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Iranians Demonstrate in Washington outside State Department

On Friday Aug. 26gh thousands of Iranians and supporters of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the main Iranian Opposition movement, gathered in front of the State Department in Washington, calling for immediate removal of the name of the group from the United States terror list. The demonstrators also called for the US government to ensure about the protection of the residents of Camp Ashraf where an assault by the Iraqi government earlier this year claimed the lives of 36 men and women in that camp. Organizers say that the participants had come from 40 states of the United States and Canada. The Rally was moderated by Patrick Kennedy, current U.S. Congressman and son of late Senator Edward Kennedy. The speakers called on the US to live up to its commitments regarding 3400 Ashraf residents. Brian Binley (MP) from United Kingdom, announced the support of 4000 parliamentarians from across the globe, including a significant number of members of the UK Parliament and House of Lords, for delisting the PMOI from the U.S. FTO list. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, addressed rally via satellite. She said that State Departments delay in removing the MEK from the terror list is unjustified and the MEK has paid a dear price for it with lives of those who died in the camp last April and those executed In Iran by the Iranian regime. She emphasized that the Iranian regime uses the US terror tag as a justification for execution of MEK supporters in Iran.

Peaceful Demonstrations Turned Violent in Azerbaijan

HRANA News Agency reported that peaceful demonstrations by Azerbaijani citizens turned violent when the Iranian security forces interfered with a gathering to save Lake Urmia in Azarbayjan province, Northwestern Iran. According to HRANA, anti-riot police in the city of Tabriz shot tear gas directly at the crowd and injured a number of the protestors. The demonstrations began when the Mullah’s Parliament rejected the water plan to Lake Urimia which is drying up fast. The Iranian regime has rejected a plan to redistribute water resources in the region and redesign irrigation systems, a plan which hopes will save Lake Urmia and the people and wildlife that depend on it. 

Three Environmentalists Remain in Police Custody

According to HRANA News Agency, 3 Kurdish Environmentalists in Marivan, Kurdistan Province, will remain in temporary police custody for another month. HRANA added that: Sharif Bajour, Behrooz Darvand  and Iraj Ghaderi were arrested on July 23, 2011 by security forces in the city of Marivan. On August 23, 2011, the prosecutor granted a request made by the Intelligence Agency’s interrogator to keep these three prisoners behind bars for an additional month because investigations surrounding their cases have not yet been completed. These three social activists have been permitted to call their families only for a few minutes during the last month.

An Iranian blogger severely beaten up and transferred to hospital

According to Rahana, imprisoned blogger Hossein Ronaghi who is suffering from kidney disease and has undergone 2 major operations in the last few months, was transferred to Taleghani  hospital with serious injuries sustained after being brutally attacked. His father, Ahmad Ronaghi Maleki, told Human Rights House of Iran (RAHANA), “After the beating, Hossein was severely injured and lost consciousness. They transferred him to Taleghani Hospital where he was unconscious for hours. At the end of the night, they transferred him back to the prison.” Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger and human rights activist was arrested on December 13, 2009 and is now spending his Fifteen year sentence behind bars.

Mohsen Ansari, a resident of Camp Ashraf, passed away due to lack of medical services

According to NCRI (National Council of Resisntance of Iran)’s statement Aug. 18 Mohsen Ansari, a PMOI member in Camp Ashraf and a former political prisoner, passed away on Thursday morning August 18 after many years of suffering from MS (multiple sclerosis). His death was an outcome of hindrances made by the forces under the command of Nouri al-Maliki against Ashraf residents’ access to specialized doctors and medical services. 

4 Political Prisoners Held in Ward 240 of Evin Prison

Behrouz Javid-Tehrani, Saleh Kohandel, Farzad Madadzadeh, and Mohammad Ali Mansouri who were transferred to Evin Prison from Rajaei Shahr Prison, are still under interrogation, enduring torture and held in solitary confinement according to reports. It’s worth mentioning that Mr. Javid-Tehrani was arrested during the student uprising in 1999 when Mohamad Khatami, a so called reformist was the regime’s president.

After Khosrow and Shirin, now Bijan and Manijeh is announced as not fit for publication.

The Director of Peydayesh Publications who had previously announced that sections of the 9 century old classic Persian book Khosrow and Shirin will be censored, has now reported that the children’s book Bijan and Manijeh  is in it’s eighth publication will be banned. “Unfortunately the problem is that the Ministry of Culture and Guidance is not clear about the reasons or the words that cause them to censor books. If there were a guidance provided to publication companies, they would be followed in order to prevent these situations.”, said the director of Peydayesh publication. He added: “Due to this ambiguity, out of 10 books that we sent for licensing to the Ministry of Culture, 7 of them were audited, resulting in their scheduled publications being halted.” The Ministry of Islamic Cultura and Guidance is a body which oversees the publications of books in Iran. Thousands of books are banned every year in Iran due to what is called an “unislamic content”. It is known fact in Iran that the people who run this organization do not have enough education to undrestand the meaning of the words.

Jack Layton dies of cancer at the age of 61

Jack Layton the leader of New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) died at his home on Monday Aug. 22. He was 61 years old. He was leading the official opposition party and during the last federal election while fighting cancer he was also recovering from hip surgery and was walking with a cane. He was a determined man but lost his fight to cancer on Monday morning. The man who was known to many as the "man with the mustache" became the "man with the cane" during the election. 

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Abdolreza Ghanbari  Is In Imminent Danger Of Execution

According to HRANA,  Abdolreza Ghanbari’s death sentence order has been sent to the Revolutionary Court’s Implementation Division. The Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that the Amnesty and Clemency Commission has rejected Ghanbari’s clemency request and has sent the case to the Implementation Division.  Ghanbari with a PhD in Literature and Persian Language was a high school teacher in Varamin  when arrested during Ashura protest on December 27, 2009. He was charged, convicted and sentenced to death for video taping the protests and sending them to opposition groups. About a month after his arrest, without access to a lawyer, or knowing his legal rights, Ghanbari was put on trial on January 30, 2010. He was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to death in the court room of Judge Salavati.

Iranian regime sentences 4 people to public hanging in Isfahan square

Isna reported on Aug. 11, that the verdict of the court seeing to the case of the group rape of a number of women in Khomeini Shahr in Isfahan was issued and according [to this verdict], four of the main culprits were sentenced to execution in public. Ansari, the Secretary General of the Isfahan Judiciary explained the details of the verdict issued in Tuesday and Wednesday’s court sessions in a news conference.

Iranian regime's Prosecutor says women’s workforce  is the reason for high rape rate

According to ISNA a state-run News Agency, Aug. 10, the Alborz Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor cited the elements behind crime and said, “One of the important elements of crime is the high rate of transportation in the highways of the province which is frequented the most by young people and crime rate increases because of wrongfully placing trust in private transportation systems”. “On the other hand, attracting female employees leads them to move about in the deserted hours in the city which leads to an increase of crime such as raped and kidnappings”, he added.

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Iranian regime brings ‘water fighters’ to confess on TV

According to Aftab, state-run website dated Aug. 3^rd, the news segment of the 8:30pm [program] of the Sima [Iranian state TV] showed a number of the girls and boys who were arrested during the water fight episode in the Ab and Atash Park. They were shown facing a wall and their faces could not be seen. These people made short statements such the fact that they made their plans in Facebook to come to this park and talked about these issues. The head of the Moral Security Police, Rouzbehani, also said in an interview with the Seda and Sima reporter that these people were norm breakers and that with the coordination of the Judiciary they were severely dealt with! 

Tehran Bazaar textile vendors announced strike will continue

Tehran’s Bazaar textile vendors announced their strike will continue until all of their demands are met. These vendors went on strike on Monday, August 1st by closing their stores in protest to a 4% increase in taxes. One textile vendor said agents from the government and tax department came and said you are English and will cause dissension among the public and must end your strike. However, the 1,500 textile vendors remained united and said they will continue their strike until all their demands are met.

 

UN special rapporteur : Iran must observe basic human rights

In a statement, published on official UN high commissioner for human rights on August 3, Ahmad Shahid to formally introduce myself and my plans to Iranian officials to investigate human rights violation in Iran. He added in his statement: I hope the Iranian authorities acknowledge the legitimacy of my mission, and take steps to comply with the International human rights rules and regulations. This would provide an opportunity to examine international concern on human rights in Iran.  Ahmad Shahid, a former foreign minister of Maldives, emphasized: All the efforts are to show the steps that the Iranian regime could take to meet its international obligations, so that  attentions can be focused on those who feel were victims of human rights violation. The Iranian regime’s Parliament has stated that Mr. Shahid is not allowed in Iran.

Iranian military and Lebanese Hezbollah members participated in execution of Syrian soldiers

Al Jazeera TV reported on Aug. 5^th that in a report scheduled to be released at the end of the month, Experts from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have announced that Iranian military and Lebanese Hezbollah members participated in execution of Syrian soldiers who refrain from shooting towards the protesters. This will be the first time that an institution affiliated with the United Nations clearly accuses Iran and Hezbollah of Lebanon, two main ally of Assad’s regime, of involvement in the crackdown on protesters in Syria. On the other hand, following the brutal repression by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the White House reacted against this regime for the second consecutive day and announced: Bashar Assad is in route to go and we should think about the days after Assad.