The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has released a new report detailing security and judicial pressure aimed at suppressing teachers and educators’ union activists following the January nationwide protests. The report confirms that, as of July 28, at least 60 teachers and union activists had been arrested, imprisoned, or sentenced.
The rights organization emphasized that the figures in the report represent a minimum baseline, noting that many cases, particularly in smaller towns, were never publicized. An 88-day internet shutdown further impaired documentation efforts.
According to the report, over the past seven months, security forces and judicial authorities have detained teachers on security-related charges, held several in prolonged solitary confinement, withheld medical treatment as a tool of coercion, and denied detainees access to legal counsel and contact with their families.
Several teachers have received heavy penalties, including long-term prison sentences, flogging, internal exile, and other civil deprivations. The report also highlights that numerous arrested educators remain in judicial limbo, with open cases months or even years after their initial detentions.
Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of CHRI, highlighted the role of educators as one of the country’s broadest independent civil society groups, stating: “By silencing teachers, students, lawyers, and other civil society activists, the Islamic Republic is attempting to dismantle the capacity for social mobilization and organization.”
