By Siamak Ghaderi*

Prison work for inmates in Iran is a chance to briefly escape the inexorable walls that prescribe their daily lives for years on end or perhaps for the rest of their lives. However, prison workers have become slaves in ventures solely aimed at replenishing the pockets of prison officials.

Workers work six days a week for six hours each day but only get paid about 17 USD per month. Their products including garments, textiles, fuiture, and handicrafts are sold in the black market with “made in china” labels.

Many of these prisoners are incarcerated for charges such as bad cheques, failure to pay the lump sum alimony often stipulated in Iranian marriage contracts, and various other financial misdemeanours. However their impulse to work in order to get a relative degree of respite from prison restrictions has become a source of jobbery for prison authorities who have no regard for the law and the defined legal frameworks for work, income and fine payments.

According to Regulations of the Prison Organization, as long as there are no employment bans in the sentencing, prisoners can participate in employment training programs commensurate with their background, age, gender, nationality, type of offence, length of sentence, mental health state, personality, skills, education and expertise; i.e. they can engage in paid work.

Officially prisoners are not allowed to engage in commerce and monetary transactions in prison; however, some prisoners are allowed to engage in producing handcrafted products or take on prison tasks in exchange for non monetary goods which often takes the form of cigarettes.

However there are strict restrictions on the extent of such trade; therefore, prison authorities often inspect prison cells to confiscate large accumulation of cigarette packs or other similar goods leaving prisoners without means to secure their nutritional, medical or hygienic needs.

Prison workshops and work centres are where the most official forms of employment for inmates is offered but it is also where exploitation of prisoners’ labour reaches its peak.

According to regulations the wage rate for the workers is to be commensurate with their expertise and the nature of their jobs. Fifty percent of the wages is paid to the dependent family of the prisoner; 25 percent is deposited into a prison account which the prisoner can collect upon release; twenty percent is deposited in the prisoner’s personal account and the last five percent is collected by prison administration for possible damages and accidents arising from the employment.

Work available to prisoners entails trades such as textile and fuiture production and the fruit of their labour sometimes disappears in the market with “Made in China” marks to prevent any form of accountability regarding their profit. Workers work six days a week for six hours each day but only get between 28 to 50 thousand toumans (about 17 USD) per month.

17 USD per month is only 5 percent of the minimum wage set for workers last year which is already considered a sentence to a life of poverty for all workers.

Meanwhile there are no insurance benefits to assist the workers in case of injury to get back to work. Losing the ability to work is therefore synonymous with losing their meagre wages as well as the privilege of daily escape from the strict confines of their prison life.

*This report is part of field work from Iran. The findings are based on interviews with prisoners who have experienced the work-ward. Read the original report in Persian here.

by: Assad Binakhahi

Two Iranian-Kurdish porters carrying loads across the Chalderan border were killed and three others severely injured by Islamic Republic security forces last week. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has identified the two deceased porters as Borhan Alam Houlo and Mostafa Mehrpour.

Porters (kulbar) work in the border regions of Kurdistan transporting goods on their backs, often without the help of any beasts of burden. They are hired by traders to take goods across the border in Weste Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces. The five porters shot at by Iranian security forces were reportedly from villages in Weste Azerbaijan.

Earlier last week two other porters, two brothers from Sardasht were also killed by the security forces. Following this incident security forces were reportedly put on high alert and residents of the border regions were waed to refrain from engaging in the cross-border activity.

Meanwhile in the Piranshahr border areas horses of the locals were shot at and killed. Local reports maintain that security forces have been shooting horses since three years ago in an attempt to prevent the local smuggling operation. The killings have triggered a wave of protests from animal rights activists. Kurdish reporter and activist Saman Rasoulpour reports that scores of mules and horses have been shot down to keep porters in check and by extension to silence any protests against the dismal living conditions in the region.

Porters are often from impoverished families that are driven to the hazardous job to make ends meet. The govement has steered clear of investing in development projects in the border regions of the country which has made these areas suffer from persistent high unemployment.

Meanwhile close to 20 Kurds in Weste Azerbaijan were arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. In Mahabad, Oshnouyeh and Sanandaj many people have been arrested at their workplaces or homes without valid arrest warrants.

The arrests appear to be related to tensions between the opposition group Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Revolutionary Guards in the past months which has caused several deaths and injuries in the recent weeks. While the IRGC reported last week that they prevented the illegal entry of a group of 11 people in the Kurdistan border regions, the Kurdistan Democratic Party aounced that it has killed scores of Revolutionary Guards forces.

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By Reza Jozani

On 8 July, Abbas Kirostami’s body arrived in Tehran from Paris; a crowd of Iranian film directors, actors, actresses and other artists were in Tehran airport to pay their respects.

Kiarostami, a director whose films served a poetic introduction to the lives of the ordinary Iranians, died Monday, July 4, at his home in Paris. He was 76 and battling gastrointestinal cancer.

His sons Ahmad and Bahman Kiarostami had attended a funeral service for him in Paris on 8 July 2016 before his body was air transported to Iran.

The crowd that had gathered for this service in Paris held a vigil by the river Seine. They then allowed the Seine waves to take photos of Kiarostami that the crowd had left on the river floating. It was symbolic moment of saying goodbye to a film director that many Iranians have come to passionately appreciate.

There is funeral scheduled for Sunday 10 July in Tehran. Kiarostami’s body will be escorted from the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults were Kiarostami first started his job as a filmmaker.
Kiarostami has mentioned in many interviews that the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults was where he became a filmmaker the place for “the making of an artist.”

Kiarostami’s son, Ahmad will not be able to attend his father’s funeral in Tehran. He has been involved with Diaspora dissident organizations and has security conces for travelling to Iran.

In an emotional Facebook post, Ahmad Kiarostami asked anyone who is attending his father’s funeral to wear their most beautiful attires: “if you are going to say goodbye to my father, wear your best attire that would be appropriate for a celebration of my father’s productive and creative life.”

Many famous Iranian filmmakers and artists had gathers in the House of Artists in Tehran and they all went to the airport together to pay their respects to the body of Kiarostami. The Ministry of Islamic Guidance officials were also there and they had paved down a red carpet.

Reza Mirkarimi, a director, screenwriter and the current CEO of Iranian House of Cinema , made an emotional speech criticising the spectacle of the “red carpet” that was paved by the Iranian govement.

Mirkarimi in the presence of officials from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said: “Hello, welcome home master. Take this welcoming ceremony of all the other welcomings that were never extended to you.”

Bahman, Kiarostami’s son who is also a filmmaker has accompanied his father’s body from france but was not feeling well and did not make a speech.

Before the arrival of Kiarostami’s body, hundreds of Iranians attended a candle vigil ceremony to mou his death on the streets of Tehran

Iranian politician, mostly from the moderate reformist groups, also flooded the twitter with condolence messages.
President Hassan Rohani said on Twitter on July 5 that the director’s “deep conce toward life and invitation to peace and friendship” will be a “lasting achievement” of his work.

The great director’s films are marked by his gaze at human relations in times of struggles and death. His films are about life and strive of humans to stay alive and feel empathy for the other.

His death became the main headline of numerous media inside Iran and in the past week people of Iran have been mouing him on social media networks.

Kiarostami’s cinema was made in Iran but was close reading of human relation with the other and as such this cinema found global audiences. His film ‘Taste of Cherry’ which is about a man driving around in town and looking for help to commit suicide, received the prestigious Palme d’Or at Caes Film Festival in 1997.

Images of spectators participating in the third week of the world volleyball championships in Tehran revealed a number of women inside the stadium.

In the past years Islamic Republic official have barred Iranian women from entering stadiums to watch sports events.

Meanwhile activists have been challenging the prohibition and despite their concerted efforts with the moderate govement of President Rohani, conservative factions have persisted in preventing women from attending sports events.

Now the recent show of women in the first week of July 2016 in the Azadi stadium has been questioned in social media as tokenism.

The volleyball games were held in Tehran on Saturday and Sunday. The volleyball federation aounced that 466 tickets were sold to women but a message in the early stages of ticket sales told purchasers that due to the limited number of seats for women there were no more tickets available for women.

Last week Iran’s National TV aired images of spectators in a game between Iran and Serbia and the group of women shown appeared to be mostly dressed in strict Islamic dress code for women and lacking in enthusiasm toward the game.

The social media exchanges maintain that the women in the stadium were families of the players or employees of the ministry of youth and sports who had been instructed to control their behaviour in the stadium.

The reports in twitter maintain that the token presence of women among the spectators is only to prevent Iran’s exclusion from hosting the games due to the restriction Islamic Republic officials are setting against women spectators.

The restrictions against women attending volleyball events in Tehran stadiums go back to two years ago when Iran faced Japan in two games in Tehran to determine the Asian representative in the FIVB World League 2014. No woman was barred from attending the first game but thousands were prevented from attending the second, and highly sensitive, game.

In 2014, the clusters of women trying to get into the games was then dispersed by security officers. Websites linked to conservative factions reported at the time that the prohibition was brought about following “inappropriate scenes” caused by the presence of women in the first game.

Iran’s Women’s Sports Adviser was quoted as saying that their office is against barring women from attending sports events in stadiums adding that “measures could be put in place to resolve the opposition to women’s presence in stadiums.

Despite promises, Shahindokht Molaverdi, President Hassan Rohani’s Adviser in Women and Family Affairs has been quoted as saying that the administration has abandoned efforts to facilitate presence of women as spectators in sports events due to opposition from senior religious figures.

Award-Wiing Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Dies Cartoon by: Assad Binakhahi

On July 2nd a university student stood up to Islamic Republic’s leader and raised his voice in form of a question about Khamenei’s stance towards the eight year house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement.

Cartoon by Assad Binakhahi

Read more: Iran Leader: I am sensitive towards 2009 “events”

Labour activist Jafar Azimzadeh whose hunger strike has made headlines is summoned back to court only three days after being released from the hospital he was being kept at as a prisoner.

His grave health conditions forced the Iranian judiciary to release him temporarily to his family on bail based on medical grounds. On the day of Azimzadeh’s temporary release his, a rally call was issued to join a protest on July 1 at 10 am in front of President Hassan Rohani’s office in Tehran.

Azimzadeh, was on hunger strike for 62 consecutive days demanding that “security charges be eliminated from proceedings against labour activists”. The demand has been completely ignored by judiciary officials even though many labour activists have joined Azimzadeh in raising conces over such charges.

Islamic Republic of Iran Judiciary regularly charged labour activists, workers and unionists with national security charges despite the fact that their demands are often economical.

The court notice has summoned Azimzadeh to come to the judiciary branch four of Saveh municipality. He has been informed that this is an investigation session. The judiciary in Iran calls interrogations, “investigation sessions.”

It is not clear at this point if new charges are being brought against Azimzadeh. The court notice asks this labour activist to be at court at 10 am on 5 July.

This new development in Azimzadeh case happens despite the fact that his family has been promised that he will be illegible for temporary release based on medical grounds.

Last week, Azimzadeh’s wife, Akram Rahimpour reported that Tehran Prosecutor’s office has told her they are not conceed about Azimzadeh’s possible death during his hunger strike.

She also adds that Azimazadeh was issued a five day furlough and the prosecutor’s office has only informed him that if he ends his hunger strike, he will be allowed to take the five day temporary release.

Jafar Azimzadeh is the head of the Free Union of Iranian Workers. In March of 2014 he was sentenced to five years in jail for “assembly and collusion against national security and disrupting public order”.

He was also charged and sentenced to an additional year in prison for “propaganda activities against the regime”.

This labour activist has been serving his sentences since November of 2015.

Azimzadeh denies the charges and insists that his labour demands for job security, equitable pay and right to mark Inteational Workers Day caot be interpreted as security crimes.

Azimzadeh’s imprisonment is significant for workers’ rights in Iran. His treatment is part of the state crackdowns on unionist and workers who demand better life conditions.

Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has said that he is sensitive towards the year 2009 events. He used the term events to avoid using the term protests.

The leader of IRI is referring to the 2009 post-election protests collectively known as the Green Movement of Iran in which supporters of presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi came to the street against the govement of Mahmmoud Ahmadinejad arguing that the elections was rigged.

Khamenei was meeting a group of university students on 2 July 2016 when he commented on the 2009 protests and added that it is important for him that everyone is transparent about their stance towards the “events” that occurred during this year.

Referring to the protests of 2009 as “fitneh” (hostilities/riots) the leader of IRI said: “my stance towards the riots of 2009 is very clear. I am sensitive towards this and my judgment is grounded on not providing support to those who were leading the riots, or [politically] exploiting the situation and have not to this date repented for doing so.”

Khamenei supporters call Mousavi, Karroubi along with Zahra Rahnavard (Mousavi’s Wife) collectively as the fitneh leaders. Those who have not yet denounced these three individuals are called Saketin-e Finteh – which translate to the ones who keep quiet about the hostilities/animosities.

Khamenei’s Idea about the 2009 elections were in response to a student who stood up and raised his voice about Khamenei’s stance towards the leaders of the Green Movement, who have been in house arrest for the past 8 years.

Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, a PhD candidate of criminal law at Tehran University raised his conces about the treatment of Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi who have never been legally charged with a crime but have been put at house arrest without even being prosecuted at a court of law.

Kamfirouzi called the house arrests a case of “discrimination” and emphasized that the imprisonment of the Green Movement leaders is extralegal and unconstitutional. He said on the basis of articles 30, 36, 37 And 39 of the IRI’s constitution, the house arrest of the leaders of the Green Movement is “illegal”.

In response to Kamfirouzi the leader of IRI called the case of Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi his personal sensitivity.

Khamenei went on to say that opposition is not opposition to the leadership but hostility towards a web that coects the values of the regime together.

Over sixty days into a hunger strike, jailed labour activist Jafar Azimzadeh is reportedly in grave health condition and Iranian judiciary’s lack of attention to his situation has triggered a wave of conce in social media.

Meanwhile a rally call has been issued to join a protest on July 1 at 10 am in front of President Hassan Rohani’s office in Tehran. Human rights groups indicate that the call has been initiated by Azimzadeh’s friends and family.

Azimzadeh, according to the rally call which was issued on Tuesday June 28, has been on hunger strike for 62 consecutive days demanding that “security charges be eliminated from proceedings against labour activists”. The demand has been completely ignored by judiciary officials even though the labour activist is now in critical condition.

On Monday June 27, Azimzadeh reportedly passed out from the effects of the hunger strike. Activists then attempted to focus widespread attention on Azimzadeh’s situation by trending #FreeAzimzadeh Hashtag.

Meanwhile another six political prisoners in Evin and Rejai Shahr Prisons, Arash Sadeghi, Behnam Mousivand, Ali Moezi, Amir Amirgholi and Saeed Shirzad, have joined the hunger strike in solidarity with Azimzadeh.

Last week, Azimzadeh’s wife, Akram Rahimpour reported that Tehran Prosecutor’s office has told her they are not conceed about Azimzadeh’s possible death. She also adds that Azimazadeh was issued a five day leave 30 days ago and the prosecutor’s office has only informed him that if he ends his hunger strike, he will be allowed to take the five day furlough.

Azimzadeh’s wife and two sons are in dire financial situation as the labour activist is the sole provider for the family.

Jafar Azimzadeh is the head of the Free Union of Iranian Workers. In March of 2014 he was sentenced to five years in jail for “assembly and collusion against national security and disrupting public order”. He was also given another year for “propaganda activities against the regime”.

He has been serving his sentences since November of 2015. Azimzadeh denies the charges and insists that his labour demands for job security, equitable pay and right to mark Inteational Workers Day caot be interpreted as security crimes.

Undercover morality police will be engaged in Gilan-Iran for the “establishment of a more spiritual atmosphere in the province’s beaches and preservation of moral values” under a new plan called “Pure Gilan”, officials of the northe Iranian province aounced.

Provincial security officials say in addition to both regular and undercover police, roads will also be consistently patrolled to confront “inappropriate behaviour” adding that the actions are part of the larger plan for “Healthy Beaches”.

The Healthy Beaches plan was introduced after the Islamic revolution of 1979 with aim of creating gender-segregated water fronts. The women are separated from men. If women want to swim or play, they are forced to go to a separate beach which is segregated by tent-like structures.

The so called “Healthy Beaches” project takes effects each summer in the shores of the Caspian Sea in northe Iran which is one of the most popular domestic tourist destinations in the country.

It is mainly aimed at preventing women from swimming and using any part of the beach save the limited areas allocated for them. Each year the police use new methods of enforcing their restriction on women. These allocated areas are limited for women and families are forced to go to only certain beaches that segregation has been made possible.

This year head of Gilan security forces told Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that they will be working in unison with the Revolutionary Guards in the “Healthy Beaches” project adding that “the Basij [plain cloth militia] will be assisting the police in establishing optimal security in the beaches.” The Basij is the militia branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The police have also called on ordinary citizens to support the plan and prevent “the province and its Islamic values from being compromised by its detractors.”

Since moderate president Hassan Rohani won the elections under a platform of greater social liberties for citizens, Iran’s conservative factions have further dug their heels over enforcement of strict social regulations such as hijab (Islamic dress code in public specifically for women to cover their hair). In early spring the police aounced that it will engage Basij and volunteer forces in the cities as undercover patrols to inform the police of hijab violations in public.

President Hassan Rohani has challenged the plan, and his adviser on women and family issues, Shaindokht Molaverdi was quoted as saying that families are highly conceed about the adverse effects of the so-called undercover patrols.

The police have dismissed the opposition saying the public has in fact been asking for the deployment of the undercover patrols. Now it appears that the undercover informers are also patrolling the Caspian Sea shorelines.

Two generation Z Iranians have been arrested in the northeaste city of Mashhad for organising a youth gathering near a shopping centre.

The call for a meeting was organised using Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging service that has become popular in Iran in the past two years.

The gathering was organised for 23 June. When the crowds of Iranian youth got together around the meeting point, there were faced with riot police, undercover militia and regular police officers who dispersed the crowd and arrested some.

The police have not given out names, genders or numbers of those arrested but has emphasised that they belong to the generation Z, those who were bo after 2000 in Iran who are known collectively as the 1380s generation (Persian colander).

Of those arrested on 23 June, all but two have been released on bail or with notices.

According to the Mashhad Police spokesperson the two that remain in custody are the ones who “master minded” the plan for the gathering.

This form gathering is a trend among the inteet generation in Iran. Many of youth develop online friendships and relations in the digital sphere and the assemblies are organised so that the youth can get to meet their digital friends in public.

The meetings are often mixed gendered and the Islamic state, security forces and basiji militias frown upon these gathering mostly because it reflects on the power of Iranian grassroots active on the inteet.

The police have cracked down similar gatherings in other cities, including in the capital.

On 8 June 2016, Tehranian youth called for a gathering near Kourosh shopping centre in Tehran. The police was there to greet them. Some were arrested, the rest were forcefully dispersed.

In 2011 Iranian security forces brutally cracked down hard on a similar gathering in the Ab and Atash Park (Water and Fire Park) in Tehran. The generation Z had also organised that assembly and they had call for a water fight. It was suppose to be an occasion of fun and play. The youth had used Social media like Facebook and twitter as tools to spread the word about the party. The security forces arrested many arguing that it was mixed gender crowd and that the water fight was disorderly conduct.

The generation Z assemblies are not political but the Iranian security forces often see these gatherings as a power tool of digital social media. They are cracked down because generally any assembly in Iran needs to have a permit. Those who gather without a permit can be charged with disorderly conduct.

The public meeting and gathering of the generation Z have become a major debate in the social media.

The police are now saying that the Mashahdian youth were arrested both for disorderly conduct and for increasing the city’s traffic.

By Reza Jozani

The Night of Decree is in Islamic belief the night when the verses of the Quran were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Shiite Iranians gather in mosques on this night (and two more days near this date), they put the Quran to their heads and they pray. It is commonly believed that this one night worship is better than 1000 months of worship since angels are descend to earth and sins are forgiven.

19 Iranian soldiers were killed in a bus accident on June 22. Their death shocked Iranians who are already critical of the compulsory military service in Iran for men. The bus was carrying 36 army conscripts, 19 died, the rest are in hospital some in critical condition.

Cartoon by Assad Binakhahi

By Assad Binakhahi

Dancing at a university event precipitated the suspension of a group of students at University of Sistan and Baluchistan last week.

A video circulated social media and various sites last week showing a number of students dancing on stage at a University of Sistan and Baluchistan event. The clip also showed some people among the audience joining in the dance.

The University of Sistan and Baluchistan has been hosting the Festival of Iranian Ethnic Groups aimed at introducing the many Iranian ethnic groups to the student body and the province. The month long events began late May in the city of Zahedan in south easte Iran, and were winding toward the end of the festival, when the video of dancing students raised controversy.

After the video clip was posted on line, Hosseinali Shariyari, Zahedan representative in the Iranian parliament slammed the event saying the scenes captured were “shameful and inexcusable”. He maintained that he had seen the recording of the event and stated that “the dance caot be passed as folk dance” and was rather a “vulgar demonstration, alien to the local culture”.

The Zahedan MP has indicated that he is plaing on meeting with the university president, who is currently abroad, to discuss the incident. He added that the Minister of Science and Technology may also be consulted on the matter.
Reports indicate that the university public relations office has issued a statement expressing conce that the incident has occurred “despite all measures taken to prevent such interminglings”. Despite the statement, Zahedan prosecutor has filed charges against the university and has added that more charges may be laid.

Meanwhile the university disciplinary committee has issued a preliminary decision suspending seven students for varying terms. Asr Taodol website reports that five students have received suspensions for two terms and another two for one term for their coection to the dancing incident at the university. The website reports that one of the students has informed them of the suspension adding that they intend to appeal the decision.

In recent weeks many young Iranians have been arrested for attending parties with participants of both sexes. Iranian govement does not allow socializing between members of the opposite sex unless they are legally married or immediate family.

The Islamic govement has progressively outlawed all forms of dancing; however, on some occasions folk dances representing traditions of Iran’s many ethnic groups have been issued permits for public performance by the ministry of culture.

In the past year, a conservative backlash has led to local decision makers overtuing permits issued by the ministry of culture for music events and concerts being cancelled at the eleventh hour.