Additional Name(s): عباس دهقان
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sufi
Health Concerns: Contracted COVID-19
Reports of Torture: Yes
Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes
Sentence: 6 Years, 3 Months' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February//2018
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Association Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations
Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Insulting Public Officials & Institutions Public Disorder
Abbas Dehghan was imprisoned for his religious association and for protesting religious freedom conditions.
In February 2018, authorities arrested Dehghan, an administrator for the website Majzooban-e-Noor, following a violent crackdown on people protesting the arrest of Nematollah Riahi. Riahi, a member of the Sufi Gonabadi Order, had come to Tehran earlier in February to participate in a sit-in protesting the house arrest of spiritual leader Noor Ali Tabandeh.
Dehghan was reportedly charged with "insulting state employees" (Art. 609 IPC), "assembling and colluding to act against national security" (Art. 610 IPC), and "disrupting public order" (Art. 618 IPC). Dehghan and others arrested at the protests were reportedly denied access to lawyers during the interrogation process.
On an unspecified date, Dehghan was reportedly sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and 74 lashes. Dehghan is expected to serve six years and three months in prison as the sentences run concurrently.
In September 2018, it was reported that Dehghan was participating in a hunger strike demanding an end to Tabandeh's house arrest, the release of female Gonabadi Sufi prisoners, and for all Gonabadi Sufi prisoners in Great Tehran Penitentiary to be kept in the same ward.
In May 2020, it was reported that Dehghan was transferred to the 5th Brigade of Fashafoyeh Prison following a beating by prison authorities.
In July 2022, it was reported that Dehghan had been denied proper medical care in Evin Prison despite contracting COVID-19.
In January 2023, it was reported that Dehghan had been released from prison.
Dehghan was reportedly subjected to torture, solitary confinement, and inhumane living conditions during his detention. There are also concerns about his general health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dehghan has two children.
"Iranian Gonabadi Dervish Freed After Nearly Five Years In Prison" IranWire
USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum, Tweet, July 29, 2022
USCIRF Country Update: Religious Freedom in Iran in 2022 July 2022
"Abbas Dehghan" United For Iran
"گزارشی از آخرین وضعیت عباس دهقان در زندان تهران بزرگ" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"عباس دهقان، درویش گنابادی به ۱۱ سال و ۶ ماه حبس، شلاق و دیه محکوم شد" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"18 Sufis on Strike in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary Issue Three Demands" Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Over 200 Dervishes Convicted" Human Rights Watch
"Mass Conviction of Sufi Protesters “Unprecedented in Iran’s Judicial History” Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Crackdown on Dervish Minority" Human Rights Watch
"Clashes Between Police and Sufis Leave Five Dead" Iran Wire
"Six People Said Killed, 300 Arrests At Sufi Protest In Iran" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"Clashes Highlight Tensions Between Dervishes And Iran's Establishment" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"Iran: Hunger strike to protest torture in detention" Amnesty International