Rights groups slam Tehran’s ‘assault’ on independent charities

 

A coalition of human rights groups and civil society organizations have penned a joint statement urging Iran to reverse a court ruling that dissolved one of the country’s largest and most important poverty alleviation charities.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) – one of the statement’s signatories – the court ordered the shutdown of Imam Ali’s Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS) “at the government’s request in apparent coordination with Iran’s abusive intelligence and security apparatus.”

IAPSRS is an independent charity that has worked to reduce poverty and address other crucial issues, including child marriage and death sentences against child offenders.

“We call on the Iranian government to immediately overturn this decision, which is an apparent violation of the freedoms of association and speech,” read the joint statement.

“IAPSRS works within legal limitations to provide essential support to marginalized groups, including children. The coordinated pressure by the Rouhani administration as well as the intelligence apparatus to dissolve IAPSRS is a new assault on independent associations.”

On March 5, a court found that the IAPSRS had questioned “Islamic rulings such as qisas (retribution in kind)” and promoted “falsehood by publishing statements against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The charity held special consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council, and has cooperated at various times with the UN Human Rights Council.

The joint statement concluded by urging the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “raise this case with the Iranian government at the highest levels, and to pressure them to stop further curtailing the already restricted civil space in Iran.”

The court ruling comes after years of pressure on the group by Tehran. Last year, authorities arrested the organization’s founder, as well as two of his colleagues, on charges of insulting Iran’s supreme leader, and raided the charity’s offices, seizing electronic devices and financial documents.

Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at HRW, said: “Iranian authorities’ attempt to dissolve a reputable charity group on murky grounds is just the latest attempt to curtail the work of independent civil society. Iranian authorities should drop charges against the founder of IAPSRS and allow the group to operate as an independent organization.”