A/HRC/22/56
public order”. He reported that he was pepper sprayed, handcuffed, and taken to Mahfase eKhalilie (a Ministry of Intelligence office). He maintained that he was beaten while
blindfolded. Mr. Taleie claimed that authorities interrogated him for a week about his
Dervish background - inquiring if his community had sent him to protest - and that he was
never allowed to see a judge, was never informed of his charges, and did not have access to a
lawyer. He further reported that he was detained in what he believed was a military prison,
and placed in a juvenile ward. He was released on bail after one month, against the deed to
his family’s house. A few weeks later, he was informed of his charges of “assembly and
collusion against public order”. Mr. Taleie reported that his lawyer was also eventually
arrested in July 2010. Mr. Taleie left the country in 2010.
Journalist’s cases
15.
Journalist Naeema Dostdaar interviewed for a position with Radio Liberty in Europe.
Authorities reportedly searched her home without a warrant, blindfolded her, and took her to
Evin Prison, where she was reportedly stripped-searched by a female prison guards, including
a cavity search. She alleged being held for one month, during which she was never allowed a
change-of-clothes. She reported that she was interrogated about her reasons for traveling
earlier that year, about her relationship with foreign media, and about foreign financial
support.
16.
She was allegedly charges with “relations with foreign media, especially the CIA and
Radio Farda, spreading lies [on her blog], and spying”. She reported hearing that up to 70 of
her colleagues who had taken part in a round of interviews with Radio Farda in Turkey had
also been arrested. She stated that other female prisoners reported being asked personal
questions about their relationships and their virginity by prison officials. Ms. Dostdaar was
also asked about her relationships with men, which she felt was a form of psychological
torture. She reported that her cellmates demonstrated physical signs of torture and abuse. She
was eventually released, but informed that she would be under surveillance, and was banned
from traveling for a year. She has left the country.
17.
Negar Mohamadi is a Voice of America (VoA) reporter working abroad. It was
reported that between February and April of 2011, authorities at the Ministry of Intelligence
began to question her close relatives. Officers allegedly pressured them to convince the
journalist to cease her reporting activities, and they were reportedly told that there “would be
consequences [if she didn’t stop working].” Her family also came across a story from a
Revolutionary Guard-affiliated site, which falsely stated that Ms. Mohamadi had been
sexually harassed at VoA. In February 2012, Ms. Mohamadi’s relative was allegedly
detained at the airport and her passport was confiscated until August 2012. Moreover, a
female relative was followed home on one occasion and confronted with demands that Ms.
Mohamadi resign, and it was reported that authorities repeatedly threatened her family with
the confiscation of their passports and with freezing the family’s assets. Some of their
passports were seized in June and July 2012 for the “sake of national security”. Due to this
pressure, Ms. Mohamadi ceased reporting for the VoA for a short time. There are outstanding
travel bans on members of her family.
III. Cases of members of religious minorities
Baha’is
18.
Of 30 Baha’is detained in the city of Semnan two are women nursing infant children.
On 22 September 2012 Mrs. Zohreh Nikayin (Tebyanian) began serving a sentence of 23
29
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