The Latest from Iran (14 June): Tough Talk Based on Bad Economics

See also Remember Iran: The Protests, the Repression...and the "Hope That Runs The World"
Remember Iran Flashback: "The Obama Administration Fails to React" (14 June 2009)
Remember Iran Flashback: 14 June 2009 Live Coverage --- "More than 100" Arrested as Greens Prepare Rally
The Latest from Iran (13 June): The Reformists and the Next Election

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Supreme Leader Addresses MPs, 13 June1515 GMT: Suppressing the Lawyers. Shadi Sadr summarises the regime's efforts to curb activism and dissent through intimidation and imprisonment of attorneys:

Between June 2009 and July 2011 at least 42 lawyers were arrested and at least 7 lawyers were forced to leave the country. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah was recently sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment and a 10 year ban on practicing law. The security officials have told him that either he will give a televised interview in which he will state that he was given money by foreign governments for defending his client or he has to go to prison....

Harassing the lawyers is not limited to their detention and sentencing. Most of the lawyers who have been detained are repeatedly questioned for having defended their clients. They are summoned and interrogated by security forces in short intervals. Many have been forced to promise not to give interviews to the media regarding the conditions of their clients. For this reason, methods of providing information regarding the conditions of the political prisoners are being blocked more and more every day. Some of the lawyers are told that they cannot accept political case files. For this reason, many prisoners of conscience are deprived of their right to a defense, prescribed by the Iranian constitution.

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The Latest from Iran (22 July): Ahmadinejad Ready for Nuclear Talks?

2000 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Hadi Hamidi Shafigh, an ethnic right activist and member of the Azerbaijan National Movement, has reportedly been detained on the eve of his wedding.

Last month Shafigh was sentenced to six months imprisonment and 60 lashes for demanding Azerbaijani lunguage rights. He was chanting the slogan, "We want to study Azerbaijani language" during a football match in Tabriz on 1 May.

Shafigh has been arrested on several occasions dating back to 2006 and expelled from university.

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Iran Document: The Women Who are Political Prisoners (Sadr)

Taking a serious and fruitful measure in order to stop violation of human rights, including various forms of sexual torture and violence against political prisoners as the most severe form of violation of human rights, is a necessary step towards releasing some pressure from the popular movement of the Iranian people. We must start now, tomorrow is too late.

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The Latest from Iran (24 March): Trust Us, We're Different

2125 GMT: Lawyer and human rights activist Shadi Sadr has expressed hope over today's resolution by the UN Human Rights Council, passed 22-7, to appoint a Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran. Sadr said previous reports by Rapporteurs had a positive effect on the conditions in the country, particularly on those of political prisoners. Sadr continued:

I think today’s resolution is quite important and will be quite effective because not only does having the Special Rapporteur mean more and specific monitoring, but it is also a swift shift in the international community’s approach regarding Iran’s human rights situation. It does not matter if the Islamic Republic of Iran allows the Rapporteur to visit the country or not. The point is that the international community, tired of negotiations with no results…today, has shown its stick rather than its carrot. This is the exact atmosphere that we, Iranian civil society, need to use as a useful platform to push for the demands and rights of the people of Iran.

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Iran Document: Lawyer Shadi Sadr "What Do We Mean By Violations of Human Rights?"

In truth, what are we speaking of when we talk about violations of human rights in Iran? Here it is exactly: we speak of a lengthy list of examples of violations of human rights in Iran that take place, that are widespread and systematic, in an increasing manner in all the areas, from women’s rights to ethnic minority rights, from children’s rights to religious minority rights, from freedom of expression and association to homosexual rights. However, today I do not wish to speak of this lengthy yet general list. Instead, I wish to express what human rights means for me, what I am speaking of when I talk about violations of human rights in Iran. Today, I wish to speak of those details that usually don’t come to mind, of the names, the faces, the people.

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