Iranian Convert Jailed and Maintaining Hunger Strike
02/16/2021 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Ibrahim Firouzi, an Iranian Christian convert, was arrested on February 8 on charges of propaganda and blasphemy. Firouzi began a hunger strike a few days later on February 13, saying he will not eat again until this latest round of charges against him are dropped.
Iranian officials have monitored Firouzi since his first arrest in 2011 and was imprisoned between 2013 and 2019. Following his incarceration, Firouzi was sent to a remote, southeastern city to serve a two-year internal exile sentence. In March 2020, authorities notified him that his sentence was extended for 11 months due to his absence, though he was previously informed to stop his daily check-ins.
Iranian Abuse of Prisoners Continues
01/19/2021 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) recently released its 2020 Annual Report documenting the abuse and condition of prisoners in Iran’s notorious prisons. Iran’s treatment of prisoners has long been of major concern for the international community. ICC worked to have Evin Prison sanctioned in 2020.
Iran violates not only international standards of right to life and health of prisoners, but also its own national code as well. According to Iran HRM’s report, one of the major abuses is the failure to separate prisoners based on categories of crimes. Political prisoners and prisoners arrested for their Christian faith are often housed with common and dangerous criminals. Often this is done as an added layer of punishment where they are intentionally placed for targeting. Iran’s own legal mandates require that wards separate such prisoners but there are many reports of this being violate