The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) is a registered
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
based in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. IHRDC was founded in 2004 by a group of
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
scholars, activists, American government interest advocators, and historians to document the patterns of human rights abuse in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and to promote accountability, a culture of human rights, and the rule of law in Iran. Board members include prominent legal scholars such as Professors
Owen Fiss
Owen M. Fiss (born 1938) is an American professor who is a Sterling Professor emeritus at Yale Law School.
Biography
Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Fiss received his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1959, B.Phil. from Oxford University in 1961, ...
(
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
),
Lawrence Douglas
Lawrence R. Douglas (born 1959) is the James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is also an author of both fiction and nonfiction.
Education
Douglas received his A.B. f ...
(
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
), and
Payam Akhavan
Payam Akhavan (Persian: پیام اخوان) is an Iranian-born lawyer. He is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He is a senior fellow at Massey College at the University of Toronto and is a visiting adjunct at the ...
(
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
).
Funding
The
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
has been the group's "main source of funds," providing US$3 million since the group's founding. Following the disputed
2009 presidential elections in Iran, the government of Canada also granted it funds.
The center is also supported by private foundations and individual donors.
Response from the Islamic Republic of Iran
IHRDC has been named on a list of 60 organizations designated as subversive by the Iranian Interior Ministry.
In the fall of 2009, the center was again condemned by ''
Kayhan'',
a conservative Iranian newspaper.
References
External links
IHRDC Website
{{Authority control
501(c)(3) organizations
Human rights in Iran