Date: 21 May 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Venue:
Plowman Room, Oxford Town Hall
Organisation Hosting: Oxford Humanists
Maryam Namazie will speak about the One Law for All campaign
Next speaking engagement is June 21, 2009 in Essex.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
World protests to demand union rights for Iranian workers
19 May 2009
Four global union organisations representing over 170 million workers have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers. Demonstrations will take place outside Iranian embassies and consulates to protest the ongoing denial of rights and arrests of trade unionists within the country.
The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), EI (Education International), ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation), IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations) are forming a coalition for the event, which is the latest move in an ongoing campaign to secure justice and trade union rights inside Iran. They are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of jailed trade unionist members and leaders including Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar and the five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugarworkers’ Union, recently sentenced to a year in prison, as well as the release of trade unionists arrested in Tehran on May Day. Amnesty International has backed this campaign.
Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary explained: ‘Each of these organisations has campaigned to protect their colleagues in Iran, and now we are all joining forces to do it even more effectively.’
‘We have exhausted all avenues of reasonable dialogue to persuade the government of Iran to allow basic human and trade union rights. Their answer has been repression and arrests. Given this failure we must take to the streets to demonstrate that the world is watching what they are doing and what is happening to our colleagues within the country.’
ENDS
Four global union organisations representing over 170 million workers have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers. Demonstrations will take place outside Iranian embassies and consulates to protest the ongoing denial of rights and arrests of trade unionists within the country.
The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), EI (Education International), ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation), IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations) are forming a coalition for the event, which is the latest move in an ongoing campaign to secure justice and trade union rights inside Iran. They are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of jailed trade unionist members and leaders including Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar and the five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugarworkers’ Union, recently sentenced to a year in prison, as well as the release of trade unionists arrested in Tehran on May Day. Amnesty International has backed this campaign.
Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary explained: ‘Each of these organisations has campaigned to protect their colleagues in Iran, and now we are all joining forces to do it even more effectively.’
‘We have exhausted all avenues of reasonable dialogue to persuade the government of Iran to allow basic human and trade union rights. Their answer has been repression and arrests. Given this failure we must take to the streets to demonstrate that the world is watching what they are doing and what is happening to our colleagues within the country.’
ENDS
Monday, May 18, 2009
Families of May Day detainees still in the dark about the condition of their loved ones
[The following is the translation of a statement issued on Thursday 14th May by the Free Union of Iranian Workers]:
So far none of those arrested at Laleh Park rally, who are being held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, has been able to meet their families or even contact them by phone. Those detained are said to be in the custody of the Intelligence Ministry and subjected to lengthy interrogations and all kinds of pressures. On Wednesday, the mother of one of those arrested, who lives in Esfahan’s Zarrin Shahr district, said that after 12 days and much searching she had found out that her son Hamid Malak Zadeh, who was a student in Tehran, had been arrested on May Day at Laleh Park. She said no-one was giving her any straight answers.
Following pressures and persistence by the families of the detainees, on the evening of Wednesday 13th May five of the women arrested at Laleh Park, namely Fatemeh Eghdami, Fatemeh Shah-Nazari, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Nasrin Rajavi and Somayyeh Navvab, were released on bail. The families of the detainees also last Tuesday and Wednesday wrote letters to human rights organisations to ask for their support to get their loved ones freed.
The gathering of the families of those detained in front of the Revolutionary Court is continuing and will resume from the beginning of next week [Friday is weekend in Iran - Tr].
Free Union of Iranian Workers
[Ettehadiy e Azad e Kargaran e Iran]
14 May 2009
So far none of those arrested at Laleh Park rally, who are being held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, has been able to meet their families or even contact them by phone. Those detained are said to be in the custody of the Intelligence Ministry and subjected to lengthy interrogations and all kinds of pressures. On Wednesday, the mother of one of those arrested, who lives in Esfahan’s Zarrin Shahr district, said that after 12 days and much searching she had found out that her son Hamid Malak Zadeh, who was a student in Tehran, had been arrested on May Day at Laleh Park. She said no-one was giving her any straight answers.
Following pressures and persistence by the families of the detainees, on the evening of Wednesday 13th May five of the women arrested at Laleh Park, namely Fatemeh Eghdami, Fatemeh Shah-Nazari, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Nasrin Rajavi and Somayyeh Navvab, were released on bail. The families of the detainees also last Tuesday and Wednesday wrote letters to human rights organisations to ask for their support to get their loved ones freed.
The gathering of the families of those detained in front of the Revolutionary Court is continuing and will resume from the beginning of next week [Friday is weekend in Iran - Tr].
Free Union of Iranian Workers
[Ettehadiy e Azad e Kargaran e Iran]
14 May 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Join the Rally at the ILO Geneva to demand release of May Day detainees in Iran
Join the Rally in Geneva
In Solidarity with Workers in Iran and to Demand the Release of May Day Detainees on Wednesday June 3
Join the Rally in front of the ILO Conference Centre
The annual assembly of the ILO will take place between June 3 and 19, 2009, in Geneva. Like previous years, a delegation representing the Islamic Republic regime in Iran and representatives of regime-made organisations will participate in this assembly. Those who are responsible for repressing workers should not be allowed to join the ILO. The Islamic regime in Iran should be expelled from the ILO for oppressing workers and depriving them from all their rights.
To support the struggle of workers and to demand the release of the workers who were arrested on May 1, and the release of all imprisoned workers in Iran join this rally!
We call on all freedom loving people and worker organisations to take part in the rally.
Time: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 12.00 hours
Place: Geneva, in front of the ILO Conference Centre
May Day Detainees should be Released Immediately and Unconditionally!
Free Imprisoned Workers, Free Political Prisoners!
Islamic Republic Out of the ILO!
Worker-communist Party of Iran-Organisation Abroad
May 9, 2009
Contacts:
Bahram Soroush: +44 785 233 83 34; Arash Mehdizadeh: +41 764 006 962; Shahnaz Morattab: +49 172 971 62 27
Yadi Kouhi: +33 636 339 054; Farshad Hosseini: +31 633 602 627
In Solidarity with Workers in Iran and to Demand the Release of May Day Detainees on Wednesday June 3
Join the Rally in front of the ILO Conference Centre
The annual assembly of the ILO will take place between June 3 and 19, 2009, in Geneva. Like previous years, a delegation representing the Islamic Republic regime in Iran and representatives of regime-made organisations will participate in this assembly. Those who are responsible for repressing workers should not be allowed to join the ILO. The Islamic regime in Iran should be expelled from the ILO for oppressing workers and depriving them from all their rights.
To support the struggle of workers and to demand the release of the workers who were arrested on May 1, and the release of all imprisoned workers in Iran join this rally!
We call on all freedom loving people and worker organisations to take part in the rally.
Time: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 12.00 hours
Place: Geneva, in front of the ILO Conference Centre
May Day Detainees should be Released Immediately and Unconditionally!
Free Imprisoned Workers, Free Political Prisoners!
Islamic Republic Out of the ILO!
Worker-communist Party of Iran-Organisation Abroad
May 9, 2009
Contacts:
Bahram Soroush: +44 785 233 83 34; Arash Mehdizadeh: +41 764 006 962; Shahnaz Morattab: +49 172 971 62 27
Yadi Kouhi: +33 636 339 054; Farshad Hosseini: +31 633 602 627
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Call for a campaign for the release of May Day detainees
To workers and labour organisations in Iran and around the world!
On May Day, workers and their families who had gathered at Tehran’s Laleh Park, following a call by the May Day Organising Committee (made up of Iran’s independent labour organisations), to voice their demands and to commemorate this day, were attacked by the police and security forces and plain clothes officers. A number of people who were in the park were also attacked. Using various brutal means and instruments, the security forces seriously injured a large number of people and arrested and put in jail over 150. Of these, around 100 are still in prison.
These people had not committed any crime to be attacked and detained in such an inhuman way. Today they are in jail, in appalling conditions, for [commemorating May Day] together with billions of workers around the world; for voicing the demands of millions of people in Iran who are humiliated everyday, not paid for months and suppressed for setting up independent organisations; for raising their voice of protest. Their families have been contacting the courts and other judicial authorities every day to seek their release, but are being met by abuse and conflicting responses.
We millions of working people who yearn for equality have a responsibility towards the imprisoned workers and their families and must not leave them alone. By declaring this campaign, we call on all labour and human rights organisations in Iran and internationally to condemn the arrest of these loved ones and to call for their unconditional release. We call on them to do all within their power and to use all possible means to support these workers and their families and insist on their demands as set out in their May Day Resolution.
Long live the class solidarity of workers of the world.
Please send your statements of support and reports of actions taken to the this email address.
Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
Union of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers
Free Union of Iranian Workers
Committee for the Re-opening of the Union of Building Painting and Decoration Workers
Co-operating Council of Workers’ Organisations and Activists comprised of:
- Follow-up Committee to Form Free Workers’ Organisations
- Co-ordinating Committee to Aid Formation of Workers’ Organisations
- A Group of Worker Activists
- Women’s Council
- Association for Support of Worker Rights
This campaign is supported by:
Kermanshah Electricity and Metal Society
Society to Defend Sacked Workers of Saqez
Committee to Defend Haft Tape Workers
Workers of Sanandaj Par-Ris Factory
Sanandaj Shin-Baaft Textile Factory
Workers of Shahoo Companies
Kurdistan Textile
Gharb-Baaft [Textile Company]
Sheel Brick
Pak Ara Milk
Sama Gunnysack Makers
Fajr Flour
Niroo Raksh [Power Company]
Service workers of Sanandaj Tohid Hospital
A group of Sanandaj retirees
Workers of West Kermanshah Carpet Company
Dena Tyre Company
Ghaiee Cement
A group of workers of Asalouye [Petrochemical Complex]
A group of Iran Khodro [Car Company]
Translation: International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran (ILSC-WPI). For info: Bahram.soroush@gmail.com Shahla_daneshfar@yahoo.com
The following are among around 100 still in jail:
1- Jafar Azim Zadeh
2- Shapour Ehsani Rad
3- Bahram (Isa) Abedini
4- Saeed Yuzi
5- Behrooz Khabbaz
6- Yunes Arzhang
7- Maryam Mohseni
8- Mohammad Ashrafi
9- Laleh Mohammadi
10- Sharif Mohammadi
11- Afsaneh Azimzadeh
12- Fatemeh Eghdami
13- Fatemeh Shah Nazari
14- Mohammad Lotfi
15- Masoud Loghman
16- Ghloamreza Khani
17- Mansoor Hayat Gheibi
18- Behnaz Farmanbar
19- Parvaneh Ghasemian
20- Meysam Jafar Nejad
21- Amir Yaghoub Ali
22- Kaveh Mozaffari
23- Jelveh Javaheri
24- Alireza Saghafi
25- Mohsen Saghafi
26- Asadollah Poorfarhad
27- Alireza Firouzi
28- Pourya Pishtazeh
29- Taha Valizadeh
30- Homa Azhdarnia
31- Hamid Khademi
32- Einollah Basiri
33- Omid Shafiee
34- Navid Yazdi
35- Nasrin Alizadeh
36- Sajjad Sabz Alipour
37- Aysan Zarfam
38- Khoshbakht
39- Ahmad Davoudi
40- Mohammadi Salimi
41- Mohammad Ehsani
42- Saleh Kia Abadi
43- Hamid Yaghoub Ali
44- Sirous Fathi
45- Sharifeh Fathi
46- Maryam Mirbahari
47- Maryam Yaminifar
48- Mahmoud Hosseini
49- Homayoun Jaberi
50- Behnam Ebrahim Zadeh
51- Hamid Malak Zadeh
52- Sadegh Keyvan
53- Azhan Pour Sharifi
54- Zanyar Ahmadi
55- Behzad Khabbaz
56- Hamid Yaghoub Ali
57- Mehdi Shandiz Farahani
58- Farajollah Sa’di
59- Najme Ranjbaran
60- Ali Moa’zzab
61- Saeed Sajoodi
62- Hamid Ghorbani
63- Yekzad Zangeh
64- Asghar Yavari
65- Gholamreza Rajabi
…
[12 May 2009]
On May Day, workers and their families who had gathered at Tehran’s Laleh Park, following a call by the May Day Organising Committee (made up of Iran’s independent labour organisations), to voice their demands and to commemorate this day, were attacked by the police and security forces and plain clothes officers. A number of people who were in the park were also attacked. Using various brutal means and instruments, the security forces seriously injured a large number of people and arrested and put in jail over 150. Of these, around 100 are still in prison.
These people had not committed any crime to be attacked and detained in such an inhuman way. Today they are in jail, in appalling conditions, for [commemorating May Day] together with billions of workers around the world; for voicing the demands of millions of people in Iran who are humiliated everyday, not paid for months and suppressed for setting up independent organisations; for raising their voice of protest. Their families have been contacting the courts and other judicial authorities every day to seek their release, but are being met by abuse and conflicting responses.
We millions of working people who yearn for equality have a responsibility towards the imprisoned workers and their families and must not leave them alone. By declaring this campaign, we call on all labour and human rights organisations in Iran and internationally to condemn the arrest of these loved ones and to call for their unconditional release. We call on them to do all within their power and to use all possible means to support these workers and their families and insist on their demands as set out in their May Day Resolution.
Long live the class solidarity of workers of the world.
Please send your statements of support and reports of actions taken to the this email address.
Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
Union of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers
Free Union of Iranian Workers
Committee for the Re-opening of the Union of Building Painting and Decoration Workers
Co-operating Council of Workers’ Organisations and Activists comprised of:
- Follow-up Committee to Form Free Workers’ Organisations
- Co-ordinating Committee to Aid Formation of Workers’ Organisations
- A Group of Worker Activists
- Women’s Council
- Association for Support of Worker Rights
This campaign is supported by:
Kermanshah Electricity and Metal Society
Society to Defend Sacked Workers of Saqez
Committee to Defend Haft Tape Workers
Workers of Sanandaj Par-Ris Factory
Sanandaj Shin-Baaft Textile Factory
Workers of Shahoo Companies
Kurdistan Textile
Gharb-Baaft [Textile Company]
Sheel Brick
Pak Ara Milk
Sama Gunnysack Makers
Fajr Flour
Niroo Raksh [Power Company]
Service workers of Sanandaj Tohid Hospital
A group of Sanandaj retirees
Workers of West Kermanshah Carpet Company
Dena Tyre Company
Ghaiee Cement
A group of workers of Asalouye [Petrochemical Complex]
A group of Iran Khodro [Car Company]
Translation: International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran (ILSC-WPI). For info: Bahram.soroush@gmail.com Shahla_daneshfar@yahoo.com
The following are among around 100 still in jail:
1- Jafar Azim Zadeh
2- Shapour Ehsani Rad
3- Bahram (Isa) Abedini
4- Saeed Yuzi
5- Behrooz Khabbaz
6- Yunes Arzhang
7- Maryam Mohseni
8- Mohammad Ashrafi
9- Laleh Mohammadi
10- Sharif Mohammadi
11- Afsaneh Azimzadeh
12- Fatemeh Eghdami
13- Fatemeh Shah Nazari
14- Mohammad Lotfi
15- Masoud Loghman
16- Ghloamreza Khani
17- Mansoor Hayat Gheibi
18- Behnaz Farmanbar
19- Parvaneh Ghasemian
20- Meysam Jafar Nejad
21- Amir Yaghoub Ali
22- Kaveh Mozaffari
23- Jelveh Javaheri
24- Alireza Saghafi
25- Mohsen Saghafi
26- Asadollah Poorfarhad
27- Alireza Firouzi
28- Pourya Pishtazeh
29- Taha Valizadeh
30- Homa Azhdarnia
31- Hamid Khademi
32- Einollah Basiri
33- Omid Shafiee
34- Navid Yazdi
35- Nasrin Alizadeh
36- Sajjad Sabz Alipour
37- Aysan Zarfam
38- Khoshbakht
39- Ahmad Davoudi
40- Mohammadi Salimi
41- Mohammad Ehsani
42- Saleh Kia Abadi
43- Hamid Yaghoub Ali
44- Sirous Fathi
45- Sharifeh Fathi
46- Maryam Mirbahari
47- Maryam Yaminifar
48- Mahmoud Hosseini
49- Homayoun Jaberi
50- Behnam Ebrahim Zadeh
51- Hamid Malak Zadeh
52- Sadegh Keyvan
53- Azhan Pour Sharifi
54- Zanyar Ahmadi
55- Behzad Khabbaz
56- Hamid Yaghoub Ali
57- Mehdi Shandiz Farahani
58- Farajollah Sa’di
59- Najme Ranjbaran
60- Ali Moa’zzab
61- Saeed Sajoodi
62- Hamid Ghorbani
63- Yekzad Zangeh
64- Asghar Yavari
65- Gholamreza Rajabi
…
[12 May 2009]
Demand release of May Day participants detained in Iran
This year we had an exemplary May Day in Iran. It was a great victory for the workers and the people at large They got to showcase their power against brutal Islamist oppression. Despite the regime’s undeclared martial law, dozens of workers’ organisations across the nation celebrated May Day in Tehran and some other cities in a uniquely united fashion unseen in the past 30 years. They also issued a nationwide comprehensive resolution outlining and emphasising the most fundamental and immediate demands of their own and of the great majority of the people in Iran. This, in itself, was a great, valuable achievement for all the people led by the working class on its international day.
In the early hours of May Day the Islamic Republic of Iran executed Delara Darabi –who was 17 years old when she allegedly committed murder in order to further terrorise the society. This child-killing act of the ruling criminals in Iran received immediate international response; it was reflected widely in the world media and strongly condemned by international organizations, world political institutions, etc. Following that heinous crime, the Islamic regime brutally attacked the May Day public gathering in Tehran. It mobilised its police and its paramilitary thugs (known as baseeji) in other cities too in order to take over the streets and prevent May Day celebrations. However, despite the regime’s cowardly precautionary measures, May Day was celebrated much more gloriously than ever.
In Tehran some two thousand people gathered at the May Day meeting arena during the very first moments. In order to prevent the continuous increase in the number of participants, police and paramilitary forces blockaded the meeting arena and attacked the demonstrators with batons and teargas. The police barbarically beat the demonstrators and wounded many. More than 170 people, some half of them women, were arrested and sent into custody.
In Sanandaj, in order to prevent May Day celebrations, 5 worker leaders were kept in custody until the evening of May 1. The police also arrested 6 other worker leaders during the celebrations and kept them in custody until the next day. In spite of all these, the workers succeeded in holding their ceremonies.
Since May Day the families of the detainees have been gathering in front of the court in Tehran everyday, demanding the release of their relatives. Due to the efforts of the families a number of the detainees have been released. However, about 130, including renowned worker leaders and activists, are still in custody.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has set unbearibly hefty bails for the release of those Who remain in detention. The regime seeks to subdue worker leaders and activists. This is a measure aimed at weakening the workers’ ability to organise and protest.
The workers and people in Iran need international support and solidarity in order to acquire their rights; they count on this support. The Islamic Republic uses the weapon of death penalty and executes children and adolescents in order to terrorise the society. The people in Iran expect you to condemn these atrocities. They expect you to condemn suppression of workers on May Day. They expect you to use all your power to pressure the Islamic regime for the immediate and unconditional release of May Day detainees and all imprisoned worker leaders and activists. Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the regime-made so-called workers’ organisations should be condemned and expelled from the ILO for their numerous crimes against the workers and people in Iran.
Long Live International Workers’ Solidarity!
Khalil Keyvan
Secretary of Worker-communist Party of Iran-Organisation Abroad
The following May Day detainees have been identified so far:
1.Jafar Azimzadeh, 2.Shahpour Ehsani-Rad, 3.Bahram (Isa) Abedini, 4.Saeed Youzee, 5.Behrouz Khabbaz, 6.Younes Arjhang, 7.Maryam Mohseni, 8.Mohammad Ashrafi, 9.Laleh Mohammadi, 10.Sharif Mohammadi, 11.Afsaneh Azimzadeh, 12.Fatemeh Eqdami, 13.Fatemeh Shah-Nazari, 14.Mohammad Lotfi, 15.Masoud Loqman, 16.Qolamreza Khani, 17.Mansour Hayat-Qeybi, 18.Behnaz Farmanbar, 19.Parvaneh Qasemiyan, 20.Misam Jafarnejhad, 21.Amir Yaqoub-Ali, 22.Kaveh Mozzafari, 23.Jelveh Javaheri, 24.Alireza Saqafi, 25.Mohsen Saqafi, 26.Asadollah Pour-Farhad, 27.Alireza Firouzi, 28.Pourya Pishtazeh, 29.Taha Valizadeh, 30.Homa Ajhdarnia, 31.Hamid Khademi, 32.Eynollah Basiri, 33.Omid Shafiee, 34.Navid Yazdi, 35.Nasrin Alizadeh, 36.Sajjad Sabz-Alipour, 37.Aysan Zarfam, 38.Khoshbakht, 39.Ahmad Davoudi, 40.Mohammad Salimi, 41.Mohammad Ehsani, 42.Saleh Kia-abadi, 43.Hamid Yaqoub-Ali, 44.Sirous Fathi, 45.Maryam Mir-Bahari, 46.Maryam Yaminifar, 47.Mahmoud Hosseini, 48.Homayoun Jaberi, 49.Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, 50.Hamid Malakzadeh, 51.Sadeq Keyvan, 52.Ajhan Poursharifi, 53.Zanyar Ahmadi, 54.Behzad Khabbaz, 55.Mehdi Shandiz-Farahani, 56.Farajollah Saadi, 57.Najmeh Ranjbaran, 58.Ali Moaddab, 59.Saeed Sojoudi, 60.Hamid Qorbani, 61.Yekzad Zanganeh, 62.Asqar Yavari, 63.Qolamreza Rajabi
In the early hours of May Day the Islamic Republic of Iran executed Delara Darabi –who was 17 years old when she allegedly committed murder in order to further terrorise the society. This child-killing act of the ruling criminals in Iran received immediate international response; it was reflected widely in the world media and strongly condemned by international organizations, world political institutions, etc. Following that heinous crime, the Islamic regime brutally attacked the May Day public gathering in Tehran. It mobilised its police and its paramilitary thugs (known as baseeji) in other cities too in order to take over the streets and prevent May Day celebrations. However, despite the regime’s cowardly precautionary measures, May Day was celebrated much more gloriously than ever.
In Tehran some two thousand people gathered at the May Day meeting arena during the very first moments. In order to prevent the continuous increase in the number of participants, police and paramilitary forces blockaded the meeting arena and attacked the demonstrators with batons and teargas. The police barbarically beat the demonstrators and wounded many. More than 170 people, some half of them women, were arrested and sent into custody.
In Sanandaj, in order to prevent May Day celebrations, 5 worker leaders were kept in custody until the evening of May 1. The police also arrested 6 other worker leaders during the celebrations and kept them in custody until the next day. In spite of all these, the workers succeeded in holding their ceremonies.
Since May Day the families of the detainees have been gathering in front of the court in Tehran everyday, demanding the release of their relatives. Due to the efforts of the families a number of the detainees have been released. However, about 130, including renowned worker leaders and activists, are still in custody.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has set unbearibly hefty bails for the release of those Who remain in detention. The regime seeks to subdue worker leaders and activists. This is a measure aimed at weakening the workers’ ability to organise and protest.
The workers and people in Iran need international support and solidarity in order to acquire their rights; they count on this support. The Islamic Republic uses the weapon of death penalty and executes children and adolescents in order to terrorise the society. The people in Iran expect you to condemn these atrocities. They expect you to condemn suppression of workers on May Day. They expect you to use all your power to pressure the Islamic regime for the immediate and unconditional release of May Day detainees and all imprisoned worker leaders and activists. Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the regime-made so-called workers’ organisations should be condemned and expelled from the ILO for their numerous crimes against the workers and people in Iran.
Long Live International Workers’ Solidarity!
Khalil Keyvan
Secretary of Worker-communist Party of Iran-Organisation Abroad
The following May Day detainees have been identified so far:
1.Jafar Azimzadeh, 2.Shahpour Ehsani-Rad, 3.Bahram (Isa) Abedini, 4.Saeed Youzee, 5.Behrouz Khabbaz, 6.Younes Arjhang, 7.Maryam Mohseni, 8.Mohammad Ashrafi, 9.Laleh Mohammadi, 10.Sharif Mohammadi, 11.Afsaneh Azimzadeh, 12.Fatemeh Eqdami, 13.Fatemeh Shah-Nazari, 14.Mohammad Lotfi, 15.Masoud Loqman, 16.Qolamreza Khani, 17.Mansour Hayat-Qeybi, 18.Behnaz Farmanbar, 19.Parvaneh Qasemiyan, 20.Misam Jafarnejhad, 21.Amir Yaqoub-Ali, 22.Kaveh Mozzafari, 23.Jelveh Javaheri, 24.Alireza Saqafi, 25.Mohsen Saqafi, 26.Asadollah Pour-Farhad, 27.Alireza Firouzi, 28.Pourya Pishtazeh, 29.Taha Valizadeh, 30.Homa Ajhdarnia, 31.Hamid Khademi, 32.Eynollah Basiri, 33.Omid Shafiee, 34.Navid Yazdi, 35.Nasrin Alizadeh, 36.Sajjad Sabz-Alipour, 37.Aysan Zarfam, 38.Khoshbakht, 39.Ahmad Davoudi, 40.Mohammad Salimi, 41.Mohammad Ehsani, 42.Saleh Kia-abadi, 43.Hamid Yaqoub-Ali, 44.Sirous Fathi, 45.Maryam Mir-Bahari, 46.Maryam Yaminifar, 47.Mahmoud Hosseini, 48.Homayoun Jaberi, 49.Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, 50.Hamid Malakzadeh, 51.Sadeq Keyvan, 52.Ajhan Poursharifi, 53.Zanyar Ahmadi, 54.Behzad Khabbaz, 55.Mehdi Shandiz-Farahani, 56.Farajollah Saadi, 57.Najmeh Ranjbaran, 58.Ali Moaddab, 59.Saeed Sojoudi, 60.Hamid Qorbani, 61.Yekzad Zanganeh, 62.Asqar Yavari, 63.Qolamreza Rajabi
Friday, May 01, 2009
They have executed our Delara
The Islamic regime of Iran has murdered our Delara even though her execution had been postponed for two months.
I cannot speak.
***
To read details in Farsi, including her last heartwrenching conversation with her family, click here.
I cannot speak.
***
To read details in Farsi, including her last heartwrenching conversation with her family, click here.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
May Day 2009 and Freedom for Imprisoned Trade Unionists in Iran!
Around the world, for over one hundred years, workers and their trade unions have celebrated May Day - International Labour Day. It is the day on which workers internationally show their shared commitment to justice and freedom. Since the first International May Day in 1890, it has been celebrated in public gatherings but also in jails and prisons - for there are still governments which forbid unofficial gatherings on the first of May.
Iran is one such country. For years, workers attempting public May Day demonstrations have been harassed, beaten, and jailed. For the past two years, workers and labour rights supporters seeking to organize May Day gatherings have been sentenced to public whippings. Mahmoud Salehi, leader of an independent bakers union in Iran's Kurdistan province, served one year in prison for attempting to organize a public rally on May Day 2004.The government-sponsored Workers’ House or Islamic Labour Councils organize annual official ceremonies on the first of May, designed for workers to speak about the things officials like to hear rather than the real issues they face. But free trade unions are illegal in Iran and independent trade unionists have always been prevented from joining this ceremony.
But it isn’t just for celebrating May Day that trade unionists are attacked in Iran. All expressions of free trade unionism face the prospect of repression.In June 2008, five thousand workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Company in the southern city of Shush formed an independent trade union following a 46-day strike for the payment of 6 months' back wages. On December 20, 5 elected leaders of their union were charged with "endangering national security" and "anti-government propaganda" in connection with the strike and the formation of the union. Following a low turnout to the February 24, 2009 election to the Islamic Labour Council at Haft Tapeh, union officers were arrested again, including Haft Tapeh union President Ali Nejati. As a result of pressure from his work mates and trade unionists globally, Nejati was freed on bail following 45 days' detention - 33 of them in solitary confinement. On March 14, Ali Nejati and 4 other Haft Tapeh union leaders were sentenced to one year imprisonment.
Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, leaders of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, are currently serving five-and three and a half-year sentences, respectively, solely for their union activity. In his current prison term, Osanloo has been harshly treated and denied essential medical treatment. Just weeks before the establishment of the union in 2005, activists including Osanloo were attacked severely by company thugs and members of the government-sponsored organizations. Some workers remain unfairly dismissed after supporting union actions.
Teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar, in detention since July 2006, was sentenced to death in February 2008 and transferred to Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
All trade union activists currently imprisoned in Iran solely for their peaceful, legitimate trade union activities must be released immediately, and charges unconditionally dropped against all those facing jail.This year’s May Day!Inside and outside Iran, individuals and organizations have campaigned for the release of these imprisoned workers' leaders, who are struggling for the advancement of basic trade union rights in Iran and for worker and human rights everywhere.The government of Iran is intensifying its repression against independent trade unionists ahead of May Day 2009 and the June presidential elections.
As we near May Day 2009, EI, ITF ITUC and IUF again wish to draw international attention to our common struggle in support of fundamental labour and trade union rights in Iran. The right of workers to organize, to bargain collectively with employers and the right to strike are essential human rights as enshrined in the ILO Conventions. Workers in Iran must be free to exercise these rights that workers everywhere are entitled to. We call on the authorities to let workers in Iran freely join their sisters and brothers around the globe in celebrating this May Day, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of, Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar and all other Iranians currently imprisoned or facing imprisonment for attempting to exercise their fundamental rights as workers and trade unionists.
April 27, 2009
International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)
Education International (EI)
International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Iran is one such country. For years, workers attempting public May Day demonstrations have been harassed, beaten, and jailed. For the past two years, workers and labour rights supporters seeking to organize May Day gatherings have been sentenced to public whippings. Mahmoud Salehi, leader of an independent bakers union in Iran's Kurdistan province, served one year in prison for attempting to organize a public rally on May Day 2004.The government-sponsored Workers’ House or Islamic Labour Councils organize annual official ceremonies on the first of May, designed for workers to speak about the things officials like to hear rather than the real issues they face. But free trade unions are illegal in Iran and independent trade unionists have always been prevented from joining this ceremony.
But it isn’t just for celebrating May Day that trade unionists are attacked in Iran. All expressions of free trade unionism face the prospect of repression.In June 2008, five thousand workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Company in the southern city of Shush formed an independent trade union following a 46-day strike for the payment of 6 months' back wages. On December 20, 5 elected leaders of their union were charged with "endangering national security" and "anti-government propaganda" in connection with the strike and the formation of the union. Following a low turnout to the February 24, 2009 election to the Islamic Labour Council at Haft Tapeh, union officers were arrested again, including Haft Tapeh union President Ali Nejati. As a result of pressure from his work mates and trade unionists globally, Nejati was freed on bail following 45 days' detention - 33 of them in solitary confinement. On March 14, Ali Nejati and 4 other Haft Tapeh union leaders were sentenced to one year imprisonment.
Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, leaders of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, are currently serving five-and three and a half-year sentences, respectively, solely for their union activity. In his current prison term, Osanloo has been harshly treated and denied essential medical treatment. Just weeks before the establishment of the union in 2005, activists including Osanloo were attacked severely by company thugs and members of the government-sponsored organizations. Some workers remain unfairly dismissed after supporting union actions.
Teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar, in detention since July 2006, was sentenced to death in February 2008 and transferred to Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
All trade union activists currently imprisoned in Iran solely for their peaceful, legitimate trade union activities must be released immediately, and charges unconditionally dropped against all those facing jail.This year’s May Day!Inside and outside Iran, individuals and organizations have campaigned for the release of these imprisoned workers' leaders, who are struggling for the advancement of basic trade union rights in Iran and for worker and human rights everywhere.The government of Iran is intensifying its repression against independent trade unionists ahead of May Day 2009 and the June presidential elections.
As we near May Day 2009, EI, ITF ITUC and IUF again wish to draw international attention to our common struggle in support of fundamental labour and trade union rights in Iran. The right of workers to organize, to bargain collectively with employers and the right to strike are essential human rights as enshrined in the ILO Conventions. Workers in Iran must be free to exercise these rights that workers everywhere are entitled to. We call on the authorities to let workers in Iran freely join their sisters and brothers around the globe in celebrating this May Day, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of, Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar and all other Iranians currently imprisoned or facing imprisonment for attempting to exercise their fundamental rights as workers and trade unionists.
April 27, 2009
International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)
Education International (EI)
International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Join the International Coalition for Women’s Rights
On April 19, 2009, the Somali parliament unanimously endorsed the introduction of Sharia law across the country.
A few days earlier, the imposition of Sharia law in Pakistan's northwestern Swat region was approved.
Last month, a sweeping law approved by the Afghan parliament and signed by President Hamid Karzai required Shi’a women to seek their husband's permission to leave home, and to submit to their sexual demands. Because of international and national protests the new law is now being reviewed but only to check its compatibility with Sharia law.
Sharia law deems a woman unequal and subordinate to her husband or male guardian. Under Sharia, women’s testimony is worth half that of men’s, women have limited rights to divorce and child custody and women can be executed for apostasy or stoned to death for adultery. It imposes sexual or gender apartheid and the veil and denies women rights, equality and freedom.
The imposition of Sharia law in the legal codes of Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan brings millions more under the yoke of political Islam.
Local and international pressure and opposition are the only ways to stop the rise of this regressive movement and defend women’s universal rights and secularism.
From Iran and Iraq to Britain and Canada, Sharia law is being opposed by a vast majority who choose 21st century universal values over medievalism. We, the undersigned, support this international struggle and call for:
* the abolition of discriminatory and Sharia laws
* an end to sexual apartheid
* secularism and the separation of religion from the state
* equality between women and men
List of initial signatories:
Boaz Adhengo, Humanist and Ethical Union of Kenya, Kenya
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Coordinator, Stop Child Executions Campaign, Canada
Mina Ahadi, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany; Coordinator, International Committee against Stoning, Germany
Mahin Alipour, Coordinator, Equal Rights Now - Organisation against Women's Discrimination in Iran, Stockholm, Sweden
British Humanist Association, UK
British Muslims for Secular Democracy, UK
Caroline Brancher, UFAL, France
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Chair, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, UK
Nazanin Borumand, Never forget Hatun‚Campaign against Honour Killings, Germany
Clean Break Theatre Company, UK
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, UK
Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany, Germany
Council of Ex-Muslims of Scandinavia, Sweden
Richard Dawkins, Scientist, UK
Patty Debonitas, Coordinator, International Campaign for Women’s Rights, UK
Sonja Eggerickx, President, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Belgium
Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, Sweden Tarek Fatah, Author, Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State, Canada
Jacqueline Fichet - Professeure en Retraite, France
Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, UK
AC Grayling, Writer and Philosopher, London, UK
Rahila Gupta, Activist and Writer, UK
Maria Hagberg, Chairperson, Network Against Honour-Related Violence, Sweden
Katie Hickman, Writer, UK
Humanist and Ethical Union of Kenya
Leo Igwe, Nigerian Humanist Movement, Nigeria
International Committee against Stoning, Germany
Iranian Secular Society, London, UK
Asqar Karimi, Central Committee Member, Worker-communist Party of Iran, UK
Kenya Association of Humanists in Aid of Women Atheists
Ruth Kithei and Teresia Naomi, Kenya Association of Humanists in Aid of Women Atheists, Kenya
Derek Lennard, Chairperson, Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, UK
Doreen Massey, Peer, House of Lords, London, UK
Caspar Melville, Editor, New Humanist magazine, UK
Reza Moradi, Director, New Channel TV, UK
Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, UK
National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies, UK
National Secular Society, London, UK
Never Forget Hatun Campaign against Honour Killings, Germany Network Against Honour-Related Violence, Sweden
Nigerian Humanist Movement, Nigeria
One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, UK
Lucy Perman, Executive Director, Clean Break, UK
David Pollock, President, the European Humanist Federation, London, UK
Fariborz Pooya, Founder, Iranian Secular Society, London, UK
Pragna Patel, Founding Member, Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism, UK
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Pakistan
Terry Sanderson, President, National Secular Society, London, UK
Sohaila Sharifi, Editor, Unveiled Persian, London, UK
Joan Smith, Writer and Activist, London, UK
Southall Black Sisters, UK
Issam Shukri, Head, Defense of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq; Central Committee Secretary, Left Worker-communist Party of Iraq, Iraq
Hanne Stinson, British Humanist Association, UK
Annie Sugier, Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, France
Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigner, UK
Women Against Fundamentalisms, UK
Ibn Warraq, writer
To join the coalition, click here.
To help organise a rally in your city on November 21, 2009, please contact coalition coordinator Patty Debonitas +44 (0) 7778804304, ICFWR, BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK, email icwomenrights@googlemail.com.
To support the coalition, please send your donations to One Law for All or the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain earmarked for the coalition.
A few days earlier, the imposition of Sharia law in Pakistan's northwestern Swat region was approved.
Last month, a sweeping law approved by the Afghan parliament and signed by President Hamid Karzai required Shi’a women to seek their husband's permission to leave home, and to submit to their sexual demands. Because of international and national protests the new law is now being reviewed but only to check its compatibility with Sharia law.
Sharia law deems a woman unequal and subordinate to her husband or male guardian. Under Sharia, women’s testimony is worth half that of men’s, women have limited rights to divorce and child custody and women can be executed for apostasy or stoned to death for adultery. It imposes sexual or gender apartheid and the veil and denies women rights, equality and freedom.
The imposition of Sharia law in the legal codes of Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan brings millions more under the yoke of political Islam.
Local and international pressure and opposition are the only ways to stop the rise of this regressive movement and defend women’s universal rights and secularism.
From Iran and Iraq to Britain and Canada, Sharia law is being opposed by a vast majority who choose 21st century universal values over medievalism. We, the undersigned, support this international struggle and call for:
* the abolition of discriminatory and Sharia laws
* an end to sexual apartheid
* secularism and the separation of religion from the state
* equality between women and men
List of initial signatories:
Boaz Adhengo, Humanist and Ethical Union of Kenya, Kenya
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Coordinator, Stop Child Executions Campaign, Canada
Mina Ahadi, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany; Coordinator, International Committee against Stoning, Germany
Mahin Alipour, Coordinator, Equal Rights Now - Organisation against Women's Discrimination in Iran, Stockholm, Sweden
British Humanist Association, UK
British Muslims for Secular Democracy, UK
Caroline Brancher, UFAL, France
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Chair, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, UK
Nazanin Borumand, Never forget Hatun‚Campaign against Honour Killings, Germany
Clean Break Theatre Company, UK
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, UK
Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany, Germany
Council of Ex-Muslims of Scandinavia, Sweden
Richard Dawkins, Scientist, UK
Patty Debonitas, Coordinator, International Campaign for Women’s Rights, UK
Sonja Eggerickx, President, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Belgium
Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, Sweden Tarek Fatah, Author, Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State, Canada
Jacqueline Fichet - Professeure en Retraite, France
Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, UK
AC Grayling, Writer and Philosopher, London, UK
Rahila Gupta, Activist and Writer, UK
Maria Hagberg, Chairperson, Network Against Honour-Related Violence, Sweden
Katie Hickman, Writer, UK
Humanist and Ethical Union of Kenya
Leo Igwe, Nigerian Humanist Movement, Nigeria
International Committee against Stoning, Germany
Iranian Secular Society, London, UK
Asqar Karimi, Central Committee Member, Worker-communist Party of Iran, UK
Kenya Association of Humanists in Aid of Women Atheists
Ruth Kithei and Teresia Naomi, Kenya Association of Humanists in Aid of Women Atheists, Kenya
Derek Lennard, Chairperson, Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, UK
Doreen Massey, Peer, House of Lords, London, UK
Caspar Melville, Editor, New Humanist magazine, UK
Reza Moradi, Director, New Channel TV, UK
Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, UK
National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies, UK
National Secular Society, London, UK
Never Forget Hatun Campaign against Honour Killings, Germany Network Against Honour-Related Violence, Sweden
Nigerian Humanist Movement, Nigeria
One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, UK
Lucy Perman, Executive Director, Clean Break, UK
David Pollock, President, the European Humanist Federation, London, UK
Fariborz Pooya, Founder, Iranian Secular Society, London, UK
Pragna Patel, Founding Member, Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism, UK
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, Pakistan
Terry Sanderson, President, National Secular Society, London, UK
Sohaila Sharifi, Editor, Unveiled Persian, London, UK
Joan Smith, Writer and Activist, London, UK
Southall Black Sisters, UK
Issam Shukri, Head, Defense of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq; Central Committee Secretary, Left Worker-communist Party of Iraq, Iraq
Hanne Stinson, British Humanist Association, UK
Annie Sugier, Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, France
Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaigner, UK
Women Against Fundamentalisms, UK
Ibn Warraq, writer
To join the coalition, click here.
To help organise a rally in your city on November 21, 2009, please contact coalition coordinator Patty Debonitas +44 (0) 7778804304, ICFWR, BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK, email icwomenrights@googlemail.com.
To support the coalition, please send your donations to One Law for All or the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain earmarked for the coalition.
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