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CALL FOR DIALOGUE: Europe’s Persian Students Gather in Berlin Page 6

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News bulletin of the Iranian Progressive Youth

TAKE ACTION | Global Campaign in Support of Shiva Nazar Ahari Page 3

01-09-2010

In Iran, shackling the Bahai torchbearers Source: The Washington Post August 28, 2010

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or several weeks last year, I shared a cell in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison with Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, two leaders of Iran’s minority Bahai faith. I came to see them as my sisters, women whose only crimes were to peacefully practice their religion and resist pressure from their captors to compromise their principles. For this, apparently, they and five male colleagues were sentenced this month to 20 years in prison.

I had heard about Mahvash and Fariba before I met them. Other prisoners spoke of the two middle-aged mothers whose high spirits lifted the morale of fellow inmates. The Bahai faith, thought to be the largest non-Muslim minority religion in Iran, originated in 19th-century Persia. It is based on the belief that the world will one day attain peace and unity. Iranian authorities consider it a heretical offshoot of Islam.

After I was transferred to their cell, I learned that Mahvash had been incarcerated for one year and Fariba for eight months. Each had spent half her detention in solitary confinement, during which time they were allowed almost no contact with their families and only the Koran to read. Recently the two had been permitted to have a pen. Oh, how they cherished it! But they were allowed to use it only to do Sudoku and crossword puzzles in the conservative newspapers the prison guards occasionally gave them.

Mahvash, Fariba and their five colleagues faced accusations that included spying for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and, later, “spreading corruption on earth.” All three could have resulted in the death penalty. The Bahais denied these charges. Far from posing a threat to the Islamic regime, Mahvash and Fariba told me, Iran’s estimated 300,000 Bahais are nonviolent and politically impartial.

Iran stonings ‘practices of another age’: Ashton Source: Yahoo News August 27, 2010

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RUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Friday the EU was about to reject “practices of another age”, after a woman was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran. France urged the European Union earlier Friday to threaten Iran with new sanctions over the case of 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, despite Tehran’s warning to the West not to interfere.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wrote to foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to call for all 27 member states to warn Tehran not to execute her, in a letter seen by AFP. “Your concerns over the human rights situation in Iran exactly reflect mine,” Ashton said in a letter to Kouchner, of which AFP obtained a copy.

“As for the case of Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was sentenced to stoning, I think, as you do, that the moment has come for the European Union to collectively express its rejection of practices of another age,” she said. Ashton said the EU was undertaking “discreet” steps in Tehran. “If they do not yield convincing results, I would only see advantages in EU members sending a collective letter to the Iranian authorities quickly.”

Iran prevents annual ceremony for executed political prisoners Source: Radio Zamaneh August 27, 2010

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slamic Republic security forces prevented families of political prisoners from observing the 22nd anniversary of the mass execution of political prisoners in Iranian prisons. The families, who gathered every summer at the Khavaran Cemetery in commemoration of their kin, faced resistance from security forces this year and a number of them were arrested. Human Rights and Democracy Activists of Iran report that security forces had

set up road blocks and stopped the families from visiting the resting places of their kin.

According to this report a number of people were also beaten by the security forces and despite the restrictions, some of the families managed to reach the graves of their loved ones.In the summer of 1988, the Islamic Republic executed scores of political prisoners serving prison terms in jails for the charge of member-

ship in dissident groups and buried them in mass graves at the Khavaran Cemetery. While Amnesty International puts the number of executions at over 2500, Ayatollah Montazeri, the late dissident cleric mentions “2800 or perhaps 3800” indicating that he does not remember the exact number. However, many opponents of the Islamic Republic claim that the number far exceeds these quotes. After three years of silence, in 1991, the families along with other social activists began gathering at Khavaran Cemetery to remember their kin , an event which they have observed every summer since then.

40 percent increase in unemployment rate and 90 percent bankruptcy Source: StreetJournalist August 27, 2010

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igher Islamic Council Association Board member in Tehran has reported of 40 percent increase of production workers.

Ali Dehghan Kia also stated: “More than 90 percent of productive units transferred to the private sector are at risk of bankruptcy.”

While criticizing the policies of reformed labor law he added: “Labor Law project has been followed on reducing unemploy-

ment while uncontrollable importation and smuggling of Chinese goods has been the number one cause for unemployment.”

He also reported a five to six billion dollar rate for import and noted: “every billion dollar smuggles good entering the country is responsible for unemployment of 25 thousand workers in Iran.”

While referring to the increasing number of unemployment Deh-

ghan Kia added: “at the approval time of Labor Law 95 percent of workers in Iran had been working on productive units on formal contracts, while since then the figure has been decreased to less than 20 percent.”

TAKE ACTION Global Campaign in Support of Shiva Nazar Ahari: “We Are All Shiva” Source: StreetJournalist August 27, 2010

“RELEASE SHIVA IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY!”

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LOBAL CAMPAIGN | Shiva Nazar Ahari, a 26-year-old Iranian citizen and human rights defender is illegally detained in one of the world’s most notorious prisons for defending the rights of others. Her trial is set for September 4, 2010. She is charged with conspiracy, collusion and most worryingly the charge of Moharebeh (waging war against God), an offence with the maximum penalty of death.

Since 2004 she has been sent to Tehran’s Evin prison on three separate occasions and spent long periods of her detention in solitary confinement. Her last arrest was on December 20, 2009 and Shiva has lived in a state of limbo for most of her long detention because until June 2010 the Judiciary failed to provide any answers or specifics on her charges A group of activists and human rights defenders have united to launch a global campaign that focuses on shedding light on the illegal detention of Shiva Nazar Ahari. The main message of the Campaign is simple: Release Shiva from prison immediately and unconditionally. The Campaign utilizes various communication methods to take Shiva’s story on an international level. Thousands of supporters have already sent letters to the United Nations, Iranian embassies, and the media to urge all organizations to take action for Shiva Nazar Ahari.

As a next step supporters around the world are urged to participate in the campaign from their home or office by submitting a video message or picture of support. Also, world renowned human rights and non-partisan organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders have taken a firm stance against Shiva’s imprisonment and demanded her immediate release. The Campaign views any charges against Shiva’s humanitarian activities as false. Shiva is a freedom-loving person whose activism work has always consisted of defending the rights of forgotten or abused Iranian citizens. On September 2 and 3, 2010 human rights supporters will gather outside Islamic Republic Embassies and wear Shiva Nazar Ahari face masks to demonstrate their solidarity with her.

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Iran Launches New Crackdown On Universities Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty August 26, 2010

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he Iranian government says it will restrict the number of students admitted to humanities programs at universities, RFE/ RL’s Radio Farda reports. The announcement was made on August 25 by Abolfazl Hassani, the director of the government’s Office of Development of Higher Education.

It follows criticism of humanities studies last year by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He called the humanities a field of study that “promotes skepticism and doubt in religious principles and beliefs,” and that it was worrying that almost two-thirds of university students in Iran were seeking degrees in the humanities.

It also comes as, in the past three months, nearly 20 university deans have been sacked by Sci-

ence Minister Kamran Daneshjou, most recently Yosef Sobouti of the Graduate University of Zanjan. Daneshjou was in charge of the Interior Ministry’s election headquarters in the contested U.S.-based sociologist Majid Mohammadi says that the new policy presidential vote last year. of the Iranian establishment reSaeed Peyvandi, a Paris-based ex- flects its totalitarian attitude, which pert on education, says that that has become even more conspicuthe Science Ministry has started a ous during the past year. Mohamcoordinated, centralized policy to madi says that dismissing unimonitor and control universities, versity professors, forcing them including students, professors, to retire or resign, and replacing them with those committed to the chancellors, and curriculums. supreme leader shows that a culPeyvandi adds that as a result of tural revolution is still continuing such policies, “independence of in the country. universities” will make no sense in Iran anymore. Daneshjou said in Khamenei had previously called March that only academics who universities arenas of “soft war,” had “practical commitment” to the described students as “young principle of “velayat-e faqih, or the soldiers” and professors as “comrule of the supreme leader, could manders” who should confront soft war. teach at universities.

Amnesty International and Dutch Authorities Concerned Over Possible Death Sentence for Zahra Bahrami Source: Radio Zamaneh August 24, 2010

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ranian detainee, Zahra Bahrami, who was arrested last December in the Ashura Day protests in Tehran, remains in an undetermined state in Evin Prison. Some reports have referred to Bahrami as “a Dutch-Iranian woman”, but it is not confirmed whether she is a Dutch citizen or resident.

In the past years, Bahrami made her residence in the UK. Since yesterday, Dutch media have published a number of reports regarding Zahra Bahrami who had travelled to Iran to visit her children.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports that “Zahra Bahrami is said to have been tortured while in custody.”The report adds that the Dutch foreign ministry is concerned that being accused of collaborating with dissident groups such as Iranian Monarchy Association and People’s Mojahedin Organization could translate into the death penalty for Bahrami.

The Dutch ambassador in Iran

is reportedly forbidden from offering her any assistance. Dutch representatives at the European parliament called on Catherine Ashton, chief of European foreign affairs to discuss the matter with Iranian authorities.

According to a number of Persian websites based in Europe, Zahra Bahrami has no visiting privileges at Evin Prison.

Other unofficial reports indicate that she is suffering from a dire physical and psychological condition. Rahana, Iranian Human Rights Reporters, reports that a number of human rights and democracy activists have informed them that Zahra Bah-

rami was seen with “ an swollen face and infected sores. She suffers from lung complications and depression.” According to Rahana: “Zahra Bahrami met with Tehran prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi at Evin Prison, and Dowlatabadi told her

that she has to first go to trial and be sentenced before she can be released. In the meantime, she is not even allowed to avail herself of the services of a lawyer.” Dutch branch of Amnesty International has announced that it is in the process

of investigating Zahra Bahrami’s case. The 45-year-old Bahrami was shown on Iranian public television a while ago making a number of self-incriminatory confessions.

Crime (Sex) and Punishment (Stoning) Source: New York Times August 23, 2010

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t may be the oldest form of execution in the world, and it is certainly among the most barbaric.

In the West, death by stoning is so remote from experience that it is best known through Monty Python skits and lurid fiction like Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery.”

Yet two recent real world cases have struck a nerve: a young couple were stoned to death last week in northern Afghanistan for trying to elope, in a grim sign of the Taliban’s resurgence. And last month, an international campaign rose up in defense of an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who had been sentenced to death by stoning on adultery charges.

Much of the outrage those cases generated — apart from the sheer anachronism of stoning in the 21st century — seems to stem from the gulf between sexual attitudes in the West and parts of the Islamic world, where some radical movements have turned to draconian punishments, and a vision of restoring a long-lost past, in their search for religious authenticity.

The stoning of adulterers was once aimed at preventing illegitimate births that might muddy the male tribal bloodlines of medieval Arabia. But it is now taking place in a world where more and more women demand reproductive freedoms, equal pay and equal status with men — in parts of the Islamic world as well as throughout the West.

Those clashing perspectives became apparent last month when Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, offered to grant asylum to Ms. Ashtiani, the Iranian woman convicted of adultery. His comments made clear that he viewed her as a victim — Brazil is not exactly known for its severe attitudes toward out-of-wedlock sex — and an online petition for her release drew hundreds of thousands of signatures. The case became an embarrassment to the Iranian government, which values its warm diplomatic ties with Brazil. The Iranian authorities quickly redefined her crime as murder, in an apparent effort to legitimize their case against her.

CALL FOR DIALOGUE: Europe’s Persian Students Gather in Berlin Europe-based Persian student activists are coming together for a conference in Germany in October of 2010. The three-day “Call for Dialogue” will be held at Berlin Free University on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of October 2010. The conference organizers have announced that “the current political situation of Iran causes its nationals who live both inside its geographical territories and across the globe to gasp for air under the shell of a seemingly endless night. The recent waves of protest in Iran, despite all the sacrifices, have not yet broken down the dam of repression, oppression, and crackdown.

Bloods has been washed off the streets, but the struggle is by no means over.”

The student activists believe that the Persian (Iranian) protest movement now requires careful reflection of the past and the creation of new perspectives to determine future actions and guide its existence. The experience of the movement clearly demonstrates that organizing from below is necessary to end cycles of domination. The non-partisan “Call for Dialogue” organizers, add, “Our generation has never had the possibility to create an independent response to the established inhumane practices of our government. As a result, we see the need to organize a series of meetings and dialogues concerning issues surrounding the concept of ‘organizing from below’. These sessions have been arranged by students and young political activists who seek to set the foundation for an independent and distributed organization of youth and students.

The formation of such an organization through a ‘from below’ process necessitates the discussion of sensitive issues by members of various concerned groups. Therefore, it is crucial that many diverse young activists gather to discuss the pivotal topics and problems pertaining to the self-organization of Iranian students and youth abroad. “To this end, we call for interested groups to gather and discuss the issues surrounding formation of an independent, distributed, self-organization of youth and students abroad. We believe that alternative approaches can be developed with collective intellect and that for that reason, we need to engage in continuous dialogue. We hope that this gathering will be the opening chapter of a novel experience in the political arena.”

The focus of the three day gathering will be the following themes: 1.

The necessity to form an independent, distributed, self-organized groups of the Iranian youth and students abroad (The difficulties of the current political situation; requirements and prospects of transition) 2.

Revisiting the experience of the activities of the youth networks abroad, particularly in the past year (Achievements, shortcomings, and possibilities of a more widespread self-organization of these networks) 3.

An overview of the international experiences regarding the organization of youth and the students (With an emphasis on the experiences of self-organized international groups) 4.

Alternative models of independent self-organization of youth and students abroad (With an emphasis on organizing from below: how and why?)

For more information regarding this event please go to: www.iranpy.net Iranian Progressive Youth www.iranpy.net contact@iranpy.net