Country of origin information report Iran January 2010

Partiya Jiyana Azada Kurdistan (PJAK) - Kurdistan Free Life Party
15.46 The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report dated 9 January 2009, stated that:
“Currently PJAK, the Iranian branch of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an opposition movement fighting for the independence of Kurds in Turkey, is the only group engaged in armed struggle against the Iranian government. Based mostly in Iraqi Kurdistan, PJAK has claimed responsibility for a number of armed operations against Iranian security forces. In response, Iran launched armed incursions into northern Iraq, most recently in August 2007 and June 2008. The KDPI and other Kurdish parties claim that they have no relationship with PJAK.” [8h]
15.47 Jane’s Sentinel, dated 23 January 2009, stated that:
“PJAK has claimed numerous attacks in Iran and has promised continued action against Iranian military targets, but is unlikely to be able to challenge the Iranian military on the battlefield or to control territory without foreign assistance. … Nonetheless, the group appears to have sufficient resources in terms of weapons, popular support and funding to sustain a low level insurgency in the medium-term.” [125c] (Non-state Armed Groups)
15.48 Jane’s added that PJAK was founded in 2004 and its leader was Abdul Rahman Hajji Ahmadi. [125c] Freedom House (FH) stated in its 2009 report, covering events in 2008, that: “PJAK conducted a number of guerrilla attacks in 2007, and four members of PJAK were reportedly killed by the Basij near the Iraq-Iran border in October 2008.” [112g] The FH report also reported that “In July 2008, an appeals court upheld the death sentence against Farzad Kamangar for his alleged membership in the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), a separatist group linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of Turkey, although the prosecution offered no evidence of this during his five-minute trial.” [112g]
See Ethnic groups, Kurds
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Freedom of speech and media
16.01 The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Iran, released on 25 February 2009, (USSD Report 2008) stated that:
“The constitution provides for freedom of expression and of the press, except when it is deemed ‘detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public.’ In practice the government severely restricted freedom of speech and of the press. HRW reported that authorities ‘systematically suppressed freedom of expression and opinion’ during the year. Basic legal safeguards for freedom of expression did not exist, and the independent press was subjected to arbitrary enforcement measures by the government, notably the judiciary. Censorship, particularly self-censorship, limited dissemination of information during the year. Journalists were frequently threatened as a consequence of their work.
“The government continued to crack down on underground music groups (any group that fails to obtain a recording license from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance). In October, according to human rights activists, security forces arrested a group of rap musicians returning from a trip to Dubai. Eyewitnesses reported seeing them in Evin Prison. Rap music is forbidden in the country; according to the BBC, it is particularly popular among young men due to its political, social, and sexual lyrics.
“In December the Tehran prosecutor general announced the creation of a special office to review Internet and text message-related crimes associated with the June 2009 presidential election.” [4a] (Section 2a)
16.02 The Freedom House (FH) report, Freedom of the Press 2009 - Iran, covering events in 2008, released 1 May 2009; (FH Press Report 2009) stated that:
“Constitutional provisions for freedom of expression and the press, which include broad exceptions regarding infringements on the tenets of Islam or ‘public rights,’ are not upheld in practice. In addition, numerous laws restrict press freedom, including the 2000 Press Law, which specifically forbids the publication of ideas that are contrary to Islamic principles or detrimental to public rights. The government regularly invokes vaguely worded legislation to criminalize critical opinions. Article 500 of the penal code states that ‘anyone who undertakes any form of propaganda against the state…will be sentenced to between three months and one year in prison’; the code leaves ‘propaganda’ undefined. Under Article 513, offenses deemed to be an ‘insult to religion’ can be punished by death, or prison terms of one to five years for lesser offenses, with ‘insult’ similarly undefined. Other articles provide sentences of up to two years in prison, up to 74 lashes, or a fine for those convicted of intentionally creating ‘anxiety and unease in the public’s mind,’ spreading ‘false rumors,’ writing about ‘acts that are not true,’ and criticizing state officials.” [112h]
16.03 The FH report Freedom on the Net 2009 – Iran, dated 1 April 2009, stated that:
“Iranian internet users suffer from routine surveillance, harassment, and the threat of imprisonment for their online activities, particularly those who are more critical of the authorities. The constitution provides for limited freedom of opinion and expression, but numerous, haphazardly enforced laws restrict these rights in practice. The 2000 Press Law, for example, forbids the publication of ideas that are contrary to Islamic principles or detrimental to public rights. The government and judiciary regularly invoke this and other vaguely worded legislation to criminalize critical opinions. A comprehensive 2006 cybercrimes bill would have made ISPs [internet service providers] criminally liable for content on sites they carried, but it was never passed by the parliament. A different bill, introduced in July 2008, would make some cybercrimes – promoting corruption, prostitution, and apostasy on the internet – punishable by death. It passed its first reading with a vote of 180 to 29, with 10 abstentions, and was still under consideration at year's end.” [112f]
16.04 Open Net Initiative (ONI) reported on 16 June 2009 that the Bill of Cyber Crimes’ Sanctions (Cybercrimes Bill) [introduced in July 2008, see preceding paragraph] was ratified into law in November 2008 and was still under review by the Guardian Council when their report was written in June 2009. Further progress of the bill is unknown at the time of writing. [89a]

16.05 Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Report 2009 - Iran, released 1 May 2009, stated that:

“Censors in Iran have far-reaching discretionary power, due to the ambiguity of the 1979 Constitution and the 1985 press law (amended in April 2002), even though there is no prior censorship for daily newspapers. Article 24 of the Constitution defines free expression thus: ‘All publications are free to express their opinions, except those that conflict with the foundations of Islam and the morality of society. The interpretation and detailed definition of this article are the responsibility of the law.’ However the law gives no definition of ‘religious foundation’ and does not say what is covered by the idea of ‘morality of society’.” [38b]
16.06 Amnesty International reported on 26 June 2009 that:
“Since the announcement on 13 June [2009] that President Ahmadinejad had won the election, the Iranian authorities have imposed severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Access to the internet has been blocked or significantly interrupted. Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the unrest. Foreign news journalists have been banned from the streets, and some foreign reporters have been expelled from the country.” [9j]
16.07 The RSF 2009 Press Freedom Index, published on 20 October 2009, noted that press freedom in Iran had deteriorated, placing the country in 172^nd place out of the 175 countries rated. The report stated that:
“Journalists have suffered more than ever this year in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran. The president’s disputed reelection plunged the country into a major crisis and fostered regime paranoia about journalists and bloggers. Automatic prior censorship, state surveillance of journalists, mistreatment, journalists forced to flee the country, illegal arrests and imprisonment – such is the state of press freedom this year in Iran.” [38c]

Print media
16.08 The FH Press Report 2009 noted that: “There are some 20 major print dailies, but following the closure of many reformist publications, those with the widest circulation and influence espouse conservative viewpoints or are directly run by the government, such as the dailies Jaam-e Jam and Kayhan.” [112d] The RSF World Report 2009 stated that:
“Thirty newspapers were banned in 2008, 22 of them on the orders of the Press Authorisation and Surveillance Commission, under the authority of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Orientation. This Commission is the main tool operated by the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his crusade against the media. It regularly makes use of Article 33 of the press law that allows an ‘immediate ban on publication of a newspaper that replaces a banned newspaper with a similar name, logo and format’.” [38b]
16.09 The report of the Secretary-General to the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dated 1 October 2008, stated that:
“The censorship of books has reportedly been tightened, affecting negatively the environment for the publishing industry and writers. The Iranian Government appears to encourage self censorship openly, as the Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister was quoted in the media as saying that if book publishers were to do some self-censorship, they wouldn’t have to complain so much.” [10a] (p17)
See Treatment of journalists below
TV/radio
16.10 The FH Press Report 2009 stated that:
“Owing to limited distribution of print media outside larger cities, radio and television serve as the principal sources of news for many citizens, with more than 80 percent of residents receiving their news from television. The government maintains a direct monopoly on all domestic broadcast media and presents only official political and religious viewpoints on channels run by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network. A government-run, English-language satellite station, Press TV, was launched in July 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said its mission would be ‘to stand by the oppressed of the world,’… Although it is forbidden, an increasing number of people own satellite dishes and access international news sources. Satellite radio stations such as Radio Farda and the Dutch-funded Radio Zamaneh also provide international broadcasts to a large part of the population.” [112d]
16.11 The RSF World Report 2009 stated that:
“The government still refuses to put an end to its broadcast monopoly and it is still against the law to own a satellite dish. The government not only prevents Iranian journalists from freely covering national news but it also tries to gag foreign media. Culture and Islamic orientation minister, Mohammad Hossein Safar-Harandi, in December 2008 banned the new BBC Persian-language channel, along with all cooperation by Iranian journalists with foreign media.” [38b]
See also Latest News for more information on BBC Persian.
Internet
16.12 The Government “… systematically controls the internet and other digital technologies.” (FH Press Report 2009) [112d] Despite restrictions internet usage has increased rapidly since 2000 with an estimated 48.5 per cent population having access (Internet World Stats, September 2009) [81a] The regime introduced “A draft law that passed on its first reading in July 2008 [which] would apply the death penalty to bloggers and website editors who ‘promote corruption, prostitution or apostasy.’ The law was still awaiting final approval at… [the end of 2008].” (FH Press Report 2009) [112d] As at June 2009 the draft cybercrimes bill was still under review by the Guardian Council [89a] and no further progress on the bill was known at the time of writing.
16.13 The Freedom House report Freedom on the Net 2009 – Iran, dated 1 April 2009, also commented on internet freedom, stating that:
“… the Iranian regime wields one of the world's most sophisticated apparatuses for controlling the internet and other digital technologies. Internet use in Iran began in 1995 at universities, then spread quickly via internet cafes to an otherwise isolated population with limited access to independent sources of news and entertainment. The government's censorship of the medium did not begin until 2001, but users today operate in an environment that features filtering of content – particularly domestically produced political news and analysis – together with intimidation, detention, and torture of bloggers, online journalists, and cyberactivists. As with restrictions on press freedom that date to the early days of the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic couches its restrictions on internet freedom in an opaque and arbitrary conception of Islamic morality outlined by the constitution, the press law, and the penal code.” [112f]
16.14 The Freedom on the Net 2009 report added that:
“In May 2006, an office was established at the MCIT in an attempt to centralize state filtering and surveillance efforts, but this effort has not yet fully materialized. Agencies outside the MCIT retain significant de facto power to control the internet, and these entities – including the Supreme Leader's office and the office of Tehran chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi – arbitrarily target certain sites, bloggers, and cyberactivists. Mortazavi, who has allegedly played a direct role in the torture of online journalists and activists, announced in December 2008 that he had established a ‘special department for internet crimes’, which will work closely with the intelligence service to block sites and monitor political messages and organizing.” [112f]
16.15 The USSD Report 2008 stated that “Security forces monitored the social activities of citizens, entered homes and offices, monitored telephone conversations and Internet communications, and opened mail without court authorization.” [4a] (Section 1f)
16.16 On 21 September 2009, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) published a report on the human rights situation in Iran since the 12 June election, stating that:
“Websites and phone lines have been blocked on several occasions, preventing the circulation of information on the elections and the post-elections situation in the country. Foreign news broadcasts have been jammed. Private social networking websites have been used to persecute individuals and their associates. The authorities shut down such sites, including Facebook, for periods of time.” [52a] (p9)
16.17 BBC News reported on 15 November 2009 that:
“Iranian police have set up a special unit to monitor political websites and fight internet crime. The head of the unit, Col Mehrdad Omidi, said it would target political ‘insults and the spreading of lies’. Most opposition websites are already banned, especially those linked to the defeated presidential candidates from Iran's disputed June elections. But activists continue to set up new websites to keep their campaign alive, as they have no access to state media.” [21g]
See Treatment of journalists and Treatment of bloggers below
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Academic freedom
16.18 The USSD Report 2008 stated that:
“The government significantly restricted academic freedom. In 2006 President Ahmadi-Nejad called for the removal of secular and liberal professors from universities. Reports indicated dozens of university professors were dismissed, forced to retire, or denied sabbaticals abroad since 2006. To obtain tenure, professors had to refrain from criticism of the authorities.
“Admission to universities was politicized; in addition to standardized exams, all applicants had to pass "character tests" in which officials eliminated applicants critical of the government's ideology. Members of the Basij were given advantages in the admissions process. Student groups reported that a "star" system inaugurated by the government in 2006 to rank politically active students was still in use. Students deemed "antigovernment" through this system reportedly were banned from university or prevented from registering for upcoming terms.” [4a]
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Treatment of journalists
16.19 The Freedom House report Freedom of the Press 2009 – Iran, dated 1 May 2009, stated that:
“Iran’s judiciary frequently denies accused journalists due process by referring their cases to the Islamic Revolutionary Court, an emergency venue intended for those suspected of seeking to overthrow the regime. The Preventive Restraint Act is used regularly without legal proceedings to temporarily ban publications. In the run-up to the June 2009 presidential election, the Tehran prosecutor general announced in December [2008] that a special office would be created to review internet and SMS-related crimes.” [112d]
16.20 The RSF World Report 2009 stated that:

“At least 60 journalists and bloggers were summoned, questioned and convicted in 2008. Although Emadoldin Baghi, leading light of the defence of prisoners' rights was freed in October 2008, after a year in jail and Tehran's Supreme Court in September quashed a death sentence against Adnan Hassanpour, journalists Mohammad Sadegh Kabodvand and Mohammad Hassin Falahieh Zadeh are still being held in extremely harsh conditions and some prisoners do not get the medication they need.” [38b]

16.21 The Committee to Protect Journalists report ‘Attacks on the Press in 2008 – Iran’, released 10 February 2009, stated that:
“More than 30 journalists were investigated or arrested or spent time in prison during the year, according to human rights and press groups. Numerous published reports accused authorities of denying prisoners basic human rights. In many cases, detention locations were unknown, trials were held in secret, and access to defense attorneys was withheld. Though some imprisoned journalists had serious physical ailments, timely medical attention was not routinely made available.” [29a]
16.22 The ICHRI Report dated 21 September 2009 gave details of journalists detained since the June elections and the treatment they received. The report noted that:
“Since the disputed elections, Iran has arrested and detained over 30 journalists and photographers. Numerous journalists from opposition media have been detained including 20 from Kalemeh Sabz alone…
“The office of the Journalists Association was closed by order of the Tehran prosecutor without any explanation on 5 August, the Day of Journalists, while the Association was preparing to hold its general assembly. More than 300 journalists wrote a letter on 8 September to Tehran Prosecutor and requested the release of detained journalists and respect for the freedom of the press. Many were immediately summoned and threatened. They were asked to withdraw their signature and cooperate with the Intelligence services to name those who wrote the letter and collected the signatures. About 15 of them were ordered to stay in Tehran and were banned from travelling.
“A number of foreign journalists have been expelled from Iran and prohibited from reporting the events, and in some cases Iranian official media and authorities have accused foreign journalists of inciting unrest, at the behest of the government of the United Kingdom.” [52a] (p8)
16.23 RSF reported on 15 October 2009:
“Reporters Without Borders keeps on getting requests for help from terrified Iranian journalists who have been forced to flee their country after receiving summonses from the authorities. With 32 of their colleagues now detained in Iran and with a president and a Supreme Leader bent on suppressing all criticism, around 30 journalists have fled since last June's disputed elections.
"’This is the biggest exodus of journalists since the 1979 revolution,’ Reporters Without Borders said. Describing news media as 'means used in an attempt to overthrow the state', the regime is ridding itself of undesired witnesses by jailing them or getting them to flee. Photographers, cameramen, bloggers and reporters for newspapers that have been closed down - all are being accused of 'acting against national security'…
“As well as the human tragedy, the exodus of Iranian journalists increases the risk of a complete news blackout in Iran. News and information have become synonymous with repression. One Iranian journalist had to flee because she told the BBC about Neda Aghasoltani, the young woman who in death became a symbol of opposition to the regime. Another journalist, a photographer, fled after one of his photos was used prominently by the international media. A third had to leave after talking about the situation of detainees in his blog.” [38d]
16.24 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) concurred. On 16 October 2009, the IFJ:
“…accused the Iranian authorities of a media witch hunt as journalists flee the country or are in hiding after the closure of several newspapers and the continued shutdown of the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ).
"’There is no let-up on the harassment of media in Iran,’ said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. ‘Independent journalists are in flight for their own safety and the independent media sector is under siege.’
“According to reliable reports, up to six newspapers have been closed since controversial presidential elections in June and at least 18 journalists remain in prison. Many more continue to flee the country and others, including the President of the AoIJ, Rajabali Mazrooei, are in hiding and fearing arrest.” [54]
16.25 On 15 November 2009, RSF reported that:
“’Journalists are still being kidnapped or arrested illegally in Iran…At least 100 journalists and cyber-dissidents have been arrested in the past 145 days (since the 12 June presidential election) and 23 three [sic] of them are still being held. More than 50 journalists have left the country and those who have stayed are subject to constant harassment.’
“The press freedom organisation added: ‘Meanwhile, verdicts are beginning to be issued in the Stalinist-style show trials and it is no surprise that journalists have been given harsh sentences of five or six years in prison without any possibility of appeal.’” [38a]
16.26 RSF reported on 5 December 2009 that arrests were continuing, with 28 journalists and bloggers currently detained: “The latest victims are Tahereh Riahai of the daily Jahan Eghtesad (’Economic World’), arrested on 1 December in Tehran, and Farhad Sharfai, a blogger who defends women’s rights, arrested on 2 December in Khorramabad. Journalists in various cities have also been summoned for questioning.” [38e
16.27 On 8 December 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a report entitled CPJ's 2009 prison census: Freelance journalists under fire, which stated that:
“Most of those [journalists] imprisoned in Iran, the world’s second-worst jailer, were swept up in the government’s post-election crackdown on dissent and the news media. Of those, about half are online journalists. They include Fariba Pajooh, a freelance reporter for online, newspaper, and radio outlets. Radio France Internationale reported that she was charged with ‘propagating against the regime’ and pressured to make a false confession.
“’Not long ago, Iran boasted a vigorous and vital press community,’ CPJ’s Simon added. ‘When the government cracked down on print media, journalists migrated online and fueled the rise of the Farsi blogosphere. Today, many of Iran’s best journalists are in jail or in exile, and the public debate has been squelched alongside the pro-democracy movement.’” [29b]
The RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists websites publish frequent updates on the current situation of journalists arrested and sentenced since the June presidential elections.
For further information about the treatment of journalists see also Recent Developments and Latest news.
Treatment of bloggers
16.28 Figures for the number of bloggers range from 30,000 to 100,000. “One study says that Persian blogosphere is dominated by four main blocs: secular and reformist; conservative and religious; Persian literature enthusiasts; and mixed networks. Many of the bloggers and commentators are believed to be young, male and living in Iran.” (BBC Monitoring, 5 December 2009) [85a]
16.29 The Freedom on the Net 2009 report stated that:
“Self-censorship is extensive, particularly on political matters, and many bloggers and journalists write under pseudonyms. It is important to note that while the Iranian blogosphere and Iranian news sites do push the bounds of what is acceptable to the regime, the most socially and politically progressive sites are managed and staffed by Iranians living abroad. Since the short-lived era of relative press freedom under President Mohammad Khatami, many online intellectuals and activists have left the country. Iran's best-known bloggers – such as Omid Memarian, Roozebeh Mirebrahimi, and Shahram Rafizadeh – are now writing from foreign cities and have been sentenced to prison in absentia.” [112f]
16.30 The Freedom on the Net 2009 report added that:
“Since 2004 the authorities have been cracking down on online activism through various forms of judicial and extrajudicial harassment. An increasing number of bloggers have been intimidated, arrested, tortured, kept in solitary confinement, and denied medical care, while others have been formally tried and convicted. According to Reporters Without Borders, the authorities arrested or questioned 17 bloggers during 2008, seven more than in 2007. Article 514 of the criminal code makes insulting the Supreme Leader punishable by six months to two years in prison, and Article 500 sets a penalty of three months to one year in prison for the distribution of propaganda against the state. Bloggers are typically charged with these offenses, and many practice self-censorship to avoid punishment.” [112f]
See also Treatment of journalists above. For recent information about the treatment of bloggers see Recent Developments, Latest news and the websites of RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists