On Friday Feb. 8, 2019 The Alternative National Council
of Resistance of Iran on the 40th anniversary of the 1979 anti-monarch
revolution held a huge rally in Paris and condemned the ongoing human rights
violations in Iran and called for the IRGC(Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps)
and MOI(Ministry of Intelligence) to be listed as Terrorist organizations,
Iranian regime's diplomats to be expelled from UN, and the Iran's seat to be
assigned to the National Council of Resistance of Iran. This story was picked
up by Midas around the world.
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Prison guards beat female prisoners and used tear gas,
firearms, and pepper spray during raids inside wards 1 and 2 of Qarchak Prison
in Varamin on Thursday, February 7. According
to reports, the attack and beating of the female prisoners continued until
Friday morning, February 8. After
the female prisoners in wards 1 and 2 of Qarchak (Shahr-e Ray) Prison of
Varamin tried to raise awareness that one of the prisoners needed medical care,
the security forces responded with violence, firing tear gas and pepper spray. Prisoners set fire to their
beds and bed sheets in order to neutralize the effects of the pepper spray and
tear gas fired in the closed area. However, the prison authorities used a fire
engine to extinguish the fire while women were still trapped in their ward. A
number of female prisoners in Qarchak Prison in Varamin were violently
transferred to Evin Prison. On
Saturday, February 9, 40
female prisoners from Qarchak Prison in Varamin, were transferred to Ward 240
of Evin Prison by prison officials, while their heads were covered with sacks. Responding to reports of
the attack that began on Thursday, February 7, 2019, Amnesty International’s
Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philip
Luther said, “The reports of the Iranian prison guards’ reckless and heavy-handed
response to protests at Shahr-e-Rey prison are deeply alarming. Many prisoners
were reported to have received hospital treatment for the effects of tear gas.
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Hundreds of teachers, educators and other sectors held
massive protest rallies in Isfahan and Qazvin in Iran on Thursday, February 7
against the regime’s policies, including the drying up of Zayanderud water. This
peaceful rally was attacked by Security forces that used tear gas and pepper
spray to disperse the crowds. On the same day, a group of teachers and
educators in the Esfarvarin district of Qazvin Province gathered in front of
the governor building and protested against false promises of the housing
cooperative and lack of accountability of the judiciary after twelve years.
On Thursday, February 7, a group of defrauded clients
cheated by Padideh Shandiz in Mashhad held a protest gathering and On Tuesday,
February 5, a group of plundered clients of the Sekkey (coin) Talay-e Samen
gathered outside the General Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran and protested
against the loss and plunder of their assets.
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A 12-year-old girl student named Leila Osmani, along
with her 13 year old brother Abbas Osmani, lost their lives when a school
minibus carrying young students crashed with a trailer truck. 10 other students
were injured in the accident.
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General director of the Welfare Organization of Ilam
Province in Iran said the number of under-15 marriages of girl children in Ilam
amounted to 94 in first nine months of the current year. In an interview with
the state-run IRNA news agency on February 6, Zahra Hemmati announced that a
total of 98 under-15 marriages took place in Ilam 94 of which were girl
children and four were boys under 15 years of age.
On the statistics of the previous year, Hemmati said,
“There were 188 under-15 marriages of girl children in Ilam in 2017 registered
in various cities and counties. There were five cases of under-15 boys getting
married. So, there were a total of 193 under-15 marriages in 2017.” The official
acknowledged that under-15 marriages needed to be rectified. She said, “The
phenomenon of child marriages is a new social ailment we face in this province.
The number of child marriages in this province which are considered forcible
marriages, is particularly noteworthy in one of the cities.” (The official IRNA
news agency – February 5, 2019)
