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Photos: Protests in Egypt

Protests-Egypt-2011-iOn 25 January 2011 extensive civil unrest and rioting began in Egypt. Despite violence, the situation seemed more controlled chiefly through the moderating effects of the army’s presence on the street.

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

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Posters: Tokyo Designers Week 2010 Awards Iranian Artist

lifeismyright1-iKhashayar Teimouri has been awarded at the 2010 Tokyo Designers Week (TDW) held by Japan on the theme of “Endangered Species.”  Teimouri’s Life is My Right won him the second prize of the event which he shared with Slovenia’s Miha Kosmac.

Israel’s Anna Braverman’s  “Living Tracks” received the event’s grand prize.

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American Global View 2010 and Iran - The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

global-view-2010-iThe American people want to play an active part in world affairs but their internationalism is increasingly constrained by economic troubles at home and diminished influence overseas, according to The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ 2010 survey of public opinion on U.S. foreign policy .

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The Green Team: Iranian Opposition's Heavy Hitters

broken-green-heart-iGraphics and text by Kristin Deasy RFE/RL

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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Iran Ranks 104 out of 149 in Global Peace Index 2010

global-peace-index-2010-iThe 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.

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Amsterdam - Cycle For Free Iran, June 12 2010

Cycle-For-Free-IranNetherlands is the land of cyclists, so join us and invite others to join!

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

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Despite Tightening Up Of Society, Iranian Art Sees A Boom

Nikoo-Tarkhani-not-woman-iBy Kristin Deasy, Hannah Kaviani -  rferl.org

The Persian word for “love” is spelled out in Swarovski crystals and glitter, with a small footnote from the artist: “A picture is worth a thousand words and a word a thousand pictures.” The estimate wasn’t high enough.

When the acrylic painting on canvas sold at Bonhams in Dubai two years ago for a historic $1,048,000, the Iranian creator Farhad Moshiri became the first artist from the region to break the $1 million price barrier at auction.

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Amnesty International report 2010 on Iran

Amnesty-Internationa-1l-iNo 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.

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Human Rights as a way of life

12-Petals-Media-posterFor the optimal realization of human possibilities and the enjoyment of human dignity, we at the 12Petals Media Group (www.12Petals.org) reach out globally for Human Rights as a way of life.

12Petals as a community-production based media group with an emphasis on the “culture of human rights” philosophy strives to be a union of interdependent visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, cinematographers, playwrights, socials entrepreneurs and more…

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Michelle Montezeri's Freedom For Iran Original Song - Change

16 year old Michelle Montezeri dedicates her original song Change to the Iranian Green Movement.

YouTube Preview Image

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Iranian participants in 1st International Exhibition - poster for a Healthier World.

poster-Healthier-World-ali_shoghi_benam-iInstitute of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Design, Mexico
The exhibition opened on January 25 2010

At this time, Institute’s mission as journalists is to educate parents and those interested in the welfare of children and people in general about health and prevent developmental problems caused by exposure to toxic substances, but also educate the media, policy makers and general public on the fact that environmental health is a key determinant of public health.

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Iran Regime Change Survey

Iran-Regime-Change-SurveyAccording 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.

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Human Rights World Report 2010: Iran Targets Human Rights Messengers

World-Report-2010-iThe 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.

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Global Erosion of Freedom and Iran's negative trend

freedomhouse-2010-iIn 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.

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Iran on top of 2009 Global Restriction on Religion Report

KhandaThe 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.

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Sohrab Aarabi 'Freedom Warrior of Iran' will be Memorialized in Bronze

10441724-life-size-clay-portrait-bust-of-sohrab-freedom-warrior-i

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.

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