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Respect for Human Rights Deterioirates in Iran
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cyrus
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:49 pm    Post subject: Crackdown near Iran capital – photos 1 Reply with quote

Iran Focus wrote:

Crackdown near Iran capital – photos 1
Thu. 13 Sep 2007
Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12407

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 13 – Iranian authorities have stepped up arrests of young people in the city of Karaj, west of the capital Tehran, as part of a nationwide “plan to eradicate corruption”.

Dissidents charge that Tehran’s clerical rulers are fiercely cracking down on youths disenchanted with the government’s repressive policies rather than on “trouble-makers”.

The following photos of the crackdown were published earlier this week by state media:








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PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:54 pm    Post subject: Crackdown near Iran capital – photos 2 Reply with quote

Iran Focus wrote:

Crackdown near Iran capital – photos 2
Thu. 13 Sep 2007
Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12410


Tehran, Iran, Sep. 14 – Authorities have stepped up arrests of young people in the city of Karaj, west of the Iranian capital Tehran, as part of a nationwide “plan to eradicate corruption”.

Dissidents charge that Tehran’s clerical rulers are fiercely cracking down on youths disenchanted with the government’s repressive policies rather than on “trouble-makers”.

The following photos of the crackdown were published earlier this week by state media:








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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Friday, September 14, 2007

International Religious Freedom Report 2007 - Iran

September 14, 2007
The U.S. State Department
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor



The Constitution states that the official religion of Iran is Islam, and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shi'ism. Article 4 of the Constitution states that all laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. The Government severely restricts freedom of religion.

There was continued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom during the reporting period. Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shi'a religious groups, most notably for Bahá'ís, as well as Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, and members of the Jewish community.

Reports of government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs continued during the reporting period. Bahá'í religious groups often reported arbitrary arrests, expulsions from universities, and confiscation of property. Government-controlled media, including broadcast and print, intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities--particularly the Bahá'ís--during the reporting period.



Although the Constitution gives Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians the status of "protected" religious minorities, in practice non-Shi'a Muslims face substantial societal discrimination, and government actions continued to support elements of society who create a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities.



The U.S. Government makes clear its objections to the Government's harsh and oppressive treatment of religious minorities through public statements, support for relevant U.N. and nongovernmental organization (NGO) efforts, as well as diplomatic initiatives. Every year since 1999 the U.S. Secretary of State has designated Iran as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act, for its particularly egregious violations of religious freedom.



Section I. Religious Demography



The country has an area of 631,000 square miles, and according to the Government's 2006 census, a population of 70 million. The population is 98 percent Muslim; 89 percent is Shi'a and 9 percent Sunni (mostly Turkmen and Arabs, Baluchs, and Kurds living in the southwest, southeast, and northwest respectively). Non-Muslims account for 2 percent of the population. There are no official statistics available on the size of the Sufi Muslim population; however, some reports estimate between two and five million people practice Sufism.



Recent unofficial estimates from religious organizations claim that Bahá'ís, Jews, Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians constitute 2 percent of the total population. The largest non-Muslim minority is the Bahá'í religious group, which numbers 300,000 to 350,000. Unofficial estimates of the size of the Jewish community vary from 25,000 to 30,000.



According to U.N. figures, 300,000 Christians live in the country, the majority of whom are ethnic Armenians. There are Protestant denominations, including evangelical religious groups. Christian groups outside the country estimate the size of the Protestant Christian community to be less than 10,000, although many Protestant Christians reportedly practice in secret. Unofficial estimates for the Assyrian Christian population are between 10,000 and 20,000. Sabean-Mandaeans number 5,000 to 10,000 persons. The Government regards the Sabean-Mandaeans as Christians, and they are included among the three recognized religious minorities; however, Sabean-Mandaeans do not regard themselves as Christians. There are indications that members of all religious minorities are emigrating at a high rate, although it is unclear if the reasons for emigration are religious or related to overall poor economic conditions. The Government estimates there are 30,000 to 35,000 Zoroastrians, a primarily ethnic Persian minority; however, Zoroastrian groups claim to have 60,000 adherents.



Section II. Status of Religious Freedom



Legal/Policy Framework



The Constitution declares the "official religion of Iran is Islam and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shi'ism." All laws and regulations must be consistent with the official interpretation of Shari'a (Islamic law). The Government severely restricts freedom of religion. The Constitution states that "within the limits of the law," Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are the only recognized religious minorities who are guaranteed freedom to practice their religion; however, members of these recognized minority religious groups have reported government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on their religious beliefs.



The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, heads a tricameral structure of government (legislative, executive, and judicial branches). The Supreme Leader is not directly elected, but chosen by a group of 86 Islamic scholars (the Assembly of Experts), who are directly elected. All acts of the Majlis (parliament) must be reviewed for strict conformity with Islamic law and the Constitution by the Council of Guardians, which is composed of six clerics, appointed by the Supreme Leader and six Muslim jurists (legal scholars), nominated by the head of the judiciary and approved by the Majlis. The Council of Guardians also screens presidential and Majlis candidates for eligibility. The Supreme Leader is also advised by the Expediency Council, which has the authority to mediate disputes between the Majlis and the Council of Guardians. The president is directly elected every 4 years. Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad won the presidency in June 2005.



The Government does not respect the right of Muslim citizens to change or renounce their religious faith.



Non-Muslims may not engage in public religious expression and persuasion among Muslims, and there are restrictions on published religious material.



A child born to a Muslim father automatically is considered a Muslim.



Apostasy, specifically conversion from Islam, is punishable by death, although there were no reported cases of the death penalty being applied for apostasy during the reporting period. Proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims is illegal. Evangelical church leaders are subject to pressure from authorities to sign pledges that they will not evangelize Muslims or allow Muslims to attend church services.



Members of religious minorities, excluding Sunni Muslims, are prevented from serving in the judiciary and security services and from becoming public school principals. Applicants for public sector employment are screened for their adherence to and knowledge of Islam, although members of religious minorities could serve in lower ranks of government employment, with the exception of Bahá'ís. Government workers who do not observe Islam's principles and rules are subject to penalties. The Constitution states that the country's army must be Islamic and must recruit individuals who are committed to the objectives of the Islamic revolution; however, in practice no religious minorities are exempt from military service, apart from Bahá'ís, who are not permitted to serve in the military. The law forbids non-Muslims from holding officer positions over Muslims in the armed forces. Members of religious minorities with a college education can serve as officers during their mandatory military service but cannot be career military officers. The Constitution provides Sunni Muslims a large degree of religious freedom.



By law, religious minorities are not allowed to be elected to a representative body or to hold senior government or military positions, with the exception that 5 of a total 290 seats in the Majlis are reserved for religious minorities. Three of these seats are reserved for members of Christian religious groups, including two seats for the country's Armenian Christians, and one for Assyrian Christians. There is also one seat to represent Jewish Iranians, and one to represent Iranian Zoroastrians. While Sunnis do not have reserved seats in the Majlis, they are allowed to serve in the body. Sunni Majlis deputies tend to be elected from among the larger Sunni communities. Members of religious minorities are allowed to vote; however, all minority religious groups, including Sunni Muslims, are barred from being elected president.



The legal system discriminates against religious minorities. Article 297 of the amended 1991 Islamic Punishments Act authorizes collection of equal "blood money" (diyeh) as restitution to the families for the death of both Muslims and non-Muslims. Prior to the 2004 change, the law gave a lesser monetary amount as "blood money" for non-Muslims than for Muslims. All women, as well as Bahá'í and Sabean-Mandaean men, are excluded from the equalization provisions of the bill. Restitution for the death of a woman is half that of a man. According to law, Bahá'í blood is considered mobah, meaning it can be spilled with impunity.



Adherents of religious groups not recognized by the Constitution, such as the Bahá'ís, do not have freedom to practice their beliefs. Government officials have stated that, as individuals, all Bahá'ís are entitled to their beliefs and are protected under the articles of the Constitution as citizens; however, the Government continues to prohibit Bahá'ís from teaching and practicing their faith. Bahá'ís are barred from government and military posts.



The Government considers Bahá'ís to be apostates and defines the Bahá'í faith as a political "sect." The Ministry of Justice states that Bahá'ís are permitted to enroll in schools only if they do not identify themselves as Bahá'ís, and that Bahá'ís preferably should be enrolled in schools with a strong and imposing religious ideology. There were allegations that Bahá'í children in public schools faced attempts to convert them to Islam. After a brief policy change during the reporting period allowed Bahá'í students to enroll in universities, the Government reverted to its previous practice of requiring Bahá'í students to identify themselves as other than Bahá'í in order to register for the entrance examination. This action precluded Bahá'í enrollment in state-run universities, since a tenet of the Bahá'í religion is not to deny one's faith. The Ministry of Justice states that Bahá'ís must be excluded or expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, if their religious affiliation becomes known. University applicants are required to pass an examination in Islamic, Christian, or Jewish theology, but there was no test for the Bahá'í faith.



Bahá'ís are banned from the social pension system. In addition, Bahá'ís are regularly denied compensation for injury or criminal victimization and are denied the right to inherit property. Bahá'í marriages and divorces are not officially recognized, although the Government allows a civil attestation of marriage to serve as a marriage certificate.



The Government allows recognized religious minorities to establish community centers and certain self-financed cultural, social, athletic, or charitable associations. However, the Government prohibited the Bahá'í community from official assembly and from maintaining administrative institutions by closing any such institutions.



The Government propagated a legal interpretation of Islam that effectively deprived women of many rights granted to men. Gender segregation was enforced, generally throughout the country, without regard to religious affiliation. Women of all religious groups are expected to adhere to Islamic dress in public. Although enforcement of rules for conservative Islamic dress eased in previous years, the Government periodically cracks down on "un-Islamic dress," particularly during the summer months. The crackdowns on "un-Islamic dress" during the reporting period were much harsher than in recent years. The Government's 12‑point contract model for marriage and divorce limits the rights accorded to women by custom and traditional interpretations of Islamic law.



Restrictions on Religious Freedom



Government policy and practice contributed to severe restrictions on religious freedom. All non-Shi'a religious minorities suffer varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing.



The Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance (Ershad) and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) monitor religious activity closely. Members of recognized religious minorities are not required to register with the Government, and religion is not noted on national identity cards; however, their communal, religious, and cultural events and organizations, including schools, are monitored closely. Registration of Bahá'ís is a police function. The Government required evangelical Christian groups to compile and submit membership lists for their congregations.



The Government generally allowed recognized religious minorities to conduct religious education for their adherents in separate schools, although it restricted this right considerably in some cases. The Ministry of Education, which imposed certain curriculum requirements, supervised these schools. With few exceptions, the directors of such private schools must be Muslim. Attendance at the schools was not mandatory for recognized religious minorities. The Ministry of Education must approve all textbooks used in coursework, including religious texts. Recognized religious minorities could provide religious instruction in non-Persian languages, but such texts required approval by the authorities. This approval requirement sometimes imposed significant translation expenses on minority communities. However, Assyrian Christians reported that their community was permitted to write its own textbooks, which, following government authorization, were then printed at government expense and distributed to the Assyrian community.



On December 19, 2006, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Iran. The resolution follows similar U.N. statements since 2001 that decry the Government's harsh treatment of non-Shi'a Muslims. In March 2006 the U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 60/171 expressing serious concern about the continued discrimination and human rights violations against religious minorities by the Government. Also, in March 2006 the U.N. Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Freedom of Religion or Belief issued a statement of concern about the treatment of the Bahá'í community in the country.



During the reporting period, many Sunnis claimed that the Government discriminated against them. It was difficult to distinguish whether the cause of discrimination was religious or ethnic, since most Sunnis are also members of ethnic minorities. Sunnis cited the absence of a Sunni mosque in Tehran, despite the presence of more than one million adherents there, as a prominent example. Sunni leaders reported bans on Sunni religious literature and teachings in public schools, even in predominantly Sunni areas. Sunnis also claimed there was a lack of Sunni representation in government-appointed positions in the provinces where they form a majority, such as Kurdistan and Khuzestan Province, as well as their inability to obtain senior governmental positions. In addition, Sunnis charged that the government-owned Broadcast Corporation's program, Voice and Vision, airs programming which is insulting to them.



Sunni Majlis representatives assert that government discrimination led to the lack of Sunni presence in the executive and judicial branches, especially in higher-ranking positions in embassies, universities, and other institutions, as well as anti-Sunni propaganda in the mass media, books, and publications.



Broad restrictions on Bahá'ís severely undermined their ability to function as a community. The Government repeatedly offers Bahá'ís relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their faith.



Bahá'ís may not teach or practice their faith or maintain links with coreligionists abroad. Bahá'ís are often officially charged with "espionage on behalf of Zionism," in part due to the fact that the Bahá'í world headquarters is located in Israel. These charges are more acute when Bahá'ís are caught communicating with or sending monetary contributions to the Bahá'í headquarters.



Since late 2005 Bahá'ís have faced an increasing number of public attacks, including a series of negative and defamatory articles in Kayhan, a government-affiliated newspaper whose managing editor was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i. Radio and television broadcasts have also increasingly condemned the Bahá'ís and their religion, and since October 2005 state-owned media has launched a series of weekly anti-Bahá'í broadcasts. These reports had the intention of arousing suspicion, distrust, and hatred for the Bahá'í community.



Public and private universities continued either to deny admittance to or expel Bahá'í students. In 2004 Bahá'í applicants took part in the nationwide exam for entrance into state-run universities; however, "Islam" was pre-printed as a prospective student's religious affiliation on the form authorizing their matriculation. This action precluded Bahá'í enrollment, since a tenet of the Bahá'í religion is not to deny one's faith. During the reporting period, Government officials reportedly stated that "Islam" printed on the authorization form did not reflect the student's religion, but the religion about which the student was tested. After taking part in the nationwide entrance examination, more than 175 Bahá'í students reportedly enrolled in universities during the reporting period, but close to half of those students were expelled once their religious affiliation became known. Toward the end of the reporting period, the Government reverted to the previous practice of requiring Bahá'í students to identify themselves as other than Bahá'í to register for the entrance examination.



The Government monitored the activities of Bahá'ís. A Bahá'í group outside the country reported an August 19, 2006, letter from the Ministry of Interior requesting provincial offices to "cautiously and carefully monitor and manage" all Bahá'í social activities.



The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief reported the existence of a secret October 2005 letter written by the Chairman of the Armed Forces Command, Major General Seyyed Hossein Firuzabadi, acting on instructions from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Police Force, which requested the agencies to collect and to provide to the Armed Forces Command all information about Bahá'ís.



There were reports the Association of Chambers of Commerce and related associations, which are nominally independent bodies that are nonetheless heavily influenced by the Government, compiled a list of Bahá'ís and their trades and employment. A May 2006 letter from the Trades, Production, and Technical Services Society of Kermanshah to the Union of Battery Manufacturers showed further evidence of workplace restrictions as it asked the union to compile "a list of the names of those who belong to the Bahá'í sect and are under the jurisdiction of your union."



The Government promoted and condoned anti-Semitism in state-media and hosted a Holocaust denial conference during the reporting period. However, with some exceptions, there was little government restriction of, or interference with, Jewish religious practice. Nevertheless, education of Jewish children has become more difficult in recent years. The Government reportedly allowed Hebrew instruction, recognizing that it was necessary for Jewish religious practice. However, it limited the distribution of Hebrew texts, in practice making it difficult to teach the language. Moreover, the Government required that in conformity with the schedule of other schools, several Jewish schools must remain open on Saturdays, which violates Jewish law.



Jewish citizens are permitted to obtain passports and travel outside the country. In contrast with past reporting years, Jewish groups reported that Iranian Jews are now issued the multiple-exit permits issued to other citizens, and other travel restrictions have eased. Jewish groups outside the country reported unsuccessful government attempts to interfere in the elections of the Jewish Central Committee (JCC), which appoints the head of the Jewish community in the country. The groups also reported that the Jewish community's newspaper, Ofogh-e-Bina, stopped publication, reportedly due largely to government pressure on the previous chair of the JCC.



The small Sabean-Mandaean religious community reportedly faced intensifying harassment and repression by authorities, including reported government closings of Sabean-Mandaean places of worship (Mandi). There were also reports of religious freedom violations, such as forced observance of Islamic fasting rituals and praying in an Islamic fashion, which are in violation of Sabean-Mandaean teachings.



Sufis within the country and Sufi organizations outside the country remained extremely concerned about growing government repression of their communities and religious practices, including increased harassment and intimidation of prominent Sufi leaders by the intelligence and security services. Government restrictions on Sufi groups and houses of worship (husseiniya) became more pronounced in recent years.



Reportedly, the President called for an end to the development of Christianity in the country. Christian groups outside the country reported the growth of underground churches in the country during the reporting period.



The Government carefully monitors the statements and views of senior Shi'a religious leaders. The Special Clerical Courts, established to investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics, and which the Supreme Leader oversees directly, are not provided for in the Constitution and operate outside the judiciary. In particular, critics alleged that the clerical courts are used to prosecute certain clerics for expressing controversial ideas and for participating in nonreligious activities, including journalism.



Non-Shi'a religious leaders reported abuse, including detentions and torture of Sunni clerics, as well as other widespread restrictions on their ability to practice their faith. They also reported bans on Sunni teachings in public schools and Sunni religious literature. Residents of provinces with large Sunni populations, including Kurdistan, Khuzestan, and Sistan-va-Baluchestan, reported discrimination and lack of resources, but it was difficult to determine what was ethnic-based discrimination and what was religious-based.



Laws based on religion have been used to stifle freedom of expression. Independent newspapers and magazines have been closed, and leading publishers and journalists have been imprisoned on vague charges of "insulting Islam" or "calling into question the Islamic foundation of the Republic."



Many female Muslims sought to eliminate laws and practices that discriminate against women, arguing that relegating women to a lesser status due to, inter alia, their being considered "deficient in reason," was not a precept of Islam, but rather a non-Islamic accretion to Islamic practices.



Abuses of Religious Freedom



According to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, since 1979 more than 200 Bahá'ís have been killed, and 15 have disappeared and are presumed dead.



The Government seized many Bahá'í properties following the 1979 revolution and has not returned any Bahá'í cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, administrative centers, or other assets. No properties have been returned, and many have been destroyed. Bahá'ís are generally prevented from burying and honoring their dead in accordance with their religious tradition; however, Bahá'í groups reported some instances during the reporting period of Bahá'ís being permitted to bury their dead in their own cemeteries.



The property rights of Bahá'ís are generally disregarded, and they suffer frequent government harassment and persecution. The Government has confiscated large numbers of private and business properties belonging to Bahá'ís, as well as religious material. The Government reportedly seized numerous Bahá'í homes and handed them over to an agency of Supreme Leader Khamene'i. Sources indicated that property was confiscated in Rafsanjan, Kerman, Marv-Dasht, Yazd, and Kata Provinces. The Government also seized private homes in which Bahá'í youth classes were held, despite the owners having proper ownership documents.



The Bahá'í community claimed the government's seizure of Bahá'í personal property and its denial of Bahá'í access to education and employment was eroding the economic base of the community and threatening its survival. On June 29, 2006, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on adequate housing found that government expropriations of property in Iran "seem to have targeted disproportionately" the property of Bahá'ís and other ethnic and religious minorities. He further mentioned that many of the confiscation verdicts made by Iranian Revolutionary Courts declared that "the confiscation of the property of the evil sect of the Bahá'í [were] legally and religiously justifiable." There were reports during the reporting period of authorities forcing Bahá'í businesses to close and placing restrictions on their businesses, and asking managers of private companies to dismiss their Bahá'í employees.



The Government continued to imprison and detain Bahá'ís based on their religious beliefs. The Government arbitrarily arrested Bahá'ís and charged them with violating Islamic Penal Code Articles 500 and 698, relating to activities against the state and spreading falsehoods, respectively. Often the charges were not dropped upon release and those with charges still pending against them reportedly feared rearrest at any time. Most were released only after paying large fines or posting high bails.



Between May 2006 and January 2007, the Government reportedly arrested 63 Bahá'ís. As of February 2007 three remained in prison. The Government never formally charged many of the others, but released them only after they posted bail. For some, bail was in the form of deeds of property; others gained their release in exchange for personal guarantees or work licenses.



There were also reports of attacks on Bahá'ís by unidentified assailants, including the killings of two elderly Bahá'í women. On February 16, 2007, an 85-year-old Bahá'í woman, Behnam Saltanat Akhzari, was killed in her home by a masked intruder. The following day, a 77-year-old Bahá'í woman, Shah Beygom Dehghani, was also assaulted in her home by a masked intruder and she died on March 7, 2007.



On January 1, 2007, two Bahá'í men, Riaz Heravi and Siamak Ebrahimi, were arrested and detained for 20 and 30 days, respectively. No details were available about the reasons for their arrests, although a Bahá'í group noted that the two coordinated events for their Bahá'í community on an ad hoc basis.



On November 1, 2006, a Bahá'í man, Fayzullah Rowshan, was reportedly arrested by order of the Ministry of Information, following a search of his home. He was released on January 1, 2007. No details about the reason for his arrest were available.



On September 21, 2006, the Court of Appeal in Semnan province denied the appeal of eight Bahá'ís arrested in May 2005. They were accused of "teaching activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran." Three were given sentences of 6 months in prison, and five were sentenced to 91 days. Six of the eight sentences were suspended for 4 years, and the other two appealed their sentences.



On August 17, 2006, a Bahá'í man, Babak Roohi, was reportedly arrested in Mashhad for making 50 photocopies of a Bahá'í book for a Bahá'í function. He was released 2 weeks later after posting bail of $34,000 (315,000,000 rials).



On June 28, 2006, a Bahá'í was taken into custody and was being held in the Ministry of Information's detention center. At the end of the reporting period, no further information was available. This individual was previously arrested and released in August 2005.



On June 21, 2006, a Bahá'í man, Shokrollah Rahmani, was reportedly abducted in broad daylight in Khash, in southeastern Iran. His family reported that the police refused to investigate, despite being presented with evidence, including telephone and license plate numbers. Rahmani was released on November 24, 2006. No further details were available.



On June 21, 2006, a Bahá'í from Baluchistan province was reportedly abducted, and authorities said they suspected criminal elements were involved.



On June 18, 2006, the Government arrested three Bahá'ís from Hamadan after government officials confiscated books, computers, and Bahá'í documents. They were later released on bail on June 21, 2006.



Between May 9 and May 11, 2006, the Government raided eleven Bahá'í homes in Shahinshahr, Najafabad, and Kashan with no arrests made. On May 19, 2006, the Government raided six Bahá'í homes in Shiraz, and arrested 54 Bahá'ís. Security forces also seized notebooks, computers, books, and documents. On May 24 and May 25, 2006, the Government released all but three of the detainees. As of June 14, 2006 the remaining three had been released.



On March 18, 2006, Mehran Kawsari was released from jail without bail, after being charged with taking measures against the internal security of the Government. He was tried in connection with distributing a November 2004 open letter, in which the Bahá'í community wrote to the Government of the Islamic Republic, addressed to then-President Khatami, seeking an end to Bahá'í-focused human rights and religious freedom abuses. Numerous anecdotal reports indicated a marked increase in Government persecution of Bahá'ís after this letter.



On February 5, 2006, the Government arrested three Bahá'ís from Esfahan for coordinating Bahá'í activities.



On January 15, 2006, the Government arrested three Bahá'ís from Kermanshah on charges of "involvement in Bahá'í activities and insulting Islam." The Government raided their homes and the homes of four others the same day and confiscated books, documents, and other items. The Government released them on January 20, 2006.



On December 19, 2005, the longest imprisoned Bahá'í, Zabihullah Mahrami, died in prison of unknown causes. He was arrested in 1995 and convicted of apostasy in 1996. A Bahá'í group outside the country reported in April 2007 that the Revolutionary Court of Yazd province confiscated the home of Mahrami's widow, Nahid Beygi.



In August 2005 the Government arrested at least 23 Bahá'ís and later released 3 on bail and sentenced 4 to 10 months in prison. The Government also searched the homes of several Bahá'ís, and confiscated books, computers, tapes, videos, and CDs.



In May 2005 the Government charged several Bahá'ís with "creating anxiety in the minds of the public and those of the Iranian officials" and distributing "propaganda against the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran," for having distributed copies of the 2004 open letter to various government officials.



In April-May 2005 the Government arrested and imprisoned nine Bahá'ís, following the confiscation of their properties. All nine later gained their release from prison, after a business license was used as collateral.



In March 2005 a series of Bahá'í arrests and imprisonments took place throughout the country. One of the Bahá'ís previously arrested and briefly detained for having distributed an open letter from the Bahá'í community to then-President Khatami, received a 3-year sentence and was incarcerated in Evin prison.



In February 2005 the Government released two Bahá'ís from prison after serving almost 15 years on charges related to their religious beliefs.



In January 2005 several Bahá'ís were assaulted in their homes by unidentified assailants and later summoned, questioned, and released by the authorities.



Sufi Muslims faced an increasing repression campaign.



On May 21, 2007, security forces arrested the leader of the Nematollahi Gonabadi Sufi order, Nurali Tabandeh. The reason for his arrest and whether formal charges have been brought against him were not known.



On May 4, 2006, a court sentenced 52 Sufis to jail on various charges in connection with a February 14, 2006 incident, in which the Government reportedly arrested more than 1,200 Sufis for gathering illegally. The Government sentenced the defendants and their two lawyers to a year in prison, fines, and 74 lashes, which was later reduced to fines only. The Government also banned the lawyers, Farshid Yadollahi and Omid Behrouzi, from practicing law for 5 years.



Articles attacking Sufis are printed in government-controlled, national newspapers, such as Jomhouri-ye Eslami and Kayhan. On February 14, 2006, a Kayhan article quoted senior clerics in Qom as saying that Sufism should be eradicated in the city. Several anti-Sufi books were reportedly published in recent years.



On February 14, 2006, security forces demolished a husseiniya, as well as neighboring houses, and arrested more than 1,200 persons, according to several sources. Other sources close to the Sufi groups and human rights activists reported up to 2,000 arrests. The Government detained at least 173 people at Fajr prison and reportedly tortured them, to extract confessions that would be read on national television. Those released had to sign agreements saying they would not attend Sufi gatherings in Qom and would present themselves to intelligence offices. Reportedly, the Government required some to sign documents renouncing Sufism.



On February 13, 2006, the day preceding the February 14, 2006, incident, police officers tried to close a husseiniya in the city of Qom, sparking 2 days of clashes and violence. Qom officials stated the Sufis had illegally turned a residential building into a religious establishment. However, the establishment apparently had been built 3 years ago with municipal permission. According to some human rights groups, the Sufis, including many women and children, peacefully protested the order to leave the husseiniya. Police attacked the Sufis in the building with tear gas and explosives, causing more than 500 hospitalizations, according to some sources, and 100 injuries, according to the Qom Governor, General Abbas Mohtaj. Members of the Fatemiyon and Hojjatiyeh groups, conservative Islamic groups, reportedly joined the police in first taunting the protestors and then attacking and beating them.



In September 2005, Ayatollah Hossein Nouri-Hamedani, as Islamic scholar in Qom, reportedly called for a crackdown on Sufi groups, labeling them a "danger to Islam." Five months later an attack occurred that involved police and paramilitary forces. During the riots, the paramilitaries distributed leaflets calling Sufis enemies of Islam, and the Qom governor accused the Sufis of having ties to foreign countries and creating instability.



Christians--particularly evangelicals--continued to be subject to harassment and close surveillance. During the reporting period, the Government vigilantly enforced its prohibition on proselytizing by evangelical Christians by closely monitoring their activities, discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing their churches, and arresting Christian converts. Members of evangelical congregations are required to carry membership cards, photocopies of which must be provided to the authorities. Worshippers are subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centers. The Government restricted meetings for evangelical services to Sundays, and church officials are ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance before admitting new members.



On September 26, 2006, authorities arrested evangelical Christians Fereshteh Dibaj and Reza Montazami at their home in the northeastern part of the country. Dibaj and Montazami operated an independent church in Mashhad. The Information Ministry held the couple for 10 days without bringing any charges, and agents confiscated their home computer and other belongings. They were released on October 5, 2006.



On July 24, 2006, authorities arrested Issa Motamedi Mojdehi, a Muslim convert to Christianity, following his attempt to register the birth of his son. Charges of drug trafficking were brought against him, which Christian groups said was an attempt to punish him for his conversion.



On May 2, 2006, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ali Kaboli, was taken into custody in Gorgan, after several years of police surveillance, and threatened with prosecution if he did not leave the country. He was interrogated and was held incommunicado before being released on June 12, 2006.



On November 22, 2005, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ghorban Tori, was kidnapped from his house in the northeast and killed. His body was later returned to his house. Tori was a pastor at an independent house church of converted Christians. After the killing, security officials searched his house for Bibles and banned Christian books in Persian. In the previous week, according to some sources, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security arrested and tortured 10 Christians in several cities.



In 2004 sources reported the arrest of several dozen evangelical Christians in the north, including a Christian pastor, his wife, and their two teenage children in Chalous, Mazandaran Province. The Government released many of those arrested, including the pastor and his family, after 6 weeks in detention.



In 2004 security officials raided the annual general conference of the country's Assemblies of God Church, arresting approximately 80 religious leaders gathered at the church's denominational center in Karaj. Assemblies of God Pastor Hamid Pourmand, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity nearly 25 years ago and who led a congregation in Bushehr, was the only detainee not released. In late January 2005 he was tried in a military court on charges of espionage, and on February 16, 2005, he was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years. Pourmand, who was a noncommissioned officer, was discharged from the army and forfeited his entire income, pension, and housing for his family. A website documenting persecution of Christians reported that Pourmand was released on July 20, 2006.



The Government was allegedly responsible for the killing of Sunni clerics in recent years. Sunni leaders reported abuses, including detentions and torture of Sunni clerics, and an unconfirmed report of a suspicious death of a Sunni cleric who had defied orders not to return to the mosque after his release from prison.



There were reports of three killings of senior clerics during 2007, including the June 24, 2007 killing of Hesham Saymary, in the ethnically-Arab dominated province of Khuzestan. It is not known whether the Government had any role in those killings.



Anti-Semitism



While the Government recognizes Judaism as a religious minority, Jews alleged frequent official discrimination. During the reporting period, there was a rise in officially sanctioned, anti-Semitic propaganda, involving official statements, media outlets, publications, and books. The Government's anti-Israel policies and anti-Semitic rhetoric, along with a perception among radical Muslims that all Jewish citizens of the country support Zionism and the state of Israel, created a hostile atmosphere for Jews. The rhetorical attacks also further blurred the line between Zionism, Judaism, and Israel and contributed to increased concerns about the future security of the Jewish community.



Many Jews have sought to limit their contact with or support for the state of Israel out of fear of reprisal. Recent anti-American and anti-Israeli demonstrations included the denunciation of Jews, as opposed to the past practice of denouncing only "Israel" and "Zionism," adding to the threatening atmosphere for the community. In 2005 many newspapers celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of the anti-Semitic publication Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Jewish community members continued to emigrate, in part due to continued anti-Semitism on the part of the Government and within society.



Jewish groups reported that two synagogues in the country were assaulted during the reporting period, largely because a hard-line newspaper, Yalesarat, published two photos of synagogues displaying Israeli flags and falsely claimed that the synagogues were in the country.



Since August 2005 President Ahmadi-Nejad has pursued a virulent anti-Israel campaign, including commenting on the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as triggering the countdown for the "destruction of the Zionist regime." President Ahmadi-Nejad also publicly questioned the existence or the scale of the Holocaust, which created an even more hostile environment for the Jewish minority. Friday prayer leaders endorsed the President's Holocaust denial statements and reported the statements are "the heartfelt words of all Muslims in the world."



On December 11 and 12, 2006, the Government sponsored a conference entitled, "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision." This conference was widely criticized as it provided a forum for those who deny the existence or scale of the Holocaust. Speakers at the conference universally called for the elimination or delegitimization of the state of Israel and concluded that the Holocaust did not occur or that the scale of the Holocaust was exaggerated by Jews for political or financial gain.



In mid 2006 the newspaper Hamshahri cosponsored a Holocaust cartoon contest, soliciting submissions from around the world and awarding a $12,000 (111,000,000 rials) prize to a Moroccan cartoonist who drew a picture of an Israeli crane erecting a wall of concrete blocks around the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site. The blocks bear sections of a photograph of the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Government sponsored an exhibit of these cartoons in Tehran on August 14, 2006.



Jewish community leaders protested the President's Holocaust denial comments and the Holocaust cartoon contest. The sole Jewish Majlis deputy, Moris Motamed, condemned the President's remarks on the Holocaust, saying in a September 22, 2006, BBC news article, "It is very regrettable to see a horrible tragedy so far reaching as the Holocaust being denied…it was a very big insult to Jews all around the world."



Within the domestic press, anti-Semitism in the media was present, and anti-Semitic editorial cartoons depicting demonic and stereotypical images of Jews, along with Jewish symbols, were published during the reporting period.



Forced Religious Conversions



There are no reports of forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.



Government officials reportedly offered Bahá'ís relief from mistreatment, in exchange for recanting their faith, and if incarcerated, recanting their faith as a precondition for releasing them.



Authorities reportedly forced several Sufi Muslims to sign forced renunciations of their faith while in prison, following the February 2006 riots.



Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination



The continuous presence of the country's pre-Islamic, non-Muslim communities, such as Zoroastrians, Jews, Sabean-Mandaeans, and Christians, accustomed the population to the participation of non-Muslims in society; however, government actions continued to support elements of society who create a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities. The President's new agenda stressed the importance of Islam in enhancing "national solidarity" and mandated that government-controlled media emphasize Islamic culture in order to "cause subcultures to adapt themselves to public culture." The Supreme Leader named March 2007 to March 2008 the year of "national unity and Islamic solidarity." Since President Ahmadi-Nejad took office in August 2005, conservative media have intensified a campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities, and political and religious leaders issued a continual stream of inflammatory statements. The campaigns against non-Muslims contributed to a significantly worse situation for non-Muslim society throughout the reporting period.



Sunni Muslims and Christians encountered societal and religious discrimination and harassment at the local, provincial, and national levels.



Bahá'ís faced government-sanctioned discrimination in the workplace. Bahá'í graveyards in Yazd and other cities were desecrated, and the Government did not seek to identify or punish the perpetrators.



Since the National Association of Chambers of Commerce began collecting employment data on Bahá'ís, there were reported problems for Bahá'ís in different trades around the country. Bahá'ís experienced an escalation of personal harassment, including receiving threatening notes, CDs, text messages, and tracts. There were reported cases of Bahá'í children being harassed in school and subjected to Islamic indoctrination. Bahá'í girls were especially targeted by students and educators, with the intention of creating tension between parents and children.



There was concern from several groups about the rumored resurgence of the banned Hojjatiyeh Society, a secretive religious-economic group that was founded in 1953 to rid the country of the Bahá'í faith, in order to hasten the return of the 12th Imam (the Mahdi). Although not a government organization, it was believed that many members of the administration were Hojjatiyeh members and were using their offices to advance the society's goals. However, it was unknown what role, if any, the group played in the arrests of numerous Bahá'ís during the reporting period. Many Bahá'í human rights groups and news agencies described the goals of the Hojjatiyeh Society as the eradication of the Bahá'ís, not just the Bahá'í faith. The group's anti-Bahá'í orientation reportedly widened to encompass anti-Sunni and anti-Sufi activities as well.



Religious minorities are allowed to handle food and own food businesses, but most Muslim conservatives will not eat food prepared by Jews.



The small Sabean-Mandaean community reportedly faced discrimination similar to that faced by other religious minorities. There were reports that members of the Sabean-Mandaean community experienced societal discrimination and pressure to convert to Islam and were often denied access to higher education.



Section IV. U.S. Government Policy



The United States has no diplomatic relations with the country, and thus it does not raise directly with the Government the restrictions that the Government places on religious freedom and other abuses the Government commits against adherents of minority religious groups.



The U.S. Government makes its position clear in public statements and reports, support for relevant U.N. and NGO efforts, and diplomatic initiatives to press for an end to government abuses. The U.S. Government calls on other countries with bilateral relations with Iran to use those ties to press its government on religious freedom and human rights.



On numerous occasions, the U.S. State Department spokesman has addressed the situation of the Bahá'í and Jewish communities in the country. The U.S. Government has publicly condemned the treatment of the Bahá'ís in U.N. resolutions, including one that passed in the General Assembly in 2006. The U.S. Government has encouraged other Governments to make similar statements.



Released on September 14, 2007


http://www.state.gov/
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Spenta



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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Attention all IRI SCUM Who hangout on this site!

Yes, all you I$lami$t low lifes earning a living hanging out on this site, running your trojans and monitoring developments here, a few important points for you to consider and relay to your bosses:


I believe it was Marx who once commented that history repeats itself a second time only as a joke or satire. Bringing back the 'glory' days of enghelab e eslami (Islamic revolution) with the recent brutal crackdown may not necessarily get the same results. I can see how the new strategy is to go back to the old brutal glory days of beating down the people hard to get them to comply, thinking 'see how well it worked before, it'll work again'. But then again there's the Marx quote ... what worked then, worked then, this time though, it just might backfire! Maybe thats why Kavousifar was smiling, he got the joke you guys are all missing!

Most Iranians know that things are going to get worst for them. They know that if the US attacks there will be mass arrests followed by mass executions as bad if not worst than the '88 purges. And it looks like the US will attack. So knowing all of this, what exactly do you think, that the people are going to shutup and take it? If you're smart, you won't be putting all your eggs in the mullah basket, but lining them up to put them in the other basket.
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Oppenheimer



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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

(Chuckle....great minds think alike, Spenta...)

How's this for logic?

To:
"Tehran born and raised" -

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/ali_ettefagh/2006/11/a_change_towards_institutions.html

It is hard for me to fathom how persecuting a cleric (whether credible scholar or not) speaks well of the strength of political institutions in Iran.
If indeed the man is a "charletan" as you say, would it not be the action of a strong system of government to either laugh it off as the words of a "charletan" or simply engage in honest debate if what he said..."I believe people are fed up with political religion and want traditional religion to return," ...has a following, which in fact it does....not all Shiite sects aprove of political Islam.
In fact it is a sure sign of fear and institutional weakness that disallows debate and opposing viewpoint within Iranian society.
Condemned some 50 times in the UN for human rights violations, leaders and former leaders of your nation now face inditement (Argentina's for one), lawsuits, sanctions and increasing pressure on multiple fronts from the international community, as well as from the Iranian diaspora's thirst for freedom.

After almost 30 years, what has political Islam given you? Khomeni's "Utopia"?

A hemoraging stock market, the flight of capital and the "brain drain" of intellectuals and the highly educated, the continued repression of centers of higher learning, teachers, students, and anyone else that is in any way seen as non-conformist to the mindset in power.

All the promise of the future traded for a plastic key to paradise, given to the children ( not even adults) of Iran that the leaders of your nation used to penetrate minefields in the Iran/Iraq war.

Not to mention attempting to be "more Palestinian than the Palestinians" in using that tragic conflict as an excuse to distract from the regim's own failures at home and in international relations.

Whether the press is good or bad, if it be accurate, it is not "blown out of proportion", but exists in context to what a majority of Iranians already know...the "revolution" has failed them.

What I see from their words today(the mullahs and supporters)is threats shrouded in niceties, the essential intellectual hypocracy of arrogent rightiousness in claiming to have any understanding of absolute truth, as manifest by a political sect of Islam wholy incapable of having an open and honest dialoge within its belief structure, let alone a "dialoge among civilizations"; and a pattern of criminal and sociopathic behavior that has been elevated to an "art form" by the leadership of Iran since the '79 revolution.

http://www.iranfocus.com/uploads/video.jpg

My answer to Ahmadinejad's wrong thinking-ness is that raising a family, growing old and watching your kids thrive and prosper in peace, and knowing the joy of this over time, having contributed to its manifestation , having created one's reality , a new generation, ....is the ultimate artistic endeavor.

La Familia, Solidarity, .....no question a man (or woman) would give their life to save one's family, but that would not be art, rather shear and tragic neccessity in extreme circumstance.

Antar (Ahmadinejad) is putting a cause above family to the extent that it appears that the leadership of a nation advocates national suicide on an artistic basis, for meglomaniacal ends, and those who advocate such lack of respect for life and Islam itself should be given a one way ticket to a padded cell in hell....the Islamic version of hell that is.....at the hands of the global umma itself.

This is the bit that really convinces me that he is a taco shy of a combination plate....Islam is already global....What exactly is this guy's major malfunction?....unless of course he is advocating a global purge of all non-Muslim people, then that is public advocation of Genocide on a global scale and will not be permitted to occur.
The incitement , inducement, rational, however you wish to characterize Antar's advocacy of Martyrdom in the context of this video... is in and of itself, evidence of, and grounds for inditement on charges of intent to commit mass murder, in an international court of law.

It is apparent to me that many supporters of this regime are sitting on a gaping hole in the carpet of their rhetoric.

Those of the Muslim faith, as well as those Iranians who read this have my great sympathy and support for the choice that you must now make in favor of freedom....as individuals, to preserve your families, nation and the umma itself from those who lead a great nation and people over oblivion's cliff.

---------------end---

RE: US intent

Where the Mullahs are concerned, I believe the idea is to defang them, and let the people do the rest.

Best,

EJ
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cyrus
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:22 pm    Post subject: Iran hangs three men in public during holy Muslim month Reply with quote

Quote:
Iran hangs three men in public during holy Muslim month
Thu. 27 Sep 2007
Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12608

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 27 – Iranian authorities hanged three men in public in the northern city of Babol on Thursday halfway through the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, state media reported.

The three men identified as Hadi Jafartabar, Mirhadi Mirtaghi and Seyyed Shoja Moussavizadeh were hanged in a sports complex, the state broadcasting corporation IRIB said in a report on its website.

The government-owned news agency Fars said that the three men were convicted of rape.

Iran has sharply increased the number of public executions carried out in recent months.

Under customary Islamic practice, executions are not to take place during the holy month of Ramadan, but this year authorities have heightened repression and ignored this rule.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Via Dr. Etebar


Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:16:05 -0700

Complaint letter of Ayatollah Boroujerdi form prison to EU foreign affairs directorate

http://iranppa.blogspot.com/2007/09/complaint-letter-of-ayatollah.html

Sid Kazemeiny Boroojerdi , a Shiite clergy and supporter of separation of religion from state , has appealed to the EU Foreign Affairs Directorate . He was arrested in summer of 2005, after his sit-in with one thousand of his supporters had been brutally crashed.
In his letter Boroujerdi has written: “ Iranian people suffer from expansion of terror, increase of hangings and violence on the streets and kidnapping, and demand respect for Human rights and freedom of believe, and also internationally respected laws and conventions by the Iranian government.
“The majority of the people don’t consider the violent Islam propagated by the mullahs as the real Islam. They call the mullahs brand of Islam a production of the 1978 revolution.” He continues in his letter.
“It has been more than 15 years that I have been facing threats and pressure and have been boycotted by Government Clergy. My only wish has been to rid my country men of discrimination and to establish peace and equality for them. Last year, regardless of extreme suppression and terror in the society, our last religious gathering with no political content, successfully took place in the sports stadium in Iran .
“In that unprecedented gathering which only involved a part of the active society, many religious minority members had taken part. That gathering represented the peaceful co-existence and solidarity to be, amongst all divisions of religions and beliefs present in Iran.” writes Mr.Boroujerdi.
His letter then continues as; “as a Human being who believes in his creator and lord, I beg you to help us. We have not been and are not political. Our only wish has been to separate religion from state. This has instigated the tyrant mullahs’ wrath.”
Boroujerdi ends his letter saying: “And now with a devastated physical situation and under the harshest physical and psychological conditions of my lifetime, and as I am regularly threatened to death in prison, I look forwards to your righteous and effective interference.”This letter has been smuggled out of Evin prison by Boroujerdi.
An official of the Special Religious Court had told the press on the 12 September that Mr. Boroujerdis’ sentence had been delivered by the court but his case was to be reconsidered.
Sid Kazemeiny Boroojerdi and around 500 of his supporters had been arrested last summer and violently tortured while in detention in 209 and 240 of Evin prison.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:54 pm    Post subject: Iran's War on Women Reply with quote

Manda Zand Ervin wrote:

Iran's War on Women

By Manda Zand Ervin
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Source:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=CB16F817-6DCB-4EB3-A29E-C56487C0ABD1

When the women of Iran risk their own lives and that of their children and husbands to commit an illegal act of assembly for a peaceful demonstration against the unjust laws of the Islamist regime, they hope that the world is listening and supports them in their struggle for freedom and emancipation. But the world seems to be turning a blind eye to their pleas and when they get beaten, arrested and thrown in prisons, not a single government or NGO make an attempt to speak out in defense of their human rights.

Sean Penn went to Iran to see things for himself; he met with the some of the highest authorities and members of the Islamic regime, only to come back to the U.S. and proclaim that the regime of Iran may not look good to the west but they are the choice of the people of Iran and that must be respected. He did not go to Iran with an open mind or with the intention of really grasping the real issues facing the average Iranian, and to consider their pain. Actually when asked, he said they were like Iraqis. It just so happened that during his few days in Iran he showed up for one of the more noteworthy demonstrations organized by women’s rights groups who assembled in front of the Tehran University to protest the Islamic regime’s misogynist rule. Mr. Penn who can pass for an Iranian was assaulted and had his camera taken away from him by the Basijis who were mobilized to confront the demonstrators.

When the paramilitary forces attacked the demonstrators he was knocked down along with the Iranian women; the women helped him up and when they recognized him they begged him to tell the truth about the life of Iranian women under the Mullahs, to the American people. Mr. Penn came home and wrote a couple of articles for the San Francisco Chronicle but did not bother to speak of the brutal reality of the Iranian people’s on-going oppression; he went as easy on the Islamist regime of Iran as he possibly could. He did mention that he felt sorry for the Iranian women on the plane when he was flying to Iran because they were dressed like Europeans at first but when they arrived to Iran they were wrapped in the dark Islamic robes and head covers. He forgot that they had asked him for the help and support of the free world.

A large majority of America ’s left pretends to be humanitarian but in fact they continue to demonstrate their refusal to acknowledge the inhumanity of the laws of today’s Iran . They never seem to take any notice of 48 million Iranian women who are forced to live in a country whose laws consider the value of a woman’s life as one half of that of a man or that the judgment of women, minors and the insane are equal and unacceptable. Nor do they really care that the testimony of two Iranian women is equal to the testimony of one man or that daughters are forced to accept half of the inheritance that their brothers receive. These are just some of the lesser harsh laws that women in Iran have to face.

How would American women feel if their husbands were legally permitted to divorce them anytime and anywhere, without their knowledge and or signature? How would they feel, if the laws of the land denied them the custody of their children - no mater how unworthy the father - or worse yet, what would they feel like if their husbands were permitted to marry 3 more wives?

Wanting freedom and equality is human nature; it’s like thirst and Iranian women do become as thirsty as free women in the U.S. or the rest of the free world. No woman in Iran has the right to travel, work, go to school or even leave the house, without the permission of the husband. What would any member of Code Pink do if their husband dies and the community clergy takes over the control of her children, finances and life?

Islamic regime’s so-called “civil code” specifies that the age of criminal responsibility for females is 9. Meaning that a little 9 year old girl will be tried as an adult, in case of a crime, convicted to death and before killing her they will rape her in order to prevent her from entering heaven.

The following statement is from Ayatollah Rohollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran ’s Islamic regime: "It is required that the girls must be at their husbands home before they reach puberty." Under the Islamic criminal law, article 300, the life of a Muslim woman is worth 50 camels. Article 435 of the same criminal law says that the left testicle of a man is worth 75 camels! Why is the left testicle is so important? According to Imom Jafar Sadegh, children come from the left testicle of men!

Iranian women have hoped for the support of the American women. We know you oppose war. You say that war is an inhumane act and we respect your belief. Then you must know how the women of Iran feel, living in a constant war. We ask you to be brave enough to do something constructive by supporting the women of Iran who want to live in peace also. Support them to make the changes in a peaceful way. Stand with the women of Iran and be the force that will demand Islamist patriarchy to step aside or change their inhumane constitution. The women of Iran can not raise their voice under the present Islamic regime. But you can.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:05 am    Post subject: Iran hangs eight men, one woman in Tehran prison Reply with quote

Quote:
Top Taazi Thugs In Iran hangs eight men, one woman in Tehran prison
Thu. 18 Oct 2007
Iran Focus
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12841

Tehran, Iran, Oct. 18 – Iranian authorities hanged eight men and a woman in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, state media reported on Thursday.

Six of the men were identified by their first names Babak, Seddiq, Morteza, Kiyan, Behzad, and Hamid.

All nine were hanged Wednesday morning, the official daily “Iran” wrote.

The woman was identified as 30-year-old Fakhteh.

The names of the other two men were not given.

All nine were accused of murder.

Separately, three other men were hanged in public on Wednesday in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, state media reported.

The men were called Vahid E., Mohammad A. and Ahmad E., the government-owned news agency Fars quoted Jaber Baneshi, the public prosecutor of Shiraz, as saying.

They were accused of kidnapping and disrupting public order among other charges.

Evin Prison was built by the Shah’s regime as a maximum security prison to house political dissidents, but it became the Islamic Republic’s most dreaded gulag and the site of thousands of political executions.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Radio Farda wrote:

خودکشی یک دختر دانشجوی پزشکی در بازداشتگاه نیروی انتظامی
17 اکتبر 2007


http://www.radiofarda.com/News/2007/10/17.html?id=416933

دادستانی همدان، خودکشی يک دانشجوی دختر دانشگاه علوم پزشکی همدان را در بازداشتگاه نيروی انتظامی، تاييد کرد.


مهدی الماسی، يکی از مسئولان دادستانی همدان، به روزنامه اعتماد ملی گفت که اين دختر به اتهام "ارتکاب جرم مشهود، توسط ضابطان امر به معروف " در يکی از پارک های همدان دستگير شده بود.


بنابر گزارش ها، اين دختر ِ بيست و هفت ساله ی دانشجوی پزشکی با نام کوچک زهرا، روز شنبه، پس از دو روز بازداشت، ظاهرا خود را حلق آويز کرده است. خانواده زهرا خواهان تحقيق درباره مرگ فرزندشان شده اند و گفته اند که سلول محل بازداشت او پر از صندلی و پارچه هائی بود که بر روی آن ها شعارهای اخلاقی نوشته بود.


نيروی انتظامی جمهوری اسلامی چند ماه است طرحی را با عنوان برقراری امنيت اجتماعی به اجرا گذاشته است که در جريان آن، هزاران دختر و پسر جوان، برای رعايت آنچه که موازين اسلامی خوانده می شود ، زير فشار و ضرب و شتم شديد قرار گرفته اند.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 3:29 pm    Post subject: Iran: Amnesty International Condemns New Wave of Executions Reply with quote

Amnesty International wrote:
Iran: Amnesty International Condemns New Wave of Executions
October 18, 2007
Amnesty
Public Statement

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE131222007

Amnesty International today expressed alarm at the new wave of executions in Iran and said that it has already recorded almost 250 executions since the beginning of 2007, although the true total of those put to death could be significantly higher.

The victims of the latest executions include a woman who was apparently convicted for a murder which took place as she sought to protect herself from an attempted rape, and one or possibly three child offenders.

On Wednesday 17 October alone, at least nine people were executed in Tehran’s Evin Prison, all of them convicted of murder, and at least another three in Shiraz, who were convicted for the kidnapping and rape of two women. On 10 October, two Iranian Kurds were hanged in Sanandaj Prison for the murder of a security official, which took place in January 2007.

With the executions in Sanandaj, Shiraz and Tehran, Amnesty International has, to date, recorded 244 executions in the course of 2007, although the organisation fears that the true figure could be significantly higher.

The execution of at least nine people in Tehran’s Evin Prison included Fakhteh S, a 24 year old, who was sentenced to death for the murder of a man, aged 80, at his house. Fakhteh S reportedly worked as a caretaker at the man’s residence and was found by the court to have stolen some of his property. She alleged that he was trying to rape her when she stabbed him. She was hanged inside Evin Prison at 5:30 on the morning of 17 October 2007.

Babak, 23, was sentenced to death for the murder by suffocation of his room-mate, which took place on 12 January 2002. It is unclear whether he was under 18 years of age at the time, or if either of two others convicted in the same case were under 18; if so, they were the latest child offenders to have been executed in Iran in violation of international standards prohibiting the use of the death penalty for persons who commit crimes while under 18..

Amnesty is gravely concerned at reports that six members of Iran’s Arab minority are also at risk of imminent execution. According to their families, Rasool ‘Ali Mezrea’, 65, Hamza Sawari, 20, Zamel Bawi, ‘Abdul-Imam Za’eri, Nazem Bureihi and Ahmad Marmazi, 35, all held in Karoun Prison, Khuzestan, have been moved to a cell reserved for those soon to be executed.

Rasool ‘Ali Mezrea’ is a member of the Ahwazi Liberation Organization (ALO) and is recognized as a refugee by the United Nations High commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and had been accepted for resettlement in a third country, but was forcibly returned to Iran from Syria on 16 May 2006.

Hamza Sawari, Zamel Bawi, ‘Abdul-Imam Za’eri and Nazem Bureihi had their death sentences confirmed on 10 June 2006 by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz, Khuzestan. At the end of July 2006 the Supreme Court upheld the sentences of Abdul-Imam Za’eri and Nazem Bureihi.

The five men have reportedly been accused of being “mohareb” (at enmity with God) which can carry the death penalty. Other charges include “destabilising the country,” “attempting to overthrow the government,” “possession of home made bombs,” “sabotage of oil installations,” and carrying out bombings in Ahvaz, which took place between June and October 2005 and caused the deaths of at least six people and wounded more than a hundred others.

Nazem Bureihi has reportedly been in custody since 2000 having been arrested on charges of “insurgency”. Though he was serving a 35 year prison sentence, he was among nine men shown on Khuzestan Provincial television on 1 March 2006, “confessing” to involvement in the October 2005 bombings.

Zamel Bawi was reportedly convicted of hiding seven home-made time bombs, which he allegedly defused before his arrest.

Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The organisation is calling on the Iranian authorities to commute all death sentences with a view to establishing a moratorium.

In view of the irreversible nature of the death penalty, the organisation is once again urging Iran’s judiciary to review all cases of those sentenced to death to ensure that the all international standards protecting the right to a fair trial were scrupulously observed in these cases.

In light of Amnesty International’s long-standing concerns relating to the administration of justice in Iran, the organisation urges the judicial authorities to ensure that all safeguards and due process guarantees set out in international standards applicable during pre-trial, trial and appellate stages must be fully respected.

Amnesty International reminds the Iranian authorities that Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party, states that the sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime, and that this means that crimes punishable by death should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences and that all mitigating factors must be taken into account.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:20 pm    Post subject: Scores hurt as Iran militia clashes with Sufis: report Reply with quote

Quote:
Scores hurt as Taazi Islamist Thugs In Iran militia clashes with Sufis: report
Mon Nov 12, 5:12 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071112/wl_mideast_afp/iranreligionislamsufiunrest_071112101232

TEHRAN (AFP) - Scores of people were injured and more than 100 arrested when security forces stormed a Sufi lodge in western Iran after clashes between the Muslim mystics and Shiite worshippers, the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the report, the unrest broke out on Saturday in the city of Borujerd in Lorestan province following "the desecration of the al-Nabi mosque by Sufis of the deviant Gonabadi order".

"In the intensive clashes, about 80 people from the two sides were injured and 25 motorcycles belonging to the Sufis were burnt," it said.

The hardline daily said that Basij militiamen had later joined residents in destroying the Sufi lodge.

The major of Borujerd, Mohammad Ali Tohidi, told the Fars news agency: "All the wrongdoers have been arrested. Around 180 people have been handed to the judiciary," he said.

The news agency reported that the Sufis had thrown stones at the al-Nabi mosque, breaking windows while prayers were being held inside, drawing an angry reaction from worshippers.

It gave little explanation for the Sufis' action, saying only that they were "dissatisfied with cultural actions in the mosque".

"Five people taken hostage by these people (the Sufis) have been freed by the security forces and hospitalised due to deep injuries," the news agency quoted the mosque's Friday prayers leader, Abdolrahim Biranvand, as saying.

Sufi worship is not illegal in Iran but the practice is frowned upon by many conservative clerics who regard it as an affront to Islam.

The Islamic mysticism followed by an array of Sufi orders since the early centuries of the faith has always aroused suspicion among orthodox Muslims, whether Shiite or Sunni.

In Shiite Islam, some Sufi orders have been further tarnished by the accusation of heresy because of their association with the unorthodox Alevi faith practised in parts of Syria and Turkey.

In late May, the Iranian press reported the arrest of the leader and several members of one of the largest Sufi sects in the northeast of the country.

Clashes pitting Sufis against the security forces and hardline supporters of the official brand of Shiite Islam in the clerical capital of Qom in February last year saw several dozen Sufi mystics sentenced to the lash and a year in jail for public disorder.


BBC wrote:

Islamist Taazi Thugs battle Sufi Sect.

The Sufi lodge was partially destroyed in the clashes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7090144.stm

Around 180 Sufi Muslims have been arrested in Iran after attacking a Shia mosque where a cleric labelled their religion "illegitimate", say reports.
The confrontation in the western city of Boroujerd led to a shootout between the Sufis and police that reportedly left about 80 people injured.

Sufis are tolerated in the Islamic Republic though some religious leaders have branded them "a danger to Islam".

About 1,000 Sufis were held last year in clashes at Iran's holy city of Qom.



The disorder in Boroujerd, about 320 km (200 miles) south-west of the capital, Tehran, broke out on Saturday morning, according to local news agencies.

Sufis attacked a Shia mosque after a cleric said their lodge should be shut down.

On Sunday, police reportedly raided the Sufi lodge to make arrests and bloody clashes ensued, resulting in the building being partially destroyed.

Sufism is Islamic mysticism. Sufis believe in a mystical path to God through prayer, dance and music.

There are Sunni and Shia Sufis. Their practices are often seen as unorthodox and illegitimate by more conservative Muslims.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:02 pm    Post subject: UN panel voices deep concern at rights violations in Iran Reply with quote

UN panel voices deep concern at rights violations in Iran
15 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071120/wl_mideast_afp/uniranrights_071120234349

A General Assembly committee on Tuesday passed a resolution expressing "deep concern" at the "ongoing systematic violations" of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran.

The vote in the assembly's human rights committee was 72 in favor, 50 against with 55 abstentions. It came after an Iranian motion for no action on the resolution was narrowly defeated.

The non-binding resolution expressed "very serious concern" at confirmed instances of "torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations."

Sponsored mainly by Canada, European countries, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Palau, it also denounced stoning and "increased discrimination and other human rights violations against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic and other minorities" in Iran.

The text particularly mentioned attacks on the Baha'i community in the state-sponsored media as well as "increased evidence of efforts by the state to identify and monitor Baha'is and prevention of the Baha'i faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically."

It called on Tehran to respect fully its human rights obligations, eliminate in law and in practice amputations and flogging and other forms of torture, and other acts designated as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The resolution also urged Iran to "abolish, in law and in practice, public executions and other executions carried out in the absence of respect for internationally recognized standards."

Ahead of the vote, Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told the panel that "it was unfortunate that manipulation and abuse of United Nations human rights mechanisms have become a prevalent tradition and exercise of certain states in advancing their political purposes."

He particularly took a swipe at Canada, the main sponsor of the resolution, accusing it of arrogating "to itself a leading global role on human rights advocacy, while certain parts of its own population especially minorities, immigrants, foreigners and indigenous people suffer from human rights violations under its watch."

But Bani Dugal, a spokesman for the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, hailed the vote.

"We are pleased that the General Assembly did not shy away from its responsibility to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, as identified in the UN Charter," he said.

The resolution is virtually assured of being endorsed by the entire 192-member General Assembly next month.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:49 pm    Post subject: Vice President Dick Cheney: Iranian Regime Fears Its People Reply with quote

Islamist (Iranian) Regime Fears Its People
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2007-11-26-voa4.cfm
23 November 2007
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Vice President Dick Cheney says that the Iranian people “are living in a climate of fear and intimidation”:

“With secret police, arbitrary detentions, and a hint of violence in the air. In the space of a generation, the regime has solidified its grip on the country and grown ever more arrogant and brutal toward the Iranian people. Journalists are intimidated. Religious minorities are persecuted. A good many dissidents and freedom advocates have been murdered, or have simply disappeared. Visiting scholars who’ve done nothing wrong have been seized and jailed.”

Consider the case of French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki. Ms. Solouki went to Iran in December 2006 to make a film about the burial traditions of Iran’s religious minorities.

In a telephone interview with Radio Farda, Ms. Solouki said that in the course of her work, she happened upon a section of Khavaran cemetery south of Tehran which was “totally different” from other parts she had seen. It was the section where some of the thousands of political prisoners summarily executed by the Iranian clerical regime in 1988 were interred in a mass grave.

In February of this year, police stormed Ms. Solouki’s Tehran apartment. She was arrested and thrown into Evin prison. After a month in Evin, Ms. Solouki was released, but she has not been allowed to leave Iran. On November 17 she was questioned by a judge at a closed-door hearing. A trial was postponed to a yet-to-be determined date. Reportedly she is being charged with the so-called crime of intending to spread propaganda against the Iranian government. Ms. Solouki says she feels as if she is in limbo, “between life and death.”

Others who have gone to Khavaran cemetery have also been arrested. They include six people who took part in an August ceremony marking the nineteenth anniversary of the “prison massacres” of 1988. A seventh person, twenty-two-year-old Masoumeh Mansouri was arrested after making inquiries about her father, who had attended the commemoration ceremony. All seven are being held in Evin prison.

The Iranian clerical regime seems frightened of both the dead and the living. But as Vice President Cheney says, “The Iranian people have every right to be free from oppression. . .and tyranny in their own country.”
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Vice President Dick Cheney: Iranian Regime Fears Its Peo Reply with quote

cyrus wrote:
Islamist (Iranian) Regime Fears Its People
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2007-11-26-voa4.cfm
23 November 2007
Must Listen Islamist Regime Fears Its People (MP3)
Listen to Iranian Regime Fears Its People (MP3)
Iranian Regime Fears Its People (Real Player) - Download
Listen to Iranian Regime Fears Its People (Real Player)

Vice President Dick Cheney says that the Iranian people “are living in a climate of fear and intimidation”:

“With secret police, arbitrary detentions, and a hint of violence in the air. In the space of a generation, the regime has solidified its grip on the country and grown ever more arrogant and brutal toward the Iranian people. Journalists are intimidated. Religious minorities are persecuted. A good many dissidents and freedom advocates have been murdered, or have simply disappeared. Visiting scholars who’ve done nothing wrong have been seized and jailed.”

Consider the case of French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki. Ms. Solouki went to Iran in December 2006 to make a film about the burial traditions of Iran’s religious minorities.

In a telephone interview with Radio Farda, Ms. Solouki said that in the course of her work, she happened upon a section of Khavaran cemetery south of Tehran which was “totally different” from other parts she had seen. It was the section where some of the thousands of political prisoners summarily executed by the Iranian clerical regime in 1988 were interred in a mass grave.

In February of this year, police stormed Ms. Solouki’s Tehran apartment. She was arrested and thrown into Evin prison. After a month in Evin, Ms. Solouki was released, but she has not been allowed to leave Iran. On November 17 she was questioned by a judge at a closed-door hearing. A trial was postponed to a yet-to-be determined date. Reportedly she is being charged with the so-called crime of intending to spread propaganda against the Iranian government. Ms. Solouki says she feels as if she is in limbo, “between life and death.”

Others who have gone to Khavaran cemetery have also been arrested. They include six people who took part in an August ceremony marking the nineteenth anniversary of the “prison massacres” of 1988. A seventh person, twenty-two-year-old Masoumeh Mansouri was arrested after making inquiries about her father, who had attended the commemoration ceremony. All seven are being held in Evin prison.

The Iranian clerical regime seems frightened of both the dead and the living. But as Vice President Cheney says, “The Iranian people have every right to be free from oppression. . .and tyranny in their own country.”



This is exactly what Prince Reza Pahlavi in his VOA interview with Baharloo expressed (9-24-2007)
http://www.rezapahlavi.org/videos/?id=187#187
Close to the end of the interview when they opened the lines for people to call in, in response to a hopeless young man from Ahvaz, he said "this regime is not afraid of anything except the Iranian people"
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