Human Rights in Iran: Hengaw holds expert seminar in Oslo

Hengaw: Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights held a specialized seminar on the human rights situation in Iran on Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Oslo, Norway. The event focused on the repression of National, ethnic, religious, and queer minorities in Iran.

Held in three languages—English, Norwegian, and Kurdish—the seminar brought together representatives from several human rights organizations and political parties. It featured analytical reports, expert talks, and a panel discussion on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s repressive policies against minority groups.

Systematic repression of national/ethnic and religious minorities

In the opening session, speakers discussed Iran’s discriminatory structures and their impact on marginalized communities.

Sheler Bapiri, board member of Hengaw, opened the seminar by emphasizing the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran and highlighting how systemic discrimination plays a central role in the state’s oppression of minorities. She called on civil society and international organizations to actively document and expose the Islamic Republic of Iran’s repressive policies.

Sirwan Qaderzadeh, another Hengaw member, examined the legal frameworks that legitimize state repression in Iran, explaining how the country’s laws are weaponized against dissent, activists, and minority groups. He also addressed the compounded repression faced by national/ethnic minorities and the queer community, noting that any form of protest by these groups is met with systematic violence, arrest, and even execution.

As’ad Fattahi, senior Hengaw board member, presented an analytical report on arrests, executions, and suspicious deaths in Iranian prisons in 2024. He provided data broken down by ethnic and religious identity, showing a sharp rise in repression in minority regions.

Double oppression: Sexual and gender minorities in Iran

A key part of the seminar was dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community and the systematic violation of their rights in Iran.

Mina Khani, a senior member of Hengaw, delivered a speech titled “Queer Existence in Iran: Law, Society, and the Struggle to Survive.” She detailed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s repressive policies, outlining three main pillars of oppression: the criminalization of identity, the medical pathologization of queer individuals, and their social erasure.

The role of documentation in exposing human rights violations

Zhila Mostajer, one of the directors of Hengaw, discussed the crucial role of documentation in exposing rights violations and the organization’s ongoing efforts in this area. She highlighted the security threats Hengaw members face from the Iranian state and affirmed that these pressures have not halted their mission. Hengaw remains committed to amplifying the voices of victims and engaging international institutions.

Expert panel on the repression of National/Ethnic minorities

A dedicated panel on the repression of national and ethnic minorities in Iran was moderated by Hani Mirlashari, a Baloch human rights activist. Panelists Maryam Amirifard, Barham Azadi, and Mina Khani each shared insights from different perspectives.

Maryam Amirifard, a Baloch activist, highlighted systemic exclusion in Balochistan, including the denial of birth certificates and national IDs, which has rendered thousands of Baloch citizens invisible, excluding them from education and healthcare.

Barham Azadi, a human rights advocate and member of Norway’s Left Socialist Party, focused on economic and cultural suppression in Kurdistan. He explained how the state deliberately maintains the region in poverty, pushing people into dangerous labor such as kolbari (border portering), and systematically targets Kurdish political activists.

Mina Khani spoke on the situation of the Gilak minority, tracing the history of cultural assimilation and centralized authoritarianism in Iran.

She connected this history to the lack of democratization and spoke about grassroots movements in Gilan, from the Jangal Movement to modern-day cultural resistance.

The seminar concluded with a screening of the documentary “From Poetry to Enforced Disappearance,” produced by Hengaw to mark the anniversary of Kurdish poet and human rights activist Zhakan Baran’s disappearance. The film explores his life, activism, and the unresolved circumstances surrounding his case.

This seminar provided a platform for human rights defenders, researchers, and political figures to critically examine Iran’s structures of repression and propose paths for international solidarity and resistance.

Hengaw reaffirmed its commitment to documenting and reporting human rights violations in Iran and stressed the urgent need for broader international cooperation to confront systematic oppression by the Islamic Republic of Iran.