Mansoor Osanloo is free at last!

ITF Press Release

The ITF is delighted to announce that imprisoned trade unionist Mansour Osanloo was today freed from jail in Iran almost four years since his arrest and imprisonment, which set off a storm of international protest.

His release is conditional on his ‘good behaviour’ and the payment of a bond.

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has led demands for Mansour Osanloo’s release. ITF general secretary David Cockroft commented: “This is a great day for Mansour and his family – and for his fellow Vahed union members and those of us in the international trade union movement who are honoured to call him a friend. It’s doubly welcome given the deterioration in his health during his time behind bars.

“He is free because trade unionists worldwide demanded justice.”

He continued: “That bail has been set falls short of the full pardon we all wanted, and which the Iranian government promised, but for now we can just take a moment to savour his richly deserved return to his family.”

“But – and sadly even on a day as good as this one there has to be a but – there are other innocents in jail in Iran for the same ‘crime’ of wanting to join a trade union. They include Mansour’s colleagues, Reza Shahabi and Ebrahim Madadi. For all of them, and us, the fight is not over. As much as we welcome the Iranian government’s move and its finally listening to reason, we know we must renew our insistence that those other prisoners are set free and the threat of re-arrest lifted from Mansour, and then commit the ITF, our member unions and friends in the trade union and human rights movements to campaigning on their behalf.”

The Vahed Syndicate responded to the news by saying that they would like to thank everyone who has fought so hard for his release.

Mansour Osanloo was a bus driver and is the president and one of the founding members of the Vahed Syndicate, a free trade union representing Tehran's bus workers. From its beginnings in 2005 the ITF-affiliated union was subjected to heavy repression, including repeated attacks and arrests. Mansour Osanloo was heavily targeted. As well as being beaten up and having his tongue slit he was imprisoned in 2005 and 2006. Then in 2007, just one month after visiting the London head office of the ITF and meeting trade unionists in Brussels, he was arrested. Three months later he was sentenced to five years imprisonment on charges of ‘acting against national security’ and ‘propaganda against the state’; in 2010 another year was added to his sentence. In reality his only offence was to help found a genuinely democratic trade union.

For more details, including a film, press releases and history, please see www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/freeosanloo.cfm

Bahram Soroush protesting Islamic regime of Iran's presence at the ILO

See below photos and new coverage of Bahram Soroush, member of Worker-communist Party of Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland at the opening of the 100th ILO Conference on 1 June 2011, calling for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the ILO.



In the news
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Daylife
IndiaTimes

We don't want hijab and sexual apartheid at the Olympics!

See an article in Standpoint Magazine by Julie Bindel about the great Olympic cover up. It says:

Maryam Namazie, an Iranian feminist based in London, is a founder of One Law for All, a campaign against the use of Sharia in Britain. She is "appalled" at the non-application of Olympic Charter principles in relation to women. She argues that men-only delegations should be excluded and the IOC should not support the Iranian games devoted to Islamic women only. "Allowing women to be veiled and segregated at the Olympics is like telling black athletes to compete in a separate arena," she says. "Separate is nothing short of unequal and defeats the whole purpose of the Olympics."

Dublin to host first atheist conference

Here's an article in the Irish Times about the atheist conference I will be speaking at this Sunday.

Maryam will be speaking at European Atheist Conference in Dublin on 5 June

I'll be speaking on building secular coalitions in the morning and giving a keynote address from 12.30-1.15pm on Sunday 5 June at the European Atheist Conference in Dublin. For more information, click here.

Maryam Namazie speaking at Howthelightgetsin 2011 philosophy and music festival at Hay

Saturday 4 June 2011
10:30am
Venue: International Tent

Philosophy Session - The Scimitar's Edge
Lauren Booth, Iain Edgar, Maryam Namazie. Mary Ann Sieghart chairs.
Islam is the most widely discussed religion in the West. Is its 'success' due to its beliefs, its certainty or its function as a political force? AreIslamic values compatible with western liberalism and should we be weary of or embrace its influence?

Journalist, reality TV star and Muslim convert Lauren Booth, Islam scholar Iain Edgar and Director of the Ex-Muslim Council Maryam Namazie examine the reasons behind Islam's success.

Saturday 4 June 2011
2:00pm
Venue: Talk Tent

Philosophy Session - The Islamist Inquisition
Maryam Namazie
Iranian refugee, broadcaster and Director of the ex-Muslim Council, Maryam Namazie, examines how we are best able to deal with threat from radical Islamism in our globalised world.
'One of the most important feminists from the developing world' - Guardian

June speaking engagements

I'll be speaking on Sharia law and Islam in Hay on Wye, Dublin, Lymington, Genoa, and Newcastle in June, including at Howthelightgetsin Festival and European Atheist Conference. Join me if you can. Anne Marie Waters will also be speaking in Dublin on the blaspehmy laws.

By the way, One Law for All is holding a debate on Sharia law at the houses of parliament on 28 June.

See our website for more information on any of the above.

And they say only Islam is anti-woman...

A Jewish newspaper airbrushed Hillary Clinton from the photo of White House staff watching the mission to assassinate Osama Bin Laden because

- wait for it -

they don't print photos of women!

And they say it is only Islam that is anti-woman...

See the article on it here.

The outrageous executions of brothers Abdullah and Mohammad Fathi

On 18 May hundreds of people went to pay respects to the mother and spouses and families of the two brothers executed on 17 May. Mohammad and Abdullah Fathi, aged 27 and 28 years old, were hurriedly executed as Moharebeh [Waging War Against God] in Isfahan in the early hours of the morning by the slaughter house that is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hear their mother's heartwrenching plea (in Persian) to save their lives a day before they were executed:



Hear Mina Ahadi's brilliant piece (in Persian) in defense of the two brothers and against executions and the 'reformists' that excuse their cold-blooded murder:



Here is an interview with the brilliant Hamid Taqvaee against executions and also the judicial system in Iran (in Persian):

Muslim music artist and activist speaks out against honour killings

Norwegian born music producer and activist Deeyah, in association with friends, volunteers and supporters, starts an online place of remembrance for victims of honour killings.

Deeyah is a critically acclaimed singer, composer, music producer from Norway and a prize winning human rights activist. 

Born to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi descent, Deeyah encountered harassment throughout her music career and knows first-hand what it feels like to be threatened for stepping outside cultural ‘norms’.

Having worked within human rights for many years Deeyah is passionate about protesting against killings in the name of ‘honour’ – where young women are murdered for making decisions about their life including choice of marriage partner, education, divorce, clothing and the expression of sexuality:

"Today honour killings are seen across religious communities and are not limited to one group only. The oppression and violence against women in the name of honour, culture or religion is rife around the world in strictly patriarchal societies and communities. Honour killings take over 5000 lives a year. 

The perpetrators of these honour motivated crimes want all signs of the lives of these young women to be completely wiped out-- almost as if these young women never existed in the first place. Through MEMINI, we humbly hope to do our small part in acknowledging the existence of these women and honouring their memory". –Deeyah

MEMINI is an entirely volunteer driven initiative where wonderful individuals are helping by donating their time to help support this online place of remembrance. MEMINI is dedicated to keeping the memory of these women alive and we invite you to join us in our mission.

Please help spread the word about MEMINI.  We are always looking for writing and research volunteers, if you would like to join us, please email MEMINI.

Join MEMINI on FACEBOOK