Save the Lorestani Salamander, Human Rights Report, Economic Squeeze

Another weekly update from Arseh Sevom proving there's more to Iran than the threat of war.

A New Year Greeted with Empty Pockets, Joy, and Trepidation

The celebration of Iranian New Year (Norooz), which falls at the moment of the Spring Equinox (5:14 am UTC or GMT, March 20), has managed to survive every political regime and every change of religion. It remains autonomous of state control and an example of “the configuration in which society stands apart from the state.” Its continuing celebration in Iran represents a requisite of a civil society (more about civil society here).

The fast approaching new year is causing a mixture of apprehension and excitement. This will be a difficult Norooz for many suffering from the bad economic situation in Iran where a combination of run-away inflation, poor economic management, and sanctions are really taking their toll. The impact of Western sanctions is becoming more manifest in the daily life. The Wall Street Journal reports:

"'We have to keep going,' says one merchant in a neighborhood shopping district. 'People here are boiling, but don't make a sound.'

“Iran's economy has hit a rough patch, even by its own fitful performance standards. The most acute problem now is relentlessly rising prices—brought on in part by tightening sanctions, but also decades of economic mismanagement by Iran's own government. “The inflation rate, officially pegged at 20% annually, is probably more like 50%, according to Farhad Khorrami, an economist at Allameh-Tabatie University in Tehran. The most recent spur to prices has been a sharp fall in Iran's currency, triggered largely by fears about the newest round of sanctions announced by the U.S. and Europe. “The result for working-class Iranians like 40-year-old Reza, married with two daughters, has been struggle.”  

(If you can't access their site, you can read a portion of the article on Enduring America.)

Director of “A Separation” Calls for Reinstatement of Iran's House of Cinema

Asghar Farhadi, the director of the award-winning film “A Separation,” returned to Iran where he was met by a joyful crowd.

Upon his return to Tehran on 10th of March, pointing to the few officials who had come to the airport to congratulate his success, Asghar Farhadi said: “their real congratulations will only come when the House of Cinema [Iranian Alliance of Motion Picture Guilds] is reopened; only then will I feel happy...”

Women’s Day

This week, Amnesty International praised the role of Iranian women in efforts to achieve human rights. Amnesty International’s statement on Women’s Day states: “Iran’s women played a key role in massive protests around the June 2009 elections, when they advocated for a wide range of human rights reform, including greater freedoms for women. But the country’s women activists continue to pay a high price for their peaceful work.”

Amnesty International also urges Iranian leadership once again to “release Nasrin Sotoudeh immediately and unconditionally.”

Women Speak Out Against War

Iranian women's activists chose March 8th, International Women's Day, to launch a campaign against war. On the website, Change for Equality, the group writes:

“Change for Equality: War does not happen in the course of a day. There is no need for war to land in our cities with a bomb. The shadow of war is also frightening. The possibility of war too changes the lives of women. Every day that we spend at war or in conditions of war, is filled with the fear of the death of the our achievements, which have come about through years of struggle. War for us, means destructive violence committed against women and children. It means more severe crackdowns. It signifies the silencing of our demands and civil protest and…Still our bodies are covered in the dust of the eight year war with Iraq, and our country is once again faced with the threat of war.”

Global Voices has an overview here.

Report of Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran

The U.N. Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, released his recent report this week. The 36-page report comprises cases of human rights violation such as torture, alarming number of executions, imprisonment as well as repression of laborers’ unions, women groups, students, journalists and ethnic minorities. Ahmed Shaeed’s report concludes (par.69):

“The Special Rapporteur has catalogued allegations that produce a striking pattern of violations of fundamental human rights guaranteed under international law. He restates his call for the Government to respect its international obligations, and underscores the pre-eminence of international human rights law, as it relates to the need to develop domestic laws that are compatible with international human rights laws and national standards. This includes the guarantees stipulated in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Consequently, he urges the Government to reconsider the Parties and Associations Law Reform Plan, the bill on the establishment and supervision of non-governmental organizations, the bill aimed at the review and discipline of Members of Parliament, and the family protection bill, as well as security laws, to ensure that they do not contravene international standards.”

According to the report, the Islamic Republic has accused the Special Rapporteur’s findings to be void of “positive reference…to meetings with officials and representatives of civil society.”

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center wrote a summary of the report can be found here.

Activists still under constant pressure

The Iranian prisoner of conscience, human rights defender Nargess Mohammadi, was sentenced to six years in prison on the charge of “membership in Iran’s Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and assembly and collusion against the national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyer was notified of her client’s sentence confirmation a full 19 days after the decision was made by the judicial authorities.

Many human rights organizations, including, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders have condemned the sentence. The statement released by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders reads: “[The organization] deplores the relentless harassment of members of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and more particularly the sentencing on appeal of Ms. Nargess Mohammadi to six years of prison.”

Another Iranian woman, the journalist Nazanin Khosravani, received a six-year prison term as well. The charge? Another case of “collusion against the national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic” plus “acts against national security.”

In an interview Nazanin Khosravani’s mother said that her daughter was asked to sign a letter of repentance and avoid going to prison, but “my daughter told them she hadn’t done anything wrong, and she went to the prison herself.”

Big Brother is Watching: The High Council for Cyberspace

In another sign that the office of the Supreme Leader is taking even more control over communications inside the country, “The High Council for Cyberspace” was formed last week. Members were appounted directly by the Supreme Leader and include a hand-picked group of experts plus the leadership of state institutions such as parliament, state television and radio, and the Revolutionary Guards. The council will be charged with regulating, monitoring, and controlling cyberspace.

More Publishing Houses Closed

After banning Nashre Cheshmeh publishing house from publishing two weeks ago , this week there was fresh news of the ban on Saales publishing house. While Cheshmeh mostly published literary books, Saales focused on the social sciences. The undersecretary of the publishers' and booksellers’ union announced that they are following these cases and are negotiating with authorities to find a way out of this situation. Whether or not they have any negotiating clout to support their members is an open question.

Tree Planting in Solidarity with Prisoners of Conscience

March 5th marked Iran's annual Tree Planting Day. This year a group of Iranian activists planted trees in solidarity with Iranian prisoners of conscience. See photos of their beautiful trees in Tehran here and here in Isfahan.

Celebrate Norooz by Sparing a Life and Preventing the Extinction of an Iranian Salamander

The Norooz celebration has gone through many changes and during the past 100 years it has found a peculiar addition: the Chinese goldfish. Most of these fish die quickly after Norooz from neglect.

In recent years, there have been attempts and calls by Iranian environmentalists to stop people from buying goldfish during Norooz. Now there is a new and more disturbing development: Mehr News Agency, has reported that a rare amphibian, the Lorestani Salamander (also known as Kaiser Spotted or Lorestan Newt Neurergus kaiseri) -- categorized by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) as “Critically Endangered” -- is being sold illegally along with the usual goldfish in its Native Lorestan and in the capital Tehran. Apparently only 3000 of these salamanders are left.

Of course we at Arseh Sevom wish everyone a very happy Norooz and we celebrate those who have made the wise choice of sparing a living being by not neglecting or purchasing a goldfish. We join environmental groups in calling for a stop to the sales of the beautiful Lorestani Salamander and the protection of its habitat.

Young Man to be Executed for a Crime Committed as a Juvenile

Seriously Islamic Republic of Iran? You want to stone a woman for adultery even though no one accused her of it besides some deranged judges? And execute a young man whose co-defendants exonerated him of a murder that was committed when he was 15? Seriously?

Some countries just can't catch a break...

Please protest both the planned stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and the execution of Mohammad Reza Haddadi

Here is what the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says about the case of Ashtiani:

The terms of the sentence under Iranian law call for Ashtiani to be killed with medium –sized stones, so she will die slowly, in great pain.  She has already been punished with 99 lashes for having an “illicit relationship,” and later again charged, for the same crime, with adultery, which carries the death penalty in Iran.  According to her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie, no evidence exists in her file to justify an adultery conviction, and as a member of the Azerbaijani minority, her inability to understand the language of the court prevented a fair trial.

United4Iran has a letter that you can send to halt the imminent execution of Haddadi.

There is a petition to end stoning at Amnesty International and another petition to stop the execution by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani at Go Petition. Please do what you can.

Mother's Day Executions in Iran

Together with a number of volunteers, we have been preparing a campaign to mark one year of crackdowns on dissent in Iran. That campaign focuses on prisoners of conscience in Iran and those political prisoners in danger of execution. This morning, when we got up and turned on my email, the first message was from a dear colleague who linked to the AP article on the early morning execution of 5 of the people we had come to know through our work. "I can't stop crying," she wrote. "I do not know what to do." (She subsequently wrote an elegant post at United4Iran.org)


We can mark their lives.

Shirin Alam Holi was a young Kurdish woman who was accused of planting a bomb. In her own words, she tells us of her arrest: “The interrogators were male, and I was tied to a bed with handcuffs. They used their fists, feet, electric batons, and cables to beat my head, face, body, and soles of my feet. At that time I could not even understand and speak Persian. When their questions remained unanswered, they beat me again till I passed out.”
In a letter written just seven days ago, she wrote:

When I entered this prison my hair was black, now after three (3) years of imprisonment, my hair has started to turn white. I know you have done this not only to me but to all Kurds including Zeynab Jalaliyan and Ronak Safarzadeh… The eyes of Kurdish mothers are full of tears, waiting to see their children. They are in a state of constant worry, in fear that each phone call may bring the news of the execution of their children.

Today is May 2, 2010 and once again they took me to Section 209 of the Evin prison for interrogation. They asked me to cooperate with them in order for me to be pardoned and not executed. I don’t understand what they mean by cooperation, when I don’t have anything more to say than what I have already said.

Mehdi Eslamian was executed a little more than a year after the execution of his brother for allegedly participating in a bombing in Shiraz. He was tortured for 14 days and denied medical care.

Ali Heidarian was a Kurdish rights activist accused of participating in armed conflict as was Farhad Vakili.

Farzad Kamangar was a teacher whose cause has become international. Human rights organizations, Iran's teachers' union, and international education groups all joined together to protest his incarceration and sentence of execution. Kamangar wrote recently:

Is it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet?

Is it possible to be in the year of no justice and fairness and fail to teach the H for Hope and E for Equality, even if such teachings land you in Evin prison or result in your death?

Others are in danger of execution:

Abdolreza Ghanbari, a school teacher who participated in the December demonstrations on the Shia holiday of Ashura.

Ahmad Danseshpour is alleged to have sent videos and pictures to the MKO and whose mother and father Motahareh Bahrami and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam have also been sentenced to death.

Ali Saremi , member of the MKO, was arrested last year when he attended a memorial for the 1988 mass killings of political prisoners. (It's worth noting here that many members of the Ahmadinejad administration were directly responsible for the killings.)

Ali Massouni is another protester. Ali Omid Mehrnia has relatives at Camp Ashraf (MKO camp in Iraq), as does Alireza Nabavi.

Amir Reza Arefi is accused of having ties with a monarchist group. His sentence is being appealed.

Aziz Mohammadzadeh is another Kurdish rights activist sentenced to death.

Read what others are saying:

Neo-resistance:
They EXECUTED Her: Shirin Alam Hooli

United4Iran: Bios of the 5 Executed Prisoners of Conscience
Enduring America: Iran: Farzad Kamangar’s Last Letter “Is It Possible to Teach and Be Silent?” http://bit.ly/bSoYO3
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: About Farhad Kamangar

Azadi, Freedom, and 22 Bahman

In Tehran, taxi drivers call out destinations: Vanak, Vanak, Vanak. Tehran Pars, Tajrish, Arjentine, Resalat, Pol-e Hemat... If you are traveling to any of these places, you hop in and wait for the car to fill up. Everytime a taxi driver shouted out Azadi, which means freedom in Persian, I wanted to laugh. Sometimes I would shout out, No Azadi in return.

During the time I was in Iran, four 22 Bahmans came and went. The first was spent in the center of Iran, where I heard the rooftop calls of Allah-o Akbar for the first time. A handful of families were out on their roofs shouting back and forth. The men would call out Allah-o Akbar and the women would respond in kind. Kamran explained to me that they were remembering the revolution when street protests were forbidden and people took to the roofs to chant. "Forbidding the street protests really backfired," he told me. "Everyone went on to the roofs. It was safer and easier than going into the streets. If you did not go, your neighbors would wonder about you and why you weren't on your roof."
(youTube video: Inja Kojast, Where is this place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7MvSHuOFuA)


When we stayed in Tehran, we heard no chants at all on 22 Bahman. It was just another day off: one of many. When people in Iran started using the chants to signal their dissent after the contested June presidential elections, I had never heard anything like it. For four years I had only heard handfuls of people chanting and never with the passion I heard when listening to the recordings posted all over the Internet. In those voices, mainly of women, I heard desperation, anger, and a fierce longing for change.

Living in Iran meant many things for me: I learned to wear hejab and do so fashionably despite my unfashionable nature. I learned to shut up and keep my opinions to myself. I learned to speak cautiously. I learned to make jokes that allowed me to express myself. I learned to read small gestures. I learned to dance whenever there was music, sing despite my off-key voice, and really live inside every crack in the system.

I fell in love with Iran in a way that I have never fallen in love with any place before. This made me worry about my sanity.

When people in Iran took to the streets, en masse, to protest in June, I knew that they were risking their lives, their livelihoods, their futures. I heard protesters call for the rights of the Bahai and other minorities. I heard their demands for equal rights for women. I heard them call for peaceful confrontation. There was nothing left for me but to support those calls and to do everything I could, however small, to amplify them. Supporting those calls costs me so little and costs those in Iran so much.

Today, when I join other protesters at a demonstration in Amsterdam to support the demands for civil and human rights, no one will shoot at me, tear gas won't be used, my life won't be in jeopardy, my work won't be stolen, and my computer won't be confiscated.

Join me. Join them.

Read other posts written for Amnesty's Unite! Blog! Human Rights for Iran!