Iran Feature: Week in Civil Society --- From International Women's Day to the Death of Hugo Chavez (Arseh Sevom)
Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 7:01
This week the mother of Neda Soltan, the young woman whose death was captured on camera during the demonstrations following the 2009 Presidential elections, reminds us of International Women’s Day. Ban Ki Moon makes a statement for an end to violence against women and children. Iran’s sociologists report on growing sexual freedom in Iran, while 250 female activists complain about the treatment of the daughters of Zahra Rahnavard and Mir Hossein Mousavi.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran issues a report, which is immediately branded biased by Iran’s media. A new cinema organization is launched --- state-sponsored and with a director who has worked hard to close the independent House of Cinema. A letter to Syrian President Assad from the Physicians' Association leads to its takeover by the Revolutionary Guards.
A message from well-respected economists warns of increased instability if the country’s economic problems aren’t addressed. Crime is on the rise, and the former Tehran Prosecutor General, Saeed Mortazavi, appears before the court in the defendant’s chair.
The death of Hugo Chavez is cause for (another) day of mourning in Iran.