A number of users from Iran have been surveyed regarding the circumvention tools they use, and regarding how people generally access the internet.

Freedom House has also tested a number of tools that you can use in Iran if your internet connection is blocked. Although some groups have a more elaborate system for evaluating circumvention tools (see, for instance Tor Project ). Freedom House has tested three critical things about common circumvention tools for use in Iran:

- Their usability
- Their safety and security
- Their performance

Freedom House has also asked people from Iran which tools they use, and how well they perform in these three areas.

Choosing the right tool in Iran

Choosing the right tool to circumvent the Iranian blocking system is best done on the basis of how you intend to use the internet. If you intend to send sensitive information outside of the country, or to your fellow citizens, then you face more risks than people merely accessing blocked websites for casual internet browsing. For this reason, the first thing to ask yourself is whether you intend to send or receive blocked or illegal
information.

Next, you should identify whether you run a high or a low risk of punishment if this information is found and traced back to you.

Finally, we recommend that you decide on the speed that you will need to effectively use the internet. Just sending text messages on Twitter does not require an application that is as fast as what you need when you are sending a video to YouTube, for instance. Have a look at the schema below that sums this up.

Findings and recommendations for Iran

Most Iranian users indicated that they access the internet through a home broadband connection. They have an average need for secure communications, and prefer tools that work at good speeds. If you have the same preferences, you will find that Ultrasurf, Gpass, or Psiphon may be the right tools for you. Please note that Psiphon requires an invitation to use the system.

Speed is a complex decision. Doing things fast can sometimes avoid detection. This depends on the level of monitoring and logging

The Freedom House survey showed that people from Iran seem to prefer the following three tools overall:

- VPN connections
- Google
- Your Freedom

You may want to try these too, but keep in mind that the community of internet users surveyed did not have the benefit of this overview report at the time of the survey, and may have chosen these tools for various other reasons and in different situations, or perhaps even for the wrong reasons. In particular, using a tool that performs very quickly sometimes proves to be a risky choice.

This is especially true for Google, since they do not usually apply encryption to secure your connection.

Also, the faster the tool, the more likely it is to rely on a single service provider being available for the internet connection, which makes it easier to block.

Overview of technical testing

If you want an even broader overview of the options for circumventing the Iranian blocking system, please have a look at how other tools were tested by Freedom House as well. The following table sums them up.

Concluding recommendations

In closing, we draw your attention to the following recommendations from the Freedom House report:

- Many users prefer to have tools that perform at fast speeds. These are, however, not always the most secure options. It is important to understand the risks you potentially face when you attempt to circumvent your country’s blocking infrastructure.

- Many users seem to think that when they do things quickly, the government may not notice. This is not true most of the time, however. If the government is able to intercept your internet connection, they will be able to see what you were doing afterwards.

- While these tools may be able to hide what you are doing online, they cannot hide that a circumvention tool is being used. If your government can intercept your internet traffic, they will also be able to detect that you were circumventing their blocking infrastructure.

We wish you safe surfing and hope your government will consider providing free and unfiltered internet access to your country in the near future. For the full report and a discussion of all the tools mentioned here, please visit the Freedom House website.

Dynaweb
DynaWeb is a collection of anti-censorship services provided by Dynamic Internet Technology Inc. (DIT).

Pro: Simpilicity - Con: Uncertifed SSL can be impersonated

Freegate
Freegate is an anti-censorship software for secure and fast Internet access. It was developed and maintained by Dynamic Internet Technology Inc.

Pro: Simpilicity – Con: Not much info on how it works – limited # of proxies

Freenet
Freenet is free software which lets you anonymously share files, browse and publish “freesites” (web sites accessible only through Freenet) and chat on forums, without fear of censorship.

Garden GTunnel
We provide free software to access Internet content blocked by totalitarian countries such as China and to protect Internet users’ online privacy and security against Internet monitoring and censorship in those areas of the world.

Pro: Could use Skype, peer to peer for tunneling -  Cons: same proxies as Freegate/Dynaweb used

Google (Translate Reader Cache etc.)

Google Cache:
A user can access Googles cache servers to gather blocked content. To see the pointer to the cached content, the user needs to reach the Google search engine  (so Google must not be blocked or this method to work).

Google Reader:
Google offers users the possibilityto subscribe to news feeds through Google Reader,which gathers data on the user behalf (it acts like aproxy), and lets the user read it through the Gmail web interface.

Google Translate:
Google’s translation service can be used to gather blocked content. By setting the source language to something diferent from what it is, and setting the target language to the actual source language.

Pro: No software needed to access block sites – Con: No security provided

GPass
- Support for streaming audio/video, email, instant messaging, download managers, as well as web surfing
- Encrypted socks tunnels and backup tunnels using Skype and Tor
- Integrated application firewall
- Green and free software: copy and run without installation
- English, Chinese, Farsi interface, Burmese manual

Pro: Latest tool and easy to use  – Con: Unaudited software – download site is often blocked

JAP
Makes it possible to surf the internet anonymously and unobservably

Pro: Portable application, servers can be added manually – Con: A research project

Proxy
Proxy.org is the pragmatic Web surfer’s guide to online privacy and anonymous web surfing. We give you the information and tools you need to be confident and in command of your Web surfing experience.

Psiphon
Psiphon is a web-based proxy system that enables you to view Internet content that might be inaccessible in your region.

Pro: No software download, just clear the browser history – Cons: Not everyone in a blocked country knows someone that can provide access to a Psiphon node, use self-signed certifcate

Tor
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.

Pro: Advanceded project, highly distributed infrastructure Con: Slow, users need to finetune

Ultra Surf
Originally created to help internet users in China find security and freedom online, Ultrasurf has now become the world’s most popular pro-privacy, anti-censorship software, with millions of people using it to bypass firewalls and protect their identity online.

Pro: Excellent performance, small footprint Con: Accusations of Trojan, no proven case yet

Your Freedom
The Your Freedom services makes accessible what is unaccessible to you, and it hides your network address from those who don’t need to know.

Pro: Simple, extensive manual – Con: Focused on bypassing firewall not security of the user

VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that is constructed by using public networks or wires such as Internet to provide remote offices or individual users to get secure access to their organization’s network.

Source: Freedom House

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The protesters appeared to have a clear objective — the removal of Mubarak’s regime.

The 2011 protests have been the largest demonstrations seen in Egypt since the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots and “unprecedented” in scope, drawing participants from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and faiths.

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The demonstrations and riots started in the weeks after the Tunisian uprising, with many protesters carrying Tunisian flags as a symbol of their influence.

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Grievances for Egyptian protesters have focused on legal and political issues including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections and free speech, and corruption, as well as economic issues including high unemployment,  food price inflation,  and low minimum wages.

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Many opposition groups have given Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a mandate to negotiate a unity government.

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Photo sources: FARS, IRNA, Shabestan

Egypt uprising Facebook pages: APRIL 6 YOUTH MOVEMENT (Arabic), Khaled Said (English), mma qarat (Arabic)

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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SLAC proudly presents the World Premiere of The Persian Quarter by Kathleen Cahill.

A diplomatic crisis and a chance encounter trigger revelations of a shared past. The play unfolds on the final day of the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980 Tehran with Anne, an American hostage and Shirin, an Iranian revolutionary student who is one of her captors.

Thirty years later in New York City, their daughters, Emily and Azadeh, meet accidentally in an empty classroom at Columbia University during the visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

Company

NELL GWYNN (ANN, EMILY)

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DEENA MARIE MANZANARES (SHIRIN, AZADEH)

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SHANE MOZAFFARI (RUMI, IRANIAN POOL ATTENDANT)

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JOSH THOEMKE (MIKE, KERMIT)

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KATHLEEN CAHILL (Playwright)

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ALEXANDRA HARBOLD (Director, Artistic Literary Associate)
JOHN GRAHAM (Fight Choreographer)
CYNTHIA L. KEHR REES (Sound Design)
KEVEN MYHRE (Set Design, Executive Producer)
MEGAN NOYCE (Research)
JESSE PORTILLO (Light Design)
JENNIE SANT (Production Stage Manager)
SANDRA SHOTWELLl (Dialect Coach)
BRENDA VAN DER WEIL (Costume Design)

_________________________________________

From KATHLEEN CAHILL (Playwright)
What was I doing writing this play?  You stand at the mirror and look at yourself, and you can assess yourself, and you can assess your appearance, but you can’t see what’s inside – you can’t see what’s inside yourself.

This play is actually trying to look inside myself.  To look at an experience that I had 35 years ago.  When I was 22, I went overland to Iran for adventure and to teach English.  I didn’t know anything about Iran.  Nothing.  Zero. I didn’t even know how to count to ten in their language.

I remember I was taking the train from Istanbul to Iran, and there were Muslims on the train who unrolled their carpets five times a day and prayed to Mecca; I had never seen that before – I had never even heard of Mecca.  One of them taught me to count to ten in Farsi, which I still remember.  So I arrived in Tehran, and then I took an airplane to Shiraz and a taxi from the airport, and I cannot tell you – it was like arriving on another planet.

It’s a different year because they count the calendar from Mohammed not from Jesus, so it’s seven hundred years earlier; the days of the week are different – the Holy day isn’t Sunday, it’s Friday – Jomai – so it’s a six day week with Friday off, so those two things, just to begin with, threw me.  Then I was wearing this little light Sunday dress with a little short skirt, and there were these tribal women around where the taxi dropped me off, and they started doing that yuyulating thing with their voices – because of my skirt.  So it was all quite astonishing, and that was my introduction to Iran.

I lived there for ten months, and a lot of things happened, and I saw a lot of things, but I didn’t understand what I was seeing because I was uninformed and naïve.  But I never forgot the experience, and when the elections came up in the news in 2009, and I saw the women in the streets protesting, I just thought, “What is this about, and what happened to me then, and how do those things connect over 35 years?”

So I started to think about it, and I started to read a lot, and it was amazing because a lot of memories – and I know this is true of every other person – you think you have forgotten, but if you start thinking back, it will come.  More and more memories come.  The language came back – I remembered sentences – like I remembered how to say, “So and so is amusing us.” (Laughter) Memories, memories, memories started to come back, and I tied those memories to what I was learning from my reading.  I was also understanding things for the first time that I did not understand thirty-five years ago, and out of that came THE PERSIAN QUARTER. Read More

SLAC is delighted to announce that Kathleen Cahill’s play THE PERSIAN QUARTER is a recipient of a prestigious Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.

Upstairs Theatre
168 West 500 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Tickets

Source: Salt Lake Acting Company

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The Commonwealth Club will be hosting Abbas Milani in San Francisco.

Abbas Milani, Co-Director of the Iran Democracy Project and author of The Shah, will reveal the complex and sweeping road that has brought the U.S. and Iran to where they are today.

The life of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlevi, the last Shah of Iran, continues to resonate today. Milani looks at the monarch who shaped Iran’s modern age and with it the contemporary politics of the Middle East. He reveals the complex and sweeping road that he says has brought the U.S. and Iran to where they are today.

Abbas Milani is an Iranian-American historian and author. Milani is a visiting professor of Political Science and the director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University. He is also a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.

Location: SF Club Office, 595 Market St., 2nd Floor
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: $12 members, $20 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Also know: In association with The Club’s Middle East Member-Led Forum

Tickets

The Shah - Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,481

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AlAan TV exclusively interviewed Faezeh Hashemi who said that the Iranian authorities fabricated lies against her brother Mehdi and pressured prisoners to confess against him.

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AlAan TV: You and your family have been under huge pressures, tell us what happened to your son Hassan and your brother Mahdi?

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani: Of course what happened to us is nothing compared to what other people experienced and I feel embarrassed if I want to explain what our family has been through.

My son came to Iran at the beginning of the Persian year and he was arrested at airport. They kept his passport for 7 months, they gave him his passport after his school already started and his visa was expired.

For my brother Mahdi, they created special false atmosphere in Iran. They made up problems and fabricated cases against him. They even got confessions against him from some other prisoners which is against the law.

I don’t want to go deeply into details because it is not about us or Mahdi, it is all about people going to prisons because they are getting fabricated cases and false confessions.

All the trials and sentences issued recently are not in the legal framework, Mahdi is busy with his study and business but there are obstacles against in his return to Iran.

Source: kalam.tv

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Iranian graphic designer Mohammad Jamshidi took third place at the International Poster Biennial of Mexico.

He was selected for the third place for his poster “Fear and Mental Anguish” in Category A of the biennial which is dedicated to cultural posters.

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The first place was taken by Stephan Bundi from Switzerland with a poster named “The Moliére’s Tartuffe”.
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1- Stephan Bundi, Switzerland - Title:The Moliere's Tartuffe

Lance Rutter from United States took second place with his artwork “Homage to Alphonse Mucha” in this edition of the biennial.

2- Lance Rutter, United States - Title: Homage to Alphonse Mucha

Jamshidi previously won third award at the 10th Tehran International Poster Biennial in 2009 and received honorable mention at the International Poster Biennial of Mexico in 2008.

3- Mohammad Jamshidi, Iran - Title: Fear and mental damage

The International Poster Biennial of Mexico has opened up a new space for the diffusion of universal visual culture. For twenty years, it has enabled the presentation of creative proposals from the five continents.

SOCIAL POLICY POSTERS

1- Mieczislaw Gorowski, Poland - Title: Voices of Freedom.2- Jian Ping I, USA China Germany - Title: Global Warming

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2- Jian Ping I, USA China Germany - Title: Global Warming

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3- Leo Lin, Taiwan - Title: Global Warming

BIODIVERSITY POSTERS

1- Lex Drewinski Poland Germany - Title: Road of the disaster

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2- Natalia Allenova, Bulgaria Spain – Title: What is

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3- Elzbieta Chojna, Poland - Title: The modern man and the environment

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Text Source: MehrNews
Image Source: Bienalcartel

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Dar Be Dar (door to door) and Raassi represent that glob-rotting lifestyle as she is constantly traveling the world for inspiration, choosing only the finest quality materials and accessories for her clothing.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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Resort Collection 2010
Price $126
Product Code DBD054
Brown

Resort Collection 2010
Price $126
Product Code DBD059
Army

Resort Collection 2010
Price $126
Product Code DBD059
Orange

Summer Spring 2010
Price $126
Product Code DBD065
Black & White

Summer Spring 2010
Price $126
Product Code DBD078
Black

For Raassi, Dar Be Dar is more than a clothing line. Raassi seeks to promote freedom of expression for women through sensual apparel that accentuates and celebrates the female body. The little girl that wanted to become a lawyer would argue that a woman’s true power lies not in her ability to win arguments in a man’s world, but in her ability to discover her own power in a world she creates for herself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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An RFE/RL primer, in the form of mock trading cards, on some key figures within the Green Movement that emerged after Iran’s disputed 2009 election.

Mir-Hossein-Musavi, Bahareh Hedayat, Mehdi-Saharkhiz, Mohammad Shajarian, Mohsen Mirdamadi, Neda Agha-Soltan, Mohammad-Nourizad, Mourning-Mothers, Zahrah Rahnavard, Majid Tavakoli, Mehdi-Karrub

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Following the electoral coup d’état and fraudulent results of the Presidential Elections, thousands of Iranians have been subject to state-sponsored violence, torture, rape and execution last year.

12 June Event Finder

See the full list of cities & International support for June 12 HERE
12 June Event Finder: 79 cities & counting!

June 12, 2010 is the first anniversary of the people’s uprising in Iran. A large number of Iranians worldwide will commemorate this day simultaneously.With regard to this occasion, we as “Iranian Progressive Youth” have organized a cycling demo. In order to support the Iranian citizens inside Iran, specially the political prisoners, and raising awareness about the executions that have taken place recently.

Each city adopt some prisoners of conscience to focus on. Amsterdam will focus on: Zeynab Jalalian, Bahareh Hedayat, Majid Dori

Amsterdam, June 12
Route: Spui to Museumplein,13.00 to 15.00 PM
Gathering: Museumplein 15.00 to 17.00 PM (with or without bike)
Among speakers: Mahboobeh Abasgholizadeh, women’s rights defenders. Amin Hosui, student activist. Ali Honai, student activist.

* Click  here for route and its print options and GPS download options !

** You could rent a bike for € 5  at ‘Rent a Bike’, Damstraat 20. (Mention that you are taking part in ‘cycle for free Iran’!) Don’t forget your ID and € 25 deposit.

*** Designed t-shirts

Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event here

“Iranian Progressive Youth”
www.iranpy.net

in collaboration with Persian Dutch Network

به حمایت از فریاد آزادیخواهی مردم ایران برخیزیم
رکابزنی و گردهمائی در آمستردام

تظاهرات جهانی 22 خرداد، برای بزرگداشت سالگرد خیزش آزادیخواهانه مردم ایران، همزمان در بیش از 68 شهر جهان
برای همبستگی با مبارزات مردم ایران برای آزادی، بر علیه اعدام، برای آزادی کلیه زندانیان سیاسی

با حمایت سازمانهای بین المللی مدافع حقوق بشر و سخنرانی
محبوبه عباسقلی زاده فعال حقوق زنان، امین حصوری فعال دانشجوئی و علی هنری فعال دانشجوئی

هر یک از شهرهای شرکت کننده بطور سمبولیک تعدادی از زندانیان سیاسی را برجسته میکنند
آمستردام: زینب جلیلیان، فعال سیاسی کرد، محکوم به اعدام
بهاره هدایت، فعال دانشجوئی و حقوق زنان، محکوم به دهسال حبس
مجید دری، فعال دانشجوئی محروم از تحصیل، محکوم به شش سال حبس

برای علاقمندان به شرکت در اکسیون رکابزنی امکان کرایه دوچرخه ارزان قیمت در محل هماهنگ شده است

شبکه جوانان پیشرو
با همکاری شبکه ایرانیان هلند

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For Neda

Written, directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Antony Thomas, For Neda is the story of Neda Agha-Soltan whose tragic death on June 20, 2009 came to symbolize for many the struggle in Iran.

Filming without official aproval and at great risk, Iranian journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan worked secretly inside Iran to locate and film interviews with Neda’s family for the first time, while Thomas interviewed current exiles, including a friend of hers from her university days and Arash Hejazi, the doctor who was at Neda’s side when she was shot and who held her as she died. For Neda also includes videos, photos, private diaries and letters supplied by her family.

http://www.hbo.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For Neda tells the personal story of Neda Agha-Soltan who became the iconic symbol of Iran’s 2009 post-election protests and struggle.

Silenced By Dylan_Murphy

Remember Neda (Angel of Iran) By Nastassia A. Davis

Solidarity by Kolnstyle

Neda by Maryam Aghdami

Peace by Tira M Photography

UN General Assembly protests by Dina Regine

Journée internationale pour l'Iran au Trocadéro by looking4poetry

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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.

Two men were executed in January in connection with the protests.

The authorities also took severe measures against ethnic minority activists, such as members of the Kurdish minority, whom they often accused of engaging in armed opposition to the state – in several cases, such accused were executed after grossly unfair trials, as the Iranian authorities maintained their record of being one of the top executors in the world, and of executing juvenile offenders.

The Iranian authorities rejected out of hand many key recommendations made by other states to improve respect for human rights in the country, as part of the Universal Periodic Review of Iran by the UN Human Rights Council in February.

Azadi (freedom) Square June 15 2009

Background
International tension persisted over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. In March the UN Security Council voted to extend economic and political sanctions. In September, the government revealed the existence of a hitherto unknown enrichment facility.

Iran continued to host almost 1 million refugees, mostly from Afghanistan. They had limited access to social services and education.

Presidential election – widespread abuses
The authorities intensified their crackdown on critics and opponents of the government in the months preceding the 12 June presidential election, in which the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was officially declared the winner. Only three of the 474 other applicants were permitted to stand. Mass protests broke out in response to the official result, declared on 13 June, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. Security forces, notably the paramilitary Basij, were deployed to suppress the protests by force, particularly after the Supreme Leader ordered an end to demonstrations on 19 June. However, protests continued to the end of the year on significant days such as the religious festival of Ashoura on 27 December.

The authorities disrupted mobile phone and internet communications, including social networking sites, to prevent information circulating. They prevented foreign journalists from covering demonstrations, expelling some, and security officials controlled the content of newspapers. Security forces raided university campuses, injuring students. The authorities accused the US and UK governments of organizing the unrest, which those governments denied.

All three defeated candidates alleged election fraud  and complained to the body responsible for administering the election. It carried out a partial re-count but largely rejected the candidates’ complaints. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August.

Unlawful killings
The Basij and other security forces used excessive force against demonstrators, beating them with batons and riding motorcycles into them to cause injury. The authorities said 43 died in the protests but opposition sources said the true total was likely to be over 100. Hundreds were injured.

Neda Agha Soltan, aged 27, was shot dead in a Tehran street on 20 June during a demonstration. Her dying moments were filmed. The perpetrator was identified as a member of the Basij but the authorities claimed that British and US news media had caused her death. Neda Agha Soltan’s family and other mourners were harassed and intimidated by security officials when commemorating her life.

Amnesty International report 2010 on Iran

Arrests and detentions
Well over 5,000 people were detained after the election by the end of the year, including opposition politicians, journalists, academics, students, lawyers, human rights activists and army officers. Those with dual nationality or links to the USA or UK were also targeted. Some were arrested at demonstrations; others at their home or workplace; and some, who were injured, from hospital. Most, if not all, were denied access to legal representation. Many were denied access to their families and to medical care. Hundreds of those arrested were freed within days or weeks, but scores were charged with vaguely worded offences, such as fomenting a “velvet revolution” or committing “acts against national security”, and prosecuted in “show trials”.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Said Hajjarian and at least four other political leaders were detained days after the election. All were prisoners of conscience. Said Hajjarian was released on bail in October and Mohammad Ali Abtahi in November. Mohsen Aminzadeh remained in custody at the end of the year.

Rape and other torture
Some detainees were taken to the Kahrizak detention centre, south of Tehran, where they were tortured and otherwise ill-treated. Kahrizak quickly became so notorious for abuse that the Supreme Leader ordered its closure in July. By the end of the year, 12 officials were facing trial before a military court for abuses including three for murder.

Compelling evidence emerged that a number of detainees, both women and men, had been raped and otherwise tortured in detention, but instead of investigating allegations thoroughly, the authorities were quick to deny them and then harassed the victims and closed the offices of a committee collecting victims’ testimonies.

Ebrahim Sharifi, a student aged 24, testified that security officials raped him, beat him severely and subjected him to mock execution in the week following his arrest on 22 June. He tried to file a judicial complaint but went into hiding after he and his family were threatened by security officials. On 13 September a judicial panel dismissed his allegation of rape and accused him of fabricating it for political reasons and he fled Iran.

Mohsen Ruholamini, the son of an aide to presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, died on 23 July after about two weeks in Kahrizak. A coroner’s report found he had suffered a heart attack and internal bleeding and had been hit repeatedly with a hard
object.

Unfair trials
Mass “show trials” involving scores of detainees were staged in successive sessions beginning in August. The trials were grossly unfair. Most, if not all, defendants were denied access to lawyers. Most had been detained incommunicado for several weeks and many were reported to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated before being brought to court.

The trials were closed but excerpts broadcast on state television showed defendants making what appeared to be coerced “confessions”. More than 80 were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years; at least six others were sentenced to death.

Human rights defenders
Human rights defenders, including minority and women’s rights activists, lawyers and trade unionists, continued to face arbitrary arrest, harassment, prosecution and unfair trials throughout the year. Some were banned from travelling abroad.

In April, five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company Trade Union were sentenced to up to six months’ imprisonment for “propaganda against the system” for criticizing conditions at their workplace when they were interviewed by foreign journalists in 2008. They began serving their sentences in November after they were upheld on appeal.

Five members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters were arrested in December and others were sought by intelligence officials.

Discrimination against women
Women continued to face discrimination in law, despite some minor improvements. Women’s rights campaigners, including those active in the “One Million Signatures” campaign to end legal discrimination, were harassed, detained, prosecuted and banned from travelling for collecting signatures in support of their petition.

On 1 February, Alieh Eghdam-Doust, a member of the Campaign for Equality, began a three-year prison sentence imposed for participating in a peaceful demonstration. She was among many women arrested during a protest in June 2006 against discriminatory laws, and the first to begin serving a prison sentence.

Freedom of expression and association
The authorities blocked websites voicing criticism, notably those of Iranian bloggers, and periodically blocked those of foreign news media reporting on Iran. In April, they warned SMS users that messages were “controlled” by a new “internet crimes” law introduced in January. They also shut down or maintained bans on tens of journals, magazines and other print media, targeted critical journalists and infiltrated and undermined independent civil society groups, such as the Society of Esfahan Human Rights Supporters. Hundreds of students faced education bans for campus activism.

Four students at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University were arrested at their homes on 24 February for participating in a peaceful demonstration the previous day against the government’s decision to bury soldiers’ remains on the campus, and so facilitate unrestricted access to the campus by the Basij and other security forces. Other students were also arrested; all had been released uncharged by July.

Roxana Saberi, a journalist with joint US-Iranian nationality, was convicted of “collaborating with a hostile state” in a closed trial before Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on 18 April following her arrest on 31 January. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, but this was reduced to a suspended two-year term following local and international criticism. She was released on 12 May and allowed to leave the country.

Two brothers, Arash and Kamiar Alaei, both medical doctors active in the field of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, were sentenced in January to six and three years’ imprisonment respectively for “co-operating with an enemy government”. They had been tried before a closed court on 31 December 2008. They were neither told the charges or evidence against them nor permitted by the court to call or examine witnesses. Both men were prisoners of conscience, imprisoned on account of their medical work with US and other international medical institutions.

Discrimination, Ethnic minorities
Members of Iran’s ethnic minorities continued to face discrimination along with harassment and imprisonment for advocating greater respect for social and cultural rights, including the right to mother tongue education. In June, the government announced that it would allow some higher education in regional languages.

Members of the Ahwazi Arab and Azerbaijani minorities were subject to continuing repression. Members of the small Sunni Azerbaijani minority were arrested in February when they protested against cuts in water supplies. Members of the Kurdish minority suspected of belonging to banned armed opposition groups were arrested and imprisoned. Some were sentenced to death and at least one was executed, possibly in reprisal for a spate of attacks on officials in Kordestan province in September. In Sistan- Baluchistan province, home to the mostly Sunni Muslim Baluch minority, violence intensified amid increasing clashes between the security forces and members of the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), an armed political group also known as Jondallah. On 18 October, at least 42 people, including senior Revolutionary Guards officers and civilians, were killed in an attack claimed by the PRMI.

On 30 May, two days after a PRMI bomb attack on a mosque in Zahedan killed at least 25 people, three men were publicly executed near the mosque for allegedly smuggling the explosives into Iran; all three had been in prison accused of other bombings when the attack happened.

Religious minorities
Members of religious minorities, including some not recognized by the government, continued to suffer discrimination, harassment, arbitrary arrest and damage to community property. Among those targeted were Sunni Muslim clerics; Shi’a clerics advocating the separation of the state from religion; members of the Dervish and Ahl-e Haqq communities; members of a philosophical association called Al-e Yasin; Christians; and members of the Baha’i community, who remained unable to access higher education. Converts from Islam were at risk of attack as well as prosecution for “apostasy”, which is punishable by death.

Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, both Christian converts, were arrested on 5 March in Tehran for handing out Bibles and participating in religious gatherings. Both were prisoners of conscience. Released in November after acquittal in October of “acting against state security” by a Revolutionary Court, they continued to face charges of “apostasy” and “proselytizing” in a General Court.

Seven Baha’is, two women and five men, who were arrested in March and May 2008, remained held without trial in Evin Prison in Tehran. All faced charges of spying for Israel and “insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the system”. In May their families were told that they had also been charged with “corruption on earth”, which can be punished by death.

Torture and other ill-treatment
Torture and other ill-treatment in pre-trial detention remained common, facilitated by the routine denial of access to lawyers by detainees and impunity for officials who perpetrate violations. Methods reported included severe beatings; confinement in tiny spaces; deprivation of light, food and water; and systematic denial of medical treatment. At least 12 people were believed to have died in custody in 2009 apparently as a result of ill-treatment or lack of adequate medical care. No investigations into any torture allegations were reported, except at Kahrizak.

Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments
Sentences of flogging and judicial amputation were imposed and carried out. In February, the Supreme Court upheld a sentence in which acid would be dropped into the eyes of a man who had blinded a woman with the same liquid.

Death penalty
Iran maintained one of the highest rates of execution globally. At least 388 people were executed, including one man who was stoned to death and at least five juvenile offenders sentenced for crimes committed when they were aged under 18. At least 14 were executed in public. The actual totals were believed to be higher.

The rate of reported executions rose sharply during the unrest between the presidential election on 12 June and the inauguration on 5 August – 112 executions were recorded, an average of more than two a day.

The authorities carried out mass executions in January, March, July and August, during which a total of 77 people were executed. At least 11 people sentenced to die by stoning and at least 136 juvenile offenders remained on death row
at the end of the year.

Delara Darabi, a 22-year-old woman convicted of a crime she allegedly committed when aged 17, was executed on 1 May despite a two-month stay ordered by the Head of the Judiciary.

Amnesty International visits/reports
The authorities continued to deny access to Amnesty International. The organization has not been permitted to visit the country to research human rights since shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

- Iran: Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (MDE 13/009/2009)
- Human rights in the spotlight on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution (MDE 13/010/2009)
- Iran: Election amid repression of dissent and unrest (MDE 13/053/2009)
- Iran: Election contested, repression compounded (MDE 13/123/2009)

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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Amnesty International key points on a few other countries

China

Amnesty International report 2010 on China

- Food crisis
- Arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment
- Enforced disappearances
- Death penalty
- Freedom of expression and association
- Constitutional developments
- International scrutiny

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France

Amnesty Internationa Report 2010 France

- Police and security forces
- Migrants’ rights, refugees and asylum-seekers
- Counter-terror and security
- Legal, constitutional or institutional developments

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Iraq

Amnesty International Report 2010 Iraq

- Abuses by armed groups
- Detentions
- Death penalty
- Trials of former officials
- Human rights violations by Iraqi security forces
- Human rights violations by US forces
- Violence against women
- Refugees and internally displaced people
- Camp Ashraf

Kurdistan region

- Arbitrary detention
- Media freedom
- Violence against women

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ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Amnesty International Report 2010 Israel

- Operation ‘Cast Lead’
- Unlawful killings
- Attacks on civilian objects
- Use of civilians as ‘human shields’
- Humanitarian assistance blocked
- Gaza blockade – humanitarian crisis
- Restrictions in the West Bank
- Right to water
- Forced evictions
- Excessive use of force
- Military justice system, Detentions without trial
- Unfair trials
- Prison conditions – denial of family visits
- Torture and other ill-treatment
- Impunity
- Prisoners of conscience – Israeli conscientious objectors

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PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Amnesty International Report 2010 PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

- Unlawful killings
- Abuses by armed groups
- Justice system
- Arbitrary arrests and detentions
- Torture and other ill-treatment
- Deaths in custody
- Freedom of expression
- Violence against women and girls
- Death penalty

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Amnesty International Report 2010 United States America

- Counter-terror and justice, Detentions at Guantánamo
- Military commissions
- Transfers to federal court
- Habeas corpus proceedings for Guantánamo detainees
- Detentions in Bagram, Afghanistan
- CIA secret detention programme
- Detainee interrogation and transfer policy
- Impunity and lack of remedy
- Torture and other ill-treatment – electro-shock weapons
- Prison conditions
- Migrants and asylum-seekers
- Health and reproductive rights
- Right to health – maternal mortality
- Trade embargo against Cuba
- Conscientious objectors
- Unfair trials
- Death penalty

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Source: thereport.amnesty.org

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Donate to Amnesty International

Related Posts:

1. Human Rights World Report 2010: Iran Targets Human Rights Messengers
2. UN’s Human Development Report 2010 – Iran Ranks 70 out of 169

Click here to view the embedded video.

Song: Change
Lyrics written by: Michelle Montezeri
Arrangements by: Michelle Montezeri

Michelle-Montezeri

Close your eyes and dream
Go to sleep it is not real
Where will you go
when hope has left
Isnt someone caring
caring

Try to change but youre not strong
Someone tell us whats wrong
Please tell us whats wrong

When you struggle and you fall
Save yourself from it all
Have the strength to still believe
After all your sorrow and grief

Dont give up you get there soon
Youll reach the stars and the moon
Youll do the things you never knew how to do

Reach to me and Ill be there
Dont you worry Ill take care off you

Dont give up you get there soon
Reach the stars and the moon.

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If you like to like to know Michelle Montezeri better, please visit
Website: www.michellemontezeri.com

Related Posts:

1. Iran Regime Change Survey
2. The Golha Project: Digital Archiving of Flowers of Persian Poetry and Song

Here is your chance to take the same survey but in English. You ‘ll see the result for both surveys.

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The original survey plan was for 200 males and 200 females to be interviewed, and the final results are for 162 males and 185 females. (53 people declined to be interviewed) The age group was from 20 to 49.

We estimate that Payvand’s female to male visitors are about %45 female to %55 male, and since last election in Iran, the age range greatly widened from 20’s to 70’s.

The sorting order of poll answers for each question is the same for Persian and English (the sorting order of poll results may be different).

It may take up to 30 min. for polls to update.

The survey is closed now, you’ll only see the results

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Link to the complete Persian survey in PDF format

نظرسنجی

Related Posts:

1. Iranian Public Opinion Survey by International Peace Institute
2. Michelle Montezeri’s Freedom For Iran Original Song – Change

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.

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In Iran, Human Rights Watch covered the continuing governmental crackdown on peaceful activists following the disputed presidential election of June 2009. Human Rights Watch documented the arrests of thousands of ordinary and high-profile people, providing detailed accounts of state violence against peaceful protesters, arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, and abuse and torture in Iran’s illegal detention centers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Disbarring Lawyers
In June 2009, following the disputed presidential elections, the Iranian government adopted new regulations that severely limit the independence of the Iranian Bar Association, giving the government control over a lawyer’s right to practice. Until then, the Bar Association, which has the exclusive power to grant or deny licenses to practice, had resisted government efforts to rein in lawyers who defend human rights.

Criminal Charges
The Iranian government has arrested scores of NGO activists and sentenced them to prison on the grounds that their work or speech allegedly “harms national security” or that they are “foreign agents.” Members of Kurdish rights organizations have faced even worse, with lengthy prison sentences, including the death penalty, for their work reporting on rights violations affecting the Kurdish community. In 2008, the government sentenced to death Farzad Kamangar, a member of the Organization for the Defense of Human Rights in Kurdistan, claiming without proof that he was a member of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It also sentenced Sadigh Kaboudvand, who headed the group, to 11 years in prison for his NGO activities, along with prison terms for 12 of his colleagues.

Torture and Ill-Treatment of Political Prisoners
Following the disputed election, both ordinary protestors and prominent opposition figures faced detention without trial, harsh treatment including sexual violence and denial of due process including lack of access to lawyers of their choosing.

Freedom of Expression
Iranian authorities continued to imprison journalists and editors for publishing critical views, and strictly controlled publishing and academic activities.

Freedom of Association
The government increased restrictions on civil society organizations that advocate human rights and freedom of speech. Security forces on December 23, 2008 shut down the Center for Defenders of Human Rights, led by 2003 Noble Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Death Penalty
Iran carries out more executions annually than any other nation except China. These executions frequently occur after unfair or political crimes with inadequate access to legal counsel.

Human Rights Defenders
The government escalated its crackdown on human rights lawyers in 2009, subjecting some to arbitrary detention, travel bans, and harassment.

Treatment of Minorities
The government continues to deny members of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest
non-Muslim religious minority, freedom of religion.

See complete report on Iran and a few selected countries by clicking on the following  images.

Iran

Issues: Torture and Ill-Treatment of Political Prisoners, Freedom of Expression , Freedom of Association, Death Penalty, Human Rights Defenders, Treatment of Minorities

Since 2005 the government has prevented independent experts of the United Nations Human Rights Council from visiting to investigate alleged human rights violations.

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China

Issues: Freedom of Expression, Legal Reform, Human Rights Defenders, Migrant and Labor Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Women’s and Girls’ Rights, HIV/AIDS, Freedom of Religion, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

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European Union

Issues: Counter-terrorism Measures and Human Rights, Common EU Asylum and Migration Policy

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Israel

Issues: Palestinian Armed Groups, Israel Defense Forces, Blockade , Palestinian Authority, Home Demolitions and Evacuations, Freedom of Movement, Arbitrary Detention , Expulsion of Asylum Seekers

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Russia

Issues: Civil Society, The North Caucasus, The Armed Conflict over South Ossetia, Migrant Worker Rights, Health Issues and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

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Saudi Arabia

Issues: Women’s and Girls’ Rights, Migrant Worker Rights, Criminal Justice, Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Ill-Treatment, Freedom of Expression , Freedom of Religion

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Turkey

Issues: Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Association, Human Rights Defenders, Torture, Ill-Treatment, and Killings by Security Forces, Impunity

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United Arab Emirate

Issues: Migrant Worker Rights, Torture , Criminal Justice System, Freedom of Association and Expression

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United States of America

Issues: Death Penalty, Juvenile Life without Parole, Incarceration, Drug Policy, Rights of Non-Citizens, Women’s and Girls’ Rights, Sexual Violence, Children’s Rights, Guantanamo, Indefinite Detention, and Military Commissions , Accounting for Past Abuses, Secrecy, Renditions

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Venezuela

Issues: Independence of the Judiciary, Prosecution of Political Opponents, Media Freedom, Labor Rights, Police Abuses, Prison Conditions

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India

Issues: Justice and Accountability, Conduct of Security Forces, Violence against Minorities, Women’s and Girls’ Rights, Access to Education, and Child Soldiers, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

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Source: HRW

Download the World Report (4MB) (PDF, 3.72 MB)

Purchase a printed copy of this report

Related Posts:

1. Amnesty International report 2010 on Iran
2. UN’s Human Development Report 2010 – Iran Ranks 70 out of 169

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.

“In 2009, we saw a disturbing erosion of some of the most fundamental freedoms—freedom of expression and association—and an increase in attacks on frontline activists in these areas,” said Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director of Freedom House. “From the brutal repression on the streets of Iran, to the sweeping detention of Charter 08 members in China and murders of journalists and human rights activists in Russia, we have seen a worldwide crackdown against individuals asserting their universally accepted rights over the last five years.”

The Freedom in the World survey provides an annual evaluation of the progress and decline of freedom in 194 countries and 14 select related and disputed territories. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. Each country and territory is rated on a seven-point scale for both political rights and civil liberties, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free, and then assigns each country and territory a broad category status of Free (for countries whose ratings average 1.0 to 2.5), Partly Free (3.0 to 5.0), or Not Free (5.5 to 7.0).

Electoral Democracies: The number of electoral democracies dropped by three and stands at 116. Developments in four countries—Honduras, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Niger—disqualified them from the electoral democracy list, while conditions in the Maldives improved enough for it to be added.

Key regional findings include

Middle East and North Africa: Repression in Iran led to score declines, and other countries in the region suffered a number of setbacks. Jordan, Bahrain, and Yemen were all downgraded from Partly Free to Not Free. Declines were also noted in Morocco and the Palestinian Territories. Lebanon and Iraq registered improvements.

Western Europe and North America: A notable challenge faced by the Obama administration in the United States has been balancing security concerns with the promised rollback of controversial antiterrorism policies dating to the Bush administration. Western Europe has struggled to deal with the influx of immigrants from Muslim countries and the rise of anti-immigration policies, which contributed to declines in Switzerland and Malta.

Asia: Successful democratic elections were held in India, Indonesia, and Japan. Improvements were also noted in Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Mongolia. Declines were documented in Afghanistan after a deeply flawed presidential poll, and in the Philippines after the massacre of civilians and members of the press and the subsequent declaration of martial law.

Freedom in the World 2010 Checklist Questions

POLITICAL RIGHTS CHECKLIST

A. ELECTORAL PROCESS

1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?
2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?
3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

B. POLITICAL PLURALISM AND PARTICIPATION

1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?
2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic possibility for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?
3. Are the people’s political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers,
totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?
4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral
opportunities?

C. FUNCTIONING OF GOVERNMENT

1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?
2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?
3. Is the government accountable

CIVIL LIBERTIES CHECKLIST

D. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND BELIEF

1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression? (Note: In cases where the media are state-controlled but offer pluralistic points of view, the survey gives the system credit.)
2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?
3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political
indoctrination?
4. Is there open and free private discussion?

E. ASSOCIATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL RIGHTS

1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?
2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations? (Note: This includes civic organizations, interest groups, foundations, etc.)
3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

F. RULE OF LAW

1. Is there an independent judiciary?
2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian
control?
3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?
4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

G. PERSONAL AUTONOMY AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

1. Do citizens enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?
2. Do citizens have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political
parties/organizations, or organized crime?
3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?
4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Source:  Freedom House

Related Posts:

1. Iran on top of 2009 Global Restriction on Religion Report
2. Human Rights World Report 2010: Iran Targets Human Rights Messengers