Sunday, May 30, 2010

NEWS))))))

Six prisoners were hung in Rasht and Zahedan in Iran

According to a statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran on May 27, the Iranian regime hung six prisoners in Rasht, northern Iran, and Zahedan, southeast Iran.
The statement reads: on Monday, May 24, five prisoners including a woman were hung behind the medical center in Rasht prison. The regime has not yet reported the hangings. Fars news agency, affiliated to the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, (IRGC/Pasdaran) reported Wednesday, May 26, that the execution of one prisoner in Zahedan identified as Jamshid M. According to this report he was arrested a month ago. With the latest reports on hangings, the number of executions in past four days reaches 8 in Iran. NCRI added: rising number of executions, widespread arrest of young people under the cover of so called “social security plan,” increasing suppression of women for “improper veiling” and other repressive measures on the brink of anniversary of the people’s uprising in Iran, are aimed at intensifying the atmosphere of intimidation to prevent spread of social upheavals.

The Iranian regime says it will not stop the executions

State-run news agency ISNA on May 26 said that the Secretary of the Office of Human Rights in Iran, Mohammad Javad Larijani, said in a meeting with the Australian Ambassador that, “We do not endorse complete eradication the death sentence.” In a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador he said, “Human rights is not a Western concept and the West cannot claim such a thing.” and “The issue of human rights is a matter that relates to culture and civilization of various kinds and every civilization and culture has its own specific human rights values,”.

International appeal to save the Life of an Iranian political prisoner

Majid Tavakoli, a political prisoner, who yesterday was on his nineth day of dry hunger strike and was fallen critically ill, transferred to the public ward of the Evin prison after international pressure to save his life. In a show of solidarity for his action, his mother along with a number of other political prisoners, joined in with their own hunger strikes. On May 23, Majid Tavakoli, a student activist from Tehran Polytechnic University, started a dry hunger strike to protest against his transfer to solitary confinement. His move followed pressures by the regime’s prosecutor Jaafari Dowlatabadi on 100 political prisoners forcing them to repent in writing and appeal to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to pardon them. Majid and most of the prisoners have refused and this angered the regime’s henchmen. So they transferred him to solitary confinement. Majid Tavakoli was arrested on December 7 (Student Day) and transferred immediately to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of notorious Evin prison. After months of solitary confinement under sever conditions and enduring physical and psychological tortures, he developed various ailments including problems with his lungs. Majid Tavakoli had been arrested twice before in 2007 and 2008 and had spent more than 18 months in prison. Majid Tavakoli’s family in a letter to Ban Ki Moon asked him to intervene and dispatch special rapporteurs to Evin prison to investigate Tavakoli’s situation.

Laughing is banned at Shiraz University

According to the disciplinary regulations at the University of Shiraz, laughing, talking and joking aloud on the university campus are prohibited. This is the first time that such regulations have been put in place at university level in the country. This regulation entails seven chapters and 23 sections and has already been distributed amongst the students. Some of the rules reflected in the disciplinary regulations are:

1- Ban on short sleeve shirts

2- Loose outfits must be worn

3- Wearing T shirts forbidden for male students

4- Wearing garments with sharp colors are forbidden for female students

5- Long nails are forbidden for female students

6- Students must bathe regularly

7- Male students must have short hair

8- Shoes with heals higher than 3 centimeters may not be worn

9- Pointed shoes must not be worn

In chapter 6 of the disciplinary regulations titled 'behavior', it’s mentioned that such acts like talking, joking, and laughing out loud in elevators and coffee shop are banned.
In the final chapter, students have been threatened that in the event of repeated violations, they will be referred to the disciplinary committee. The disciplinary regulations that was recently distributed amongst the students, was ready for implementation at least three months ago. University management had not implemented the new regulations in this period, because of the students’ objections and protests.