Arseh Sevom Weekly Review: Love, Sanctions, Norooz, and Human Rights

Weekly Review from Arseh Sevom:

Celebrating Norooz

Norooz, a celebration of the new year that is marked by people from every religion and belief, was met with relief and joy by Iranians all over the world. Millions in Iran traveled in cars, buses, trains, and planes to see family and friends and to do a bit of urban camping. Iran's press was filled with stories of tourist attractions and the numbers of travelers.

"Unbelievable Inflation"

Sanctions are taking a huge bite out of the budgets of most Iranian households. Prices are "unbelievable," sources tell Arseh Sevom. "Prices change three times a day and the government blames it all on the embargos," an Ahwazi householder says. A Tehrani resident says that her home has lost 50% of its value this year. With sanctions on doing business with Iran's central bank kicking in, inflation is expected to continue to rise. The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted further pain for the majority of Iranian households as the rial continues to plummet.

Women Hit Hardest

In a Swedish publication (translated by Anusche Noring), Sholeh Irani writes of warmongering and the oppression of women, stating there is broad consensus among Iranian women's rights that sanctions and war do not lead to freedom and democracy. The article quoted prominent women's rights activist Parvin Ardalan as saying:

“Under the shadow of the looming threat of war and economic sanctions, the Iranian regime has been stepping up its oppression of women, new discriminatory legislation is coming into force, and further pressure has been brought to bear upon civil society actors in recent months. One example which has not attracted any attention or resistance was the new legislation introducing total gender segregation in the country’s universities.” Ms Ardalan, who has been following developments closely, finds that the impact of economic sanctions is manifesting itself more and more each day. They are affecting civil society – the regime, on the other hand, has managed to get by so far. “In the majority of families in Iran, the husband is the sole breadwinner. Women are in charge of handling the familyʼs finances and need to ensure that their husband’s small income will cover all expenses. This has been a difficult struggle for the majority of women for some time now, due to the regimeʼs economic policies, but in recent months, it has become an impossible task. Alarmingly high prices for food, rent and other necessities of life, combined with rising unemployment and the general anxiety that exists in Iran, entail a dramatic increase in the burden borne by women."

Extended Term for UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran

The report presented by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, was discussed at length in the Iranian blogosphere. There was wide agreement among activists and organizations that the report was comprehensive and accurate. More than 20 organizations signed a letter urging the retention of the Special Rapporteur:

The country mandate has mobilized, in an unprecedented manner, Iranians both inside and outside the country, to engage with the international community. In meeting after meeting, victims and activists have told us that they see the office of the Special Rapporteur as a critical focal point for documenting rights abuses, and an impartial and reliable channel of communication between victims and the United Nations and its member states. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur fulfills an important role for Iranian survivors of human rights violations which is denied to them in Iran.

Last week a second year was indeed added to his mandate. (Arseh Sevom has been following this story on its Persian site: Iranian Human Rights Activists at an International Meeting in Geneva, The Need for Human Rights Education in Iran, Torture and Oppression of Prisoners)

Iranian Journalist Wins British Media Award While Another Spends his 999th Day in Evin

Radio Farda interviewed Amir Taheri who was awarded International Journalist of the Year by the British Media Foundation. Eighty journalists signed a letter to the imprisoned journalist Massoud Bastani on the occasion of his 999th day in Evin Prison. They thanked him for his resistance, courage, and nobility in the face of brutality and imprisonment.

Who Would've Guessed?

News that Chinese companies have been supplying Iran with surveillance technologies since at least 2010 has come as no surprise to many. Human rights activist Anita Hunt tweeted:

@lissnup: 14 months after you saw it on Twitter, Reuters does a special on #China selling #Iran snooping software http://snup.us/v6X

It should also come as no surprise that these technologies are often used to track down dissenters. In related news, China has been using malware to attack Macs used by NGOs focusing on issues related to Tibet. Activists should expect similar actions from Iran.

EU Sanctions Human Rights Abusers and Bans Export of Surveillance Tech

China is not the only country providing surveillance technology to Iran, the EU is home to a number of companies that have provided surveillance and monitoring capabilities in the past. This past week, the EU banned these sales to Iran. In addition 17 human rights abusers in Iran were sanctioned by the EU. Enduring America has the complete list on its site. Marietje Schaake, a member of the European Parliament, told Arseh Sevom:

"In the midst of all the talk about possible military actions against Iran these important new human rights sanctions signal the EU's ongoing concern about the systematic violation of the Iranian's fundamental rights and freedoms. By banning the export of European-made Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and operational services used for surpression and by targeting those within the Iranian regime responsible for the massive censorship and monitoring of internet and mobile communication traffic, the EU seeks to prevent the successful establishment of an electronic firewall and the "national internet," which would cut off Iranians from the open world wide web. Sustainable change in Iran can only come from within, therefore the international community should stand by the Iranian people and preserve an ongoing dialogue, both online and offline, how difficult that may be. In my opinion democatization and human rights should be elevated even higher on the political agenda."

A Holiday Reprieve for Some, Communication Blackout for Others

The holiday of Norooz gave some relief to political prisoners such as Mehdi Karroubi, who after four months was allowed to see his family. The Guardian reported:

The news about Karroubi comes after several activists and journalists were given temporary leave from prison for the Nowruz holiday. Journalist Ali Mousavi Khalkhali, singer Arya Aramnejad, activist Mehdi Khazali and Parvin Mokhtarea, the mother of human rights activist Kouhyar Goudarzi, were among those let out of prison for Nowruz. There was no news on whether Mir Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, had been given prison leave.

Most, however, were left imprisoned, without access to family or even telephone calls. To bring attention to their situation, political prisoners refused all communication in the week after the holiday.

Arab Minority Targeted for Harsh Punishments

In Ahwaz, six Arab minority, political prisoners arrested during a peaceful demonstration, were sentenced by the revolutionary court to imprisonment and execution. The Arab minority in the area continues to be targeted by authorities.

Religious Minorities Face Discrimination

On April 1, 7 Baha'i will have been in prison in Iran for a combined total of 10,000 days and several cities, including Amsterdam, will be taking action to bring attention to their plight and to that of other prisoners of conscience. This comes in the wake of a report on religious freedom issued by the US State Department that condemns Iran for its discrimination against religious minorities.

The commission condemned the Iranian government for discriminating against its citizens on the basis of their beliefs, using imprisonment, torture and executions. The annual report, published Tuesday, describes how conditions have worsened for the country’s religious minorities, such as the Baha’is, Christians and Sufi Muslims. But even those protected under Iran’s constitution — including Jews, Armenian and Assyrian Christians and Zoroastrians — have come under attack.

A pdf of the report can be downloaded here: http://www.uscirf.gov/images/Annual%20Report%20of%20USCIRF%202012%282%29.pdf

Israel Loves Iran

Finally, the facebook campaign launched by a couple of Israeli graphic designers, Ronny Edry and Michal Tamir, felt like a Norooz gift to many Iranians. The Israel Loves Iran Campaign was started as an attempt to reach out across the divide and start a conversation between Israelis and Iranians. In an interview with Arseh Sevom (to be published later this week), a volunteer for the campaign said that in the first days the Israeli designers had received over 20,000 emails from Iranians all over the world. The campaign has captured the imagination of people all over the world and has been featured on Al Jazeera, CNN, Radio Zamaneh, and more. It resulted in a peace demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. Iranian groups and individuals have also taken up the peace gauntlet.

Unveiling Iran

My piece on two series of photographs -- Listen by Newsha Tavakolian and Chador by Kamran Ashtary is up on the Swiss publication, Neuland Magazin:

In 1978 and 1979, life in Iran drastically changed. This was especially true for women and girls, who once again found themselves and their bodies the focus of revolutionary change. Decades earlier they'd been forced to give up the veil in the name of modernity. Now they were forced to put it back on. They could no longer sing or dance in public. Iranian photographers Newsha Tavakolian and Kamran Asthary use their work to respond to a world fundamentally changed.

Click here to read more and to see the photographs.

What are you doing #4Peace

The whole world is watching the phenomena of the Israel loves Iran campaign: https://www.facebook.com/israellovesiran. I am writing a piece right now about individual and organizational efforts for peace. I talked to Sany from the Israel Loves Iran campaign who said, "If it's naive to want peace, than I choose to be naive." I would love to hear from others as well. Does anyone out there in the digital vacuum have actions they want to share? What are you doing for peace? Leave a comment.

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.

Threat of War, Press TV Attacks, Parliamentary Elections, Amnesty Reports

Hi to the readers of this dormant blog... I am reviving it by reposting some of the things published at Arseh Sevom. I might just start posting some other stuff as well... I definitely would love to start hearing from readers again. If you're still out there, let me know. 


Now: Threat of War, Press TV Attacks, Parliamentary Elections, Amnesty Reports

 This week was dominated by news of parliamentary elections, and threats of war, Asghar's Oscar continued to bring some joy to people and to be a topic of discussion all over the world. In the streets of Tehran some even handed out candy to celebrate. The New York Times has provided a flurry of opinion pieces on Iran and the effects of diplomacy, sanctions, and war: (Only Crippling Sanctions Will Stop Iran, Iran and Israel Share Bonds,Starving Iran Won’t Free It - NYTimes.com)A letter from United4Iran-London's Kamran Hashemi published in The Financial Times stated:

As odd as it may appear, the western governments and Israel are doing everything possible in their power to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic’s regime at the time when it is probably at its weakest state, desperately struggling to prove, with little success, its legitimacy both at home and abroad. With the gross mismanagement of the economy and widescale corruption, the Iranian economy is facing the bleakest prospects since the formation of the Islamic Republic. Faced with such calamities, the regime views the latest round of sanctions as a godsend.

Parliamentary elections were held in the Islamic Republic of Iran against a backdrop of calls for boycott by political opposition. The result of the elections is no surprise to any Iran-watcher: accusations of voter fraud, more than 100% turnout in some regions, and the success of the Supreme Leader's candidates.

 CONTENTS
Predictions Come True and Boycott Betrayed
Professional Groups Remain Mute
Press TV Shows Its True Colors in “Eye of the Fox”
The Butcher of the Press Gets a Promotion
Amnesty International Documents Systematic Abuses of Human Rights
I'll Be Watching You


Predictions Come True and Boycott Betrayed There were no real surprises for many analysts and activists who expected the state-controlled media to affirm the Supreme Leader’s prediction of a massive turn-out. Opposition figures described the same event as “the most lifeless election in the history of the Islamic Republic.”

 As Iran-watchers turned to the Internet to get a glimpse at the ballot boxes through the lens of netizens and to follow updates on social media (and yes, the internet was working pretty well on Election Day according to Arseh Sevom sources in Iran). former reformist president Mohammad Khatami – who was the first to open up the Islamic Republic of Iran to independent civil society – broke the opposition calls for boycott and cast his vote. This caused a lot of hand-wringing among the opposition including from Ayatollah Khomeini’s granddaughter and Khatami’s sister-in-law, activist Zahra Eshraghi, who posted on Facebook: “This was a heavy blow.” On Sunday, March 4, Radio Zamaneh published a disturbing piece in which Khatami is quoted as saying to political activist Hossein Nourinejad:

“I had received some disturbing information in the last two days leading up to the elections, regarding plans and plots by the extremists in the establishment to be carried out after the elections, which had to be defused by some surprising action on my part.” The former president expressed hope that his vote did not disrupt “reformist solidarity.” He has reportedly stressed the “complexity” of the internal as well as the international situation and called for “understanding of these complexities by everyone.” Nourinejad reportedly asked the former president what he had written on his ballot, to which Khatami responded: “Islamic Republic.”

Iranian.com showed videos from polling stations in Iran and Tehran Bureau's Mohammad Sahimi explains that Iranians have their identity cards stamped when they vote, which has an effect on their lives in many ways from accessing government resources to finding work. He does a good job describing the complexity of the elections on the radio program On The Media.

Tehran Bureau had a live blog on the day of the elections, which reported of roaming polling booths making visits to workplaces, extended voting hours, and the strict limitations on access by foreign journalists.

Professional Groups Remain Mute

 Iranian human rights lawyer, Abdolfatah Soltani, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 20 years barred from practice. Last week Iran's bar association met to elect its board, while remaining silent on the cases of lawyers who are imprisoned unfairly. This is a direct result of state control of professional organizations and the persecution of lawyers who dare to represent clients who face abuses of their basic human rights.

Press TV Shows Its True Colors (Again) in “Eye of the Fox”

 Last week's review spoke of hints by the Revolutionary Guards via their site Gedareb.ir of revelations concerning BBC Persian. With the release of the transparent propaganda film by the Islamic Republic's Press TV, “The Eye of the Fox,” the promise of new allegations is fulfilled. Press TV shows “shocking” photos of Iranian journalists receiving training from the BBC in Turkey. They blame the BBC Persian for the unrest following the 2009 elections, accusing the organization of espionage. It broadcasts confessions, and shows the arrest of an Iranian female journalist in what appeared to be her home.
«چشم روباه»؛ مستند پرس تی.وی from mardomak on Vimeo

 Around minute 19 of the film, Mohammad Kooshki, who is described as a media expert, defines "espionage" as: “depending on the national interests and laws of the country, what definition that country has of national interest, a certain action might be considered espionage in one country because the gathering of that information might threaten national security and render it illegal, but the same action might be considered reporting –not espionage– in another country.” He offers a purposefully vague definition of espionage that could easily be construed to meet the requirements of the day. Today speaking about the economy might be ok, tomorrow it could be threatening to national security.

  Arseh Sevom has warned about the abuse security concerns to prosecute many of the Baha'i faith and human rights defenders. Such an understanding of espionage is already crippling journalism in Iran as it gives arbitrary authority to the government to silence members of the press and, charging them with espionage and treason which is punishable by death according to Iranian law.

 This film clearly serves two purposes:

 1. To create a case for trying journalists and those who speak with journalists as spies, and
 2. To warn anyone from speaking with foreign journalists about anything at all.

 Arseh Sevom has already had contacts turn down interviews citing this film as the reason.

The Butcher of the Press Gets a Promotion

 In our past Civil Society Review from the week of Feb.14, we wrote that Saeed Mortazavi’s vindication for the post- election (2009) torture and deaths at Kahrizak Detention Center had shocked many human rights activists still hoping for some positive development in Iran’s civil society. Just as this review was being finalized on March 4th, the Iranian newspaper, Tehran-e Emrooz reported on Mortazavi’s promotion to the head of the biggest financial holding organization in Iran, Social Security Organization [Sazman-e Tamin-e Ejtema’ie].

  Fifteen parliamentarians protested the appointment citing his lack of experience with social security as a drawback. In addition, Abd al-Hossein Rouh-al-Amini, leader of the Justice and Development Party and the father of Mohsen Rouholamini who was killed in Kahrizak, also sent a letter of protest concerning the appointment of Mortazavi.

 As if to pour salt on the wounds of civil society activists and those who dare to speak out, this week Mehdi Mahmoodian, a prisoner of conscience who testified about the extensive use of torture in Kahrizak, was severely beaten “in the presence of the prison manager.” According to a letter written by his mother to the head of the prisons organization of Iran, much of the damage to him is not even treatable.

Amnesty International Documents Systematic Abuses of Human Rights

 In a massive report released last week, Amnesty International documented systematic human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They speak of a quadrupling of public executions, the persecution of journalists, human rights defenders, and lawyers, and a crippled civil society. This well-documented report makes an elegant plea for continuing the work of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran. Amensty's recommendations include:

• release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience – those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized rights;
• amend legislation which unduly restricts the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and to permit open public debate prior to the March 2012 parliamentary elections;
• establish an immediate moratorium on executions and work towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.

In the absence of independent and impartial bodies to investigate allegations of human rights violations and to provide reparations to victims and affected families in accordance with international human rights standards, the organization is also calling on the Iranian authorities to:

• allow international scrutiny of the human rights situation in Iran, including by allowing visits by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, in addition to other thematic UN human rights mechanisms which have requested visits, as well as independent international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.

Amnesty International is also appealing to the international community not to allow tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme or events in the wider region to distract it from pressing Iran to live up to its human rights obligations as set out in a number of international human rights treaties to which it is a state party. In particular, Amnesty International is calling for:

• the UN Human Rights Council to renew in March 2012 the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iran;
• the international community to press the Iranian authorities to grant the Special Rapporteur on Iran access to the country and to fulfil commitments to receive visits by UN human rights mechanisms that have asked to visit Iran.

I'll Be Watching You

 The report from Amnesty comes in the wake of a report from The Committee to Protect Journalists, which lists Iran as the world's worst jailer of journalists and netizens in 2011 with 42 imprisoned and 66 forced to flee the country. The report also names Iran as the world's foremost internet oppressor.

 Arseh Sevom continues to be concerned about the persecution of netizens and the further isolation of Iran's population as a result of the planned “halal internet,” which may be launched this spring. There is much doubt that this is a completely homegrown effort. The results of a report done last year by the OpenNet Initiative which revealed that American and Canadian companies were supplying Iran with filtering software raise serious concerns.

  Until next week...

Miniver Cheevy: The speech it's not too late for Obama to make

I loved this ungiven speech posted over at Miniver Cheevy. Hope you will too. Here's an excerpt:

Miniver Cheevy: The speech it's not too late for Obama to make: "It is far better for a people to claim democracy for themselves than to try to build it in the wake of another nation's intervention. We should know that, having created our own nation in rebellion against the greatest colonial power of its time.

Better for a people to claim democracy for themselves, and best for them to do so without raising a gun at all. There are those who will say that to stand up against an oppressor without shedding their blood is too idealistic. Despots' grip on power is too great, they say. Only military force can break their grip."

The Failure of Quiet Diplomacy

Anybody still reading? Kamran has a post at EA Worldview about the failure of quiet diplomacy, which resulted in the execution of Zahra Bahrami.

Here are his recommendations:

Here are some minimum recommendations for the Dutch government.

1. The Netherlands should lead an international effort to challenge Iran's refusal to accept dual nationality.

2. The Dutch government should lead efforts to bring the issue of human rights in Iran to the European Parliament.

3. The Netherlands should crack down on the operations of Iranian intelligence officers located here because the Dutch-Iranian community feels unsafe. Over the past two years, intelligence personnel attached to the Iranian Embassy in the Netherlands have been seen publicly photographing Dutch-Iranian citizens attending demonstrations and are known to be collecting information.

4. The Netherlands should stop issuing visas for any purpose to personnel of the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary, and related organisations.

5. The Netherlands should approve the asylum applications of political refugees who left Iran since 2009. Many of their applications have been denied.

6. Respect for human rights needs to become a business concern as wellas a political concern.

7. The Dutch Government should lead an effort to call for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience in Iran.

8. The Dutch Government should protest the use of (forced) confessions against prisoners of conscience and others.

Read the whole post at EA Worldview.

URGENT ACTION: Protest the Upcoming Execution of Habibollah Latifi

Wouldn't it be nice to be writing a message of good cheer right now to get us all through the holiday season and to make us feel warm and fuzzy? That is what I would like to be doing. Instead I am going to urge those of you who still read this blog despite our erratic postings to send a letter to protest the upcoming election of Habibollah Latifi. After a year spent campaigning for prisoners of conscience, many of us feel that we know them personally. Habibollah Latifi is an Iranian-Kurd who has always denied the trumped up charges against him. The regime continues to ratchet up the charges so that they can justify his execution.

You can be his voice by sending an e-letter and by encouraging others to do so. Thanks.

Hope, Votes & Bullets

Hope, Votes & Bullets

We have been working our asses off in a book that features the work of bloggers, writers, and others whose lives were effected by what happened in Iran in 2009. Today, the book was delivered. Here is an internet preview. We'll let you know when it goes on sale. For those of you who facebook, be sure to "like" us over on Facebook.

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.

Halt the Execution of Zeynab Jalalian

Unfortunately, it is time to call for a halt to another execution in Iran. Members of Iran's Kurdish minority are being targeted for harsh sentences. Many are receiving execution sentences after 3-minute trials. Is there anyone anywhere who believes that this is remotely fair? I urge all of the readers of this blog to send a letter calling for a halt to Zeynab Jalalian's execution. United4Iran has made it easy to do. You can click here to send the letter to 30 different embassies and individuals.

Zeinab Jalalian is a 27-year-old Kurdish woman who is facing execution. Her lawyers have been prevented from engaging in any defense. Her trial lasted just a few minutes and resulted in a sentence of execution.

People close to her state that there is absolutely no evidence that she ever took up arms against the state. In fact, her activities took place at a time when many Kurdish groups operated freely and openly within Iran.

Two prominent human rights lawyers have attempted to represent Zeinab, but the authorities have prevented them from taking up her case. The IRI’s Intelligence Ministry and Judiciary have continued to use intimidation tactics to prevent public disclosure of prisoners’ information in order to carry out the death sentences in secret and evade any accountability.

Zeinab’s treatment, along with the treatment of other minorities in Iran's prisons, breaks Iran's own laws and makes a mockery of the nation's judiciary system.

We urge you to do what is right: to call a halt to her execution and an end to her mistreatment and that of others in the IRI’s prisons. We call on you to restore faith in the judicial system by allowing lawyers to defend their clients and by allowing fair trials.

Most importantly, we call on you to halt the sentences of execution handed out to so many representatives of Iran's Kurdish minority, including Zeinab Jalalian.

We call on you to show the world that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not turned its back on its own laws and constitution. Using every mechanism at your disposal to save the life Zeinab and others like her who are in prison because of their beliefs rather than their actions, would be a courageous and immensely welcome gesture.

Please help us make sure that all prisoners of conscience are released safely and guaranteed fair treatment. With your help, Iran can become the nation its people deserve.

Thank you for addressing these concerns, ensuring that international human rights standards are adhered to, and for urging the IRI authorities to immediately halt the execution of Zeinab Jalalian and of all the IRI’s prisoners of conscience

Your Sincerely,

ATTACK ON CIVIL SOCIETY IN IRAN

Just because we have not been blogging much, does not mean that we have not been writing and thinking and immersed in issues related to Iran. A report that Kamran and I have been working on with Sohrab Razzaghi on the attack on civil society in Iran is now available for download at arsehsevom.net. It is the result of a lot of hard work and research. Here is the press release:

ATTACK ON CIVIL SOCIETY IN IRAN

Report from Arseh Sevom [Third Sphere]

Available online at http://www.arsehsevom.net/?p=15

In mid-June 2009, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest a deeply flawed election. In the days and weeks that followed, reports of suppression, deaths in prison, torture, and rape, shocked people all over the world. According to a report by Arseh Sevom, these crackdowns were predictable given the anti-democratic nature of the Ahmadinejad administration.

“Despite the increasingly liberal and pragmatic character of Iranian society, this current administration is highly ideological and hostile to democracy,” Tori Egherman, one of the authors of the report states.

Arseh Sevom's [Third Sphere] report, The Attack on Civil Society in Iran, shows how the post-election crackdowns fit into a larger pattern of restricting the development of civil society. While the abuses happen to individuals, they are designed to undermine the democratic development of Iran as a nation. Dr. Sohrab Razzaghi, another author of the report states, “They have chosen to read Iran's ambiguous constitution as fundamentally undemocratic.”

From worker's rights to women's rights, the Ahmadinejad administration has sought to undermine them all. Reporters, activists, students, and others are systematically harassed as a warning to others who would take their places.

Arseh Sevom (Third Sphere, which refers to the role of civil society) is a non-governmental organization established/registered in 2010 in Amsterdam, (by Sohrab Razzaghi, Kamran Ashtary, Tori Egherman), aiming to promote peace, democracy, and human rights. The organization’s objective is to help build the capacity of organizations in Persian-speaking communities and encourage the development of a vigorous third sphere of civil activities. Arseh Sevom is non-partisan and independent and focuses on peace, democracy, and human rights.

###

Authors: Tori Egherman lived and worked in Iran from 2003-2007 and has published a number of articles on Iran and other topics.

Sohrab Razzaghi, PhD is the former executived director of the Iran Civil Society Organization Training and Research Center, which was shut down by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2007.

Kamran Ashtary is the former Director of Communications at Radio Zamaneh and co-author of the book Iran: View from Here. He has lectured on media in closed societies.

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

Unfurling a flag of freedom at the Iranian Embassy in the Hague

There has been a lot of criticism and conspiracy construction around the group of Dutch (-Iranian) people who hopped the fence of the Iranian embassy in The Hague and unfurled a banner calling for freedom in Iran.

(on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQygffygbBI&feature=related)



Whatever opinion you have about the action, it was not done by a bunch of attention seekers or the mujaheddin. I can say this with great confidence since I know some of the people involved. I know that they were sincerely moved by the situation in Iran to take this action. Having grown up in the safety and comfort of the Netherlands, they felt compelled to take a risk to bring attention not to themselves, but to the cause of those in Iran who risk much more to gain their freedoms.

I sincerely wish that someone would have counseled them on the charges they would face for trespassing on embassy property, or that they may (or may not) bring danger to employees of the Dutch embassy. I also wish they really had been attention seekers. They could have had more coverage for the event had they been.

Passion. Freedom. Can you really blame them?

UPDATED: Letter to halt executions: In support of Mohammad Amin Valian

UPDATE: United4Iran has launched a letter writing campaign and has translated this letter into several languages. http://bit.ly/acpgku

This is the letter I wrote to send to Iranian diplomats to protest the harsh penalties against protesters. I used Greenmail to send it. Please use it if you want:

Since the contested election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, defendants have been executed without recourse to a fair trial or meetings with lawyers. They have been charged with crimes such as Mohareb (“enemy of God”) to justify extreme penalties. These executions are, in fact, murders. The judiciary and the revolutionary courts in Iran are reinterpreting rules and applying severe punishments for activities that are not even considered crimes under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Iran is a signatory. (The specific articles violated are 10, 18, 19, and 20.)

There is widespread concern that more executions will occur in the coming months as a warning to protesters not to assemble or express their desire for civil and human rights. On March 3, we heard that the courts have upheld a death penalty for the student, Mohammad Amin Valian. This young man could be your son, brother, nephew, cousin, or friend. He comes from a deeply religious family and was active in the university’s Islamic Student Association. He is being punished for participating in demonstrations. His only crime is imagining that he could express himself openly and honestly. Even if you believe he was mistaken in his expressions, you cannot believe that he deserves to die or be imprisoned.

We urge you to take the words of the poet Saadi to heart:

The sons of Adam are limbs of each other,
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If thou hast no sympathy for the troubles of others
Thou art unworthy to be called by the name of a human.

Bani aadam aazaye yek digarand
ke dar aafarinesh ze yek gooharand

cho ozvi be dard aavarad roozegaar
degar ozvhaa raa namaanad gharaar

to kaz mehnate digaraan bi ghami
nashaayad ke naamat nahand aadami

Lodge a protest. Remember that the whole world feels the pain of this young man and his family. In your heart, you must as well. Make yourself heard. Help us stop this execution. Help us make sure that all prisoners of conscience are released safely. With your help, Iran can become the nation its people deserve.

SAVE MOHAMMAD AMIN VALIAN

My friend in Iran asked why no one cares about Mohamad Amin Valian, whose RIDICULOUS death sentence was upheld today. Can you imagine being convicted to death for throwing a stone during a demonstration? One that did not hit or target anyone or anything? This is the regime's recipe for squelching dissent:

Ingredients
12-20 protesters
1 cleric to significantly alter the definition of Mohareb (enemy of God)
1 judge with no humanity

Instructions
1. Take the young people who have gone out in the streets
2. Make sure that they have no famous relatives
3. Charge them with the crime of "Mohareb" (enemy of God)
4. Sentence them to slow and painful suffocation until they die
5. Execute enough of them so that parents lock their youth in their rooms until they turn 40

FROM UNITED4IRAN & GREEN VOICE OF IRAN:

Aaron Rhodes of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran states, “It's an attempt to intimidate other students, other young people like him, who just want to exercise their basic human rights and their political rights," Rhodes says. "Any number of others could be similarly accused, convicted, and face being hung.”

Mohammad Amin Valian was an active member of his University’s Islamic student association. He campaigned for Mir Hossein Mousavi and was targeted by his university’s Basiji-run newspaper according to the Green Voice of Freedom.

What can we do to stop this execution? Here is what the Green Voice of Freedom is advocating:

1) Temporarily change your profile pictures on social networking websites such as facebook and twitter, in order to raise awareness about Mohammad Valian’s death sentence.

2) If you have a weblog, website or other means for spreading the news about Mohammad Amin’s ordeal, we would like to urge you to help in spreading the news about this ridiculous court ruling in the shortest time possible. Remember, the life of a fellow human being is at stake.

3) We would also like to ask any person, organisation or figure that has access to Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi in any way, to inform him of the death sentence and how his statements are being misused by judicial authorities and to cause him to intervene in the matter, in order to prevent further disgrace and shame to the clerical rule in Iran. This is his website: http://www.makaremshirazi.org/

4) Further, if you are in any way able to contact any official or representative in the Islamic Republic or the Iranian Judicial system, we would like to ask you to do your best in echoing the concerns and voices of the Valian family who can at any moment lose their loved one to a corrupt and dysfunctional judiciary system. This link allows us to write to Iranian embassies and diplomatic missions around the world, and to plead the case of Mohammad Amin Alavian: http://www.servisis.co.uk/greenwave/greenmail.html

Archived 22 Bahman post

I just reread my 2007 blog post on 22 Bahman. I urge you to read it in case you were impressed by the government's turnout yesterday.

Here's the link 22 Bahman and Another Day Off:

http://viewfromiran.blogspot.com/2007/02/22-bahman-and-another-day-off.html

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!

It's not easy being Green: from election campaign to civil rights campaign

Before the 2009 Election

During Iran’s presidential campaign last spring, when I felt a growing optimism about the future of Iran, friends and acquaintances contacted me to inform me of Mousavi’s dark past. He was, after all, prime minister during the mass executions of the 80s.

It was clear to me from the beginning, however, that the support for Mousavi had less to do with who he was and his past, than with who Iranians were and their future. Ahmadinejad and the forces around him had never made their disdain for democracy a secret. The first round of the 2005 elections were already in question by most in Iran, who did not believe that Ahmadinejad had really come out ahead. Karoubi mounted protests at that time that went pretty much ignored by most. In 2005, the Iranians I met were cynical and apathetic about the results. “No one votes.” “The ballots are always rigged.” “What difference does it make anyway?”

The biggest pre-election boost to the Green movement unwittingly came from the regime itself when they disrupted rallies and denied permits, forcing supporters to become creative. This creativity culminated in the huge rallies of the last week, notably the Green Chain organized via sms and word of mouth that had supporters of Mousavi’s campaign line the sides of the road from the bottom of Tehran’s Vali Asr Street to the top (more than 12 miles!)

Well, for me it was a very unique feeling, and I had never such an experiment before. I was a part of a crowd that all were singing the same song, and I had the feeling that I can do EVERYTHING.

Also for the first time in my life, I could feel and understand our previous generation who went out to the streets 30 year ago and did the revolution. I couldn’t stop myself comparing my current activities with them. I don’t know what happens on Saturday night, when the result of the election becomes clear, but maybe 30 years from now, our children will ask “Why the hell did you do these stupid things at June 2009?!” like what we’re always asking from our own parents!

But I’m happy of what I did. I’ll vote on Friday, and I’ll vote for Mousavi. Not because he is the best, but because he is the better choice in our current conditions. Reform do not happen in one night, like what our parents did 30 year ago, what they called it “revolution”. Reform in Iran will take a very long time, in a road with many little steps.
- Payam Moin Afshari

People I know in Iran told me it was a sea change. They looked around and saw that what they wished for secretly was what so many wished for: reform, more personal freedoms, slow changes.

Read what women’s rights activist Maryam Hosseinkhah wrote before the elections:

But I will vote for small change.

I will vote because I want to freely read a newspaper every morning.

I will vote because I want to buy my favorite book.

I will vote because I want to watch my favorite movie in the cinema.

I will vote because I don’t want to afraid of being arrested in the street when my clothes are a bit short.

I vote for these small wishes.

After the June elections and the subsequent protests, my dear friend told me, "I always thought I was in the minority and that I would just have to learn to live with this society. Now I realize that I am in the majority, and I am asking myself, 'What do I need to do now? What are my responsibilities?'"

From Election Campaign to Rights Campaign


The Green movement is now a civil rights movement. It’s important to realize that it will take time to grow and develop, and it will take nurturing to do so. Those of us who feel that a tolerant, more democratic, and open society is inevitable may wish that it were as simple to achieve as turning on a light in a dark room. The truth is, that the Green movement is a long-term movement that is going to require our support for a long, long time to come. We are always going to have to struggle for civil and human rights and once they are attained, we are going to have to struggle to maintain them.

In an interview with Moussavi published on Kalameh, he questions the success of the revolution against the Shah: "In the early years of the revolution, the majority of our people had been convinced that the revolution had erased all structures of dictatorship and autocracy, and I was one of these people," he said. "But today, I don't believe so." (via LA Times blog) Mousavi continues:

He doesn't care about rumors of illegally forced confessions. Nor does he care about the fact that the death-row suspects have nothing to do with the election riots. The important thing for him is to be an executive for intimidation. He is unaware of the power of the blood of the innocent and he has forgotten the fact that the flood of martyrs' blood led to the overthrow of the shah regime.

Even today, I see the resistance and firm determination of people in favor of their rights ... as the continuation of the struggles of the days and months leading to the 1979 revolution.

How do We Become the Society We Should Be?

If as Dr. Frans de Waal and other neuroscientists posit, we are by nature empathic, then how do we go about promoting the empathic norm that is Us and limiting the upheaval and oppression done to our societies by the small number who are willing to use violence and terror to achieve their ends? How do we respond peacefully and non-violently to that group? And how do we prevail? I hope that you, dear reader, will respond to these questions in the comments.

It is easy to be in opposition. It is far easier to remain outside and critical than to take on the enormous risk of supporting a movement that may not always be everything we dream of. The future of oppression in Iran depends on passivity. It depends on the assumption that we will sacrifice those among us who unknown yet outspoken and brave who have made themselves vulnerable through their actions to protect others and to move society forward, in return for stability and predictability.

We all have to be brave and patient and work hard to achieve civil, compassionate, and open societies. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Cross-posted at United4Iran

Call for Diplomatic Action to End Executions in Iran

Today, we sent this letter to the Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen. Feel free to add your voice to the letter by printing it out and mailing it or by tweeting this link: http://bit.ly/a8eUiE to @maximeverhagen. Sample tweet: Pls RT @maximeverhagen Oproepen Iraanse Diplomaten http://bit.ly/a8eUiE #united4iran

There is an English template of the letter available at United4Iran and the Dutch version is on unitedriran-nl.org.

February 2, 2010
Amsterdam

Dear Minister Verhagen:

This letter presents a request to summon Iranian diplomats in order to register a strong complaint concerning gross violations of human rights. The government of Iran, which has the second highest number of executions in the world, has stepped up capital punishment for non-capital crimes. The International Campaign for Human Rights reports that the charge of Mohareb (“enemy of God”) is being used to intimidate dissidents, protesters, and opposition. This is particularly urgent at this moment, as the people of Iran prepare to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution against the Shah on February 11. There is widespread concern that more executions will occur in the coming days as a warning to protesters not to assemble or express their desire for civil and human rights.

Since the contested election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, defendants have been executed without recourse to a fair trial or meetings with lawyers. These executions are, in fact, murders. The judiciary in Iran is making up the rules and the charges as they go along. Those charges violate basic human rights as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Iran is a signatory. (The specific articles violated are 10, 18, 19, and 20.)

Danger of Mass Executions

For many inside and outside Iran, the mass executions of the late 1980s are a fresh memory. Thousands of people were executed for trumped up charges, some of them after nearly completing prison terms for non-capital offenses. There is a clear danger that history will repeat itself. The difference this time, is that the world is watching. It is imperative that the government of the Netherlands register its disapproval in a strong way.

On 29 January, one day after two political prisoners (Arash Rahmani Pour and Mohammad Ali Zamani) were hanged, the hardline cleric and member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati welcomed these executions. Given his prominent position amongst the ruling elite’s “hardliner” faction, his statement is interpreted as a green light for further political executions. He explicitly stated that if widespread executions had taken place following the post- election unrest, the protests would not have been prolonged. Addressing the head of the Judiciary, Jannati said at Friday prayers in Tehran: “For God’s sake, just as you expedited these two executions, continue on like a man and bravo for these actions.”

Summon Iranian Diplomats

We urge the Dutch Foreign Ministry to summon Iranian diplomats and to register a strong protest against the actions of the Iranian judiciary and government. We ask for calls for the Iranian government to respect the internationally recognized rights of the Iranian people to freedom of assembly, expression, and press. Let the government of Iran know that we want to see an immediate halt to the trials of protesters that are underway and the release of all political prisoners.

Political Prisoners Facing Execution

The number of political prisoners and dissidents sentenced to death is growing daily. During the past month alone four political prisoners were executed: Ehsan Fattahian, Fasih Yasmian, Arash Rahmani Pour, and Mohammad Ali Zamani. At least nine post-election protestors are sentenced to death according to the Iranian Judiciary, although their names have not been announced.

Four members of the student association Daftar-e Tahkim (Office to Foster Unity) and seven members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, as well as many ordinary detained protestors, are facing the charge of Mohareb, or enemy of God, which carries the death sentence. None of these detainees has access to lawyers, and according to brief calls they have made to their families, they are under intense pressure to make false confessions.


At least twenty Kurdish political prisoners are also at risk of imminent execution: Shirin Alam Holi, Zeinab Jalilian, Farzad Kamangar, Habibollah Latifi, Shirkoo Moarefi, Farhad Vakili, Ali Heidarian, Hussein Khazri, Rostam Arkia, Mostafa Salimi, Anvar Rostami, Rashid Akhkandi, Mohammad Amin Agooshi, Ahmad Pooladkhani, Seyed Sami Husseini, Seyed Jamal Mohammadi, Hasan Talei, Iraj Mohammadi, Mohammad Amin Abollahi and Ghader Mohammadzadeh.


We urge you to take strong action and to encourage your colleagues to do so as well.

Sincerely,