PAIC - Progressive American-Iranian Committee

Controversial ‘Family Bill’ Returns To Iranian Parliament’s Agenda

shahlaa — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:39:02 +0000

By Golnaz Esfandiari

Iran’s parliament is preparing to discuss a bill this week that would allow men to marry additional wives without the consent of their first wife, and would tax dowries.

It is called the Family Protection Bill, but it is better known as the antifamily bill.

Women’s rights activists say the bill, first proposed by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s cabinet in 2007, would pave the way for polygamy, harm the family structure, and set back the battle against discriminatory laws in the Islamic republic, where women have second-class legal status.

Activists say the bill gives men a free hand to abuse the system and deprive women from any right within the family.

Supporters say the bill is intended to reinforce Islamic principles, with legislator Mohammad Dehghan arguing that it would defend the rights of women and girls who for some reason cannot have an exclusive marriage.

Under Islamic law as applied in Iran, men can take up to four wives. However, polygamy is not widespread in Iran, and many citizens condemn the practice.

Will Iranian women dare take to the streets in protest this time around?

In 2008, parliament was due to vote on the bill, but following widespread protests and criticism by a large coalition of activists, it was sent to the parliament’s legal committee for more work.

Victory Becomes Defeat

This was seen as a victory for Iranian women’s rights activists, but one that may prove to be short-lived. This time around, the conservative-dominated parliament may face much less opposition — many of the bill’s most ardent critics are now in jail or out of the country — and activists say few changes have been made to the original legislation, and that on some points it has been made more discriminatory.

On August 19 opposition figure Zahra Rahnavard called on parliament to scrap the bill from its agenda for the sake of “families’ durability.” Rahnavard, the wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, has said that Koranic references to polygamy have been misinterpreted in the bill.

One of the bill’s most contested articles, Article 23, states: “Marriage to a subsequent permanent wife should depend on court authorization upon ascertainment of the man’s financial capability and commitment to uphold justice among his wives.”

Increasing Discrimination

Norway-based Iranian women’s rights activist Asieh Amini says that some 10 conditions have been added to Article 23, which she says makes the legislation even more discriminatory.

Under the changes, a man would be able to take a new wife if his first wife were to become addicted to something to the point that it would harm her family, if she were to contract a terminal disease, if she were away from home for six months, or if she were to become sterile.

Amini says all the articles in the bill reinforce legal inequalities that effectively discriminate against women in Iran.

“The question is, what if a man is addicted, what happens then to the family? Why is the law silent about that?” Amini asks. “What if a man is sterile or doesn’t have sexual ability and desire and if a man leaves his house — what happens to his wife and children?”

Asieh Amini

In fact, she says all the bill’s articles are written in favor of “sexual and moral submissiveness to the family’s man.”

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner and lawyer Shirin Ebadi, who along with other activists fought against the bill in 2008, says it reinforces unequal divorce law and encourages polygamy.

“It forces a woman to share her marriage and her feelings with another woman and she is not even being given the possibility to divorce her husband. This was one of the aspects that Iranian women united opposed,” Ebadi says.

Activists have opposed other aspects of the bill, too, including the suggestion that women’s dowries would be taxed and removing conditions for the registration of temporary marriages, instead of banning those types of marriages.

Opposition Brushed Aside

The bill has been reintroduced as a number of activists who opposed the bill are now either in jail, free on bail, or in exile, including Ebadi and Amini.

Tehran-based women’s rights activist Fatemeh Govarayi believes that’s exactly why the bill is again on the parliament’s agenda.

She says that a year after the highly disputed presidential election, “a very harsh repression” is ruling over Iranian society.

“Blood has been spilled and washed away,” Govarayi says, and that parliament and the Iranian establishment as a whole have seen it as an opportunity, “judging that the opposition to the bill will not be as widespread and organized as it was in 2008, they’re aiming at passing the bill with maybe [some minor changes].”

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is also based in Tehran, says Iranian women inside the country and also those outside will not remain silent about the bill, which she says will take them many steps back.

She believes that in the past year the presence of women in demonstrations, particularly the postelection street protests, has been even more pronounced than men’s.

“If Iranian officials use intelligence, they would never not add up the anger that has been accumulated in Iranian women’s hearts for years,” Sotoudeh says.

Tehran sociologist Shala Ezazi, who describes the bill as an attempt by the authorities to have greater control over Iranian women, believes that in practice it will be rejected by women, but also men.

“I predict that it cannot be applied in practice, the conditions are such that even such threats will not force women to sit at home and accept a series of inopportune demands,” Ezazi says.

Activists have called on men and women who seek justice to oppose the bill.

RFE/RL’s Radio Farda broadcasters Roya Karimi and Fahimeh Heydari contributed to this report

Baha’i Community ‘Stunned’ By ‘Harsh’ Sentences In Iran

shahlaa — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:55:28 +0000

By Peter Kenny

The Baha’i International Community said the harsh prison sentences meted out against seven Iranian Baha’i leaders are an unjust punishment against innocent people and an entire religious community.

The five men and two women imprisoned were arrested in May 2008 and later charged with “spying for foreigners,” as well as “spreading corruption on Earth” and “cooperating with Israel.”

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was “stunned” by the seven- to 20-year jail terms.

“I have read their case file page-by-page, and did not find anything proving the accusations, nor did I find any document that could prove the claims of the prosecutor,” Ebadi said in an interview with the BBC.

The Baha’í faith is a monotheistic religion founded in 19th-century Persia, and which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. It has around 6 million followers in more than 200 countries and territories, but is considered an illegal sect inside Iran.

The sentences triggered protests from governments around the world, including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. The European Union and the president of the European Parliament also condemned the sentences, as did human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

Diane Ala’i, Baha’i representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Baha’i International Community wonders how long the Iranian authorities can remain deaf to the concerns of the international community.

“These statements (of condemnation) demonstrate that increasing numbers of people of all races and religions throughout the world want to see justice done in Iran–not just for the Baha’is but all of its citizens who face gross human rights violations,” said Ala’i.

Bani Dugal, chief representative of the Baha’i International Community to the U.N., said, “The trumped up charges, and the total lack of any credible evidence against these seven prisoners, reflect the false accusations and misinformation that Iran’s regime has used to vilify and defame a peaceful, religious community for an entire generation.”

The seven leaders belonged to group that acted with the government’s knowledge, Iranian Baha’i leaders said.

“That these manifestly innocent people should each be jailed for 20 years after a sham trial is utterly reprehensible,” Dugal said.

Source :HUFFINGTON POST.COM

Stop Abuse of Political Prisoners

shahlaa — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:46:07 +0000

A family member of one inmate told Human Rights Watch that as of August 5, three of the prisoners had begun a “dry” hunger strike, refusing to eat or drink anythin

Iranian prison authorities should end the solitary confinement of 17 political prisoners and afford them all the protections to which they are entitled, including access to their families and lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. All 17 have been on a hunger strike since July 26 to protest deteriorating conditions inside Evin Prison and have been prohibited from contacting their families. The 17 are among hundreds held in Ward 350 of Tehran’s Evin Prison, many of whom were unlawfully detained as part of the mass arrests of political dissidents and peaceful demonstrators following the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election. There is speculation that more prisoners may have joined the hunger strike in recent days. “Throwing these prisoners into solitary confinement instead of responding to their legitimate concerns only causes them further harm,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “They need to be reintegrated back into the general population, get the care they need, and be allowed to contact their loved ones immediately.” Authorities transferred the 17 to solitary confinement on July 26, after they complained about prison conditions. A family member of one inmate told Human Rights Watch that as of August 5, three of the prisoners had begun a “dry” hunger strike, refusing to eat or drink anything. The family member expressed serious concern about the deteriorating condition of several of the inmates. Since the inmates began their hunger strike authorities have transferred several of them to the prison clinic for treatment with serum, but usually returned them to their cells shortly thereafter. Several of the 17 suffer from medical conditions that require vigilant care, such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease. The 17 hunger strikers are: Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, Gholam Hossein Arshi, Ebrahim Babaei, Babak Bordbar, Majid Darri, Jafar Eghdami, Koohyar Goodarzi, Peyman Karimi-Azad, Ali Malihi, Abdollah Momeni, Hamid Reza Mohammadi, Zia Nabavi, Hossein Nouraninejad, Ali Parviz, Keyvan Samimi, Mohammad Hossein Sohrabirad, and Majid Tavakoli. They include journalists, civil society activists, student activists, human rights activists, political opposition members, and Iran-Iraq war veterans. Human Rights Watch has documented the government’s arbitrary targeting, arrest, and detention of several of these prisoners for their political activities during the past few years.

Kaleme, a website affiliated with the former presidential candidate and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, reported that the authorities sent the 17 to solitary confinement after they complained about prison conditions and the ill-treatment of fellow inmates. The inmates began their hunger strike after prison officials transferred them to solitary confinement. During their transfer to solitary confinement, prison guards allegedly threatened and verbally harassed them. Since last week authorities have cut off all communication between Ward 350 inmates and the outside world, denying all prisoners there visitation rights and daily telephone calls.

On August 2, the 17 inmates issued a statement with five demands, including full respect by prison officials of all rights guaranteed to prisoners by law, an end to their solitary confinement, an increase in the time allowed for telephone calls, and improved access to medical facilities. The statement from the 17 said that prison authorities routinely harass prisoners, arbitrarily limit or deny visitation and telephone privileges, and fail to provide basic medical treatment and accommodations. They also complained of severely overcrowded conditions in Ward 350. Reports by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran indicate that prison authorities are systematically denying needed medical care to political prisoners.

Persian-language media have reported that since the inmates initiated their strike their families have attempted to speak with the Tehran prosecutor, Jafari Dolatabadi, and other officials to gain access to the inmates, secure their transfer back to the general ward, and improve prison conditions. On August 2, after they were again turned away by Evin Prison guards, members of the families began their own hunger strike in solidarity with the 17 inmates.

On August 4, after family members gathered outside the General Prosecutor’s office in Tehran to demand access to their relatives in detention, anti-riot police attacked them with batons, forcibly removed pictures of their imprisoned family members from their hands, and threatened them with arrest, Kalame reported. An Iranian human rights activist in close contact with family members told Human Rights Watch that in recent days government authorities have threatened the families and warned them not to give press interviews.

Both Iranian law and international law require prison authorities to provide basic necessities to all prisoners and to treat them with dignity and respect. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party, prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In 2004, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention criticized Iran’s systematic use of solitary confinement and noted, “[S]uch absolute solitary confinement, when it is of a long duration, can be likened to inhuman treatment within the meaning of the Convention Against Torture.” The UN Basic Principles on the Treatment of Prisoners state that “efforts addressed to the abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment, or to the restriction of its use, should be undertaken and encouraged.”

In addition, Articles 22 and 39 of Iran’s Constitution prohibit affronts to the dignity of individuals and detainees. The State Prison Organization regulations require prison authorities to provide proper food, shelter, and personal hygiene to inmates. They guarantee detainees the right to medical care and supervision, family visits and communications, and time out of prison in cases of family emergencies.

A lawyer who represents several striking inmates told Human Rights Watch that the authorities also routinely bar lawyers from meeting with their clients: “In order to visit my clients I have to go to court, even though the law simply says that I can go visit my clients,” the lawyer said. The lawyer told Human Rights Watch that recently, instead of issuing orders to allow the visits, courts have been referring lawyers to the prosecutor’s office. “I have gone to visit the Tehran prosecutor many times, but I have not been able to meet with him,” this lawyer said.

The prisoners are only asking for what Iran is obliged to do under its own laws,” Stork said. “Their struggle to exercise their most basic rights as prisoners shows how serious Iran’s human rights crisis has become.”

The Right Side of Justice: It’s Time to End Stoning

shahlaa — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:17:23 +0000

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian and the mother of two children, was convicted of adultery–a conviction based on a forced confession that Sakineh later retracted–in May 2006 and sentenced to death by stoning.

Since her conviction, Sakineh has spent four years as an inmate in Iran’s notorious Tabriz Prison, never knowing if today will be the day where her jailers take her from her cell, to a hole in the earth, bury her chest high and then pelt her with stones until she bleeds to death.

Like Sakineh, I too am a mother and I was born in Iran. Zahra, the character I played in the movie “The Stoning of Soraya M,” endured the unendurable cruelty of watching her niece being stoned to death, a fate similar to the reality awaiting Sakineh and 35 other Iranian women in 2010. Article 104 of the Iranian Penal Code is very specific about how this barbaric act of punishment is to be administered. It says that each stone used should “not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes; nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones.” For the Iranian regime, justice means the deliberate, slow, painful and ritualized murder of its very own citizens.

Sakineh’s children, Sajjad, 22, and Fasride, 17, are fighting bravely to save their mother’s life. The online petition they launched (http://freesakineh.org), as part of a global awareness campaign has gathered over 100,000 signatures and the support of western governments and media. Both the U.S. and British governments have condemned the verdict. Surprisingly, this outside pressure has had a positive effect. On July 10th, Iran’s High Council for Human Rights said that Sakineh’s case would be reviewed.

However, Sakineh’s temporary reprieve from stoning doesn’t mean she won’t be killed. The Iranian regime has in the past, changed the method of execution from stoning to hanging and it has executed prisoners without informing their families and without public notice.

The Iranian government has imposed the most extensive form of media censorship concerning Sakineh’s case, but her children, at great risk to their own safety, are determined to speak truth to power. They have written: “We stretch our hands to the people of the world, no matter where you are in the world, save our mother.” Now, all of us who care about justice, must join Sajjad and Fasride, who, unlike their government, stand on the right side of justice, compassion and history itself.

We demand freedom for Sakineh Ashtiani and for all those imprisoned in Iran because their confessions to crimes they never committed were obtained by torture and coercion. Most importantly, we demand that the Iranian government abolish stoning. The time has come for Iranians, Muslims, indeed all people who truly believe in human dignity to insist that this shameful and barbaric act be ended now and forevermore.

Post-Election Protester’s Death Sentence Upheld; Re-Trial Denied By Supreme Court

shahlaa — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:06:55 +0000

Jafar Kazemi, 46, a lithographer of textbooks at Amir Kabir University Press, was arrested on September 18, 2009 in Tehran. He was transferred to a solitary cell inside Ward 209 of Evin prison where he remained for 74 days before being transferred to Ward 350 of Evin prison.

“Jafar Kazemi is accused of moharebeh, enmity with God, through his alleged support for the Mojahedin-E Khalgh Organization (MEK), even though he has not accepted these charges during any of his interrogation sessions,” said Ghanavi about her client’s charges.

“The charge of moharebeh, enmity with God, is one of those charges which must only be levied against a suspect with full consideration for conditions defined in Islamic jurisprudence for it, including the requirement of “armed action.” Many Shiite scholars believe that a mohareb is an individual who takes up arms. This was not the case for my client. He merely participated in the post-election gatherings. He may have chanted some slogans, but as his lawyer, I am convinced that the charge of moharebeh does not apply to him at all,” she added.

Ms. Ghanavi stated that her client has spent a long time in solitary confinement, but that she is not aware of other types of pressure he or his family may have faced.

Previously, Jafar Kazemi had served time in prison from 1981 to 1989.

Jafar Kazemi’s wife, Roudabeh Akbari, wrote a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for his assistance to stop her husband’s death sentence. Kazemi was initially tried at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Courts.

Regarding the defense presented for Mr. Kazemi in court, Ghanavi said: “Unfortunately, our defense was ignored in the lower court, in the appeals court, and at the Supreme Court. They all confirmed the moharebeh charge against him.”

“Jafar Kazemi’s case has been forwarded to the Implementations Unit, and legally, there are no further steps possible for saving Jafar Kazemi’s life,” said Kazemi’s lawyer.

Postelection Prisoners On Hunger Strike

shahlaa — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:59:36 +0000

Abdollah Momeni (left) and Majid Tavakoli are both reportedly on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison.

July 30, 2010

A number of political prisoners incarcerated at Tehran’s Evin prison have reportedly gone on hunger strike to protest their treatment, including their transfer to solitary confinement and cancellation of family visits.

The “Kalame” website, which close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, has published the names of 16 prisoners jailed in last year’s postelection crackdown whom it says are currently on hunger strike.

They include prominent human rights defender and former student leader Abdollah Momeni; journalist Bahman Amouee; the chief editor of the “Nameh” monthly, Keyvan Samimi; and well-known student activists Ali Malihi and Majid Tavakoli.

According to the website, some of them have been on hunger strike for some four days now, while others joined the protest on July 29.

Amouee’s wife, journalist Zheela Baniyaghoub (who was also jailed in the postelection crackdown), confirmed in a July 28 interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that her husband is on a hunger strike and that prison authorities refused to let her visit him on July 26. They did not explain why.

She expressed concern over his health and the health of the other prisoners. She said some of the prisoners are refusing to eat food while others are on a “dry hunger strike,” meaning they’re refusing both food and water.

More than 2,000 journalists, activists, students, and others were jailed in the crackdown that followed the June 2009 disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Many were subsequently released, while dozens were sentenced to prison terms

Source: Radio Free Europe

EU, Canada adopt new sanctions against Iran

shahlaa — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:31:38 +0000

We have a comprehensive set of sanctions. This is something where we have all 27 countries working together,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said

The European Union and Canada on Monday separately adopted new sanctions against Iran, targeting the country’s foreign trade, banking and energy sectors. The moves are the latest in a series of measures taken by the international community in an effort to halt Iran’s nuclear program. The EU’s measures, which leaders agreed to in principle in June, also blacklist Iran’s shipping and air cargo companies. In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denounced the EU decision. “Moving toward confrontational measures and supporting unilateral actions and damaging the atmosphere are not considered by us to be a good use of the opportunity,” Mehmanparast said, according to the state television network’s website.

EU foreign ministers in Brussels called the restrictions a “comprehensive and robust package” focused on trade, financial services, energy, and transport, with visa bans and asset freezes for Iranian banks, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

The ministers reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to work for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue, and backed a call to Tehran to resume meaningful negotiations.

“The aim of the EU is to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement which would rebuild international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, while respecting Iran’s legitimate rights to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy,” they said in a statement.

The EU’s new measures will come into force in the next few weeks, after they are published in the bloc’s official gazette, officials said.

“We have a comprehensive set of sanctions. This is something where we have all 27 countries working together,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

According to the decision reached in June, the sanctions will target dual-use items that could be used as part of a nuclear program, and Iran’s oil and gas industry.

EU exports to Iran - mainly machinery, transport equipment and chemicals - amounted to euro14.1 billion ($18.2 billion) in 2008. Imports from Iran, the EU’s sixth largest energy provider, amounted to euro11.3 billion, with energy being 90 percent of the total.

The new restrictions will come on top of a fourth round of sanctions imposed last month by the U.N. Security Council to curtail Iran’s nuclear program over fears it is developing weapons. The council endorsed those sanctions after Iran rebuffed a plan to suspend uranium enrichment and swap its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium for fuel rods.

The new sanctions are similar to measures adopted by the Obama administration, which has imposed penalties against additional individuals and institutions it says are helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile programs, and evade international sanctions.

In Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the country’s new measures will include a ban on any new Canadian investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector, and restrictions on exporting goods that could be used in nuclear programs.

Iranian banks will also will be barred from opening branches in Canada and Canadian banks will not be able to operate in Iran.

“These sanctions are in no way intended to punish the Iranian people,” said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “These targeted measures are designed to hamper attempts by Iran to develop nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs” and to persuade the country to engage in negotiations.

Iran denies that it is working on a nuclear weapon, saying its program is intended solely for peaceful purposes such as energy-generation, and that it has the right to enrich uranium under the international nonproliferation treaty.

“Our aim is to bring Iran back to the negotiating table,” said German State Secretary Werner Hoyer. “We’re offering our hand, and all they have to do is to take it.”

Iran has sought to deflect pressure and further sanctions by displaying a willingness to talk about nuclear issues - a line reinforced Monday by Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Tehran’s senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Iran is ready to go back to the negotiating table” quickly to discuss exchanging some of its enriched uranium for fuel rods for Tehran’s nuclear reactor, Soltanieh told reporters in Vienna.

He spoke after presenting revised proposals on a possible swap to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, who was expected to relay them to the U.S., France and Russia - the three nations engaged with Iran in such an exchange.

No details of the latest offer were available. But under a similar deal in May with Brazil and Turkey, Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low-enriched uranium to Turkey, where it would be stored. In exchange, Iran would get fuel rods made from 20 percent enriched uranium. That level of enrichment is high enough for use in research reactors but too low for nuclear weapons.

Among concerns by opponents of the deal is that Iran has continued to churn out low-enriched material and plans to continue running a pilot program of enriching to higher levels, near 20 percent - a level from which it would be easier to move on to creating weapons-grade uranium.

The U.S. and its allies argue that the sanctions are in response to Iran’s refusal to freeze all enrichment activities and not in response to Tehran’s fuel swap offer.

Also Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tehran should stop its “irresponsible rhetoric” and take steps to end disagreements on its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday accused Moscow of turning against Tehran and joining the U.S. in spreading lies about its nuclear program, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer.

—

Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran and Charmaine Noronha in Toronto contributed to this report.

Iran uses bank in Germany to beat sanctions

shahlaa — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:47:58 +0000

BERLIN — Tehran has used a small Iranian-owned bank in Germany to circumvent sanctions slapped on firms blacklisted for involvement in the Islamic republic’s missile programmes, a newspaper report said Monday.

Citing unnamed Western officials, the Wall Street Journal said the European-Iranian Trade Bank AG (EIH) had done more than a billion dollars of business for firms subject to US, UN and EU sanctions.

The German finance ministry said Monday it was not aware of any such infringements but that the country’s financial regulator, Bafin, and the Bundesbank central bank were looking into the claims made by the newspaper.

“At present we are not in possession of any information … about these reported infringements. But the Bafin and the Bundesbank are currently investigating all allegations against this bank,” spokesman Michael Offer said.

Contacted by AFP, the bank — known in Germany as the Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG — declined to comment.

The UN Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions against Iran in June for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment work, the most sensitive part of Tehran’s atomic drive.

They authorise states to conduct high-seas inspections of vessels suspected of ferrying banned items to Iran and add 40 entities to a list of people and groups subject to travel restrictions and financial sanctions.

Meanwhile, the US administration added Iranian individuals and firms to a blacklist as part of US and European efforts to tighten the screws on Iran.

The new US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran’s nuclear or missile programmes as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.

The Journal said that EIH’s business partners include units of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization, the Aerospace Industries Organization and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In 2009, EIH appears to have been involved in a broad sanctions-evasion scheme, conducting transactions on behalf of Iran’s Bank Sepah that has been sanctioned for facilitating Iran’s weapons trade and proliferation activities, the paper said.

EIH was founded by a group of Iranian merchants in Hamburg in 1971, according to The Journal. It operates openly under the supervision of German bank regulators, but the US Department of Treasury blacklisted it for alleged illicit business with Iran, the report noted.

Source: google news

Iranian Refugees: A Human Rights Disaster

Editor — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:08:09 +0000

Dr. Arash Irandoost

http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/irandoost/2010/07142010.htm

July 14, 2010

This article was written in collaboration with Walton K Martin & Gill Gillespie, PhD

Light snow was falling when the two young men set out on horseback for the border to flee Iran. By the time they were deep in the mountains, it had become a blinding blizzard, the temperature had dropped below freezing, and they were barely alive…more

According to UNHCR, Iranian refugees comprise 19% of the total registered refugee population in Turkey. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the passage of Penal Law in 2008 authorizing death penalty for apostasy and especially after June 2009 fraudulent election, Iranians have been seeking refuge in foreign countries in large numbers. UNHCR Global Trends Report paints a dire picture for the year 2010. The number of refugees and asylum seekers worldwide has risen to over 43 million. In Turkey, UNHCR lists a total 10,350 refugees and 5,987 asylum seekers for 2009. It is expected that the number of registered Iranian refugees will more than double between 2010 to 2011, from 2,230 to 5,550 respectively. It is estimated that there are as many unregistered Iranian refugees as well.

Iranian refugees have often escaped a violence and persecution. They have lost everything, their homes and families. They have no chance to work or send their children to school or live a meaningful life. They yearn to live in peace, yet only a small number of refugees obtain refugee status; others are living in desperate conditions waiting for the UNCHR to process their cases.

Documents have surfaced that clearly show Mr. Khamenei gave direct orders to deal harshly with demonstrators. They were shot at, arrested, tortured, raped and executed. Many have fled Iran in fear of arrest, imprisonment and execution since the regime has labeled them as traitors, working with foreign governments, to overthrow the regime.

After June 12, 2009 election, the regime launched a series of operations to identify and track down those who participated in demonstrations. Worried that stories of torture, rape and harassment might reach a wider audience, the regime has positioned thousands of plain-clothed intelligence officers throughout Turkey and neighboring countries to actively track, attack and intimidate Iranian refugees. Those who manage to avoid detection live in destitution, fearful and in miserable conditions.

Turkey has emerged as the main country for asylum seekers, since it does not require visas from Iranian citizens. Arriving in Turkey, Iranians file their asylum petitions directly with the Turkish authorities, or sign up through the UNHCR. Since Iranian asylum-seekers cannot earn refugee status in Turkey due to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, they are resettled in other countries.

For a variety of reasons, it takes UNHCR between one to three years to process refugee applications but for some refugees the waiting period is much longer. While in Turkey where job opportunities are rare and financial resources are limited, refugees usually encounter public hostility. Many refugees who suffer from torture and gun shots wounds find it extremely difficult to gain access to medical treatment. The situation is more acute for children of refugees (they are not allowed to enroll in school), homosexuals (they are perceived to be moral degenerates), and apostates (they have committed a grave sin by leaving Islam). Additionally, Turkish laws require that all refugees to pay a $227 “stay” fee (ikamat) every six months, plus a $93 document processing and guidebook fee.

Many asylum seekers whose petitions are declined or those who are caught before they file a petition and cannot meet the legal requirements for staying in Turkey are sent back to Iran. It is estimated that between 1993 and 1998, more than 2,000 Iranian asylum seekers were sent back, many of them were arrested, tortured, sentenced or executed in Iran. Reliable statistics are not readily available for those who are arrested and sent back since June elections, but indications are that the numbers are significant.

Ms. Maryam Sabri who claims she was raped by Iranian authorities while in detention, was attacked in Kayseri, Turkey two days after she repeated rape allegations in an interview with the BBC. She believes the attack was carried out by Iranian authorities to intimidate her into silence. Some refugees believe the Iranian authorities have put them under surveillance in an effort to silence them about rape and torture allegations. Some say their families in Iran have also been targeted. Still, UNHCR and law enforcement authorities continue to claim that Iranians refugees are protected and safe.

Iranian refugees in other neighboring countries face similar desperate conditions in the absence of adequate protection and unexplained delays by the UNHCR in processing their cases. Officials at the UNHCR require applicants to “prove endangerment of life” as a condition for obtaining refugee status. But many refugees are not able to provide such documentation since they had to flee Iran often in a hurry to avoid arrest by regime Basij force and secret service. Often the regime has confiscated these documents, or they have been lost or stolen during the perilous journey from Iran to Turkey or elsewhere.

Iranians are considered some of most pro west population in the Middle East. Much to the Islamic Republic’s dismay, ordinary Iranians were the first to hold candle light vigils to mourn the loss of life in the United Sates after hijackers crashed airlines into the World Trade Center, while in contrast Palestinians celebrated and danced in the streets.

But for some unexplained reason, the world does not seem to condemn blatant human rights violations committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. When the UN elected Iran to the Commission on Women’s Rights, not a single word was heard from our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. When pictures and videos of brutal crackdown, torture and killings of young demonstrators were all over the Internet, the news media remained largely silent. To this day, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has refused to strongly condemn the Iranian Regime’s blatant violation of just about every article in the UN Convention of Human Rights, despite being a member nation and signatory to it. Ironically, when nine knife-carrying supposedly Palestinian human rights activists were killed by Israeli police, it sparked an international outcry and condemnation. Such duplicity is inexcusable and unconscionable and sends the message that Palestinian lives are valued more than those of Iranians or Israelis.

Perhaps Iranians are resented for a group of extremists having taken over the US embassy in Iran and taking Americans hostage for 444 days in 1979. They might mistakenly believe that because the media fills TV screens with pictures of anti American demonstrators shouting death to America and burning the American flag, these are representative of Iranians. Yet, the fact remains that Iran is a country of 75 million people, and all hate rallies are orchestrated by the Iranian Regime who force government employees and paid Basijis to attend.

Meanwhile, in Turkey and other receiving countries, callous disregard of their basic human rights causes refugees to lose their dignity. People around the world should demand that refugees be treated with dignity and respect. World communities and their Governments can no longer afford to remain indifferent while this tragedy is unfolding. They must:

Expel the Iranian Regime from the UN
Regardless of UNHRC and Turkish authorities disputing the veracity and accuracy of refugees’ claims, worldwide organizations like the UN and international Governments have a moral imperative to demand accountability from the regime for their human rights abuses. The first step has to be to expel this rogue Iranian Regime and known state sponsor of terrorism from the UN.

Bring the Iranian Regime Criminals to Justice
IRI lobbyists are given free access to the world media to sugarcoat the Islamic Republic’s medieval practices of stoning and hanging men, women and children. This regime has been getting away with murder, rape and torture since they came into power in 1979. Afraid of criticizing the regime for its violations because of their lucrative contracts with it, world leaders have acted irresponsibly and have been unwilling to utilize international criminal laws to bring them to justice. They must now do this.

Involvement of Faith-based Organization is Crucial
Religious organizations and leaders must bear some of the responsibility for what has been happening in Iran. Taking advantage of the regime’s atrocities, they have been actively engaged in converting young and disillusioned Iranians to Christianity, fully aware of dangers that lie ahead for such apostates since the passage of the Penal Law in 2008, which began to authorize the death penalty for apostasy (conversion from Islam to Christianity). These converts have been harassed, kidnapped, raped and stabbed to death by the Iranian Regime, yet Christian communities continue to remain silent and have failed to provide adequate guidance and protection for their converts. It is now time for them to speak out and provide support.

Israel Should Do More
Israel has the most to gain from an Iranian regime change. Iranians and Israelis have common historical and cultural ties reaching back 2,500 years. Unfortunately, Israel has lost a golden opportunity to offer aid to Iranian opposition and refugees wishing to seek asylum in Israel. For the past 31 years, the Iranian Regime has brainwashed young Iranians against Israel. Instead, positive relationships between Iranians and Israelis need to be cultivated during times of crisis. For cultural and humanitarian reasons, it would greatly benefit all parties involved if Iranian asylum seekers were allowed to settle in Israel.

World Communities and Their Government Need to Assist
As the UNHCR is incapable of properly handling the influx of Iranian refugees, more active participation and support from world communities and their governments is needed to alleviate this refugee crisis.

The Iranian Diaspora, Organizations & NGO’s Must Provide Support
There are close to five million successful Iranians living in various parts of the world and numerous Iranian human rights organizations are already in existence. They can each start to sponsor a refugee of their choice by offering employment, legal, technical, financial and medical support and advice. Iranian refugees are in desperate need of food, shelter and medical attention.

To conclude, refugees are people. People who did not want to become refugees but were forced from their home land, fleeing from arrest, rape, torture and death. These people deserve to go on with their lives, not be held in limbo in excess of one to three years while life passes them and their families by. The lengthy delay in assisting these refugees’ applications is causing severe depression in people already persecuted before they fled. The longer they stay in transition states like Turkey the more danger they continue to be in. Agents from the Iranian Regime continue to threaten them from what is an open border between Iran and Turkey. In effect, they have moved from one prison to another. The delays that refugees are subjected to also put a financial burden on the taxpayers in every nation through which the refugees move. With faster and more effective assistance, they could again become productive members of society, as well as saving millions to all countries involved.

Iran’s Assault On Civil Society

shahlaa — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:17:18 +0000

The government of Iran has turned its back on a rich tradition of civil society, perpetrating human rights abuses against many activists and ordinary citizens who just wanted the right to be heard. Addressing a meeting of the Community of Democracies in Krakow, Poland, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of the importance of robust, non-governmental civic organizations to prosperous, democratic societies: “Citizens,” she said, “must be free to come together to advocate and agitate, to remind those entrusted with governance that they derive their authority from the governed.”

But Secretary Clinton pointed out that many governments across the globe are applying “a steel vise” that is “crushing civil society and the human spirit.” One of those governments, she noted, is Iran.

“The government of Iran has turned its back on a rich tradition of civil society, perpetrating human rights abuses against many activists and ordinary citizens who just wanted the right to be heard,” said Secretary Clinton.

In a report released last month, Amnesty International catalogued the growing government crackdown on Iranian civil society â€“ on journalists, human and cultural rights defenders, religious minorities and women’s rights activists - that has occurred in Iran over the past year. The report said that more than 5,000 Iranians have been arrested since the disputed June 2009 election, and many have been tortured. Claudio Cordone, Amnesty’s interim secretary general, said, “The Iranian government is determined to silence all dissenting voices.”

In her speech in Krakow, Secretary of State Clinton noted that governmental repression of independent groups and individuals “demonstrates the fear of illegitimate rulers, the cowardice of those who deny their citizens the protections they deserve.”

President Barack Obama has said that the courage of Iranians in the face of severe repression is “inspiring” and “reminds us of democratic movements that have brought greater freedom and respect for universal rights to every region of the world. … In Iran and around the world,” said Mr. Obama, “the United States of America will continue to stand with those who seek justice and progress and the human rights and dignity of all people.”