Eyewitness Account of the Conditions in Evin and How Amir Javadifar Died

Seyed Ali Akbar Kheradnejad is among the many protesters who were detained after June 12th election. During his detention, he was subjected to torture and many other illegal acts. He has a bitter story of his detention to tell. We sat down to talk to him to shed light on countless crimes that Ali Akbar and other prisoners have been subjected to. During the conversation he refers to Amir Javadifar’s death whom he had seen in Evin prison. He says Javadifar was very ill and the refusal of the prison guards to let the doctor take Amir to the hospital led to his death later.

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ALERT!
Statement of Former Political Prisoners of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Since the onset of the June 12th “election coup d’état” thousands of people have been detained or disappeared in Iran. In Tehran, for instance, the number of detainees is so large that the officials are holding prisoners in places such as the Ministry of State building’s basement and vacant camps in the city suburbs.

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petition
To: Ban Ki-moon United Nations Secretary General
To: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
& the UN Security Council
Leaders of Islamic Republic of Iran must be tried!
The world is watching the political situation in Iran. People in Iran have taken matters into their own hands and are protesting against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many people who are in the streets shouting “Down with Dictator” have no illusion about the different factions of the Islamic regime. The choice for them is not Mousavi or Ahmadinejad. The choice is the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

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To: Ban Ki-moon United Nations Secretary General
To: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
& the UN Security Council

Leaders of Islamic Republic of Iran must be tried!

The world is watching the political situation in Iran. People in Iran have taken matters into their own hands and are protesting against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many people who are in the streets shouting “Down with Dictator” have no illusion about the different factions of the Islamic regime. The choice for them is not Mousavi or Ahmadinejad. The choice is the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

This is the regime of 150,000 murders of the opposition and the people fighting for freedom and equality. Join millions of people in Iran to put pressure on the Islamic regime. Sign this petition. Let us get rid of the Islamic regime in the same way millions of people internationally helped to get rid of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

We the undersigned support the struggle of people in Iran for equality, freedom and prosperity and demand that:

1- Islamic regime be stuck off as the legitimate state of Iran and be expelled from the international community.

2- The bank accounts, (outside Iran), belonging to the leaders of the Islamic regime to be frozen.

3- Leaders of the Islamic regime must be tried at international courts of law for crimes against people of Iran.

Organisation for Women’s Liberation
Organisation “Wanted by People”
29 June 2009


Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Click here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>http://www.petitiononline.com/mk072009/petition.html

petition

petition click here >

To: Honorable Leaders of the Free World, Honorable Citizens of the World, Honorable Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

The life that God gives, no man should extinguish. The illegitimate mullahs presently ruling Iran blatantly violate this sacred covenant by shooting at a large number of peaceful demonstrators who are demanding nothing more than their God-Given-Right to liberty and pursuit of happiness. The mullahs and their mercenaries are wasting precious human life to maintain themselves in power through terrorizing the population.

Our hearts are bleeding watching how brutally the government agents are beating up the children and assault them in their dormitories at night while they are sleeping or invade the sanctuary of their homes to beat them up or arrest them. Regretfully, the ruling regime sees these actions as part of their sacred duty. They see any defiance to the supreme leader as defiance to God. They call the demonstrators who just want their voices to be heard "terrorists," “thugs” and “agents of foreign governments.” If they do not shoot people outright, they savagely attack them with axes, chains, batons and any other crude weapons they can get their hands on.

We call upon the free governments of the world, as well as all other businesses, organizations and individuals to enlist in a non-violent campaign of ending the reign of terror of the belligerent clerical regime. Governments should enact the following:

* Renounce the use of force for ending the impasse.

* Declare unequivocally the commitment to respect the territorial integrity of Iran, as well as the rights of the Iranians to decide, through a democratic process, all matters pertaining to their life and country.

* Initiate, without delay or equivocation, a comprehensive program of assistance to all democratic Iranian opposition groups, both within as well as outside of Iran, in their struggle to accomplish the regime change themselves.

* Proclaim wide and far, the cardinal reason for taking these measures against the Mullahs' reign of terror is to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons, the threat they pose to the region as well as to the world, and the stimulus they provide for other nations to develop their own nuclear arsenal.

* Enforce the U.N. sanctions by inspecting every vessel headed for Iranian ports to make sure they are not ferrying prohibited material. Other than vessels known to be carrying foodstuff and medicine, each ship should be subjected to elaborate inspection.

* Establish an Iran Assistance Fund, from Iran’s frozen assets as well as contributions from peace-loving individuals and organizations, to assist Iranian families during the hardship that the sanctions may create.

* Persuade Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and other Persian Gulf oil producers to significantly increase their output and drastically cut the price. It is what they must do to help forestall the emergence of a nuclear clerical Iran bent on ruling the region.

* Obtain court orders to freeze the overseas assets of Iranian leaders, since they are clearly ill-begotten funds that rightfully belong to the nation.

* Shut down, or severely restrict the operation of the Mullahs' businesses in Dubai and other Persian Gulf states.

* Reduce the staff or completely shut down Iranian missions. Severely restrict Iranian officials and nuclear scientists from foreign travel. Recall your ambassadors from Iran.

* Deny the Iranian airlines operation and encourage non-Iranian airlines to cease serving the country. Provide for flights that serve emergency medical and other health needs of the Iranians.

* File legal charges against the leaders of the Islamic Republic's wanton violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; for their crimes against humanity, genocidal actions against religious and political groups; for support of international terrorism; for demolition of religious sites and cemeteries; for rape, torture, and summary execution of prisoners of conscience; for forgery of documents, for acts of blackmail and fraud, and much more.

* Declare and treat the clerical regime as illegitimate.

* Stop or slow down Iran's import of refined petroleum products.

* Shut down the Islamic Republic's web sites and block their television and radio broadcasts.

* Locate and seize the regime's front organizations such as Alavi Foundation in New York City.

* Identify the agents of the Islamic Republic and prosecute them as promoters of international terrorism.

* Investigate individuals and organizations that lobby or front for the Islamic Republic.

* Take all necessary steps to stop investments in Iran. Persuade banks to refrain from dealing with Iran and the issuance of letters of credit.

* Pressure businesses to stop dealing with Iran.

* Pressure governments to stop doing business with Iran. Warn countries such as China and Russia against circumventing the U.N. resolution and engaging in commercial adventurism.

We, the undersigned, are greatly concerned that the confrontational course of the illegitimate clerical regime of Iran may ignite the flame of war. We urge the leadership as well as people of the world to join in the non-violent campaign of dislodging the mullahs and helping Iranians to establish a secular democracy. The Iran problem is both serious and urgent. It is a world problem. A warning to the world governments and others: You need to act now. Apathy is sleep. If you sleep, we will all weep.

Sincerely,
Please sign this urgent petition and forward to your friends and email lists.

petition click here >click here

CONFLICT BETWEEN LONDON AND TEHERAN
EU ordered all Iranian Embassy
The European Union is protesting against the arrest of members of the British representative in Iran - the 27 member countries have agreed to all the ambassadors in Tehran, the foreign ministries to quote. London even had a withdrawal of EU ambassadors from Tehran suggested.

Brussels - The answer should be at the request of Britain even sharper turn out at

the end was a compromise: The European Union ordered all Iranian embassy. To protest the 27 member countries against the arrest of British nationals Embassy in Iran. The proposal of London, temporarily all EU envoys from Teheran to be deducted, according to a diplomat was not consensual.


AFP
Policeman in front of British Embassy in Tehran: Diplomatic crisis between Iran and Britain
Even Germany, Iran for the continuing detention of two employees of the British Embassy with consequences threatened. If at the current situation does not change, it will "directly affect the relations between Iran and the EU" was submitted on Friday to the Foreign Office (AA) einbestellten Iranian Ambassador Ali Reza Sheikh Attar said. According to the AA was the diplomats made it clear that the arrest and treatment of employees was not acceptable. Such actions violated any practice and were not directed only against Britain but against the EU as a whole. The leadership in Tehran has been asked to release the detainees immediately.

Iran's leadership poses London, the protests of the government critics following the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to have spurred. The nine arrested at the weekend embassy employees - seven of them are now back at large - according to Iranian figures had a "significant role" in the riots after the presidential election. You should now be made of the process, such as Ahmed Dschannati announced on Friday. They had confessions stored, said the chairman of the Guardian Council. "Of course they will be prosecuted, they have confessed."

London, the accusations against Tehran domestic employees of the British Embassy as unfounded. The British government was also "very concerned" about Tehran's plans, as a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in London said on Friday. Government representatives were in contact with employees of the Iranian Embassy in London and with members of the Iranian government. The accusations that the embassy staff should be involved, restlessness to confusion, lacking any foundation. The release of the embassy staff had "absolute priority".


MORE ABOUT ...
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ahmed Dschannati Nicolas Sarkozy EU UK Fredrik Reinfeldt
SPIEGEL WISSEN to the Swedish EU Presidency had with Tehran on Thursday threatened diplomatic consequences should the embassy staff did not come free.

There are currently in the EU but still no consensus on possible sanctions against Iran in the wake of its presidential elections. The Swedish Prime Minister and current EU President Fredrik Reinfeldt said on Friday in Stockholm, it was "vital that the EU acts together." We wanted to further development in Iran very closely observed. Reinfeldt said after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy continued: "This must not be a conflict between Iran and the rest of the world."


FORUM

Iran after the elections - compromise possible?
Discuss with other SPIEGEL ONLINE readers!

2218 Posts
Latest: Today 17:13 clock
by John @
Sarkozy said that France "had always been for tighter sanctions against Iran have been". After the arrest of Iranian workers in the British embassy in Tehran should the government in London "explain what they needed."

Even last weekend, EU foreign ministers on the other hand, protested strongly that the government in Tehran to intimidate foreign diplomats and a "strong common answer is" it announced.

The supporters of the opposition in Iran to protest against those they suspected fraud in the re-election of President Ahmadinejad. The government has rejected.

HEN / dpa / Reuters / AFP

Iran Realities And Prespectives
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Press Conference – Paris, France
Opening Remarks
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for coming. Thank you for your time, and attention to the cry for freedom and democracy in Iran. The past three weeks, my brave compatriots have paid in blood the price of ripping the façade of acceptability of the regime in Iran, and its legitimacy to speak for the people of Iran abroad. The ensuing murderous oppression can silence the streets, and media blackout can reduce world attention. In the West you may see headlines declaring the end of the protests. Some will say a family quarrel inside the Islamic regime is over and Mr.

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Iran: Election amid repression of dissent and unrest
The Iranian presidential elections are to be held this month on 12 June. The candidates are: the incumbent President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps; Former Prime Minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi (backed by former president, MohammadKhatami); and Mehdi Karroubi, a former parliamentary speaker.

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To: United Nations
To The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, The United Nations
Your Excellency

read more...

World unites for freedom in Iran

kilikhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UnXP89jlcc

Hi-tech helps Iranian monitoring

By Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, BBC News

Mobiles and the net are hugely popular among young Iranians
As protests continue in Iran, details are emerging of the technology used to monitor its citizens.

Iran is well known for filtering the net, but the government has moved to do the same for mobile phones.
Nokia Siemens Network has confirmed it supplied Iran with the technology needed to monitor, control, and read local telephone calls.
It told the BBC that it sold a product called the Monitoring Centre to Iran Telecom in the second half of 2008.
Data inspection
Nokia Siemens, a joint venture between the Finnish and German companies, supplied the system to Iran through its Intelligent Solutions business, which was sold in March 2009 to Perusa Partners Fund 1LP, a German investment firm.
The product allows authorities to monitor any communications across a network, including voice calls, text messaging, instant messages, and web traffic.
But Nokia Siemens says the product is only being used, in Iran, for the monitoring of local telephone calls on fixed and mobile lines.
Rather than just block traffic, it is understood that the monitoring system can also interrogate data to see what information is being passed back and forth.
A spokesman described the system as "a standard architecture that the world's governments use for lawful intercept".
(Iran) is also struggling to compete with an opposition that call on the skills of one of the world's most vibrant blogging communities and plenty of tech-savvy folks.

Rory Cellan-Jones
BBC technology corespondent


Read the dot.life blog in full
Analysing the Arabic blogosphere
He added: "Western governments, including the UK, don't allow you to build networks without having this functionality."
Asked by the BBC about the firm's attitude to doing business in Iran, Nokia Siemens said: "We do have a choice about doing business there, and on balance providing connectivity means there is a net benefit."
He explained that millions of Iranians were getting mobile phone services through Nokia. "The amount of information that is coming out of Iran from ordinary users because they have connectivity that they would not have had before is of a net benefit to them."
"I don't think Iran would have expanded its mobile network and its connectivity to its citizens if it had not had this capability."
Nokia Siemens markets the Monitoring Centre product to 150 countries around the world where it does business. The firm says it does not supply the system to China or to Burma.
The phone monitoring system sits side-by-side with the extensive net filtering system Iran has constructed in recent years.
Traffic in and out of Iran is largely controlled by Iran Telecom. On 13 June, the day after presidential elections, data traffic come to an almost complete halt, according to analysis by network security firm Arbor Networks.
Since then, traffic has gradually recovered, and analysts have speculated that the slowdown and re-start was caused by authorities putting in place filtering and monitoring systems.
Because Iran is effectively reading every message, this results in an inevitable slow down of traffic.
In mid-June, the OpenNet Initiative, which surveys net-watching efforts, updated its survey of net use in Iran and said the nation was: "investing in improving its technical capacity to extensively monitor the behavior of its citizens on the internet."
It said women's rights activists arrested in the nation had been shown transcripts of instant messages they had sent.
"If true," said the survey, the evidence, "would support the existence of an advanced surveillance program."

Iran: Generalstreik

News agency of students supporting the civil movement in Iran

Supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, supporters of Mehdi Karrubi, supporters of Mohsen Rezai, and all friends who long for justice,

We have been witnessing the choking of justice through compromises. We have witnessed the bloodshed of the people who were asking for their rights on our streets and roads.

Maybe some people whose feeling of responsibility arises after seeing such scenes cannot get out on the streets to ask for justice.

We want to prove our unity and majority to the rulers who hide their oppression under the pretext of religion.

All workers and government and non-government workers, except workers of hospitals, health centers and fire-fighting agencies, are therefore requested not to attend their jobs on Tuesday, the 2nd of the month of Tir (ed. June 23, 2009)

All students and university workers are also requested to cooperate with us by dismissing universities on this day.

With this, we want to show our protest to the current situation in a peaceful way.

Please send this report to your relatives and those close to you throughout Iran through telephone, email or in person.
22. Juni 2009 — Mr. Moe

Dear Human Rights Defenders, Today 27 more people were killed in Iran

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain. (Sa'di)

Today 27 more people were killed in Iran as the regime cracks down on those demanding their democratic rights. Journalists have systematically been removed from Iran and news coming through from the BBC is fragmented and unreliable. However, the disturbing image of a young girl dying on the streets of Iran now posted on YouTube tells the ugly story of what is happening to defenceless people.

Lawlessness rules the streets of Iran. The secret police, the Basij (a brutal militia force controlled directly by the elements close to Khamenei) and the Guards of Islamic Revolution are out in force to quell any remaining signs of protest. Last night over 20 members of the Basij and Revolutionary Guard were telephoned by concerned citizens from around the world, urging them not to take part in this vicious crackdown.

The governemnt of Mahmud Ahmadinejad is a government of coup d'etat. His appointment through electoral fraud opens a new chapter in the history of a brutal regime that has spilt the blood of its citizens again and again. But this time people said: Enough is enough! 'Where is our vote?' is the cry of people in the streets. The regime wanted to show the world that the regime had popular support, and in order to do that it had to bring people to the ballot boxes. For this, it allowed some freedom of expression just before the elections. Many people, specially the young, welcomed the opportunity to voice their demands. The regime had thought it could then pull out their rabbit of Ahmadinejad out of the hat of election, and the people would meekly go along with the charade. But they were wrong! People stood up for their choice, for their vote. Mousavi or whoever else supported by the people against the religious dictatorship is only the vehicle of the people's demands and not the measure.

Along with the people of Iran we ask that fresh elections be held under the supervision of trustworthy observers. We ask that the violence unleashed by the regime against the people be stopped immediately. We ask that the perpetrators of the atrocities of the past week be brought to justice no matter what their position and rank. We ask that the proponents of the coup d'etat be tried for their treason. We ask that Khomenei be removed from office and from the political arena in Iran as he already has blood on his hands. The Australian Government should refuse to recognise Ahmadinejad as the legitimate president of Iran, and his representatives here in Australia as true representatives of the people of Iran.

Please support the truly heroic struggle of the people of Iran for their dignity and rights by attending a protest outside the Embassy of Iran, 25 Culgoa Cct, O'Malley on Friday 26th June at 12.00. Anyone who wishes to speak out against the crackdown in Iran is more than welcome to do so. Let me invite anyone with concern for human rights to join us in protest against these appalling abuses taking place in Iran.

Regards,

Ardeshir Gholipour
21 June 2009


Please address all email to:
Ardeshir Gholipour

Newsletter

Show your outrage at the execution of Delara Darabi

Date: Wed 6 May 2009

Please join Amnesty International at the Iranian Embassy to lay flowers in memory of Delara Darabi who was executed on 1 May for a crime committed when she was just 17 years old.

The execution took place despite Ms Darabi having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on 19 April, and without her lawyer being informed. This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life.

Please come along and protest this execution and call for an end to child executions in Iran.

Please wear black; Amnesty is providing flowers.

Read Amnesty's response to Delara Darabi's execution
Read the background to Delara Darabi's case


Event Type Demonstration
Event venue Iranian Embassy, 16 Princes Gate London SW7 1PT
Time 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Price Free of charge

ترجمه سخنراني كورش زعيم در همدان
26 مرداد 1385
English translation of the speech by
Kourosh Zaim
At Hamedan Civil Society Party, Hamedan, Iran
August 18, 2006

How to Solve Iran Problem.

The people of Iran made history three times in less than a century by successful popular movements to replace dictatorships with parliamentary democracies. Each time becoming a model for other enslaved nations in the region, and each time seeing their democracies, so painfully earned, destroyed by the ugly marriage of foreign power interests and those of the self-serving clergy.

In 1906, a popular revolution ended the corrupt and inept rule of Qajar dynasty, creating the first free elections in the history of the nation and the first parliament of true representatives of the people; a first in all of Asia. Although people had defeated a clerical effort to derail the parliamentary system and establish a religious dictatorship, later in the process, the self-serving clergy succeeded in defeating the idea of establishing a republic in favor of another dictatorial monarchy.

In 1952, Iran again enjoyed a government truly representative of the people. Mohammad Mosaddeq and his most popular Iran National Front party formed the cleanest and most intelligent government the nation had ever experienced. An American report to the U.S. president at time informed that Mosaddeq's government is the closest thing to stability and that it enjoys support of 95 to 98% of the Iranian people. Mosaddeq's government showed how a patriotic, intelligent and democratic system can pursue and secure national rights and interests, challenging an imperial power, by democratic means and defeating it on its own turf without having to violate any international law, treaty or convention. He showed how you can engage in a fierce fight for a just cause, win and yet become a hero in the eyes your adversaries and the world public opinion. This democratic government also was removed by a coup in favor of a dictatorial monarchy through the unholy marriage of interests of foreign powers and those of the clergy.

In 1979, the diehard people of Iran rose for the third time in three generations against a brutal, corrupt and foreign stooge of a monarchy, restoring parliamentary system of government through free elections. Once again the clergy rose to the occasion wresting the government from the people by violent means, setting up the Islamic Republic as we know it now, a self-serving, brutal, corrupt and dictatorial rule of low intellect.

And, now, those same superpowers who stole democratic systems of governments form us in the past and replaced subservient dictatorships, are now waving flag of democracy for us. They very well know that the great Iranian nation can stand on its own planning and achieving restoration of democracy and human rights. Iranians don't need any do-gooders' sword rattling, nor do they need foreign money or military assistance, specially, from those who have failed their tests of sincerity more than once in the past. Furthermore, the multitude of tactical errors they have made in the region in recent years, and are making now, shows that their planners either lack sufficient knowledge of the region or lack sufficient competence in decision making. What has been happening in our neighborhood recently has only served to strengthen the bases of influence and stability of Iran's religious ruling clans.

During the events leading to the 1953 coup against Iran's most popular and democratic government, American government failed to recognize the nature of the Iranian regime and the political undercurrents in action; during the Iraq-Iran war American government failed to see the opportunity with Iran and sided with a sadistic man instead; and now too, the American government is failing to recognize the nature of the regime in Iran and what makes it tick, and fails to see the opportunities and the undercurrents.

I say to those who beat the drums of war against Iran and in their feeble mind think that this will cause the Islamic Republic to fall, and to those who think their covert actions in Iran inciting ethnic unrest will weaken this particular government, and those who think a smaller Iran will be more manageable, or an Iran pressed with further sanctions and embargos, that war, domestic unrest, revolutionary movement, and destructive actions are exactly the means of guaranteeing the longevity of the Islamic regime. They will tighten their grip on people's throats in the name of national security, militarize the society, jail or kill intellectuals, dissidents, critics and opposition groups, while causing havoc in the entire region. They will do anything and everything just to last another day.

You cannot weaken the Islamic regime with threats of bombs, missiles or embargos. An attack on Iran will only destroy national wealth, economy, employment and lives, but it will give the regime reason for propaganda and for influencing public opinion, creating suitable conditions for growth of radicalism and terrorism. The ruling clans of Iran care not much about destruction of national wealth, damage to economy or loss of life, as they have never shown much concern in the past for such symbols of civilization. As long as the huge and easily obtained oil income exists, they can provide for their own defense or resistance.

In my opinion, there are better ways than attack or embargo to weaken this system at the core and quicken its downfall. The most fatal enemy of the Islamic Republic is international cooperation and partnership, economic progress, privatization, adherence to the WTO guidelines and forced observance of the International Bill of Human Rights. These, if forced upon Iran under the current dispute settlement deal, the Islamic Republic will lose its lifelines and conditions will rapidly become available for the Iranian public to dictate their own will.

I would like to tell the U.S. and the three European musketeers who are leading the punishing or violent confrontation project against Iran that they should never threaten with blood one you cannot see in the mirror, never threaten with embargo one who becomes richer when healthy trade routes are closed, never threaten with bombs one who's pocket benefits from reconstruction of ruined national assets, never threaten with ethnic separatism one who considers religious homogeneity as the only element of sovereignty, and never threaten with invasion one who never confronts you in a classic war. Set aside parameters of comparison your have learned in school and innovate new methods of confrontation. I call this new method a positive war, when you attack in four fronts the very roots of its survival.

Partnership and Investment: As I proposed in November 2004, the best method of solving Iran's nuclear dispute is partnership and joint investment in construction of nuclear power plants, as well as in the business of uranium enrichment. Once these activities are owned and operated jointly, tight international controls are in place. But, more important than the investments and controls, is the partnership and the inevitable dialogue between the countries and the socialization of free citizens with Iranian civil servants. Erosion of fear and forced loyalty will undermine regime's grip on public service structure.

Foreign investment and technology must be extended to other major government controlled industries such as steel, petrochemical, aircraft, marine, agriculture and mining. The importance of foreign investment is not as much as is the inherent cooperation, co-habitation and socialization of the human elements involved in these joint ventures. Iran even at the current rates of oil income, under an honest and competent government, can reach up to the level of a developed country in two decades. So, it's not the money. The abundant presence of personnel from free societies, not only will force the government to make life easier for citizenry in general, but will open new windows of light and let breeze of fresh air in.

Removal of the Sanctions: Economic sanctions and embargos represent the most effective propaganda tool for discrediting intentions of the western powers. On the other hand, sanctions prevent healthy economic growth, employment and welfare of the people, but not the ruling class who have their hands in the till and also benefit from illicit trade to combat sanctions. Furthermore, it is much easier to blame the sanctions for shortages and economic failures than own incompetence. When an aircraft crashes, it is easier to blame the "great Satan" for refusing to supply parts than to blame own policies. Sanctions are effective only when a government cares about its effects on its people. Without sanctions, it would be much easier to evaluate Islamic Republic's economic performance. In addition, free trade and accessibility will increase "clean" economic activity, reduce illicit trade and smuggling and tend to increase standards of living. Once people have little worry about their basic needs, their social needs increase and pressure on the government to meet those needs escalate.

Economic progress and thus improvement in standards of living is one the most dangerous enemies of the Islamic ruling clans' survival. The ruling class get its strength from ignorance, illiteracy, poverty, joblessness, social ills and corruption, because - misusing its spiritual nametag- it can redirect people's anger by blaming foreign countries for all the ill, brainwash the hopeless youth and the desperate for use in internal and external challenges, thus causing birth of the invisible armies. I cannot recall any dictatorial state in the world that upon achieving economic progress and improved standard of living was not forced by its own people to submit to democracy.

Tourism and ease of travel: Backward social behavior and infamousness of the Islamic Republic in world public opinion, couples with programmed scare tactics and propaganda by the west, has caused Iran, one the world's most historic and attractive countries to visit, to be virtually ignored by the tourism industry. One goal of this official Islamic Republic anti-social behavior is exactly to discourage citizens of the free world to come to Iran and bring with them different outlooks and ideas. Futile efforts during past two decades to ban videos, satellite broadcasts and internet have all been to isolate Iranian people from rest of the world. Travel and socialization of millions of free citizens with the enslaved Iranians is not but poison to IR's survival. Our share of tourism now is about a few hundred thousand per year, mostly from neighboring countries, rather than the minimum 30 million we must have.

In addition to the economic benefits of tourism, which will be primarily enjoyed by the public rather than the state, the socialization aspect of the industry will open new horizons, specially for the revolution-age youth who have not seen better days. The ruling clans of the Islamic Republic have been virtually preventing visitation of Iranians by the world citizens, as they prevent visitation of political prisoners by family and friends. The countries that claim they wish democracy for Iran can regulate and arrange and exert proper pressures for opening of the tourism doors and infusion of international investment and involvement in this very vital industry. Free tourism and ease of travel will eat up at the core of the regime like cancer.

Life signs from the United Nations: The United Nations is the most important, though toothless, world organization, which if it could be enabled to perform as its charter prescribes, no government could enslaved its people. The UN has tools with which it can push Iran toward democracy. One of these tools is "mandatory" supervision of elections. Instead of going along with debate over sanctions or threats of military action, the UN must force Iran to hold free elections under the watchful eyes of its inspectors. They should oversee the election process from candidate registration to vote counting to make sure the government cannot influence, threaten, deceive or cheat. A truly free election in Iran will be more effective that the most devastating warhead aimed at the establishment.

Furthermore, the UN must force Iran to observe the International Bill of Human Rights. Those countries that refuse to do so or are in substantially breach must not be allowed to be represented in the Human Rights Council nor the Security Council, and their voting rights in the General Assembly must be suspended until full compliance. The states that are their people's prisoners must not be able to decide the fate of other nations.
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IRAN: PRESS RELEASE: Arbour concerned about impending execution of four juvenile offenders in Iran

10 June2008

Arbour concerned about impending execution of four juvenile offenders in Iran

GENEVA-- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour expressed her concern on Tuesday over reports that four juvenile offenders in the Islamic Republic of Iran are at imminent risk of execution.

According to the reports received, the four - Mr. Behnoud Shojaaee, Mr. Mohammad Fadaaee, Mr. Saeed Jazee, and Mr. Behnam Zaare - have been sentenced to death for crimes that they committed when they were under 18 years old.

The High Commissioner acknowledged the steps taken by the Iranian authorities to subject these cases to closer judicial scrutiny, and to encourage settlements between perpetrators and victims' families.But she reminded the Iranian authorities of the absolute prohibition on the application of the death penalty for juvenile offenders under international law.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a party both to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which which prohibit the death penalty for juvenile offenders. Arbour requested the Islamic Republic of Iran to stay the executions of these four juvenile offenders in strict compliance with its international human rights obligations.

------------------------------------

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Media Unit Rupert Colville, Spokesperson, +41.22.917.9767 Praveen Randhawa, Information

Officer: + 41.22.917.9602 Yvon Edoumou, Information Officer, + 41 22.917.9383/ +41.78.826.3552 For inquiries and media requests:

press-info@ohchr.org

Iranian Repression of Balouchi Minority

20 February 2008

Iranian authorities have reportedly sentenced to death ethnic Balouchi civil rights activist Ya’qub Mehrnehad. Mr. Mehrnehad is the head of the Voice of Justice Young People’s Society, a non-governmental educational and cultural organization that is registered with the Iranian government.

According to Amnesty International, he was arrested in May 2007, along with five other members of the association, following a meeting at the Provincial Office of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The governor of Iran’s Sistan-Balouchistan province was reportedly present at that meeting.

The reason for Mr. Mehrnehad’s arrest has not been disclosed. He was tried behind closed doors in December in Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s Sistan-Balouchistan province. Mr. Mehrnehad’s family and attorney say he has been tortured and has lost about fifteen kilograms of weight since his arrest. According to Amnesty International, Mr. Mehrnehad “may be in imminent danger of execution.”

Ethnic Balouchis make up about two-percent of Iran’s population of more than sixty-five million. Mainly Sunni Muslims, they have complained for years of discrimination by Iranian authorities. Hundreds of ethnic Balouchis have reportedly been detained following attacks by Jondallah, an ethnic Balouchi armed extremist group.

Masoud Balouchi is Director of Balouchi Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group based in Sweden. He says Iranian authorities are using the violence of a few extremists as a pretext for suppressing legitimate political dissent.

“We know that Ya’qub Mehrnehad and the organization he represents has done nothing except criticize the human rights abuses of the Iranian regime,” Masoud Balouchi said.

In its human rights report, the U.S. State Department says Iran’s Sunni Muslims claim they are discriminated against by the Iranian government, although it is “hard to distinguish whether the cause for discrimination was religious or ethnic, since most Sunnis are also ethnic minorities, primarily Arabs, Balouchis, and Kurds.”

In a written statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack expressed U.S. concern about the growing number of cases in Iran “in which the death sentence is imposed after trials that were neither fair nor transparent.”20.02.2008

Iranian Political Prisoners Association

Students tortured in 209

According top reports released by the Students Committee of Human Rights Reporters, and also testimony of recently released victims, students are being violently tortured in the notorious 209 section of Evin prison.

According to these testimonies, methods used to pressure students to go through TV staged confessions against their friends, are not only physical ones but include psychological ones. After long and continuous sessions of interrogation and torture they are left with bruised personalities and zero self respect and self confidence. At intervals they are under physical attacks being punched, kicked and whipped by heavy weighed cables.

Prior to this, Behrouz Karimi Zadeh, former Tehran University student was reported by his family to have had a deep cut from his wrist to his elbow.

During the past weeks, some students have paid incredible sums to be released temporarily; the price has ranged between 53000 to 107 thousand dollars. According to some, the Intelligence ministry has used fake TV confessions to link the students' movement to outside opposition forces.

After 21 days of illegal detention of students, there is yet no news concerning their condition.Some of the other students have had their families visiting them on 5 February for the first time in Evin prison. Saiid Habibi is one of the students who is barred from any visits and is under constant torture.

Sixty students have been arrested by the Intelligence Ministry in the past 3 months and forty are still pending results in prison. They were detained while trying to commemorate the Students day in Iran.09.02.2008

February 7, 2008

Ms. Louise Arbour
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

RE: Mahmoud Salehi

Dear Ms. Louise Arbour;

On January 28, 2008, my spouse, Mahmoud Salehi, a well-known labour activist and political prisoner, was taken to the government’s medical examiner for the second time in recent months. It seemed that it had been decided that doctors, including the hearth and kidney specialists, at the Tohid hospital in city of Sanandaj , were going to make formal recommendations regarding Mahmoud’s health. These physicians have reported a number of times that Mahmoud’s only kidney is losing its functions and that has caused asthma, hearth problems, fluctuating blood pressure, dizziness, vessel clogging and the clogging of the hearth’s vessel, extreme weakness or fatigue, kidney inflammation, and many other dangerous side-effects. As a result, he requires immediate treatment. Thus they think he should stay in hospital.

My husband has been imprisoned because of his efforts to organize an independent May Day event. This is totally unjust. A big campaign, which I am a part of as well, have been actively advocating that organizing an independent Labour Day is a basic right and the authorities should not keep Mahmoud in prison. However, all our efforts and that of international labour and human rights organizations have not changed the decision of the judiciary authorities and my partner is still in prison. Therefore, we all were hoping that the official medical examiners would check him up in an objective and professional manner, according to Boghrat Oath (ethical code for physicians), and would confirm other doctors’ recommendations and recommend his release from hospital due to his serious health conditions. But that was a false hope. The official medical examiners are employees of the state and a part of the judiciary and security system of the government. Consequently, they denied all other doctors’ recommendation and decided that Mahmoud should stay in prison because they think he is not in life threatening situation.

I contacted these medical examiners and protested their decisions. I reminded them that not only the physicians at the Tohid Hospital but also the prison’s doctors have reported that Mahmoud’s situation is very serious. They, despite having all these reports, responded that the advise of other physicians are not important to them. I asked them how I could formally appeal their decision. The chief medical examiner, who knows well they are protected by the judiciary system, told me that I could go to the court. Thus he indicated that his office does not have any appeal system. I approached the Deputy Prosecutor. He spoke with me as if he was a medical doctor, confirming the medical examiner’s decision and adding that doctors in Tohid hospital made a mistake by transferring Mahmoud to the CCU section of the hospital. He also added that no one has ever filed a complaint against the government’s medical examiners. He basically suggested that filing a complaint are not going to go, anywhere otherwise others would have done it in the past 28 years. He also unsuccessfully wanted to prevent me from going to the judiciary. At the judiciary, once again, it was proved to me that there is no one there to be concerned and that no wonder the medical examiner was so confident any complaints against them would be futile. Therefore instead of launching a complaint, I asked the Deputy Prosecutor to allow a temporary leave for Mahmoud according to their regulations. He responded that my husband is a security prisoner and is not entitled to any prison leave. The term “security prisoner” is used in Iran for political prisoners.

Now, through this letter, I am asking you, based on the universal human rights, to call for the immediate freedom of my husband, Mahmoud Salehi; or, as a minimum, please pressure Iranian authorities to allow a specialist and ethical and independent examination of Mahmoud’s health. At the above mentioned offices, doctors are acting as prison guards and prison guards as doctors. Given such unjust situation, the human rights of my husband, me and my children will not be realised unless there are more protests.

I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Najibeh Salehzadeh

cc:
The United Nations Human Rights Council
Amnesty International (AI);
International Committee of the Red Cross;
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (Doctors Without Borders)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Other relevant labour and human rights organizations

DOCUMENT CONTENT
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/015/2008
25 January 2008

UA 21/08 Torture/possible prisoners of conscience/medical concern

IRAN Behrouz Seferi (Safari in Azerbaijani Turkic) (m), Iranian Azerbaijani
Layla Heydari (f), his wife

Iranian Azerbaijani Behrouz Seferi, who has campaigned for Iran’s Azerbaijani minority to be given greater rights to use their mother tongue, is now known to have been detained without charge or trial since late May or early June 2007. His wife, Layla Heydari, has been detained since 28 August. Both are held in Tehran's Evin Prison, where they have allegedly been tortured. Neither has been allowed to consult a lawyer.

Behrouz Seferi was arrested shortly after demonstrations around the first anniversary of the publication of a cartoon in an Iranian newspaper which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. He was held in his home town of Zanjan until 4 December, when he was moved to Evin Prison.

Layla Heydari ran a shop selling Azerbaijani books, music and other cultural material until the authorities closed it down in 2006. She obeyed official warnings not to publicise her husband's arrest, but on 28 August she was summoned to visit him at the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre where he was held at the time, and was arrested. She too was moved to Evin Prison on 4 December.

Their families were allowed to visit them on 31 December, and say they think both have been tortured to make them give “confessions”. Layla Heydari is apparently in poor health, suffering from severe headaches, but has been given very little medical help. She has also reportedly suffered from heart problems, and has had to be treated on the medical wing, whose staff apparently recommended that she be allowed medical treatement outside prison

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iranian Azerbaijanis, who live mainly in the north and north-west of the country and are mainly Shi’a Muslims, are the largest minority in Iran (at least 25-30% of the population). They are increasingly demanding greater cultural and linguistic rights, including the right to education in Azerbaijani Turkic. A small minority want Iranian Azerbaijani provinces to break away from Iran and join with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Iranian authorities view those who seek to promote Iranian Azerbaijani cultural identity with suspicion, and often charge them with vaguely worded offences such as "acting against state security by promoting pan-Turkism".

In May 2006, there were massive demonstrations in towns and cities in north-western Iran in protest at a cartoon published on 12 May by the state-owned daily newspaper Iran, which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. Hundreds were arrested during and after the demonstrations. Other waves of arrests have occurred around dates significant to the Azerbaijani community, such as a boycott of the start of the academic year in September 2006; after demonstrations in February 2007 on the occasion of International Mother Tongue day; and on the anniversary of the May 2006 demonstrations.

In recent years the authorities have grown increasingly suspicious of Iran's minority communities, many of which are situated in border areas, and have accused foreign powers such as the US and UK of fomenting unrest among them.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, English, Arabic, French or your own language:
- expressing concern that Behrouz Seferi and his wife, Layla Heydari, have been detained without charge for some months, and asking why they were arrested;
- calling on the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally if they are held solely for their peaceful activism on behalf of Iran’s Azerbaijani minority, or else charge them with recognisably criminal offences and try them promptly and fairly;
- urging them to investigate reports that Behrouz Seferi and Layla Heydari have been tortured, and bring anyone found responsible for abuses to justice;
- reminding the authorities that the use of confessions extracted under duress is prohibited by Article 38 of the constitution of Iran.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email

Speaker of Parliament
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 7 March 2008.