The Courageous Women of Iran

The Courageous Women of Iran is a film made by Irish television about the brave women in Iran who decided to challenge the unjust laws of Iran. The documentary features interviews with the women involved the One Million Signatures Campaign and the dangers faced by the activists.

Commentary is in Irish with English subtitles
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Iran's Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Iran has some of the most notorious and brutal prisons in the world.  Many of the political prisoners are writers, thinkers, activists, lawyers, and journalists. According to The Guardian Iran has most journalists in jail passing China and Cuba. Despite all torture, abuse and pressure, it is fascinating to see that the prisoners have kept their spirit of unity and solidarity. They demand their right even though they are certain that the brutal regime does not understand human rights. Among the signatories are jailed labour activist Mansour Osanlou, Rasoul Bedaghi of the Iranian Teacher’s Association, journalists Issa Saharkhiz and Reza Rafii, political activists Heshmatollah Tabarzadi and Behrouz Javid, and student activists Ali Ajami and Majid Tavakoli. The whole Iranian community should go on fasting in solidarity with our prisoners. Let us bring the month of Ramaḍān  in Jumādā I.

According to Radio Zamaneh, political prisoners at Karaj’s Rajai Shahr prison have started a hunger strike starting Sunday, April 9 in solidarity with Fakhrolsadat Mohtashamipour, who has been on hunger strike in Evin prison to demand a personal visit with her husband.  Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour, wife of veteran reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh. She is also known for the numerous letters she has written to Tehran's prosecutor and the judicial authorities regarding the unacceptable condition of her incarcerated husband. 

Khatami Visits Tajzadeh On Prison Leave

Another prisoners who went on hunger strike was Nasrin Sotoudeh.

PEN American Center announced her name as the recipient of its 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Nasrin Sotoudeh (born in 1963) is a writer, lawyer, and leader of the women’s and children’s rights movement in Iran. She represented imprisoned opposition activists and politicians as well as juveniles facing death penalty. Her clients have included noted journalist Isa Saharkhiz and Heshmat Tabarzadi.  Sotoudeh was arrested in September 4, 2010 on charges of threatening the national security. In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. Watch her speech (in Farsi with English subtitle).
Sotoudeh has gone on several hunger strikes since her arrest, refusing even water during one 11-day stretch, to protest her detention and ill-treatment inside Evin Prison. She has reportedly lost a considerable amount of weight and is in poor health. She is being held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where she has spent much of the time in solitary confinement. Sotoudeh is still awaiting a decision in the court of appeals.

To protest her detention and ill treatment Sotoudeh went on hunger strike. Watch Nasrin Sotoudeh on hunger strike:

Watch MSNBC Interview with Sotoudeh in Teharan, Iran in 2009 (when she was free):

See my page "PRISONERS OF IRAN"

PRISONERS OF IRAN

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO PRISONERS OF IRAN

Iran has been a country of political prisoners for a long time from the time of Shah's dictatorship to the dictatorships of Khomeini and now Khamenei. This regime has always been very brutal toward political prisoners, from the 1988 executions of political prisoners in Iran to the 2009 abuse, torture and killings of political prisoners in Kahrizak and Evin. The number of prisoners has increased very rapidly since the 2009 presidential election. I am proud that we have so many intellectuals, human right activists, reformists, thinkers, and journalists inside and outside Iran. Because of censorships and brutality of the regime, writing the complete list of prisoners is an impossible task. The Guardian has done an outstanding job in collecting and publishing a list of 1259 of missing in Iran (see Iran's dead and detained) as of January 8, 2010. You can download the list into a spreadsheet. It would be nice if we could keep the list updated. We should create a page for each of the prisoners on Wikipedia or other sites. I will update and add to the following list regularly.

 

You can see the rest of this post in my page "PRISONERS OF IRAN"

Take Action | Jailed Iranian blogger requires immediate surgery, denied prison leave

This report was published on Persian2English.com:

April 1, 2011, Persian2English – The father of 24 year old jailed Iranian blogger Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (a.k.a. Babak Khoramdin) told Radio Farda on March 29th that his son is in grave condition in Evin prison because he “suffers from kidney problems and needs to undergo surgery immediately.”

Hossein was arrested along with his brother on December 13, 2009 at their parents’ home in the Eastern Azerbaijan province during an operation to “dismantle a counterrevolutionary network.”  Reports indicate that Hossein had “written and used software to combat filtering and to host and support websites and blogs that defend human rights.” His brother was later released on an $80 thousand (USD) bail.

Hossein is charged with “Membership in the Iran Proxy internet group”, “Propaganda against the regime”, and “Insulting the Supreme Leader and the President”. In December 2010, one year after his arrest, a 15-year prison sentence issued earlier for the blogger was finalized by the Islamic Republic Appeals Court. According to reports, Hossein’s lawyer and family were not present at the court when the sentence was issued. Hossein was originally sentenced on October 3, 2010 by branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Hossein was not permitted to read the verdict, but after he was beaten by [regime] officials, he was forced to sign it.

Reporters Without Borders said that this is the heaviest sentence for a blogger to date after the 19 and a half year sentence given to another blogger, Hossein Derakhshan.

READ THE FULL REPORT AND TAKE ACTION.

ALSO READ

• Mother of Jailed Blogger Pleads with World: “For the love of God, please write about Hossein!”
• Warrant Issued for Mother of Jailed Blogger Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki

Ahmad Zeidabadi Won the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi  won the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. He is also the winner of World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award for 2010. Announcing the UNESCO decision, jury president Diana Senghor said: “ The final choice of Ahmad Zeidabadi pays a tribute to his exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression, democracy, human rights, tolerance, and humanity. Beyond him, also the Prize will award the numerous Iranian journalists who are currently jailed.” Zeidabadi is currently serving a six-year jail sentence following Iran’s presidential election in 2009.

In honour of our political prisoners, I would like to write the names of these courageous people here, with some information about each of them and a link to any possible online petition requesting their release. I have started the list, see Prisoners of Iran's page.  It will be a long list and I need your help to make the list more complete. 

Middle East on Fire

Masked Omani protesters jump in front of burning vehicles during a demonstration in Sohar, more than 200 kms (125 miles) northwest of Muscat. Getty Images/AFP.

Following the fall of Bin Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt protests has been spread out through the middle east.



From BBC website



According to data from various sources, the unrest in the middle east can be summarized in the table below. Keep in mind things changes daily in the middle east.

From BBC website

In Bahrain, the police targeted the protesters, nurses and doctors in Salmaniya hospital. According to Aljazeera, "Bahrainis with protest-related injuries are reportedly being kept away from family in a hospital guarded by soldiers."

Aftermath of demonstrations outside Salmaniya hospital after security forces attacked medical staff [Shenaz Kermalli], source: Aljazeera

Protests continue in Yemen. There have been talks by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over some exit options for Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president. He will probably join Bin Ali of Tunisia in the dictator’s safe heaven, Saudi Arabia. I wonder where these dictators will scrape to when the fire reaches their heaven, Saudi! Ali Abdullah Saleh has been on power since 1978. It is really time for his departure! When will Seyed Ali Khameniei, the Supreme Leader of Iran (or more accurate, Supreme Liar of Iran) will join them in exile? Hopefully soon!

 

Protests continue in Syria as well ,despite promises of change from Asad. There are plans for la arge demonstrations on Friday April 8, in Douma.




Anti-Syrian government protesters, stand next to burning tires as they protest in the southern city of Daraa, Syria. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Movements Across the Middle East

I created this blog to express my opinion! Even if we don’t all have democratic countries, we can think freely and in most cases we can write our opinions. I am lucky to live in a country that I can even publish them on web freely! So why not! Please write your comments on the posts.

I don’t even know where to start. My blog will be mostly about Iran’s movement toward democracy and also the politics in the Middle East and human rights around the globe.

The recent democratic movements in the Middle East from the more peaceful Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia to the bloodier uprisings and protests across the middle east are fascinating. The Jasmine Revolution was so sweet! The protests started on December 17 and it was nice to see that Ben Ali had to flee Tunisia only 28 days later on January 14, 2011. It was so encouraging to watch Tahrir square “live” from TV (thanks to Aljazeera!) from January 25 to the removal of Mubarak from power on February 11. Protesters did not leave Tahrir square until they liberated Egypt from Mubarak’s dictatorship. Many of us watched Tahrir square "live" day and night!




Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt



Everyone was wondering which dictator is next to go. Protesters in different cities in Iran were chanting 'Mubarak! Ben Ali! Now it's time for Seyed Ali!' (refering to Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran).

Iran, Tehran, Navab Street, February 2011

For a more recent protest in Shriraz on March 21, 2011 (on Iranian Nowruz) watch this video. The protesters are chanting "Death to Dictator" and  'Mubarak! Ben Ali! Now it's time for Seyed Ali!'

Whether the next dictatorship to vanish will be the one in Iran or the one in Lybia, Bahrain,  Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Oman or Saudi Arabia, it remains to be seen. Unfortunately, not every democratic movement or revolution will lead to liberation (as we can see from the 1979 Iranian revolution), so it will be very interesting to to follow the events in Tunisia and Egypt as well as the democratic movements in the rest of the middle east. We all hope that these will lead to the liberation of the middle east!