HRW Calls For Release Of Dozens Of Iranian Prisoners

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Iranian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release immediately dozens of prisoners jailed in the northern city of Karaj.

In a 59-page report released on August 19, the New York-based organization reviewed the cases of 189 people locked up in three prisons in Karaj, located 50 kilometers west of the capital, Tehran.

The group concluded that in 62 cases, prisoners had been arrested, convicted, and sentenced "solely because they exercised fundamental rights such as free speech and rights to peaceful assembly or association."

In dozens of other cases, including 35 prisoners sentenced to death on death row for terrorism-related offenses, HRW suspects "egregious due-process violations that may have tainted the judicial process."