Yes very friendly indeed

Someone recently emailed me an interview with Moroccan Islamist Nadia Yassine, published in Speigel online on July 3, entitled 'our religion is friendly to women'.

Here are some recent examples of this 'friendliness':

• Ali Khamenei, the Islamic regime of Iran’s ‘supreme spiritual leader’ said women's rights activists should not try to change Islamic laws relating to women's rights, two days after one campaigner was sentenced to 34 months in jail and ten lashes.
• Saudi authorities ordered banks to separate female and male workers at their headquarters. Though women are already separated from male employees in branches, they have up to now worked together in bank headquarters. Under the new system, women employees in bank headquarters could now be obliged to work on separate floors and use different lifts, entrances and canteens from men.
• The Kuwaiti parliament passed a law banning women from working at night, except those in the medical profession, and barring them from jobs considered ‘immoral.’
• Two female journalists were murdered in Afghanistan in the space of a week. Both women received threats, warning them to stop reporting.
• The 'Righteous Swords of Islam' warned that it would strike the women in Palestine with "an iron fist and swords" for refusing to wear a veil on camera.
• A 13-year-old named Shukria and another girl were killed and 4 wounded at their school entrance as the Taleban and others use murder, shootings, beheadings, burnings and bombings to close down schools.
• Mokarrameh Ebrahimi is languishing in prison, awaiting death by stoning in Iran, after her partner was recently stoned for their relationship. They have both been in prison for 11 years, including with their two children.
• The Islamic regime of Iran has announced yet another "plan to increase security in society" by targeting women who are 'badly veiled'.

Yes, very friendly indeed...

Not very futile

The July 30 issue of The Nation magazine has published in-depth interviews with 50 US veterans of the Iraq war describing the US military’s heinous, callous and systematic acts of inhumanity and brutality against the people of Iraq.

According to the one, thousands of raids have taken place on private homes, at dead of night, that are ‘mostly futile’.

Well, not really, if your goal is to terrorise and terrify an entire population.

Which is why the USA’s war on Iraq is nothing but state terrorism - pure and simple.

It is meant to target civilians – men, women and children. As is Islamic terrorism.

Civilians are their first targets; their main targets.

As I have said before, they breed off each other, depend on each other, and use the very same tactics.

They represent the same abysmal new world order for 21st century humanity.

***

For anyone who still thinks otherwise, the interviews in The Nation are an important read.

Islam and BBC 2's Newsnight

I was on BBC 2 TV's Newsnight programme discussing Islam with Benazir Bhutto, Reza Aslan and Sheikh Omar Bakri. You can see it on their site for another 24 hours.

New Channel TV and TV International to begin again

Good news!

New Channel TV, on which TV International has a programme in English, will begin work again from 25 July after being off air for many months.

The programme will be available for viewing across the world via Hot Bird satellite 8 on 12303 megahertz frequency, and will also be available on the internet.

Will keep you informed about when TV International English will begin but it will be within the next week or so.

If you have any suggestions for issues you want to be discussed, questions, comments, or just general ideas on how to improve the programmes, don't hesitate to email me or post here.

Your support is needed today

Dear Friends,

The Islamic regime in Iran has launched a campaign of arrests, kidnapping, executions and stoning to death in an attempt to drive back the ongoing protests, strikes and demonstrations in Iran by creating a climate of terror and fear. We are calling on all labour and human rights organisations around the world to raise their voice of protest ‎against this barbarity of the Islamic regime.

The following are just a few examples of the Islamic regime’s ongoing atrocities:

- On the evening of July 10th Mansoor Ossanlou, the president of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat e Vahed), was abducted by the regime’s plain clothes security agents as he was getting off the bus. He was beaten up and taken into custody. He is now being held at the high-security Evin Prison.

- Mahmoud Salehi, well known labour activist, long persecuted for organising May Day rallies and for his labour activities, and who has been in jail ‎since April 2007, is reported to have slipped into a coma due to kidney failure following denial of medical care by the authorities. He lost his other kidney in previous years of imprisonment under the Islamic regime.

- On July 10th, workers arrested on May Day this year in the city of Sanandaj were put to trial on the charge of “disturbing the peace”. They are: ‎Khaled Savari, Eghbal Latifi, Yadollah Moradi, Taieb Molaee, Fars Gavilian, Sedigh ‎Amjadi, Abbas Andaryari, Habibollah Kalkani, Moheiedin Rajabi, Taieb Chatani and Sedigh ‎Sobhani.‎

- On July 14th, labour activists Shais Amani, the head of the executive board, and Sedigh Karimi, member of the board, of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers, appeared in court. Their charges include “disturbing the peace”, “acting against national security”, collecting donations for the family of Mahmoud Salehi, membership in their union and in a workers’ committee working to set up free labour organisations, as well as “contacts with opposition organisations”.

- On July 10th, the judiciary’s spokesman announced that death sentences against 20 people had been upheld and a further 15 had been sentenced to death. It was also announced that around 100 people had been arrested ‎in connection with the recent protests against petrol rationing.‎

- The stoning to death of a man in the city of Takestan was confirmed by the judiciary, following earlier denials.‎

- On July 9th the regime implemented an unofficial marshal law against students of ‎Tehran University and Polytechnique. 16 students are reported to have been arrested, including the following:
Mohammad Hashemi, Mehdi Arabshahi, Ali Nikonesbati, Bahareh Hedaiat, Hanif ‎Yazdani, Ali Vefghi, Abdollah Momeni, Bahram Faiazi, Habib Hajheidari, Mojtaba ‎Bayat, Saeed Hossein Nia, Masoud Habibi, Morteza Eslahchi and Ezzate Ghalandari.‎

- On the same day, more people were arrested in the capital Tehran, including a number of young motorists, whose families later gathered outside the police station where they were being held. A number of women’s rights activists were also summoned to face various charges.

The above are just a few examples of the atrocities taking place in Iran right now. We call on all labour and human rights organisations around the world to protest in every way they can against this barbarity of the Islamic Republic regime to secure the release of Mansoor Ossanlou, Mahmoud Salehi and other activists, unconditionally and immediately, and to put an end to the executions, stonings and trial of workers, and women’s rights activists.

Shahla Daneshfar
International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran‎

Stop execution of Sina Paymard

To support the campaign against the execution of Sina Paymard and child executions in Iran, click here.

Join campaign against the atrocities of the Islamic regime in Iran

To sign the petition against the recent atrocities of the Islamic regime in Iran, click here.

Political prisoners in Iran need your support!

We have been contacted by the political prisoners in Iran and have been asked to act on their behalf for their immediate release from prison. This has been the result of our committees’ constant and tireless efforts and struggle, alongside the people of Iran to release all political prisoners in Iran.

The Islamic regime of Iran has imprisoned numerous political activists and opposition members. These includes workers, teachers, nurses, students, youths, and all of whom who fought for their just demands of freedom and equality. These freedom fighters are imprisoned because they fought against the barbaric Islamic regime, the regime of stoning innocent women, the regime of slaughtering workers and students in their demonstration, and the regime of torture and executions of thousands of innocent activists. The Islamic regime tries to push back these struggles against its existence by imprisoning all of whom involved.

Committee for struggle to free political prisoners in Iran (CSFPP) struggles for immediate and unconditional freedom of all political prisoners in Iran. We have started a new round of campaign against the imprisonment of political prisoners, and to force the Islamic regime to free all political prisoners.

We call all progressive organizations to join force and support us in our campaign and struggle to free all political prisoners in Iran. These organizations can support us by writing protest letter to the Islamic regimes’ officials demanding immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. The List of 300 prisoners is attached.

We also call upon people in Iran and specially the families and relatives of political prisoners to join our campaign and support us in our fight for unconditional freedom of all political prisoners in Iran.

Committee for Struggle to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CSFPP)May 30 2007

Keyvan Javid
Tel: 0044-79 044103525

Names of 325 political prisoners in Iran
(This is will be updated regularly as we receive more names. We will publish the new names as we receive them.)

1. Seigh Karimi (Sanandaj prison, involved in organizing first of May)
2. Shays Amani (Sanandaj Prison, involved in organizing first of May) Shays and Sedigh Karimi were brought to court, and 11 other detained workers for being involved in first of May were told that they would be called to courts soon.)
3. Mansoor Osanloo executive manager of the transportation sentenced to five years in prison for “speaking out against the state” and for “acting against the national security”
4. Mahmoud SAlehi (Sanandaj Prison) involved in organizing May first. Sentenced to total of five years in prison)
5. Saeed Masouri (Pepople Mojahedin Organization, Evin Prison, cell 122, section 209)
6. Mohammad Ebrahimi (Writer of a religious book, Evin prison, cell 127, section 209)
7. Abolfazl Jahandar (student activist, Evin prison, 3-5 years, cell 121, section 209)
8. Saeed Derakhshandi (student activist, Evin prison, 3-5 years, cell 10, section 209)
9. Keyvan Ansari (student activist, Evin prison, 4-5 years, cell 122, section 209)
10. Hamid Poorvosough (Evin prison, cell 121, section 209)
11. Ghafoor Esmaili (Evin prison, cell 121, section 209)
12 Sadegh Kohandel (Evin prison, section 209)
13. Hassan Asgari (Evin prison, section 209)
14. Abdolah Almansoori (Evin prison, section 209)
15. Farhad Vakili (Evin prison, cell 121, section 209)
16. Mohammad-Hassan Falahizadeh (Evin prison, cell 222, section 209)
17. Kazemini Boroojerdi (Evin prison, section 209)
18. Ali Heydarian (Evin prison, cell 222, section 209)
19. Reza Malekian (Evin prison, cell 122, section 209)
20. Abolfazl Abedini (Journalist, Evin prison, section 209)
21. Hamed vaez taghavi (Teachers spokesperson, Evin prison, section 209)
22. Majid Shaikhpour (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
23. Meghdad Khalilipour (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
24. Farzad Kamangar (Evin prison, cell 10, section 209)
25. Majid kavoosifar (Evin prison, cell 122, section 209)
26. Ebrahim Afshar (Evin prison, cell 122, section 209)
27. Agha jani (Evin prison, cell 114 section 209)
28. Gheyasi (Evin prison, cell 10, section 209)
29. Ahmad Rashidinia (Evin prison, cell 122, section 209)
30. Abbas Jabali haghighi Tanha (Evin prison, cell 122, section 209)
31. Ebrahim Khodabandeh (member of the Council of people resistance, Evin prison, cell 10, section 209)
32. Jamil Basam (member of the Council of people resistance, Evin prison, cell 128, section 209)
33. Babak Zamanian (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
34. Ahmad Ghasaban (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
35. Pouyan mahmoudian (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
36. Saeed Fayzolahzadeh (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
37. Maziyar Samiee (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
38. Haleh Esfandiyari (Evin prison, cell 112, section 209)
39. Ali Farahbakhsh (Journalist, Evin prison, section 209)
40. Saeed Ezadbakhsh (student activist, Evin prison, section 209)
41. Sassan Babai (Sanandaj prison)
42. Omar Emami (Kurdistan Democratic Party, Central Yazd prison, 21 yraes)
43. Yasir Majidi (People Mojahedin Organization, Central Birjand prison, 25 years)
44. Heydar Nouri (People Mojahedin Organization, Central Semnan prison, 25 years)
45. Hasmi Kargar (student activist)
46. Bahador Dareh Shouri (student activist)
47. Iraj farjadi (political activist, Mashahd prison, situation unknown)
48. Nasser Kheyrolahi (Peeshahangan society for freedom, unknown lenght)
49. Mohammad Nikbakht (Peeshahangan society for freedom, 8 years prison)
50. Akbar Sanjabi (People Mojahedin Organization, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, life)
51. Mohammad Vayzi (People Mojahedin Organization, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 9 years)
52. Ali SAlehi (Kurdistan Democratic Party, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 22 years)
53. Mohammad Moradi (Kurdistan Democratic Party, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 22 years)
54. Peyman Khanjari (People Mojahedin Organization, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 27 years)
55. Hamid Azkol (People Mojahedin Organization, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 6 years)
56. Setareh Arkazvari (People Mojahedin Organization, Kermanshah Dizel Abad prison, 10 years)
58. Rouholah Asgari (People Mojahedin Organization, Esfahan prison, 11 years)
59. Mohammad Mehrabanpour (People Mojahedin Organization, Esfahan prison, 11years)
60. Nazem Brigi (Celergy, Execution)
61. Abdolreza Hilchi (Poerter, Execution)
62. Taher Tamimi (5 years exilled in Yazd, Ardakan, 15 years prison)
63. Tofigh Hamadi (8 years prison, 5 years exiled to Kerman)
64. Seood Saliti (9 years prison, 4 years exiled to Ghazvin)
65. Mohammad Jalali (8 years prison, 3 years exiled to East Azarbaijan)
66. Mohsen Bavari (20 years prison, exiled to Nikshahr)
67. Emad bavari (Law student, 25 years prison, exilled to ghaem shahr)
68. Hani Bavi (Accounting student, 11 year prison, 10 years exilled)
69. Moslem Bavari (16 years prison, 10 years exilled to Arak)
70. Zamen Bavari (execution)
71. Asad Bavari (10 years prison)
72. Mohammad Ali Savari (Ahwaz prison, 11 years)
73. Reesan Savari (execution)
74. Arkan Savari (Awhaz prison)
75. Rahim Afraee (3 years exiled)
76. Ali Matbooee (Ahwaz prison)
77. Ali Haghi (Ahwaz prison)
78. Mehdi Khazeravi
79. Ahmad Alboogheysh (6 years prison)
80. Javad Jaberi (5 YEARS PRISON)
81. Aziz Karfi (3 years prison)
82. Aziz Saedi (2 years prison)
83. Leila Kaabi (execution)
84. Javad Nimi (Naimi)
85. Dr. Ode Afravi (20 years prison and exilled to Ardabil prison)
86. Moslem Elahi (1 year prison, exilled to Khaoramabad)
87. abdollah Saeedi (2 years prison, exilled to Tehran prison)
88. Shabib Khosreji (2 years prison, exilled to Arak prison)
89. Behrooz Javid Tehrani (student activist, 7 years prison, Gohardasht prison)
90. Amir Saran (movement of National Unity, 15 years in prison, Gohardasht prison)
91. Shahram Poormansoori (execution, undecided, Gohardsht prison)
92. Farhang Poormansoori (execution, undecided, Gohardasht prison)
93. Alireza Karami Khairamabadi (execution, undecided, Gohardasht prison)
94. Afshin Baymani (People Mojahedin Organization, Life, Gohardasht prison)
95. Jafar Eghdami (People Mojahedin Organization, 15 years, Gohardasht prison)
96. Abbas Asgarizadeh (People Mojahedin Organization, Gohardasht prison)
97. Maryam Saadat (Peop;e Mojahedin Organization, Gohardasht prison)
98. Hussain Kavoosifar (Gohardasht prison, section 5)
99. Keyvan Rafiee (human rights activist, undecided, Evin prison, section 7)
100. Alireza Arbabi (Evin prison, section 7)
101. Gholami (Evin Prison, section 7)
102. Sarhang Ghasemi (Evin prison, section 7)
103. Dr. Keyvan Amiri (Evin Prison, section 7)
104. Seyed Hamid Seyed Ali Khani (Evin prison, section 7)
105. Alireza Montazersaeb (Evin prison, section 7)
106. Alireza dah Hejdah (Evin prison, section 7)
107. Mohammad karim Abdolrahmani (Evin prison, section 7)
108. Mostafa Daryanavard (Evin prison, section 7)
109. Ardesheer Razeghi (Evin prison, section 7)
110. Jamal Bahadori (Evin prison, section 7)
111. Hassan Darooghe (Evin prison, section 8)
112. Habib Ghovati (Evin prison, section 8)
113. Majid Alsalam Alsadi (Evin prison, section 8)
114. GHolam Hussain Kolbi (People Mojahedin Organization, Evin prison, section 350, life)
115. Saeed Shahghole (People Mojahedin Organization, Evin prison, section 350, life)
116. Abdolreza Rajabi (People Mojahedin Organization, Evin prison, section 350, life)
117. Hashem Shahinia (People Mojahedin Organization, Evin prison, section 350, life)
118. Abbas Shirreza (Spy, Evin prison, section 350)
119. Jalili Aghajani (Evin prison, section 350)
120. Dr. Mehdi Gheyasinegad (Evin prison, section 120)
121. Khanchari (Evin prison, section 350)
122. Mosrafa Sangtarash (People Mojahedin Organization, Evin prison, section 350)
123. Hamidreza Borhani (Evin prison, section 350)
124. Khalil Shalchi (People Mojahedin Organization, case unknown, Evin prison, section 350)
125. Amir Parvizi (People Mohahedin Organization, case unknown)
126. Reza Mohammadi (Kurdistan Democratic party member, 15 years prison)
127. Hassan Khaibarinia (Case unknown, has written a letter to Khamini)
128. Hassan Nahid (security related, 3 years, Evin prison, section 350)
129. Hassan Ghazanfari (Monarchy Society member, case unknown)
130. Arjang Davoodi (Bandarabbas central prison, 14 years)
131. Ahmad Rashidnia (case unknown, convicted of spying in atomic activities)
132. Hussain Hamzavi (people Mojahedin Organization, life)
133. Saeed Sangar (people Mojahedin Organization, life)
134. Saeed Karimi ((people Mojahedin Organization, 6 years prison)
135. Gholamhussain Rahbari (Monarchist)
136. Madeh Ahmadi (5 years prison term)
137. Jamshid Amini
138. Khaled Hardani (Execution)
139. Amir lajevardi (student, unknown prison, possibly executed)
140. Masoud Bastani (Journalist, 6 months prison term)
141. Mohsen Bapeeri (Monarchist Society)
142. Mohammad Partovi ( participating in demonstration, 4 years)
143. Madeh Ahmadi (Kurdish activist)
144. Mehdi Bagheban Baghroobi (National unity movement)
145. Amir Bagheban Baghroobi (National unity movement)
146. Mohammad Jafari (National unity movement)
147. Reza Heydari (National unity movement)
148. Yousef Esfandiyari (National unity movement)
149. Pouria Mofarah (Human Rights Activist)‏
150. Bakhshali Mohammadi (Alavi faith, execution)
151. Younes Aghayan (Alavi faith, execution)
152. Mehdi Ghasemzadeh (Alavi faith, execution)
153. Abdollah Ghasemzadeh (Alavi faith, execution)
154. Samandali Mmohammadi (Alavi faith, execution)
155. Bakhshali Mohammadi (Alavi faith, execution)
156. Younes Aghayan (Alavi faith, execution)
157. Mehdi Ghasemzadeh (Alavi faith, execution)
158. Ebadollah Ghasemzadeh (Alavi faith, execution)
159. Samandali Mohammadi (Alavi faith, execution)
160. Aziz Sadeghi (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
161. Khaled Fereydooni (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
162. Omar Fagheye Poor (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
163. Mohammad Nasseri (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
164. Hassan Mahmoodi (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
165. Seyedtaher Abdollahpoor (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
166. Zahed Mostafavi (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
167. Rasool Abdollahpoor (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
168. Sohrab Esmaili (Kerdistan Democratic Party, life)
169. Mozafar Nasroldini (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 5 years)
170. Ebrahim Khorandi (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 23 years)
171. Asad Mazoji (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 23 years)
172. Aziz Mohammadjani (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 20 years)
173. Khaled Ostad Ghazi (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 20 years)
174. Hussain Karami Farzand (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 20 years)
175. Jamal Par (Kerdistan Democratic Party, 8 years)
176. Jafar Malayeke ( Demokrat Party – 7 Years Prison)
177. Jamal Zareie (Kumelah Party – 7 Years Prison)
178. Mohamad Amin Prushan (15 Years Prison)
179. Mad Leilani (15 Years Prison)
180. Qhader Pour ( 11 Years Prison)
181. Qhader Jola ( 15 Years Prison)
182. Osman Mostafa Pour ( 25 Years Prison)
183. Reza Amini ( 20 years Prison)
184. Helmat Hassan Azar Pour ( 15 Years Prison)
185. Abdolah Mohamadi (15 years Prison)
186. Fateh Heirani ( 6 Years Prison)
187. Taha Amadi ( 4 Years Prison)
188. Soleiman Mina Pak (2 Years Prison)
189. Jahanghir Badu-zade (execution)
190. Mohamad Ali Zayele (Kumelah - imprisonment for life)
191. Tofiqh Moradi (Kumelah - imprisonment for life)
192. azad Sadeqhi (Kumelah - imprisonment for life)
193. Naser Sedqhi (Kumelah - imprisonment for life)
194.Jamal Hosseini (Kumelah - 5 Years Prison)
195. Masoud Hossein Panah (Kumelah - imprisonment for life)
196. Mostafa Ali Mohamad (imprisonment for life)
197. Sheilan Oroumiyeyi (5 Years Prison)
198. Keivan Sarabi (5 Years Prison)
199. Ali Ahmad Solieman (7 Years Prison)
200. Ayoub Honarvar (7 Years Prison)
201. Ayoub Haqhiqhi (7 Years Prison)
202. Khaled Mina-Zade (Khabat Party 25 Years Prison)
203. NAser Satouri (Kumelah - 20Years Prison)
204. Habibolah Naderi (18Years Prison)
205. Mohamad Veisi (18Years Prison)
206. Mahmoud Rahmani (17Years Prison)
207. Majid Rahmani (16Years Prison)
208. Bahman Peikan (6Years Prison))
209. Seyed KArim Hosseini (6Years Prison)
210. Farzad Ravand ( 6Years Prison)
211. Hajhar Qhaderi (execution)
212. Seyed Mohsen Rostami
213. Sayeed Dalayie Milan
214. Hassan Hekmat Damir
215. Mohamad Kheir-Khaled Ramezan
216. Asad Amiri
217. Abdol-khaled Toloie
218. Mansour Mohamadi
219. Ali Qhasemi Fath-Abadi
220. Aboubakr Ba-piri
221. Khezr Sayeed Nejhad
222. Mohamad Saleh Kou-khashire
223. Khaled Shirzad
224. Aboubakr Nikan
225. Avat Qhoreishi
226. Dara Qhoreishi
227. Mohamad Amin Salimiyan
228. Sadolah Soltaniyan
229. Khezr Molodi
230. Riboar Soleiman
231. Ka,el Salimiyan
232. Heidar Sar-chami
233. Ebrahim Asheqhi
234. Karim Amini
235. Khosrow Qhorbanai
236. Ahmad Hosseini
237. Vahed Hormoz Abad
238. Ali Qhorbani
239. Hajhar Qhader Reihani
240. Kave Bahrami
241. Amir Ali Mohamadi Labaf ( Ghonabai’s Darvish)
242. Nour Ali Tabande ( Head of Ghonabadi’s Darvishes)
243. Ayoub Rahmani
244. Namdar Rahmani
245. Dalir rojh Halati
246. Osman Qhaderi
247. Shahram Azizpour
248. Zankou Rahmati
249. Aram Reza Zade
250. Yaser Gholi
251. Kaveh Rasouli
252. Ebrahim Salehi
253. Hossein Mohamadi
254. Anvar Azizi
255. Mostafa Ahmadnejhad
256. Keivan Saberi
257. Shahram Ghorjani
258. Kamal Parvini
259. Saber Shadmand
260. Jamal Ajami
261. Hossein Amou Zade
262. Rasoul Razm
263. Mostafa Rasoul Niya
264. Loqhman Mehri
265. Afshin Mohamadi
266. Mohamad Taher Alipour
267. Ali Basbar
268. Akbar Aqhdasi
269. Mohamad Ebrahim Behboudi
270. yousef Qhasemi
271. Alireza Abdolahi
272. Taqhi PashaPour
273. Karim Nowrouzi Moqhadam
274. Hossein Qhabeli
275. Mohamaad Qhabeli
276. Maqhsoud Varmarzyar
277. Seyed Hojat Ebrahimi
278. Aboubakr Mirza Qhaderi
279. Qhader Ahmadi
280. Osman Mirza Qhaderie
281. Mohamad Amin Rasouli
282. Shahryar Qhobal
283. Siamand Shabouie
284. Salahodin Ahmadi
285. Hossein Feizi
286. Mohamad Davari Amin
287. Mohamad Reza Khansari
288. Vali Dorvali
289. Nematolah Shojaie Ghanji
290. Rashed Soedi
291. Mnsour Balouch Rozehtekar
292. Baqher Dehqhani
293. Rouholah Akbari
294. Mostafa Rahpish
295. Ali Davari
296. Loqhman Bisotouni
297. Matlab ahmad Pour
298. ebrahim Momeni
299. Ali Akbar Aqhdasi
300. abas Abdi
301. hossein Rezaiyan
302. Yousef Qhasemi
303. Alireza Abdolahi
304. Taqhi Pashapour
305. Karim Nowrouzi Moqhadam
306. Hossein Qhabeli
307. Mohamad Qhabeli
308. Maqgsoud Varmarzyar
309. Parviz Yekani Zare ( Tilyar)
310. Babak Azar Oqhlou
311. Ali Pour Ali
312. Karim Yousefi Adl
313. Saber Beitolahi
314. Kamal Navidi
315. Mahmoud Salehi
316. Mohamad Shafi Khanzade
317. Changhiz Bakhat Avar
318. Jalal Kavidar Yalou
319. Shahin Hassani
320. Mehdi Bazmani
321. Behkam Mohammadi
322. Amir aqhazade
323. Majid HashemPour
324. Ein olah Ahangari
325. Mohammad Aram Nosrat Pour

Le Monde Blog - One woman band?

To see a piece on the Le Monde Blog, click here.

ABC Radio Australia and the Council of Ex-Muslims

Maryam was interviewed on ABC radio today regarding the Council of Ex-Muslims.

To listen to the interview, click here.

Women's status and liberation movement in Iran

Maryam was interviewed on Sky news today discussing the status of women in Iran and their resistance.

Free Osanloo today!

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has received word that Mansour Osanloo was kidnapped on 10th July in Tehran by unknown persons at approximately 7pm local time. Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF-affiliated bus workers’ union, Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company), was being followed all day by an unmarked Peugeot car. While on his way home, Osanloo was getting off a bus, when he was assaulted by the unidentified kidnappers, who yelled at the passengers to stay away and called him a 'hoodlum and a thug'. They then forced him into the unmarked Peugeot which then drove away. The witnesses on the bus stated that he was beaten severely, and his attackers continued to beat him even after they had stuffed him into the metallic grey Peugeot.

Nothing but rage against this Islamic barbarity

No, No, No...

According to Asriran, Jafar Kiana, 47, was stoned to death in Aghche-kand, Qazvin province, on Thursday 5 July.

The Committee against Stoning and Amnesty International are urging people to continue campaigning on behalf of his partner, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, 43.

The two had spent more than 11 years in prison for having an 'adulterous' relationship. They have two children who have been 'living' with their mother in prison.

Their stoning was planned for 21 June but was suspended due to national and internationl pressure.

According to the news report, the stoning of Jafar Kiana was carried out by the regime's officials.

The Islamic reigme of Iran also said that 20 more would be executed in the coming days on morality violations for such things as "rape, insulting religious sanctities and laws, and homosexuality." The police had arrested about 1,000 people in May during a 'morality crackdown'.

***

How can there be anything but rage against this Islamic barbarity?

Trade Unionist Mahmoud Salehi seriously ill in prison in Iran

Trade union activist Mahmoud Salehi, who has been imprisoned since 9 April, is seriously ill and is not receiving the specialist medical treatment that he requires.

Mahmoud Salehi is the Spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions, former President of the Saqez Bakery Workers’ Association, and co-founder of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers’ Organisations. He was arrested after a peaceful demonstration to celebrate May Day 2004 along with six other trade union activists.

He was arrested along with six others for organising a 2004 May Day demonstration, and for his trade union activities. They were all were later released on bail that same month. According to Amnesty International and Workers.org, in November 2005 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and three years' internal exile in the city of Ghorveh, in the north western province of Kurdistan.

At his trial, the prosecutor cited his trade union activities as evidence against him, and referred to a meeting he had held with officials from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in April 2004, shortly before the May Day demonstrations. His conviction was overturned on appeal, but after a retrial he was sentenced on 11 November 2006 to four years’ imprisonment by Saqez Revolutionary Court for "conspiring to commit crimes against national security" under article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code. Following an appeal, whose last hearing took place on 11 March, this was reduced to one year’s imprisonment, and a three-year suspended prison sentence.

Mahmoud Salehi was arrested on 9 April 2007. His son, in a letter carried on the website of the Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network, described his father’s arrest:

"One of the officers of the Saqez security force went to where Mahmoud Salehi (my father) works and told my father that the Governor and the Prosecutor would like to talk to him about this year's May Day ceremonies. My father… went to courthouse with this officer. Immediately after he entered the courthouse my father realised that this had nothing to do with the issue of [this year's] May Day! Instead this was about the May Day celebration of 2004 and the four-year sentence passed against him. Recently the appeal court changed the sentence to one year in custody and three years suspended, which the legal authorities are, in an illegal way, trying to implement. The legal authorities, despite my father and mother's protests, and my father's refusal to sign the summons and without paying any attention to his appeals and protests, immediately used severe security measures. Several officers surrounded him and bundled him into a car. The car carrying my father was escorted by several police vehicles and… left town for an undisclosed destination. My father is the first person who has had his sentence carried out in this way and transferred to prison immediately. The summons is supposed to have been given to him beforehand so that he could prepare himself for it."

Mahmoud Salehi has only one kidney, is reported to be suffering from kidney stones, and is said to require dialysis treatment. A letter from his doctor, stating that Mahmoud Salehi requires treatment outside prison, was delivered to prison officials on 15 May. His lawyer announced on 8 June that Mahmoud Salehi had begun a hunger strike in protest at his detention in Sanandaj Prison, which is 400km from where his family live.

Amnesty International does not know whether he is continuing his hunger strike, but he is reported also to be suffering from heart and intestinal problems. On 17 June, he was reportedly taken to Towhid Hospital in Sanandaj, but was afterwards returned to prison.Mahmoud Salehi has been denied visits from his lawyer and family; his family have been able to contact him by telephone.

Iran, the last executioner of children

To see Amnesty International's report entitled: Iran, the last executioner of children, click here.

Demand the release of political prisoners today

On the Anniversary of 18 Tir (July 9)
Demand the Release of Political Prisoners

Mahmoud Salehi, imprisoned Polytechnic students, and all political prisoners must be released immediately!

18th to 22nd of Tir (July 9-15) 1999, "the six days that shook the Islamic Republic of Iran," was the beginning of a renewed movement of people of Iran to overthrow the Islamic Republic. 18 Tir started with the pretext of protesting the Islamic Republic's shutting down of Salam daily newspaper but it didn't take much time for it to show its true character as an uprising that targeted the totality of the Islamic regime including both its "hardliner" and "reformist" factions.

You can join the protests organised by the Worker-communist Party of Iran - UK Committee and demand the release of all political prisoners:

Monday July 9 2007, 12:00 – 2:00
In front of the Iranian Embassy
Kensington Gore, London SW7

Discussion on BBC Asian Network

Listen to my discussion with Nihal on today's BBC Asian Network as well as with callers on the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Islam and political Islam by clicking here. I am on during the last half hour of the programme.

Abolish Blasphemy Laws

Council of Europe says religious groups should be protected from violence but not from criticism – and blasphemy laws should be abolished everywhere!
From the National Secular Society's Newsline

The Council of Europe passed a resolution last week calling on member states to repeal all laws relating to blasphemy.

It also said that religious groups must accept that in a free society their activities and doctrines cannot be protected from criticism and open examination. The only restrictions on public debate about religion should be dictated by public order concerns and incitement to hatred and violence, the Council resolved.

The resolution, which was passed with a large majority in Strasbourg, said that "criticism of religious groups should be tolerated in democratic societies." However, the council put a limit on religious criticism and freedom of opinion: it was not allowed to incite hatred, disturb the public order or be targeted at members of religious groups.

On the Council of Ex-Muslims

To hear a report on the Council of Ex-Muslims on the Guardian's Islamophonic for June 28 with myself and activist Sohaila sharifi, click here.

In commemoration of Mansoor Hekmat

Mansoor Hekmat, the great Marxist thinker and leader of the worker-communist movement and parties, not only represents a former generation of the undefeated of the Iranian revolution of 1979, but today, he also represents a new generation struggling against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Islamic reaction. And he represents not just a generation in Iran, but also generations in Iraq, the Middle East, and the world struggling against political Islam and the USA's New World Order. He is the voice and representative of civilised humanity against both poles of international terrorism in the world today - USA-led and Islamic.

You can see him clearly in the fight against the hejab in Europe, against the Sharia court in Canada, against stoning in the Middle East and North Africa, against minoritism and cultural relativism... You can see him clearly in the fight for secularism, universal rights, women's rights, children's rights, refugee rights, workers' rights… In any fight for humanity and human dignity, you can see him clearly.

He once said that society seeks out its Left and holds its Left in high esteem because it needs justice, and so it is that civilised humanity of the 21st century seeks out and is seeking Mansoor Hekmat and holds him in the highest esteem because it needs justice. It needs a resolute, confident, undefeated humanism, which is nothing other than worker-communism.

And so we commemorate this great and beloved human being, his aspirations, his demands, and his movement for a life worthy of human beings in the 21st century, for a better world…

Mansoor Hekmat died of cancer on July 4, 2002. This was a speech given at one of his commemorative ceremonies. You can read more of his works by clicking here.

Rethinking the profile of Islamic terrorists?

Hear my debate on today's BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show on the profile of Islamic terrorists and the political Islamic movement by clicking here (correct link updated).

How you can support the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain

The website of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is up and running with Reza Moradi as its webmaster. We are still making some changes to it but you can join the organisation via the site if interested. Membership is free and we need your support!

We will soon be posting comments we have received on the site too.

For your information, several MPs have initiated an early day motion in our defence. To find out more about it and how to support it and us, click here.

Condemn arrest of demonstrators against fuel rationing

Based on reports we have recently received, 255 people have been arrested in the capital city of Tehran in Iran for participating in demonstrations against fuel rationing. The 255 detainees have been transferred to the notorious Evin prison. We also have been informed about the arrest of another 150 demonstrators in the city of Yasouge. The demonstrations against fuel rationing started three days ago and have continued. The Islamic regime have threatened to severely punish those arrested with long prison sentences and other forms of punishment.

The “Committee for the Struggle to Free Political Prisoners in Iran” calls upon all international organizations and people everywhere to join forces with us, act immediately on behalf of those arrested, and exert pressure on the Islamic regime in Iran to immediately and unconditionally free all political prisoners.

For more information, email the committee.