21, and taken to Varamin's Qarchak Prison. She was released after a week on November 28, 2015, on a 50-million-touman bail bonds.


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Twelve Iranians men and women were sentenced by the Judiciary in Shiraz to a total of 379 months of imprisonment, prohibited from leaving the country, and deprived from getting employed. The convicts were involved in modelling and fashion businesses.




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The number of women imprisoned for committing undeliberate crimes has doubled, said the spokesman of the parliamentary Judiciary Committee. He explained, "A considerable number of women have got entangled in special living circumstances complicated by a general lack of management and their own family problems. Some of them are not able to pay for their debts and that is why they have been imprisoned."
(The state-run House of People (parliament) website – December 2, 2016)