Iran Feature: 17 NGOs Protest "Government Assault on Academic Freedom"

Imprisoned Iranian StudentsStudents and higher education personnel in Iran continue to face routine and pervasive violations of their rights on the basis of their opinions, gender, religion and ethnicity. The Network for Education and Academic Rights, an independent non-governmental organization that monitors academic freedom, documented at least 92 violations of academic rights in Iran in 2011. According to the largest independent student organization in Iran, Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat, between March 2009 and February 2012, there were at least 396 cases of students banned from further study by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology as a result of their peaceful political or other dissent. Additionally, at least 634 students were arrested by security and intelligence organs and 254 students convicted for similar reasons, with the correlated impact on their ability to continue their education. The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research declared Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat an “illegal” union in 2009, on grounds that it “engaged in activities that endangered national security.”

The Iranian authorities have threatened, suspended, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced student activists for peaceful criticism of government policies on a regular basis. Officials also have routinely shut down hundreds of student gatherings, publications, and independent organizations. More than 30 students are currently serving long prison sentences in Iran solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly by expressing their opinions, participating in demonstrations, or membership of an independent student organization critical of government policies. Combined, these students have been sentenced to more than 130 years in prison, in some cases up to 15 years.

Click to read more ...

Iran Update: Guardian Council Approves New Islamic Penal Code

The "Islamic Penal Bill" flouts Iran's legal obligations under the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]. The legislation endangers free expression and reinforces laws that violate the rights of Iranian citizens. The bill fails to prohibit stoning, lashing, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishments; redress discriminatory laws; or, raise the age of majority for girls and boys. In a particularly worrisome clause, the bill expands punishment for "actions against national security", a charge that has routinely been used to persecute dissidents.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: Admiring Ahmadinejad and Ignoring Activists? We're Better Than This (Mostofi)

Who have we become as a peace and social justice movement when we accept and repeat as fact Iranian state propaganda dismissing the recent uprisings in Iran and the continued bravery of activists defending their rights? Just as J. Edgar Hoover likened civil rights activists to communists in order to de-legitimize them, so too has the Iranian government used the accusation of western spies to dismiss the relevancy of any resistance. They have thus stated that thousands of people voicing dissent and protest do not have the will to serve as their own actors. It is a grave failure on the part of peace and social justice activists to assume this position and belittle our Iranian counterparts. We must not turn our focus away from the Iranian activists we aim to work in solidarity with.

I believe strongly in the old adage “speak truth to power". I was taught long ago, through the antiwar and peace movement—the very community that was at this dinner—that our job must include speaking up for those who have had their voices suppressed when we have the ability to do so. It also means having the knowledge and experience to have a nuanced conversation about the obstacles we face and not simply taking part in the self-censorship, deference to power, and accepted frameworks that have come to define any discourse in politics and diplomacy.

We have a tremendous task ahead of us. Many people have sacrificed a great deal in both countries to do this important work. Iranians took tremendous risks not only on the streets of Iran, but also with the videos and messages they delivered across the internet so that we would know the truth about their resistance. We believe in their right for self-determination and our voices must demand it. We owe them better than this.

Click to read more ...