To United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and to all member states of the UN:
In the 1980s, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed thousands upon thousands of political prisoners.
This mass-slaughter was among the worst crimes against humanity since the Second World War, a perspective espoused by Geoffrey Robertson, a 'distinguished jurist' member of the United Nations Justice Council.
It is true that many outside Iran did not know much about these mass murders, but the United Nations knew exactly what was happening inside Islamic Republic prisons. It knew about the mass slaughters. It knew about the secret burials. It knew about them immediately after they started. The United Nations willfully, intentionally ignored the slaughter of thousands upon thousands of political prisoners in Iran. Worse, the United Nations allowed its Special Representative, Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, to whitewash the situation in Iran, as is clearly documented in Robertson's report on the prison massacres of 1988.
The United Nations, through its malignant neglect of the mass executions, tortures, and political imprisonments, and in shameful contradiction to its responsibility and mandate, gave the Islamic Republic official permission to continue its crimes against humanity with impunity. The United Nations was documentably complicit in those crimes against humanity.
And as a result of the UN's permissiveness and complicity in the Islamic Republic's crimes against humanity, so these crimes have continued to this day.
The Islamic Republic is still executing prisoners en masse, including political prisoners. And the UN has done nothing. The Islamic Republic couldn't execute Sakineh, so they killed Shahla Jahed instead. And the UN has said nothing. The Islamic Republic couldn't execute Habibollah Latifi, so they killed Ali Saremi and Ali-Akbar Siadat instead. And the UN has said nothing. In the face of the arrest of thousands in the wake of the 2009 uprisings, once again, the United Nations and its constituent governments do functionally nothing beyond issuing yet another "condemnation" of the atrocities of this criminal entity, the Islamic Republic of Iran - an entity which is a member state of the UN and which is bound by UN conventions including the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
It is time for the UN to stop issuing toothless, inactionable condemnations of this regime’s atrocities – condemnations that become meaningless the moment those for whom rape is a national policy, and gender apartheid a pillar of its constitution, are welcomed onto the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Condemnations that ring absurd the instant those who jail, torture and execute labor activists are given leave to set foot in the meetings of the International Labor Organization. Condemnations that become duplicitous the second that the German government defends the regime of mass-murderers by smashing the bones of Iranian opposition members crying out for freedom and justice. Condemnations that ring hollow as the Greek government repeatedly, cravenly sends its forces to attack Iranian political asylum seekers.
In the name of Habibollah Latifi, at risk of execution at any moment, Ja’afar Kazemi, Zeinab Jalalian, Yusef Nadarkhani, Shirko Maarefi, Hossein Khezri and many other political prisoners awaiting death in the regime’s torture houses while the United Nations fails to substantively, diplomatically sanction this regime;
In the name of Ali Saremi, Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Houli, Mohsen Beikvand, Mona Mahmudinezhad, and tens of thousands of other political prisoners already killed, executed en masse while the UN has stood by, watching these crimes against humanity unfolding and doing nothing;
In the name of 500 nameless, paperless human beings slaughtered like animals in Vakil Abad prison in the past few months by this most monstrous of regimes, yet for whom no government - nor the United Nations - has yet raised an inquiry;
In the name of all political prisoners in the Islamic Republic's torture houses: in the name of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Kamiar and Arash Alaei, Zahra Kazemi, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Houtan Javid Kian, Reza Shahabi, Mansour Osanloo, Behnam Ebrahim-Zadeh;
In the name of the oceans of women and men, our sisters and brothers, who poured into the streets of Iran last year demanding freedom, equality, and a humane society, yet who were met with violence of barbaric proportions, detention, torture, rape and execution while the UN and its constituent governments watched and worried... not about the regime's killings but about how to engage with Iran over its nuclear program;
We demand that the United Nations cease mouthing words without meaning, and start acting in support of the rights of Iranian people. It is time, once and for all, to withdraw your implicit and explicit support for this mass-murdering regime.
We demand immediate and mandatory free access of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to all prisons of the Islamic Republic, and first and foremost Evin and Rajaei Shahr (Gohardasht).
We demand unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners.
We demand that the United Nations expel from its membership the Islamic Republic of rape, torture, stoning and execution, which has repeatedly and unabashedly violated virtually every principle in the UN Charter, not to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Anything less is a betrayal of the people of Iran, and a signal that the Islamic Republic has the UN's blessing to continue the slaughter and mass repression of 75 million Iranian people.
It is time for the UN to take appropriate action by refusing to further legitimize this regime.
It is time for the UN to expel the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mina Ahadi
Spokesperson of
International Committee Against Execution www.notonemoreexecution.org
International Committee Against Stoning www.stopstonningnow.com
Minaahadi@aol.com 0049 (0) 177 569 2413
Shiva Mahbobi: former political prisoner , spokesperson for Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI).
http://www.iranpoliticalprisoners.com/
Tel: +44 (0) 7572356661
Shahla Daneshfar: Campaign co-ordinator for “Campaign to free JAILED WORKERS in IRAN”
http://free-them-now.blogspot.com/
shahla_daneshfar@yahoo.com
Tel:0044 (0)777 98 98 968
Patty Debonitas
Iran Solidarity Spokesperson
http://iransolidarity.org.uk
iransolidarity@rocketmail.com
Tel: 0044 (0) 7507978745
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Gazan youth brighten up my miserable New Year
Read about a manifesto issued by some youth in the Gaza below and here.
"Fuck Hamas. Fuck Israel. Fuck Fatah. Fuck UN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community!
"We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16s breaking the wall of sound; scream with all the power in our souls in order to release this immense frustration that consumes us because of this fucking situation we live in...
"We are sick of being caught in this political struggle; sick of coal-dark nights with airplanes circling above our homes; sick of innocent farmers getting shot in the buffer zone because they are taking care of their lands; sick of bearded guys walking around with their guns abusing their power, beating up or incarcerating young people demonstrating for what they believe in; sick of the wall of shame that separates us from the rest of our country and keeps us imprisoned in a stamp-sized piece of land; sick of being portrayed as terrorists, home-made fanatics with explosives in our pockets and evil in our eyes; sick of the indifference we meet from the international community, the so-called experts in expressing concerns and drafting resolutions but cowards in enforcing anything they agree on; we are sick and tired of living a shitty life, being kept in jail by Israel, beaten up by Hamas and completely ignored by the rest of the world.
"There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a way of canalising this energy into something that can challenge the status quo and give us some kind of hope.
"We barely survived the Operation Cast Lead, where Israel very effectively bombed the shit out of us, destroying thousands of homes and even more lives and dreams. During the war we got the unmistakable feeling that Israel wanted to erase us from the face of the Earth. During the last years, Hamas has been doing all they can to control our thoughts, behaviour and aspirations. Here in Gaza we are scared of being incarcerated, interrogated, hit, tortured, bombed, killed. We cannot move as we want, say what we want, do what we want.
"ENOUGH! Enough pain, enough tears, enough suffering, enough control, limitations, unjust justifications, terror, torture, excuses, bombings, sleepless nights, dead civilians, black memories, bleak future, heart-aching present, disturbed politics, fanatic politicians, religious bullshit, enough incarceration! WE SAY STOP! This is not the future we want! We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace. Is that too much to ask?"
How absolutely brilliant.
Sums it up in a nutshell and has really brightened what is fast becoming my most miserable New Year.
"Fuck Hamas. Fuck Israel. Fuck Fatah. Fuck UN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community!
"We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16s breaking the wall of sound; scream with all the power in our souls in order to release this immense frustration that consumes us because of this fucking situation we live in...
"We are sick of being caught in this political struggle; sick of coal-dark nights with airplanes circling above our homes; sick of innocent farmers getting shot in the buffer zone because they are taking care of their lands; sick of bearded guys walking around with their guns abusing their power, beating up or incarcerating young people demonstrating for what they believe in; sick of the wall of shame that separates us from the rest of our country and keeps us imprisoned in a stamp-sized piece of land; sick of being portrayed as terrorists, home-made fanatics with explosives in our pockets and evil in our eyes; sick of the indifference we meet from the international community, the so-called experts in expressing concerns and drafting resolutions but cowards in enforcing anything they agree on; we are sick and tired of living a shitty life, being kept in jail by Israel, beaten up by Hamas and completely ignored by the rest of the world.
"There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a way of canalising this energy into something that can challenge the status quo and give us some kind of hope.
"We barely survived the Operation Cast Lead, where Israel very effectively bombed the shit out of us, destroying thousands of homes and even more lives and dreams. During the war we got the unmistakable feeling that Israel wanted to erase us from the face of the Earth. During the last years, Hamas has been doing all they can to control our thoughts, behaviour and aspirations. Here in Gaza we are scared of being incarcerated, interrogated, hit, tortured, bombed, killed. We cannot move as we want, say what we want, do what we want.
"ENOUGH! Enough pain, enough tears, enough suffering, enough control, limitations, unjust justifications, terror, torture, excuses, bombings, sleepless nights, dead civilians, black memories, bleak future, heart-aching present, disturbed politics, fanatic politicians, religious bullshit, enough incarceration! WE SAY STOP! This is not the future we want! We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace. Is that too much to ask?"
How absolutely brilliant.
Sums it up in a nutshell and has really brightened what is fast becoming my most miserable New Year.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Sajjad is Freed, and Pleads for Clemency in His Mother's Case
PR 115
January 1, 2011
Sajjad is Freed, and Pleads for Clemency in His Mother's Case
Sakineh, Houtan and the Two German Journalists Should Be Released Immediately
According to the news that has been disseminated by different media outlets, the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, who was released on bail from Tabriz prison, told the foreign mass media today, January 1st, that he hopes for clemency with regard to his mother's sentence of stoning and execution. Sajjad, under pressure from 3 months of solitary confinement, torture, and threats, denied of the right to any lawyer or any connection to the outside world, was forced to speak against his mother and told the foreign reporters that Sakineh has had a hand in his father's death. This [forced confessions] is the way the Islamic Republic has behaved towards prisoners for decades, and today, not only people in Iran but many across the world are familiar with this inhumane practice of the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Republic, confronted by the powerful international campaign to save Sakineh, suspended [indefinitely] Sakineh's stoning sentence, but still is seeking an opportunity to execute her. The danger of execution still threatens Sakineh, and especially in the current situation, when the Islamic Republic has resorted to implementing an increasing number of executions, the danger of Sakineh's execution is more acute than ever.
The International Committees against Execution and Stoning once again strongly condemn the Islamic Republic's forced confessions from prisoners, demands commutation of Sakineh's execution sentence, and demands immediate unconditional release of Sakineh, Sakineh's lawyer Houtan Kian, and the two German journalists. Any kind of bail and fabricated case against Sajjad should be canceled and annuled.
Once again, we call upon the people of the world to enter the arena and, in whatever possible form, pressure the Islamic Republic to rescue Sakineh and free all political prisoners.
International Committee Against Stoning
International Committee Against Execution
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com 0049-177-569-2413
January 1, 2011
Sajjad is Freed, and Pleads for Clemency in His Mother's Case
Sakineh, Houtan and the Two German Journalists Should Be Released Immediately
According to the news that has been disseminated by different media outlets, the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, who was released on bail from Tabriz prison, told the foreign mass media today, January 1st, that he hopes for clemency with regard to his mother's sentence of stoning and execution. Sajjad, under pressure from 3 months of solitary confinement, torture, and threats, denied of the right to any lawyer or any connection to the outside world, was forced to speak against his mother and told the foreign reporters that Sakineh has had a hand in his father's death. This [forced confessions] is the way the Islamic Republic has behaved towards prisoners for decades, and today, not only people in Iran but many across the world are familiar with this inhumane practice of the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Republic, confronted by the powerful international campaign to save Sakineh, suspended [indefinitely] Sakineh's stoning sentence, but still is seeking an opportunity to execute her. The danger of execution still threatens Sakineh, and especially in the current situation, when the Islamic Republic has resorted to implementing an increasing number of executions, the danger of Sakineh's execution is more acute than ever.
The International Committees against Execution and Stoning once again strongly condemn the Islamic Republic's forced confessions from prisoners, demands commutation of Sakineh's execution sentence, and demands immediate unconditional release of Sakineh, Sakineh's lawyer Houtan Kian, and the two German journalists. Any kind of bail and fabricated case against Sajjad should be canceled and annuled.
Once again, we call upon the people of the world to enter the arena and, in whatever possible form, pressure the Islamic Republic to rescue Sakineh and free all political prisoners.
International Committee Against Stoning
International Committee Against Execution
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com 0049-177-569-2413
Monday, December 27, 2010
Call for Demonstrations against the Execution Sentence of Habibollah Latifi and the Arrest of His Family Week of December 27, 2010 to January 3, 2011
The International Committee against Executions is calling for a week of demonstrations, from December 27, 2010 to January 3, 2011, to protest against the execution sentence of Habibollah Latifi, and the arrest of his family members and all those arrested in the past few days in Sanandaj, Iran. We call on all honorable Iranian people and people all over the world: all those who believe in unconditional freedom of speech and belief; all those who believe in freedom for all political prisoners; all those who want commutation of Habib's execution sentence and freedom of his family members and other Sanandaj arrestees; and all those who protest against the Islamic Republic's crimes, executions, and suppression; to protest with all of your power in Sanandaj, in Kurdistan, in Iran, and all over the world against these atrocities committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the people of Iran.
Here is what you can do: Come out and demonstrate in different countries, sign petitions, send protest letters [for example, to your governmental representatives or the UN], gather in front of Sanandaj prison where they are holding Habibollah Latifi, write graffiti in the cities of Kurdistan and other cities of Iran, go on the rooftops at nighttime and shout, "FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS!", and by all other possible means.
Habib's execution sentence should be overturned. Habib, his family members, and all Sanandaj arrestees should be freed immediately and unconditionally. All execution sentences should be cancelled, and all political prisoners should be freed immediately and unconditionally.
The week of protest
December 27, 2010 to January 3, 2011
* In protest against the sentence of execution of Habib Latifi
* For freedom of his family and all other arrestees in the city of Sanandaj
* For the release of all political prisoners
* For abolishment of capital punishment in Iran
* and in protest to the outragous execution of Ali Saremi and Ali Akbar Siadat who were executed by the Islamic murderers on December 28, 2010.
The demonstrations below have been organised by political activists and organisations. The International Committee Against Execution (ICAE) calls upon all people to participate in these actions.
List of Demonstrations
Confirmed cities as of 27 December 2010
AUSTRIA
Vienna: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
BELGIUM
Brussels: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
CANADA
Ottawa: Monday January 3 – 1-3PM in front of the IRI embassy (245 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 2K2)
Vancouver, BC: Tuesday December 28 - 2PM Amnesty International 319- Pender st. ( between Homer& Hamilton)
DENMARK
Copenhagen: Wednesday December 29, 3-4PM in front of IRI embassy
FRANCE
Paris: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy, Trocadéro square
GERMANY
Berlin: Tuesday December 28 – 3PM in front of the IRI embassy
Cologne: Thursday December 30, 2-3PM, Domplate
Frankfurt: Tuesday December 28 – 2PM in front of the IRI Consulate
Hamburg: Wednesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI Consulate
ITALY
Rome: Tuesday December 28, 4PM
Ambasciata Rep.Islamica Dell'Iran - Sezione Consolare Via Nomentana, 363, 00162 Roma
NETHERLANDS
The Hague: Tuesday December 28, 3PM, in front of the Foreign Ministry
NORWAY
Oslo: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: Tuesday December 28 – 1PM, in front of GP
Gothenburg: Wednesday December 29, 3-4PM, in Brunnsparken in front of Femman House
UK
London: Tuesday December 28, 2-4 PM in front of the IRI embassy
16 Prince´s Gate, London SW7 1PT
USA
Allentown, PA: Tuesday December 28 - 2PM in front of Edward N. Cahn Federal Courthouse, 504 Hamilton Street
Los Angeles: Tuesday December 28 – 6-8PM in front of the Federal building
Monday, December 27, 2010
Mina Ahadi
International Committee against Execution
International Committee against Stoning
Email: minaahadi@aol.com
Tel: 0049 (0) 1775692413
http://notonemoreexecution.org
http://stopstonningnow.com/wpress/
Translation: Soheila Nikpour
Here is what you can do: Come out and demonstrate in different countries, sign petitions, send protest letters [for example, to your governmental representatives or the UN], gather in front of Sanandaj prison where they are holding Habibollah Latifi, write graffiti in the cities of Kurdistan and other cities of Iran, go on the rooftops at nighttime and shout, "FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS!", and by all other possible means.
Habib's execution sentence should be overturned. Habib, his family members, and all Sanandaj arrestees should be freed immediately and unconditionally. All execution sentences should be cancelled, and all political prisoners should be freed immediately and unconditionally.
The week of protest
December 27, 2010 to January 3, 2011
* In protest against the sentence of execution of Habib Latifi
* For freedom of his family and all other arrestees in the city of Sanandaj
* For the release of all political prisoners
* For abolishment of capital punishment in Iran
* and in protest to the outragous execution of Ali Saremi and Ali Akbar Siadat who were executed by the Islamic murderers on December 28, 2010.
The demonstrations below have been organised by political activists and organisations. The International Committee Against Execution (ICAE) calls upon all people to participate in these actions.
List of Demonstrations
Confirmed cities as of 27 December 2010
AUSTRIA
Vienna: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
BELGIUM
Brussels: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
CANADA
Ottawa: Monday January 3 – 1-3PM in front of the IRI embassy (245 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 2K2)
Vancouver, BC: Tuesday December 28 - 2PM Amnesty International 319- Pender st. ( between Homer& Hamilton)
DENMARK
Copenhagen: Wednesday December 29, 3-4PM in front of IRI embassy
FRANCE
Paris: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy, Trocadéro square
GERMANY
Berlin: Tuesday December 28 – 3PM in front of the IRI embassy
Cologne: Thursday December 30, 2-3PM, Domplate
Frankfurt: Tuesday December 28 – 2PM in front of the IRI Consulate
Hamburg: Wednesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI Consulate
ITALY
Rome: Tuesday December 28, 4PM
Ambasciata Rep.Islamica Dell'Iran - Sezione Consolare Via Nomentana, 363, 00162 Roma
NETHERLANDS
The Hague: Tuesday December 28, 3PM, in front of the Foreign Ministry
NORWAY
Oslo: Tuesday December 28 – 4PM in front of the IRI embassy
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: Tuesday December 28 – 1PM, in front of GP
Gothenburg: Wednesday December 29, 3-4PM, in Brunnsparken in front of Femman House
UK
London: Tuesday December 28, 2-4 PM in front of the IRI embassy
16 Prince´s Gate, London SW7 1PT
USA
Allentown, PA: Tuesday December 28 - 2PM in front of Edward N. Cahn Federal Courthouse, 504 Hamilton Street
Los Angeles: Tuesday December 28 – 6-8PM in front of the Federal building
Monday, December 27, 2010
Mina Ahadi
International Committee against Execution
International Committee against Stoning
Email: minaahadi@aol.com
Tel: 0049 (0) 1775692413
http://notonemoreexecution.org
http://stopstonningnow.com/wpress/
Translation: Soheila Nikpour
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Islamic Judiciary Apparatus Prepares to Stone a Man and a Woman in Orumiya
December 23, 2010
Once again, the judicial murder apparatus of the Islamic Republic is preparing to stone a woman and a man to death.
According to the news disseminated by HRANA, Sarieh (Sarimeh) Ebaadi, 31 years old and mother of two, and Vali (Bou-Ali) Jaanfeshaani, 35 years old and father of one, are about to be stoned to death in Orumiya. The two have been imprisoned for the past two years, and have been handed down stoning sentences by the judiciary system on three different occasions.
Sarieh (Sarimeh) Ebaadi and Vali (Bou-Ali) Jaanfeshaani were arrested two years ago, were charged with adultery, and in less than 3 months, the Ordinary Court of Orumiya (Branch 3 of Western Azerbaijan court) handed down their stoning sentences. This sentence was then confirmed on January 6, 2010 by branch 12 of the Review Court of Western Azerbaijan. On August 28, 2010, the Supreme Court first upheld the verdict, but later found the case not to be based on good law and referred the judicial decision to another branch in Orumiya court. This branch upheld the stoning sentence on December 12, 2010. This inhumane, hideous sentence has been handed down despite the fact that the accused were prevented from choosing their lawyer and had not been given a chance to defend themselves in any part of the legal procedure.
The vast and intensive protests of people and general opinion across the world against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s stoning sentence, and against stoning in general, had forced the Islamic Republic to deny [the existence of] these sentences and their implementation, but the Islamic Republic depends on these crimes for its survival.
A regime that stones, that imprisons pregnant women and sentences them to stoning, execution, lashes and torture, should not be recognized by anyone, anywhere [as a legitimate government]. Officials of such a regime should not have a place in international organizations. They should instead be prosecuted and punished for 32 years of murder, torture, execution, stoning and lashing, for crimes against humanity.
The International Committees against Stoning and Execution call on all organizations, institutions, mass media and honourable, humanitarian people of the world to decisively protest against these heinous crimes of the Islamic Republic, and show the Islamic Republic that these crimes outrage the people of the world and will bring about their vast protests.
International Committee against Stoning
International Committee against Execution
Once again, the judicial murder apparatus of the Islamic Republic is preparing to stone a woman and a man to death.
According to the news disseminated by HRANA, Sarieh (Sarimeh) Ebaadi, 31 years old and mother of two, and Vali (Bou-Ali) Jaanfeshaani, 35 years old and father of one, are about to be stoned to death in Orumiya. The two have been imprisoned for the past two years, and have been handed down stoning sentences by the judiciary system on three different occasions.
Sarieh (Sarimeh) Ebaadi and Vali (Bou-Ali) Jaanfeshaani were arrested two years ago, were charged with adultery, and in less than 3 months, the Ordinary Court of Orumiya (Branch 3 of Western Azerbaijan court) handed down their stoning sentences. This sentence was then confirmed on January 6, 2010 by branch 12 of the Review Court of Western Azerbaijan. On August 28, 2010, the Supreme Court first upheld the verdict, but later found the case not to be based on good law and referred the judicial decision to another branch in Orumiya court. This branch upheld the stoning sentence on December 12, 2010. This inhumane, hideous sentence has been handed down despite the fact that the accused were prevented from choosing their lawyer and had not been given a chance to defend themselves in any part of the legal procedure.
The vast and intensive protests of people and general opinion across the world against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s stoning sentence, and against stoning in general, had forced the Islamic Republic to deny [the existence of] these sentences and their implementation, but the Islamic Republic depends on these crimes for its survival.
A regime that stones, that imprisons pregnant women and sentences them to stoning, execution, lashes and torture, should not be recognized by anyone, anywhere [as a legitimate government]. Officials of such a regime should not have a place in international organizations. They should instead be prosecuted and punished for 32 years of murder, torture, execution, stoning and lashing, for crimes against humanity.
The International Committees against Stoning and Execution call on all organizations, institutions, mass media and honourable, humanitarian people of the world to decisively protest against these heinous crimes of the Islamic Republic, and show the Islamic Republic that these crimes outrage the people of the world and will bring about their vast protests.
International Committee against Stoning
International Committee against Execution
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Iran Withholds Medical Treatment as Form of Torture; Political Prisoners Face Deadly Conditions
ICAE Press Release:
A large and growing number of political prisoners in Iran face a deadly form of torture under the Islamic Republic regime: the withholding of medical treatment for serious health conditions. The International Committee against Execution calls for international pressure be exerted to pressure the Islamic Republic to release all political prisoners and allow an international delegation to assess the conditions in Iran’s prisons.
Reza Sharifi Bookani is emblematic of this burgeoning crisis. Bookani is a political prisoner in Iran who is under sentence of death as a result of his efforts to work towards human rights in Iran. In addition to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, the Islamic Republic is, as a form of torture, intentionally refusing to treat his severe respiratory problems.
On December 22, 2010, Bookani transmitted a message from prison to the outside world:
“Today, Wednesday, I informed the head of the medical center in prison of difficulties I have in breathing and that I cannot breath normally and am unable to tolerate this anymore. I told him, 'If you want me to die, say it, and say it frankly. I need antibiotics and a respiratory machine to help me breath. I need surgery. Either provide me with medicine and some medical treatment here or allow me to get it from outside the prison.' And their response is only silence. Not even aspirin or penicillin is available. As of now, many of the prisoners in Rajaei Shahr prison are suffering from influenza but no medicine is available to treat them. This is our condition in prison.“
Reza Sharifi Bookani, along with Hamed Rouhinejad, Mansour Osanlou, Ahmad Zeidabadi, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Ali Saremi, Abolfazi Abedini, Kouhyar Goudarzi, and many other political prisoners are all suffering from severe and agonizing morbidities for which the Islamic regime is intentionally withholding treatment as a form of torture.
The International Committee Against Execution asks all concerned individuals to contact the UN, the European Parliament, and national governments and demand that international pressure be exerted with the goal of pressuring the Islamic Republic to release all political prisoners and allow an international delegation to visit and assess the conditions in Iran’s prisons, specifically Rajaei Shahr prison.
International Committee against Execution
Spokes person: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com
0049-(0) 177 569 2413
A large and growing number of political prisoners in Iran face a deadly form of torture under the Islamic Republic regime: the withholding of medical treatment for serious health conditions. The International Committee against Execution calls for international pressure be exerted to pressure the Islamic Republic to release all political prisoners and allow an international delegation to assess the conditions in Iran’s prisons.
Reza Sharifi Bookani is emblematic of this burgeoning crisis. Bookani is a political prisoner in Iran who is under sentence of death as a result of his efforts to work towards human rights in Iran. In addition to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, the Islamic Republic is, as a form of torture, intentionally refusing to treat his severe respiratory problems.
On December 22, 2010, Bookani transmitted a message from prison to the outside world:
“Today, Wednesday, I informed the head of the medical center in prison of difficulties I have in breathing and that I cannot breath normally and am unable to tolerate this anymore. I told him, 'If you want me to die, say it, and say it frankly. I need antibiotics and a respiratory machine to help me breath. I need surgery. Either provide me with medicine and some medical treatment here or allow me to get it from outside the prison.' And their response is only silence. Not even aspirin or penicillin is available. As of now, many of the prisoners in Rajaei Shahr prison are suffering from influenza but no medicine is available to treat them. This is our condition in prison.“
Reza Sharifi Bookani, along with Hamed Rouhinejad, Mansour Osanlou, Ahmad Zeidabadi, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Ali Saremi, Abolfazi Abedini, Kouhyar Goudarzi, and many other political prisoners are all suffering from severe and agonizing morbidities for which the Islamic regime is intentionally withholding treatment as a form of torture.
The International Committee Against Execution asks all concerned individuals to contact the UN, the European Parliament, and national governments and demand that international pressure be exerted with the goal of pressuring the Islamic Republic to release all political prisoners and allow an international delegation to visit and assess the conditions in Iran’s prisons, specifically Rajaei Shahr prison.
International Committee against Execution
Spokes person: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com
0049-(0) 177 569 2413
Friday, December 24, 2010
Regarding Reza Sharifi Bookani and other Political Prisoners in Iran
December 22, 2010
TO ALL THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
The International Committee Against Execution would like to draw your attention to the condition of Reza Sharifi, a political prisoner in Iran. Reza has been sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite his health condition - severe respiratory problems - not only is he being deprived of basic medical treatment, but he is also being detained under inhumane conditions in Rajaei Shahr prison.
The following is what Reza Sharifi Bookani said about his condition, communicated from prison on December 22, 2010:
“Today, Wednesday, I checked in with the head of the medical center in prison and informed him of difficulties I have in breathing and that I cannot breath normally and am unable to tolerate this anymore. I told him, 'If you want me to die, say it, and say it frankly. I need antibiotics and a respiratory machine to help me breath. I need surgery. Either provide me with medicine and some medical treatment here or allow me to get it from outside the prison.' And their response is only silence. Not even aspirin or penicillin is available. As of now, many of the prisoners in Rajaei Shahr prison are suffering from influenza but no medicine is available to treat them. This is our condition in prison. “
Reza has respiratory disease, and the prison guards, instead of providing him with medical treatments, have imprisoned him along with five other prisoners who are also sentenced to death or life in prison, including Ali Saremi, Khaled Hardani and Saeed Masoori. They have been in prison for many years and were recently left in the prison’s hallways for days. After these prisoners threatened the guards that they would go on hunger strike, they were transferred to two rooms that are in fact solitary confinement cells but now house six prisoners.
Reza’s condition is an indication of the condition of many others whose lives are in grave danger in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran -- and their numbers are increasing on a daily basis. The world must stand in defense of Iran’s political prisoners and fight against the criminals who are now ruling Iran.
The International Committee Against Execution asks all of you who oppose the death penalty, are against torture and execution, are defenders of freedom of expression and opinion, as well as all of the human rights organizations around the world, to defend Iran’s political prisoners, to help end the death penalty and torture, and in particular to ask for the immediate release of Reza Sharifi Bookani, Saeed Masoori and Ali Saremi. Please spread the news about their condition, and put pressure on international organizations to press the Islamic Republic to release all of the political prisoners and allow an international delegation to visit Iran’s prisons, specifically Rajaei Shahr prison.
International Committee Against Execution
Translated by K. Montazemi
TO ALL THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
The International Committee Against Execution would like to draw your attention to the condition of Reza Sharifi, a political prisoner in Iran. Reza has been sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite his health condition - severe respiratory problems - not only is he being deprived of basic medical treatment, but he is also being detained under inhumane conditions in Rajaei Shahr prison.
The following is what Reza Sharifi Bookani said about his condition, communicated from prison on December 22, 2010:
“Today, Wednesday, I checked in with the head of the medical center in prison and informed him of difficulties I have in breathing and that I cannot breath normally and am unable to tolerate this anymore. I told him, 'If you want me to die, say it, and say it frankly. I need antibiotics and a respiratory machine to help me breath. I need surgery. Either provide me with medicine and some medical treatment here or allow me to get it from outside the prison.' And their response is only silence. Not even aspirin or penicillin is available. As of now, many of the prisoners in Rajaei Shahr prison are suffering from influenza but no medicine is available to treat them. This is our condition in prison. “
Reza has respiratory disease, and the prison guards, instead of providing him with medical treatments, have imprisoned him along with five other prisoners who are also sentenced to death or life in prison, including Ali Saremi, Khaled Hardani and Saeed Masoori. They have been in prison for many years and were recently left in the prison’s hallways for days. After these prisoners threatened the guards that they would go on hunger strike, they were transferred to two rooms that are in fact solitary confinement cells but now house six prisoners.
Reza’s condition is an indication of the condition of many others whose lives are in grave danger in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran -- and their numbers are increasing on a daily basis. The world must stand in defense of Iran’s political prisoners and fight against the criminals who are now ruling Iran.
The International Committee Against Execution asks all of you who oppose the death penalty, are against torture and execution, are defenders of freedom of expression and opinion, as well as all of the human rights organizations around the world, to defend Iran’s political prisoners, to help end the death penalty and torture, and in particular to ask for the immediate release of Reza Sharifi Bookani, Saeed Masoori and Ali Saremi. Please spread the news about their condition, and put pressure on international organizations to press the Islamic Republic to release all of the political prisoners and allow an international delegation to visit Iran’s prisons, specifically Rajaei Shahr prison.
International Committee Against Execution
Translated by K. Montazemi
The Islamic Republic is preparing to kill political prisoner Habibollah Latifi in Sanandaj Prison
December 24, 2010
The Islamic Republic has informed Habibollah Latifi’s lawyer that his execution sentence will be served on Sunday December 26. Habibollah too has been informed and moved to solitary confinement.
Agents of the Islamic Republic arrested Habibollah on October 23, 2007, and charged him with “moharebeh” and “apostasy,” and, in a hearing that lasted only a few minutes, sentenced him to death. Habibollah is 29 years old, and in the past three years has been under tremendous physical and psychological pressure, as well as all kinds of torture.
The Islamic Republic is a killing apparatus, and it now wants to take Habibollah to the gallows.
The International Committee against Execution, in these last hours left until Habibollah’s execution, calls on everyone to protest this sentence. We ask the Iranian people, and especially people of Sanandaj, to protest in every way possible to prevent Habibollah’s execution. We call on people across the world to protest against this savagery of the Islamic Republic: spread the news, and wherever possible, demonstrate in protest on Saturday, December 25th, and ask the governments to put pressure on the Islamic regime and stop this execution.
International Committee against Execution
International Committee Against Stoning
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com
0049-177-569-2413
The Islamic Republic has informed Habibollah Latifi’s lawyer that his execution sentence will be served on Sunday December 26. Habibollah too has been informed and moved to solitary confinement.
Agents of the Islamic Republic arrested Habibollah on October 23, 2007, and charged him with “moharebeh” and “apostasy,” and, in a hearing that lasted only a few minutes, sentenced him to death. Habibollah is 29 years old, and in the past three years has been under tremendous physical and psychological pressure, as well as all kinds of torture.
The Islamic Republic is a killing apparatus, and it now wants to take Habibollah to the gallows.
The International Committee against Execution, in these last hours left until Habibollah’s execution, calls on everyone to protest this sentence. We ask the Iranian people, and especially people of Sanandaj, to protest in every way possible to prevent Habibollah’s execution. We call on people across the world to protest against this savagery of the Islamic Republic: spread the news, and wherever possible, demonstrate in protest on Saturday, December 25th, and ask the governments to put pressure on the Islamic regime and stop this execution.
International Committee against Execution
International Committee Against Stoning
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com
0049-177-569-2413
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Every penny counts in fight against Sharia and religious laws
* Violations of children’s and women’s rights
* Decriminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape
* Breach of the Human Rights Act and public policy
Dear friend
These are just a few examples of what is wrong with Sharia courts in Britain and elsewhere.
As you know, One Law for All is the only organisation focusing solely on challenging these medieval laws from a human rights perspective. Our campaign provides the only real alternative for decent people everywhere to stand up and be counted. And whilst a major focus of our work is to insist on equal rights, our campaign is fundamentally about the hope and demand for a society - and world - worthy of people in the 21st century.
Since our establishment in December 2008 and with your support, we have published a number of reports, been up and down the country speaking to the public on the need to stand up to Sharia and religious laws, held seminars, rallies and conferences, joined various debates, organised a free helpline, raised awareness via the arts, and advocated on behalf of those in need of assistance…
As one of our supporters has said, “it is this type of dedicated work that changes attitudes and lives.”
Given the importance of our work, we find it hard to believe how regularly requests for funding are rejected outright by foundations for being “too controversial.” More recently, funding has been refused for our bringing an amendment to the Arbitration Act, which can help to prohibit religious courts in family and civil matters as was done successfully in Ontario, Canada, outreach to MPs and Peers and for conferences and seminars, amongst other activities.
We must, therefore, continue to rely on you to help us get the job done. And I’m sure you will agree that it is a job worth doing and seeing through.
Whilst wishing you a wonderful holiday and New Year, we ask for your ongoing support in determining a different and brighter future.
Any donation, whatever you can give, will truly help.
Every penny counts.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest wishes
Maryam
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
NOTES:
1. To donate to the crucial work of One Law for All, please either send a cheque made payable to One Law for All to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK or pay via Paypal.
We need regular support that we can rely on and are asking for supporters to commit to giving at least £5-10 a month via direct debit. You can find out more about how to join the 100 Club here.
2. Find out more about our most recent activities here:
* November art exhibition.
* December conference on Apostasy and Sharia Law
* Recent media coverage including a debate at BBC Radio 3’s Freethinking Festival.
* Updated Resources
* Letter by Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the decriminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape
4. Our next event is an evening seminar on 26 January entitled Enemies not Allies. The seminar will expose far-right and racist organisations hijacking the issue of Sharia law to promote their racist and anti-immigrant policies and the European left’s appeasement of Islamism at the expense of people’s rights and lives. Confirmed speakers at the event are: John Adams (Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire), Adam Barnett (One Law for All), Rahila Gupta (Women’s Rights Campaigner), Marieme Helie Lucas (Secularism is a Women’s Issue), Douglas Murray (Centre for Social Cohesion), Maryam Namazie (One Law for All), Shiraz Maher (International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation) and Talal Rajib (Quilliam Foundation). A report on the issue will also be published on the day. For more information and to register, click here.
5. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable. To join the campaign, sign our petition here.
6. For further information contact:
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
One Law for All
BM Box 2387
London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
onelawforall@gmail.com
www.onelawforall.org.uk
* Decriminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape
* Breach of the Human Rights Act and public policy
Dear friend
These are just a few examples of what is wrong with Sharia courts in Britain and elsewhere.
As you know, One Law for All is the only organisation focusing solely on challenging these medieval laws from a human rights perspective. Our campaign provides the only real alternative for decent people everywhere to stand up and be counted. And whilst a major focus of our work is to insist on equal rights, our campaign is fundamentally about the hope and demand for a society - and world - worthy of people in the 21st century.
Since our establishment in December 2008 and with your support, we have published a number of reports, been up and down the country speaking to the public on the need to stand up to Sharia and religious laws, held seminars, rallies and conferences, joined various debates, organised a free helpline, raised awareness via the arts, and advocated on behalf of those in need of assistance…
As one of our supporters has said, “it is this type of dedicated work that changes attitudes and lives.”
Given the importance of our work, we find it hard to believe how regularly requests for funding are rejected outright by foundations for being “too controversial.” More recently, funding has been refused for our bringing an amendment to the Arbitration Act, which can help to prohibit religious courts in family and civil matters as was done successfully in Ontario, Canada, outreach to MPs and Peers and for conferences and seminars, amongst other activities.
We must, therefore, continue to rely on you to help us get the job done. And I’m sure you will agree that it is a job worth doing and seeing through.
Whilst wishing you a wonderful holiday and New Year, we ask for your ongoing support in determining a different and brighter future.
Any donation, whatever you can give, will truly help.
Every penny counts.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest wishes
Maryam
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
NOTES:
1. To donate to the crucial work of One Law for All, please either send a cheque made payable to One Law for All to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK or pay via Paypal.
We need regular support that we can rely on and are asking for supporters to commit to giving at least £5-10 a month via direct debit. You can find out more about how to join the 100 Club here.
2. Find out more about our most recent activities here:
* November art exhibition.
* December conference on Apostasy and Sharia Law
* Recent media coverage including a debate at BBC Radio 3’s Freethinking Festival.
* Updated Resources
* Letter by Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the decriminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape
4. Our next event is an evening seminar on 26 January entitled Enemies not Allies. The seminar will expose far-right and racist organisations hijacking the issue of Sharia law to promote their racist and anti-immigrant policies and the European left’s appeasement of Islamism at the expense of people’s rights and lives. Confirmed speakers at the event are: John Adams (Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire), Adam Barnett (One Law for All), Rahila Gupta (Women’s Rights Campaigner), Marieme Helie Lucas (Secularism is a Women’s Issue), Douglas Murray (Centre for Social Cohesion), Maryam Namazie (One Law for All), Shiraz Maher (International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation) and Talal Rajib (Quilliam Foundation). A report on the issue will also be published on the day. For more information and to register, click here.
5. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable. To join the campaign, sign our petition here.
6. For further information contact:
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
One Law for All
BM Box 2387
London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
onelawforall@gmail.com
www.onelawforall.org.uk
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Press TV’s Broadcast Is An Indictment of The Islamic Republic!
PR No. 111
10 October 2010
Press TV, an English-language television station sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, broadcast a show about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani on December 10, 2010. This broadcast is a document that, for any fair and decent human being, and any organization or institution that respects the human right and dignity,serves as the basis for a clear condemnation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a document that demonstrates how morally bankrupt and desperate this regime’s propagandas have become as it attempts to defend its crimes in front of the rest of the world.
It was a show against a woman who is in prison and who was supposed to be stoned to death – a stoning execution that was stopped by international outrage and support – and who still is facing death by hanging execution. She is a woman who is deprived of any contact or communication with the world outside of prison, whose son and attorney are being held in prison, who does not have any support close at hand, and who, under these circumstances has been forced to appear in front of television cameras to make self-incriminating false confessions. Who can possibly watch this show and not see the Islamic Republic regime’s mocking and duplicitous intent, not feel disgusted and angry?
Judicial experts, the Department of Intelligence, and regime diplomats, along with the managers and producers of Press TV, have worked for months on this project. They have worked to “prove” that Sakineh is an accomplice to a murder, a prostitute who cheated on her husband; to introduce Mina Ahadi and her late husband as traitors and terrorists; to discredit Sakineh’s attorneys and question the validity of their arguments – all in an attempt to buy prestige and justify their own disgraced and deeply discredited judicial system. In fact, with this program, the Islamic Republic of Iran has bluntly confessed to its fabrication of files against defenseless prisoners, on which basis it executes and stones them. It showed how it denies basic rights for women, and how its repulsive and rotten laws work against them. It displayed its inhumane treatment of prisoners. This document was an indictment against this regime.
There was another 90-minute program that was broadcast in the Islamic Republic's Persian-language television the night before it was broadcast on Press TV – another desperate effort by the regime.
There are several important aspects of Press TV show:
1 – The show was a confession to a horrifying crime committed by the regime in 1980s. The Islamic Republic admitted that it executed Esmail Yegane-doost, Mina Ahadi’s husband. During those years, the Islamic Republic not only arrested Esmail, but also arrested hundreds of thousands of its opponents. Tens of thousands of them were tortured in medieval fashion or “tried” in minute courts.(1) From pregnant women to teenagers of ages 14 or 15, they were executed by the death squads, which even had the audacity to ask the [bereaved] families for the money the government spent on the bullets that killed their loved ones. They had neither lawyers nor did they commit a crime. The Islamic Republic charged them as terrorists and enemies of God and handed them to the death squads. As a result, Mina Ahadi and hundreds of thousands of others fled the country or took refuge in free zones in Kurdistan to continue their fight against this regime.
2 – The Islamic government has admitted that Sakineh does not have a lawyer. One of her lawyers fled the country and her other lawyer is now in prison. And while she is denied any contact with the outside world, her only great supporter, her son, is now in prison too. It demonstrated how the regime stole her file to manipulate and fabricate it to their liking, and under such circumstances forced her to confess against her will. This show tries to portray Sakineh as a cheater, a prostitute, and an accomplice to the murder of her husband, without allowing her to have any legal defense. Her son Sajjad, her lawyer Houtan Kian, and the two German reporters from das Bild newspaper also lack a lawyer to legally represent or defend them.
3 – The re-creation of the murder scene is so lame it would make an even a 10-year-old laugh. [In the show], a man named Issa Taheri calls Sakineh at home and says that he wants to come by today to kill her husband. He explains the whole murder plan over the phone and then, with Sakineh’s help, the plan is executed. The show makes no reference to the fate of the main killer, Issa Taheri.(2)
4 – As part of recreating the murder scene, Sajjad [Sakineh’s son] is forced to play the role of his deceased father; [thus, in recreating the scene, his own mother] is made to inject her son with anesthetics which, according to [the lines Sakineh is forced to mouth], is what Issa Taheri provided her. Only the regime’s criminals are capable of devising a scene so inhumane and disgusting. These scenes have been developed and produced to appeal to a European audience. We can only imagine that what this government is doing with other prisoners!
5 – The following are what constitute crimes according to the Islamic judicial system:
Sakineh’s crime: Being a woman, having an extramarital affair or relationship with another man and betraying her husband, which, in and of itself is considered prostitution, for which she was sentenced to 99 lashes and ten years in prison and then sentenced to the most heinous torture: death by stoning and being buried alive. Later, due to global pressures, when the regime could not carry out the stoning sentence [for the non-crime of adultery], they decided to steal her file from her lawyer’s office in order to fabricate evidence so they could press charges against her as an accomplice to her husband’s murder, [thus opening the door to] sentencing her to death by hanging. Their act constitutes clear evidence on how defenseless women are [before the judiciary], and how retrogressive and anti-human the rule of law is [under the Islamic Republic].
Sajjad’s crime: Contacting and communicating with Mina Ahadi, getting a lawyer to help his mother, and trying to save his mother from being stoned to death or executed by hanging.
Houtan’s crime: Making Sakineh’s file available to the media to save her from being stoned to death. His crime has made it very difficult for Islamic Republic to alter Sakineh’s file any further.
The visages of both Sajjad and Houtan convey evidence that both have been subjected to extreme mental pressure and physical torture in prison.
The two German journalists’ crimes: As tourists, traveling to Iran and talking with Sajjad and Houtan to help free Sakineh. Some officials from the regime accused them of spying but were forced to redact. Since their “crime” is contacting Mina Ahadi, Sajjad and Houtan, these two reporters are no longer allowed to contact anybody, not even their family members. They have been denied visitation rights and, for having committed their “crime,” they have been forced to make false televised confessions, have been humiliated, and have been held in prison without any official charges brought against them.
6 – Finally, this show is a confession of the fact that Press TV is not independent media but an advertising agency and mouthpiece for the regime’s propaganda, specifically its judiciary system and its intelligence service. Press TV is partner in crime with all of these agencies and is complicit in all of the crimes committed by them. This state sponsored television station’s reporters are in fact interrogators for the [judiciary] system, much like all of the Islamic Republic’s other television channels.
Considering the aforementioned facts:
1 – The International Committees Against Stoning and Execution strongly condemn this program and encourages everyone to condemn it.
2 – The Press TV show was intended to work against Sakineh, Sajjad, Sakineh’s lawyer, Mina Ahadi, the Campaign to Save Sakineh, and the media that has covered this campaign. However, not only did this show fail to achieve its goal, but it revealed the true inhumane face of the Islamic Republic of Iran to people around the globe, in even greater detail than before. The Islamic Republic of Iran did not accomplish anything [to its benefit] by this show irrespective of all of the efforts it made.
3 – The Press TV show provides a clear indication of the complete innocence of Sajjad, Houtan, and the two German journalists, and the baseless case against Sakineh. Even by relying on the evidence presented in this show, and all the allegations against them, all five of them are innocent and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
4 – According to this program, those who killed Esmail Yeganeh-Doost and thousands of other political prisoners are the same ones responsible for Sakineh’s imprisonment, flogging, and the nightmare of death by stoning. They are also responsible for the imprisonment and torture of Sajjad and Houtan, and for the abuse and imprisonment of the two German journalists. These killers must be tried and held accountable.
5 – Once again, this show reveals the inhumane nature of the Islamic Republic’s judicial system to everyone. The Islamic Republic, over its 31-year-long rule, and based on such a system, has imprisoned and/or executed tens of thousands of people, and brutally tortured hundreds of thousands others. It is based on this system that a large number of opposition activists, labor and student activists, women's rights advocates, lawyers, and believers of different religions, are put in jail, tortured, and deprived of any rights. The Press TV program is an absolute proof of the necessity of overthrowing the Islamic Republic as a terrorist and criminal government.
The International Committees against Stoning and Execution and the Campaign to Save Sakineh will continue the fight with strength and full force. The Press TV television show is a document against the scandalous regime in Iran which will be used, ever so widely, to strengthen our efforts to save Sakineh and all other detainees, and to abolish the brutal penalties of flogging, stoning to death, and executions. We call on the people of the world to join in solidarity with the Iranian people in their struggle against this medieval regime.
International Committee against Executions
International Committee against Stoning
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com 0049-177-569-2413
(1) “Minute courts” refer to perfunctory judiciary proceedings that are meant to serve as a “trial,” but in fact make a mockery of a legitimate court hearing, most obviously evidence by the fact that the proceedings last no more than a minute or two.
(2) Issa Taheri, who was convicted for the murder of Sakineh’s husband, is living free because Sakineh’s children forgave him for the crime of murdering their father.
10 October 2010
Press TV, an English-language television station sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, broadcast a show about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani on December 10, 2010. This broadcast is a document that, for any fair and decent human being, and any organization or institution that respects the human right and dignity,serves as the basis for a clear condemnation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a document that demonstrates how morally bankrupt and desperate this regime’s propagandas have become as it attempts to defend its crimes in front of the rest of the world.
It was a show against a woman who is in prison and who was supposed to be stoned to death – a stoning execution that was stopped by international outrage and support – and who still is facing death by hanging execution. She is a woman who is deprived of any contact or communication with the world outside of prison, whose son and attorney are being held in prison, who does not have any support close at hand, and who, under these circumstances has been forced to appear in front of television cameras to make self-incriminating false confessions. Who can possibly watch this show and not see the Islamic Republic regime’s mocking and duplicitous intent, not feel disgusted and angry?
Judicial experts, the Department of Intelligence, and regime diplomats, along with the managers and producers of Press TV, have worked for months on this project. They have worked to “prove” that Sakineh is an accomplice to a murder, a prostitute who cheated on her husband; to introduce Mina Ahadi and her late husband as traitors and terrorists; to discredit Sakineh’s attorneys and question the validity of their arguments – all in an attempt to buy prestige and justify their own disgraced and deeply discredited judicial system. In fact, with this program, the Islamic Republic of Iran has bluntly confessed to its fabrication of files against defenseless prisoners, on which basis it executes and stones them. It showed how it denies basic rights for women, and how its repulsive and rotten laws work against them. It displayed its inhumane treatment of prisoners. This document was an indictment against this regime.
There was another 90-minute program that was broadcast in the Islamic Republic's Persian-language television the night before it was broadcast on Press TV – another desperate effort by the regime.
There are several important aspects of Press TV show:
1 – The show was a confession to a horrifying crime committed by the regime in 1980s. The Islamic Republic admitted that it executed Esmail Yegane-doost, Mina Ahadi’s husband. During those years, the Islamic Republic not only arrested Esmail, but also arrested hundreds of thousands of its opponents. Tens of thousands of them were tortured in medieval fashion or “tried” in minute courts.(1) From pregnant women to teenagers of ages 14 or 15, they were executed by the death squads, which even had the audacity to ask the [bereaved] families for the money the government spent on the bullets that killed their loved ones. They had neither lawyers nor did they commit a crime. The Islamic Republic charged them as terrorists and enemies of God and handed them to the death squads. As a result, Mina Ahadi and hundreds of thousands of others fled the country or took refuge in free zones in Kurdistan to continue their fight against this regime.
2 – The Islamic government has admitted that Sakineh does not have a lawyer. One of her lawyers fled the country and her other lawyer is now in prison. And while she is denied any contact with the outside world, her only great supporter, her son, is now in prison too. It demonstrated how the regime stole her file to manipulate and fabricate it to their liking, and under such circumstances forced her to confess against her will. This show tries to portray Sakineh as a cheater, a prostitute, and an accomplice to the murder of her husband, without allowing her to have any legal defense. Her son Sajjad, her lawyer Houtan Kian, and the two German reporters from das Bild newspaper also lack a lawyer to legally represent or defend them.
3 – The re-creation of the murder scene is so lame it would make an even a 10-year-old laugh. [In the show], a man named Issa Taheri calls Sakineh at home and says that he wants to come by today to kill her husband. He explains the whole murder plan over the phone and then, with Sakineh’s help, the plan is executed. The show makes no reference to the fate of the main killer, Issa Taheri.(2)
4 – As part of recreating the murder scene, Sajjad [Sakineh’s son] is forced to play the role of his deceased father; [thus, in recreating the scene, his own mother] is made to inject her son with anesthetics which, according to [the lines Sakineh is forced to mouth], is what Issa Taheri provided her. Only the regime’s criminals are capable of devising a scene so inhumane and disgusting. These scenes have been developed and produced to appeal to a European audience. We can only imagine that what this government is doing with other prisoners!
5 – The following are what constitute crimes according to the Islamic judicial system:
Sakineh’s crime: Being a woman, having an extramarital affair or relationship with another man and betraying her husband, which, in and of itself is considered prostitution, for which she was sentenced to 99 lashes and ten years in prison and then sentenced to the most heinous torture: death by stoning and being buried alive. Later, due to global pressures, when the regime could not carry out the stoning sentence [for the non-crime of adultery], they decided to steal her file from her lawyer’s office in order to fabricate evidence so they could press charges against her as an accomplice to her husband’s murder, [thus opening the door to] sentencing her to death by hanging. Their act constitutes clear evidence on how defenseless women are [before the judiciary], and how retrogressive and anti-human the rule of law is [under the Islamic Republic].
Sajjad’s crime: Contacting and communicating with Mina Ahadi, getting a lawyer to help his mother, and trying to save his mother from being stoned to death or executed by hanging.
Houtan’s crime: Making Sakineh’s file available to the media to save her from being stoned to death. His crime has made it very difficult for Islamic Republic to alter Sakineh’s file any further.
The visages of both Sajjad and Houtan convey evidence that both have been subjected to extreme mental pressure and physical torture in prison.
The two German journalists’ crimes: As tourists, traveling to Iran and talking with Sajjad and Houtan to help free Sakineh. Some officials from the regime accused them of spying but were forced to redact. Since their “crime” is contacting Mina Ahadi, Sajjad and Houtan, these two reporters are no longer allowed to contact anybody, not even their family members. They have been denied visitation rights and, for having committed their “crime,” they have been forced to make false televised confessions, have been humiliated, and have been held in prison without any official charges brought against them.
6 – Finally, this show is a confession of the fact that Press TV is not independent media but an advertising agency and mouthpiece for the regime’s propaganda, specifically its judiciary system and its intelligence service. Press TV is partner in crime with all of these agencies and is complicit in all of the crimes committed by them. This state sponsored television station’s reporters are in fact interrogators for the [judiciary] system, much like all of the Islamic Republic’s other television channels.
Considering the aforementioned facts:
1 – The International Committees Against Stoning and Execution strongly condemn this program and encourages everyone to condemn it.
2 – The Press TV show was intended to work against Sakineh, Sajjad, Sakineh’s lawyer, Mina Ahadi, the Campaign to Save Sakineh, and the media that has covered this campaign. However, not only did this show fail to achieve its goal, but it revealed the true inhumane face of the Islamic Republic of Iran to people around the globe, in even greater detail than before. The Islamic Republic of Iran did not accomplish anything [to its benefit] by this show irrespective of all of the efforts it made.
3 – The Press TV show provides a clear indication of the complete innocence of Sajjad, Houtan, and the two German journalists, and the baseless case against Sakineh. Even by relying on the evidence presented in this show, and all the allegations against them, all five of them are innocent and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
4 – According to this program, those who killed Esmail Yeganeh-Doost and thousands of other political prisoners are the same ones responsible for Sakineh’s imprisonment, flogging, and the nightmare of death by stoning. They are also responsible for the imprisonment and torture of Sajjad and Houtan, and for the abuse and imprisonment of the two German journalists. These killers must be tried and held accountable.
5 – Once again, this show reveals the inhumane nature of the Islamic Republic’s judicial system to everyone. The Islamic Republic, over its 31-year-long rule, and based on such a system, has imprisoned and/or executed tens of thousands of people, and brutally tortured hundreds of thousands others. It is based on this system that a large number of opposition activists, labor and student activists, women's rights advocates, lawyers, and believers of different religions, are put in jail, tortured, and deprived of any rights. The Press TV program is an absolute proof of the necessity of overthrowing the Islamic Republic as a terrorist and criminal government.
The International Committees against Stoning and Execution and the Campaign to Save Sakineh will continue the fight with strength and full force. The Press TV television show is a document against the scandalous regime in Iran which will be used, ever so widely, to strengthen our efforts to save Sakineh and all other detainees, and to abolish the brutal penalties of flogging, stoning to death, and executions. We call on the people of the world to join in solidarity with the Iranian people in their struggle against this medieval regime.
International Committee against Executions
International Committee against Stoning
Spokesperson: Mina Ahadi minaahadi@aol.com 0049-177-569-2413
(1) “Minute courts” refer to perfunctory judiciary proceedings that are meant to serve as a “trial,” but in fact make a mockery of a legitimate court hearing, most obviously evidence by the fact that the proceedings last no more than a minute or two.
(2) Issa Taheri, who was convicted for the murder of Sakineh’s husband, is living free because Sakineh’s children forgave him for the crime of murdering their father.
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