|  The results of the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2010 suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year.
The GPI, which gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization in 149 countries, registered overall increases in several indicators, including the likelihood of violent demonstrations and perceptions of criminality. In some nations, an intensification of conflicts and growing instability appears to be linked to the global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009. » » » Continue reading  No one should be above the law. But all too often, those who commit the worst kinds of human rights abuses are not brought to justice.
Iran’s government continued to clamp down on all forms of dissent in the wake of the mass demonstrations following the disputed June 2009 presidential elections. The authorities deployed the paramilitary Basij and other security forces to prevent protestors gathering, arrested hundreds more political activists, journalists, students and women’s and human rights defenders, and continued to mount grossly unfair “show trials” resulting in long prison terms and, in a few cases, death sentences. » » » Continue reading  According to the Persian language site sazegara.net, the following 5-question survey was conducted in secret in Iran, and about 350 Iranians from Tehran and 3 other unnamed provinces took the survey on Jan. 17th 2010.
Here is your chance to take the same survey but in English. You ‘ll see the result for both surveys. » » » Continue reading  The 612-page report, HRW’s 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations.
Human Rights Watch cited Sudan and China as countries that routinely shut down human rights groups and Iran and Uzbekistan as countries that openly harass and arbitrarily detain human rights workers and other critics. » » » Continue reading  Establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 meant that women were forced to wear Hijab and that it is strictly forbidden for women to be photographed without Hijab.
There was a time, following the military coup of 1920 when women were forced not to wear Hijab. Here are a few photographs from the first half of the twentieth century, the rise of industrial era in Iran. » » » Continue reading  In a year marked by intensified repression against human rights defenders and civic activists, declines for freedom were registered in 40 countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union, representing 20 percent of the world’s total polities.
Authoritarian states including Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam became more repressive. Declines in freedom also occurred in countries that had registered positive trends in previous years, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan. » » » Continue reading  The study examines restrictions on religion which originate from both government policies and social hostilities undertaken by private individuals, organizations and social groups.
Topping the government restrictions index were Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Egypt, Burma, Maldives, Eritrea, Malaysia and Brunei. At the top of the social hostilities index were Iraq, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Somalia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. » » » Continue reading  Twitter grabbed the spotlight in June when it became a primary source of news and communications as Iranian citizens took to the streets to protest the disputed election.
It should be no surprise that in Twitter’s analysis of keywords the topic that came up most in 2009 was Iran. Abdur Chowdhury, Twitter’s chief scientist, wrote that #iranelection, Iran and Tehran finished in the top 21 of all trending topics, with #iranelection hashtag finishing first in the category of news, above swine flu. » » » Continue reading 
San Francisco City Supervisior Ross Mirkarimi will unveil renown sculptor, Paula Slater’s bronze portrait sculptures of Sohrab ‘Freedom Warrior’ and Neda ‘Angel of Freedom’ on December 12th in San Francisco as part of “Arts United 4 Iran”. Master sculptor, Paula Slater, who sculpted the much beloved bronze portrait sculptures of Neda ‘Angel of Iran’ and Neda ‘Angel of Freedom’ received many requests for her to also please sculpt a portrait bust of Sohrab Aarabi. Sohrab was a 19 year old Iranian pro-democracy student who disappeared after his participation in a June 2009 protest against the fraudulent election. Aarabi’s parents filed a missing person’s report and each day his mother took his photograph to prisons and courts in search of information. » » » Continue reading  The concept of peace is notoriously difficult to define. The simplest way of defining it is in terms of harmony achieved by the absence of war or conflict. This is “Negative Peace” .
“Positive Peace” is to identify which structures and institutions create and maintain peace. The GPI is a first step in this direction; the index is calculated on the basis of 23 indicators measuring conflicts, societal security and militarization. 2009 GPI was calculated before Iran’s election, and Iran ranks as 99 out of 140 countries. » » » Continue reading  Iran has fallen from 141st on the list of 180 countries to 168th – one of the most marked declines.
Countries where the political and security environment is particularly volatile, such as Yemen, Iran and Iraq rank at the bottom of the list. These countries face the challenge of establishing solid and transparent public institutions, with appropriate mechanisms for accountability: the essential elements for preventing and fighting corruption. Where these are absent, any kind of success is very difficult. » » » Continue reading  All U.S. residents must be counted—both citizens and non citizens. More detailed socioeconomic information previously collected through the decennial census will be asked of a small percentage of the population through the annual American Community Survey.
The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years. The 2010 Census will help communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year. » » » Continue reading  Iceland has claimed the top spot of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2009 from Norway which slipped to third position behind Finland. South Africa and Lesotho made great strides in closing their gender gaps to enter the top 10 for the first time. The report’s Index assesses countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities. A sample of ranks; 31-USA 45-ISR 51-RUS 60-CHN 75-JPN 82-BRA 99-MEX 128-IRN 129-TUR 134-YEM
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