Human rights in Iran

From the Imperial Pahlavi dynasty (1925 to 1979), through the Islamic Revolution (1979), to the era of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979 to current), government treatment of Iranian citizens' rights has been criticized by Iranians, international human rights activists, writers, and NGOs. While the monarchy under the rule of the shahs was widely attacked by most Western watchdog organizations for having an abysmal human rights record, the government of the Islamic Republic which succeeded it is considered still worse by many.^[1]

The Pahlavi dynasty—Reza Shah Pahlavi and his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi—has sometimes been described as a "royal dictatorship",^[2] or "one man rule",^[3] and employed secret police, torture, and executions to stifle political dissent. During Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's reign, estimates of the number of political prisoners executed vary from less than 100^[1] to 300.

Under the Islamic Republic, the prison system was centralized and drastically expanded; in one early period (1981–1985), more than 7900 people were executed.^[1] The Islamic Republic has been criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, but not international human rights norms (harsh penalties for crimes, punishment of victimless crimes, restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, restrictions on freedom of religion, etc.); and for "extrajudicial" actions that follow neither, such as firebombings of newspaper offices, and beatings, torture, rape, and killing without trial of political prisoners and dissidents/civilians.^[4]^[5]

^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference Abrahamian-1983-85 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Pahlavi royal dictatorship - Google Search". www.google.com.
^ Pahlavi Dynasty: An Entry from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam By (ed.) Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Jafar Elmi, Hassan Taromi-Rad, p.15
^ Ehsan Zarrokh (Ehsan and Gaeini, M. Rahman). "Iranian Legal System and Human Rights Protection" The Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World e-journal, New York law school 3.2 (2009).
^ "Rights Crisis Escalates Faces and Cases from Ahmadinejad's Crackdown, 20 September 2008". Iranhumanrights.org. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

[Abrahamian-1983-85-1] Cite error: The named reference Abrahamian-1983-85 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Pahlavi royal dictatorship - Google Search". www.google.com.

[3] Pahlavi Dynasty: An Entry from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam By (ed.) Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohammad Jafar Elmi, Hassan Taromi-Rad, p.15

[4] Ehsan Zarrokh (Ehsan and Gaeini, M. Rahman). "Iranian Legal System and Human Rights Protection" The Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World e-journal, New York law school 3.2 (2009).

[ICHRIescalates-5] "Rights Crisis Escalates Faces and Cases from Ahmadinejad's Crackdown, 20 September 2008". Iranhumanrights.org. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

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