ORF III: Anstoss in Teheran – Football under Cover

Montag, 04. Juni 20:15 Uhr

Die iranische Frauenfußball-Nationalmannschaft, die bislang nur in einer Halle geschützt vor den Blicken der Männer spielen durfte, spielt gegen eine Frauenmannschaft aus Berlin-Kreuzberg. Es ist das erste offizielle Frauenfußballspiel im Iran seit der Revolution vor 27 Jahren.

90 Minuten lang erfüllen sich die Frauen ihre Träume von Freiheit, wird Fußball zum Hoffnungsträger für ein Leben ohne religiöse Zwänge. Trotz der anwesenden Sittenwächterinnen singen und tanzen mehr als eintausend Zuschauerinnen, feuern sie die beiden Mannschaften an.
Die Idee zum Spiel entstand in Berlin. Dort traf Marlene Assmann, Rechtsfuß und Linksverteidigerin des Kreuzberger Vereins “BSV AL-Dersimspor”, den iranischen Filmregisseur Ayat Najafi. Er erzählte ihr von der iranischen Frauenfußballmannschaft, die noch nie gegen ein anderes Team gespielt hat. Beide beschlossen, das zu ändern. Und darüber einen Film zu machen.
Ein Jahr dauerten die Vorbereitungen. Immer neue Schwierigkeiten tauchten auf. Es war wie ein Hindernislauf, bei dem man oft nicht wusste, wer einem die Steine in den Weg legt. Doch auch wenn das Spiel von den iranischen Behörden von November auf März verschoben wurde, um dann im April stattzufinden, auch wenn man nicht wie geplant im größten Fußballstadion Asiens, sondern auf einem vertrockneten Rasen und mit kaputten Toren spielte, auch wenn eine der besten iranischen Spielerinnen aus Gründen, die keiner versteht, nicht mehr am Spiel teilnehmen durfte, auch dann gaben die Mädchen nicht auf. Am Ende geht ihr Traum vom gemeinsamen Fußballspiel in Erfüllung und es wird klar: Veränderung ist möglich.

Iranian film “A Cube of Sugar” hits U.S. movie theaters

Source: Tehran Times

The Iranian family drama “A Cube of Sugar” by Reza Mirkarimi is currently on screen in Los Angeles.

The movie went on screen Sunday and will be on show for one week. It will later go on screen in Orange County, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Wednesday.

In “A Cube of Sugar”, four sisters come home to help with preparations for their youngest sister’s engagement party, however not everything goes as planned.

Negar Javaherian, Rima Raminfar, Saeid Pursamimi, Parivash Nazarieh, Reza Kianian and Hedayat Hashemi are the A-list cast of the film.

Birthday Celebration For Nine Iranian Political Prisoners

By Taraneh Bani Yaghoub, Focus on Iranian Women; photos by Alieh Matlabzadeh

In a program held in Tehran on Sunday, the birthday of nine Iranian political prisoners was celebrated. Families of the prisoners along with some of the supporters of the Green Movement participated in this program.

The stars of Khordad: Political prisoners Nasrin Sotoudeh, Majid Tavakkoli, Bahman Ahmadi Amooei, Abdollah Momeni, Hassan Naeilmipour, Saeid Malekpour, Bahman Sadeghi Nour, Mehdi Khodaei and Massoud Pedram have been incarcerated due to their beliefs.

 

EINSfestival TV Tipp: Offside – Frauen im Abseits – Freitag, 1.Juni 2012 – 20:15 Uhr

Freitag, 1.Juni 2012 – 20:15 Uhr

Teheran im Sommer 2005: Mit einem Sieg gegen Bahrain kann sich die iranische Fußball-Nationalmannschaft für die WM in Deutschland qualifizieren. In einem der vielen Fanbusse, die unterwegs zum Stadion sind, sitzt zwischen lautstarken Schlachtenbummlern eine junge Frau (Sima Mobarak-Shahi), die sich mit Baseballmütze und weiten Hosen als Junge verkleidet hat.

Sie ist begeisterter Fußballfan und will unbedingt ins Stadion. Doch im Iran ist Frauen der Zutritt zu Fußballarenen verboten – angeblich weil die Männer hier für Frauenohren ungeeignete Flüche loslassen. Der illegale Ticketverkäufer nutzt die Situation aus und knöpft ihr das Doppelte für eine Eintrittskarte ab. Doch bevor das Spiel angepfiffen wird, nimmt man die junge Frau an einem Kontrollpunkt fest. Hinter einer Absperrung direkt an der Tribünenmauer, wo sie vorübergehend gefangen genommen wird, trifft sie auf andere Mädchen, die ebenfalls versucht hatten, ins Stadion zu gelangen; unter ihnen eine junge Frau in Soldatenuniform , die es damit sogar bis auf die Ehrentribüne schaffte. Das Spiel beginnt, das Stadion verwandelt sich in einen Hexenkessel. Die Frauen streiten derweil mit den jungen Soldaten aus der Provinz, die ihren Militärdienst ableisten müssen und restlos damit überfordert sind, die wortgewandten Teheranerinnen im Zaum zu halten. Eines der Mädchen will wissen, warum im vorherigen Spiel gegen Japan die japanischen Frauen ins Stadion durften und die iranischen nicht. So genau kann der Soldat ihr das nicht erklären und ist heilfroh, als seine Gefangenen in einen Bus verfrachtet und zur Sittenpolizei gekarrt werden.
Doch nach dem Sieg der iranischen Fußballer herrscht in den Straßen Teherans euphorische Feierstimmung, die irgendwann auf die Soldaten überspringt …

Iranian writer-translator to serve out prison sentence

Source: Radio Zamaneh

Manijeh Najm Araghi, an Iranian writer and translator, was arrested on Sunday to serve out a one-year sentence. Najm Araghi first had been arrested in September of 2010 and was released on bail after three days.

Manijeh Najm Araghi

Her one-year sentence was issued on the charges of membership in the Iranian Writers’ Association, mailing announcements from the writers’ association and participating in gatherings for the assassinated writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jaffar Pouyandeh.

On May 21, Fariborz Rais Dana, an Iranian economist and another member of the Iranian Writers’ Association was arrested. Rais Dana was also sentenced to one year in jail for membership in the writers’ association and for giving interviews to the foreign media about the impact of government-subsidy restructuring in Iran.

The Iranian Writers’ Association has been working for the rights of writers for over four decades, and its history is one of constant resistance and pressure from the government.

Writer-translator to serve out prison sentence

Manijeh Najm Eraghi

Manijeh Najm Eraghi, an Iranian writer and translator, was arrested on Sunday to serve out a one-year sentence.

Najm Eraghi first had been arrested in September of 2010 and was released on bail after three days.

Her one-year sentence was issued on the charges of membership in the Iranian Writers’ Association, mailing announcements from the writers’ association and participating in gatherings for the assassinated writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jaffar Pouyandeh.

On May 21, Fariborz Rais Dana, an Iranian economist and another member of the Iranian Writers’ Association was arrested. Rais Dana was also sentenced to one year in jail for membership in the writers’ association and for giving interviews to the foreign media about the impact of government-subsidy restructuring in Iran.

The Iranian Writers’ Association has been working for the rights of writers for over four decades, and its history is one of constant resistance and pressure from the government.

Source: Radio Zamaneh

US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 – Iran

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

Iran

To link directly to this report, use: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?dynamic_load_id=186425

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYShare

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a constitutional, theocratic republic in which Shia Muslim clergy and political leaders vetted by the clergy dominate the key power structures. Government legitimacy is based on the twin pillars of popular sovereignty–albeit restricted–and the rule of the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution. The current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was chosen by a directly elected body of religious leaders, the Assembly of Experts, in 1989. Khamenei’s writ dominates the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. He directly controls the armed forces and indirectly controls internal security forces, the judiciary, and other key institutions. The legislative branch is the popularly elected 290-seat Islamic Consultative Assembly, or Majlis. The unelected 12-member Guardian Council reviews all legislation the Majlis passes to ensure adherence to Islamic and constitutional principles; it also screens presidential and Majlis candidates for eligibility. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected president in June 2009 in a multiparty election that was generally considered neither free nor fair. There were numerous instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control.

Demonstrations by opposition groups, university students, and others increased during the first few months of the year, inspired in part by events of the Arab Spring. In February hundreds of protesters throughout the country staged rallies to show solidarity with protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. The government responded harshly to protesters and critics, arresting, torturing, and prosecuting them for their dissent. As part of its crackdown, the government increased its oppression of media and the arts, arresting and imprisoning dozens of journalists, bloggers, poets, actors, filmmakers, and artists throughout the year. The government’s suppression and intimidation of voices of opposition continued at a rapid pace at year’s end.

The most egregious human rights problems were the government’s severe limitations on citizens’ right to peacefully change their government through free and fair elections, restrictions on civil liberties, and disregard for the sanctity of life through the government’s use of arbitrary detention, torture, and deprivation of life without due process. The government severely restricted freedoms of speech and the press (including via the Internet), assembly, association, movement, and religion. The government committed extrajudicial killings and executed persons for criminal convictions as juveniles, on minor offenses, and after unfair trials, sometimes in public or group executions. Security forces under the government’s control committed acts of politically motivated violence and repression, including torture, beatings, and rape. The government administered severe officially sanctioned punishments, including amputation and flogging. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals, often holding them incommunicado.

شهر ممنوع | هدی رستمی

هدا رستمی عکاس ۲۶ ساله ساکن سوئد، به تازگی عکس‌هایی ساختار شکنانه از ایران منتشر کرده که مورد استقبال زیادی قرار گرفته است. وی در مورد خود و عکس‌هایی که در اختیار تهران‌ریویو قرار داده می‌گوید:

«من در رشته طراحی صنعتی دانشگاه Mälardalen سوئد تحصیل کردم. عکاسی برای من از علاقه به دیدن عکس‌ها آغاز شد، حتی در فیلم. سینما می‌رفتم و به جای موضوع فیلم، عکس‌های جالب صجنه‌ها در خاطرم می‌ماند. همین موضوع باعث شد تا سرانجام در سال 2009 دوربینی خریدم و شروع به عکاسی کردم. فیس بوک تنها مکان انتشار عکس‌هایم بود تا اینکه تصمیم گرفتم قدم بزرگ‌تری بردارم. من از نوجوانی در سوئد بزرگ شدم و با سبک زندگی در این کشور خو کرده‌ام. تصمیم گرفتم برای الهام‌گیری، جای دیگری رفته و جور دیگری ببینم: تهران.
ایده‌ها از شهرگردی و عکاسی خیابانی کم کم به دغدغه خودم و انسان‌های اطرافم در شهر و کشوری رسید که دوست داشتم به تصویرش کشیده و جور دیگری آن را نشان دهم. این مجموعه عکس، بیشتر ایده‌پردازی و گفتن حرف‌هایی است که گویی سال‌هاست در این شهر ممنوع است».

“United Against Nuclear Iran … Led a Spirited Campaign Calling for Fiat to Exit the Iranian Market”

UANI Fiat Campaign Success Featured in the Associated Press, Dow Jones, FoxNews.com, The Wall Street Journal, MLive.com, CarScoop

Italian automaker Fiat halts sales to Iran

By Colleen Barry

Associated Press

May 25, 2012

MILAN – Italian automaker Fiat SpA, which controls Chrysler, said Friday that it and subsidiaries will immediately halt sales to Iran, following similar moves by other carmakers under pressure to cut ties to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

The international community has been toughening sanctions on the Islamic Republic – including on its main cash cow, oil – because of fears that it plans to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

The auto industry has been under pressure from the anti-nuclear lobby group United Against Nuclear Iran to cut off business dealings with Iran. UANI says that the global auto industry is the second-largest source of foreign currency for the Iranian government, after oil, and also a source of foreign technology.

The decision by Fiat to halt sales “is a step in the right direction, and it shows the effectiveness of public pressure against these companies,” UANI spokesman Nathan Carleton said from New York. …

The announcement follows similar ones in recent months by French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA, which has entered an alliance with General Motors Co., South Korean automaker Hyundai and German sports carmaker Porsche.

More than a dozen foreign automakers continue to do business with Iran, said UANI, which noted that Iran’s auto industry is the 13th largest in the world, producing 1.6 million vehicles in 2011.

“No car company should be doing business in Iran,” Carleton said. “The international community is trying to isolate the Iranian regime from the rest of the world, and any company doing business with Iran is providing a lifeline.”

Click here to read the full article. 

Iran Standard Time | ‘Hitting the Turn’

by CORRESPONDENT

Not quite what Khomeini had in mind… At a cursory glance, the Saadat Abad main road looks much like any other in north Tehran: policemen in starched white uniforms and reflective aviators marshal Iran Khodros, Porsches, and everything else around Kaj Square and up the steep road toward where the Alborz Mountains cut though the north of the city. Look a little closer and you’ll notice children at the traffic lights clutching boxes of red roses, vying for the custom of the waiting drivers. Closer still, and you’ll see pairs of cars regularly slowing down for their occupants to chat and exchange numbers.

Welcome to dore zadan (hitting the turn), the way many young Iranians find a date. Though its utility has diminished over the last decade with the loosening enforcement of Iran’s morality laws that officially bar unrelated people of the opposite sex from holding hands in public, and everyone from playing Western pop music at parties, wearing clothes that are too tight, and so forth, the dore zadanis a mainstay of modern life for many young Tehranis. Predominantly practiced in the capital by the middle classes, it is an antidote to another boring weekend.

Why I am not Muslim anymore and escaped from Iran!

Being a woman is considered a big crime in Iran. What is the reason? The reason is because of the anti-women propaganda carried out by the Iranian regime’s religious figures and increasing pressure, oppression and discrimination against women.

Mohabat News – As a Muslim woman in Iran, I was given the least human rights in comparison to what men had. Women’s rights, according to the Islamic Republic’s laws, are measured by their gender and not by universal equal human standards and rights.

In Iran which is ruled by religious experts and Islamic clerics, the position of women’s rights is so unfortunate that women have become second-class citizens under the anti-women patriarchal laws. They have been pushed to the margins of society and do not enjoy the same and equal human rights that men have in society.

Frankfurt: Ein Augenblick Freiheit: Filmvorführung und Gespräch mit Regisseur Arash Riahi

Im Rahmen des Begleitprogramms der Omid-Ausstellung wird der Film “Ein Augenblick Freiheit” in der JBS Anne Frank gezeigt. Anschließend findet ein Gespräch  mit dem Regisseur Arash T. Riahi statt.

Der Film erzählt von der Odyssee dreier iranisch/kurdischer Flüchtlingsgruppen: einem Ehepaar, zwei jungen Männern mit zwei Kindern und einem befreundeten Männerpaar. Sie alle landen in der türkischen Hauptstadt, wo sie in einem wenig vertrauenswürdigen Hotel tagtäglich auf den Bescheid ihrer Asylanträge warten. Das eigentümliche Zwischenstadium der Asylwerbenden wird mit tragischer Komik und enormer Spannung in Szene gesetzt.

 

Termin: 31. Mai, 19.30 Uhr in der JugendBegegnungsStätte Anne Frank

Hansaallee 150, 60320 Frankfurt

Der Eintritt ist frei!

Nazanin Afshin-Jam talks about her new book and her fight to save an Iranian teenager.

CTVNews reports 22 May 2012.

Canadians may know her best as the former beauty queen who married Defence Minister Peter MacKay, but Nazanin Afshin-Jam hopes the world will see her as so much more after reading her new book, “The Tale of Two Nazanins: A Teenager on Death Row in Iran and the Canadian Who Vowed to Save Her.”

Source/read more:http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CanadaAM/20120522/nazanin-afshin-jam-the-tale-of-tw…

Arab Prisoners Expose Press TV’s Role in Extracting Confessions Under Torture

Justice for Iran: The first trail session of the 13 Arab political prisoners of Khalaf Abad (Ramshir) met this morning at the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz. Five months ago, the Iranian English speaking satellite stations, Press TV, introduced Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sa’bani, two of the 13 individuals, as terrorists and members of armed groups. The TV station broadcast the images and names of the individuals while in todays session, the two called all the accusations lies and announced that they were forced to make the confessions under severe torture.

According to local sources, in 2010, Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani were under severe torture in order to give information. The sources told JFI that the family of the accused were able to meet with them a few minutes before the court convened and said that Rashedi, who suffers from an ailment, suffered heavily from torture. His hip bone is shattered. Hadi Rashedi is a 38 year old chemistry instructor at Khalaf Abad (Ramshisr) High School.

Hashem Sha’bani, a 31 year old father of one girl, is a masters student of political science. He was tortured with boiling water and is in critical condition. When Press TV introduced Sha’bani and Rashedi as members of armed terrorist groups, the two individuals had not yet been tried anywhere. Under Iranian law, membership in armed terrorist groups carries a death penalty. Therefore, Press TV effectively issued the death sentence for the two individuals before they were even tried.

In its new announcement, Amnesty International expressed concern regarding the danger of execution for the 13 individuals tried today, including Rashedi and Sha’bani. Four other of the individuals are Mohammad Ali Amouri (weblogger), Rahman Assakereh (high school teacher), and two brothers by the names of Jaber and Seyyed Mokhtar Alboshoukeh. After months of detention at the Ministry of intelligence’s detention center, the aforementioned are being held at Ahvaz’s Karoun Prison. Amnesty International has requested immediate medical attention for the detainees. Local sources say that Jaber Alboshoukeh’s jaw and a few teeth are broken as a result of torture and he has lost 10 kilos of weight. As a result of torture, Mokhtar Alboshoukeh is suffering from memory loss.

One family members of the detainees told JFI, “The attorneys of these six individuals have not been permitted to visit with their client or read the case file.” This is while Press TV recorded and broadcast the confession of the detainees while they were in Intelligence Ministry’s detention center and had no access to their family or their attorneys. Prior to this, JFI issued “Cut! Take Press TV Off the Air,” a report that demonstrates how Press TV satellite station records confession acquired under torture from prisoners with the collaboration of Ministry of Intelligence and Sepah Intelligence Office. None of the video confessions documented in the report were broadcast from Press TV with the verbal or written permission of the prisoner. Majority of the time the prisoner was coerced with promise of release and told that the video taping is done for internal or research use only never to be broadcast. This is while, according to Islamic Republic Law, the media do not have the right to broadcast the image and names of individuals accused of any crimes prior to their conviction and violators will be penalized.

In April 2005, a letter was released allegedly written by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Secretary of the president of the time. It discussed choosing a policy regarding changing the population demographic of the Arab residing areas in the south of Iran. Widespread protest spread through the Arab residing areas of the south to be continuously and violently crushed by the Iranian government. A large number of Arab activists, including women, have been arrested since; numerous cases of lengthy imprisonment terms for women, along with their young children, have been reported. In one such case, Fahimeh Badavi, a 26 year old elementary school teacher, was 8 months pregnant when she was arrested on February 26, 2006 along with her husband Ali Matouri Zadeh. After her husband was executed, she was sentences to 15 years’ imprisonment and is now serving her sentence in exile at Yasouj prison. Hoda Hashemi who was herself detained at the Intelligence Office’s detention center along with her 16 month old son, told JFI, “Without being transported to prison or given any equipments or assistance, Fahimeh Badavi delivered her daughter in her cell at the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention center, a fully male dominated location.”

As a result of the new wave of arrests in the city of Shush and Ahvaz during last winter, at least two detainees names Naser Alboshoukeh Dorafshan and Mohammad Ka’abi were killed in detention. In March 2011, Reza Maghamesi was killed under torture in Dezful Prison. So far, no information has been given to the family members of the three about the individuals responsible for their death.

What the Arab detainees spoke of in prison regarding being tortured for the purpose of extracting false confessions once more proves collaboration of Press TV with the offices in charge of violating the rights of the political prisoners through recording and broadcasting the confessions.

Read more about this:

Justice For Iran Call-to-Action for Identifying those Responsible for the Murder of the Detainees in Khuzistan

http://justiceforiran.org/call-for-action/ahvaz/?lang=en

Press TV Violates the Rights of the Detainees in Khuzistan

http://justiceforiran.org/reports/presstv-khuzestan/?lang=en

Cut! Take Press TV off the Air

http://justiceforiran.org/reports/english-cut-take-press-tv-off-the-air/?lang=en

 

 

 

Source: Justice for Iran

LGBT Republic of Iran: An Online Reality?

In our research work at Small Media, we cover misrepresented
or underrepresented aspects of media in Iran. We feel that the
study of the media sphere in Iran has been overly politicised,
and has covered visible aspects at the expense of invisible ones.
We believe that the study of suppressed minority communities
and their usage of the internet is one such neglected topics. We
are interested in finding out how different minorities use the
internet to maintain their identity despite repression, making
the internet far more than just a tool for ‘activism’.

We will not stop at research. In fact, we consider the research
to be the first and vital step towards informing our practical
work in the areas of training and technology. This study inspired
us to develop and implement an online LGBT dictionary and
a series of informative radio programmes for LGBT Iranians.
We hope that this report will encourage others to come up
with projects that will benefit the LGBT community in Iran, and
we are happy to help as much as we can.

Complete study

Talented Iranian Students To Receive Special Marriage Gift

Source: Mehr News Agency

The vice-president for scientific and technological affairs announced on Thursday a two-fold increase in marital gift to highly talented students.

Photos: Mass Wedding at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran

Operation “Dog Walkers” and “Hijab Violating Women”

On Saturday night, the police in Tehran went after the dog walkers and the women drivers with improper hijab. Owning dogs in Iran is frowned upon, and walking the dogs in the streets is forbidden. Also, women are expected to adhere to hijab rules. They are required to cover their hair and refrain from wearing heavy makeup. They are also expected to wear loose pants and manteaus to cover their skin without showing the body’s curvature.

These rules are mostly ignored by the population and they aren’t striclty enforced by the police either. But occasaionally, especially during summer times, the police and morality squads go into high gear and step up the enforcement.

Süddeutsche: BAMF lehnt lesbische Asylbewerberin aus dem Iran ab

Von Katja Auer

Eine junge Frau flüchtete aus Iran, weil sie lesbisch ist. In ihrer Heimat ist ihr Leben in Gefahr. Doch in Deutschland wird ihr Antrag auf Asyl abgelehnt. Sie habe die Gefährdung ihrer Person nicht glaubhaft machen können.

Das Foto zeigt die Probleme nicht. Zwei lachende junge Frauen sind darauf zu sehen, fröhlich, lebenslustig. Die eine ist Samira Ghorbani Danesh, die andere ihre Freundin. Mehr als das, ihre Partnerin. Drei Jahre waren die beiden ein Paar. Wie es ihr heute geht, weiß Samira nicht. Ihr ist nur das Foto geblieben. Als sie ihre Freundin zuletzt gesehen hat, sei diese von den Bassidj, der iranischen Religionspolizei, mitgenommen und ins Gefängnis gesperrt worden. Wie die anderen, mit denen Samira und ihre Freundin eine Party gefeiert hatten.

In Teheran war das, vor anderthalb Jahren. Alkohol sei dort getrunken worden, geraucht, Musik gehört, sagt sie. Dinge, die in Iran zumindest problematisch sind. Aber vor allem war es eine Party von lesbischen und schwulen jungen Menschen. Homosexualität darf in Iran nicht ausgelebt werden. Wer es dennoch tut, der kann dafür sogar umgebracht werden. Als die Bassidj kamen, habe sie sich bei einem Nachbarn verstecken können, erzählt Samira. Danach habe sie ins Ausland fliehen müssen. Sie kam nach Deutschland und lebt heute in einem Frauenhaus in Franken.

What do imprisoned mothers in Iran fear the most? ‘Being forgotten’

Tehran, IRAN: Built in 1971 Evin prison, in Iran’s capital city of Tehran, is a place where incarceration for prisoners brings with it depression, frustration and isolation. Prisoners who are mothers often have a secret, and haunting, fear of ‘being forgotten’ by the children they have left behind at home.

Imprisonment is not easy in Iran. It impacts women differently than it does men, where impunity can cause women to face increased fears of sexual advance, violence and intimidation in prison. Many women prisoners also have specific needs that relate to female health and psychological trauma. Prisoners who are also mothers have added needs because of worry about their children.

Worldwide the sentence for mothers in prison may, or may not, include their children being allowed to stay with them while they are incarcerated. In the Netherlands women prisoners may keep their children close during their detention, but until their child’s fourth birthday. But after this their children must find a place to stay outside the prison settings.

In Sweden children and babies are rarely allowed to stay with their imprisoned mothers. An exception is made though for babies up to three months old. This means, even with a special exception, no child is allowed to stay with their mother past the first year.

Afghanistan’s prison law allows children to stay in prison with their mothers up to the age of seven. In contrast, many women prisoners of conscience in Iran are not allowed to see or visit their children for weeks following their arrival in prison. If children and relatives are allowed, they may only come to see their mother on very limited visits.

Soleimani to Nasrallah: Don’t Attack Israel; IAEA’s Amano to Visit Iran

by MUHAMMAD SAHIMI

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Farsi and Arabic press and excerpts where the source is in English. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Any views expressed are the authors’ own. 

2:25 p.m. IRDT, 29 Ordibihesht/May 19 The conservative website Botia News reports that Major General Ghasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force — the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps division responsible for foreign operations — has told Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (pictured here with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) that his group must not stage any preemptive strikes on Israel. According to the website, Soleimani has emphasized that Nasrallah must restrain extremist and radical views within his organization, and that the authority of those who believe in attacking Israel must be limited. “Your powerful force and readiness to destroy Tel Aviv and the ability for sustained attacks on Eilat in the southern part of occupied Palestine must not make you proud and arrogant,” Soleimani reportedly told Nasrallah. He attributed what he called the Hezbollah’s military victory over Israel in the summer of 2006 to the power of faith and God’s help, rather than Hezbollah’s arms.According to Botia News, Soleimani further stated to Nasrallah, “The Zionist regime has become isolated and is facing a crisis of legitimacy, [but] any attacks on it will make it a nation to which injustice has been done, and make us the aggressor and oppressor. This will generate sympathy for Israel that is not in our interest. To free the Al-Aqsa Mosque [Islam's third holiest place, in Jerusalem], we must rely on informing people, not our guns.” Javan Online, which is closely linked to the Revolutionary Guards, published a very similar report, but it was removed after a few hours. The same thing happened on the website operated by Fars, the Guard-affiliated news agency.

Poison Names: The Lexicon of Iranian ‘McCarthyism’

by ARASH KARAMI

From “monafeghin” to “fitnagar,” examining a venomous vocabulary.

Arash Karami is a frequent Tehran Bureau contributor.

UAE-based writer Sultan al-Qassemi’s recently published “McCarthyism in Gulf Social Media” offers rare insight into the state of the region’s public discourse, in particular the use of personal insults to discredit those holding different political opinions. Qassemi points to a new trend in labeling political adversaries as “traitors” alongside the old standby of “takfir” – the act of one Muslim declaring another an apostate or infidel, “kafir.”In Iranian discourse, there is a comparable tradition of name-calling against political foes; under the Islamic Republic, name-calling and character assassination has reached absurd levels inside the country and become disturbingly common in the diaspora as well.

In the years before the 1979 Revolution, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was derisively called “nokar-e amreeka,” America’s servant, or even “khaen,” traitor, by some elements of the opposition. In turn, he called protestors “ekhlalgar” and “kharabkar,” agitators and vandals. After the Revolution, one of the primary targets of name-calling by officials and advocates of the newly founded Islamic Republic was the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MKO). Members of the group, who were instrumental in overthrowing the Pahlavi dynasty but quickly lost the subsequent power struggle with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, were labeled “monafeghin,” hypocrites. In a religious context, hypocrites are far worse, and much more dangerous, than unbelievers because they create disunity. After three decades, Iranian state media and officials still refer to MKO members as “monafeghin.”

Since the 2009 presidential election, Islamic Republic officials have favored a different set of words to discredit their political opponents. Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who had both played key roles in the Iranian government, were labeled “fitnagar,” seditionists, for steadfastly challenging the election’s outcome and defending the rights of the protestors who took to the streets. The label “fitna” has religious connotations, typically indicating those who attempt to agitate the public and disturb the peace. State media outlets were eventually forbidden to even use Mousavi and Karroubi’s names and they came to be referred to as “saraan-e fitna,” leaders of the sedition. In February 2011, the two leaders — along with Mousavi’s wife, Dr. Zahra Rahnavard — were placed under house arrest without charge, where they remain.

The winner of that election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was soon doomed to the same name-calling fate. His closest adviser and father of his son’s wife, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who had been attempting to build a popular following (possibly in hopes of running for president next year) by emphasizing Iranian history — at the expense, according to ideological adversaries, of the Islamic history long promoted by the Islamic Republic — was labeled “monharef,” deviated or perverted. (Islam in the Qur’an is referred to as the “straight path,” sirat al-mustaqim.) Friday Prayer leaders, members of parliament, and even the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, issued statements warning of the dangers of the so-called “deviants” group. Those aspersions have reflected on the president, whose decline in popularity has been so precipitous that Ahmadinejad’s own sister could not win a seat in parliament representing her hometown in the elections held in early March.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei likes to direct the insult “bi basirat” against those who disagree with him. Literally, it means those who lack insight or discretion. Though Khamenei does not name whom he has in mind, many believe that the phrase’s main target is Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani, one of the most significant figures in the history of the Islamic Republic, did not take a clear line against the “seditionists” — that is, the Green Movement protests. Although Rafsanjani’s choice of a more moderate, understanding position was motivated primarily by antagonism toward the upstart Ahmadinejad and not necessarily sympathy with the pro-democracy stance of the Green Movement, he eventually paid a price for his “lack of insight,” losing his post as head of the Assembly of Experts, the body that nominally oversees the Supreme Leader. Although the wily Rafsanjani was recently able to retain his chairmanship of the Expediency Discernment Council, he has nonetheless seen his powers diminished tremendously in the last several years.

Character assassination via name-calling is a tactic employed not just by the current power elite in the Islamic Republic. As can be observed in social media such as Facebook and Twitter, Iranians in the diaspora have adopted their own lexicon of terms meant to denigrate those with whose political views they differ.

The term “regime apologist” is frequently and glibly aimed at those who endorse diplomacy, are opposed to sanctions aimed at crippling the Iranian economy, or happen to offer an Iran-centric viewpoint much more often than their critics would like. The term “neo-con” or, much worse, “vatan foroush,” literally one who sells his homeland, is used against those who support sanctions, do not want dialogue with the Islamic Republic, and favor more severe actions against Iran’s government.

For Iranians in the diaspora, name-calling is not exactly destroying reputations and careers in the same manner that Senator Joseph McCarthy did in 1950s America in the purported cause of rooting out Communism. Still, Iranians in the diaspora — only a minority, perhaps, but a highly active one — have sadly taken it upon themselves to mimic the Islamic Republic in their adopted countries by resorting to character assassination at the first sign of disagreement. This tactic of ad hominem assault, of course, serves as a convenient means to avoid substantively addressing a given issue, which can be especially challenging if the facts at hand contradict one’s firmly held beliefs.

As tensions continue to rise between the United States and Iran, with possibly devastating consequences for both countries, it would seem urgent that the Iranian American community, the largest in the Iranian diaspora, put an end to this tactic. For those who sincerely wish to move forward, it would be wise to introduce a new political vocabulary that is devoid of the name-calling. Given that the past 33 years has seen not only the continuation but the exaggeration of a much longer tradition, however, it is unlikely that there will be any end soon to this destructive discourse.

Source:  Tehran Bureau

Iranian Woman Activist Nargess Mohammadi Transferred to Zanjan Prison

Source: Radio Zamaneh

Jailed Iranian human rights activist Nargess Mohammadi has been transferred to Zanjan Prison. The Melli-Mazhabi website reports that Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders of Iran, was transferred to Zanjan Prison from the Evin Prison infirmary in Tehran.

Nargess Mohammadi

Taghi Rahmani, another Iranian activist who is currently abroad, reported this transfer, saying: “In view of the dire situation of provincial prisons, this transfer is a continuation of the harassment approach the authorities have taken with regard to Nargess Mohammadi.”

Mohammadi was visited by her family on Tuesday May 8. She is reportedly being interrogated regarding unspecified new charges that have not been communicated to her lawyer.

Mohammadi had been taken to Evin infirmary a few days earlier for serious health complications. Mohammadi was arrested after the controversial 2009 presidential elections, when human rights activists became a chief target of the government’s crackdown.

She is charged with “assembly and collusion against national security, membership in the Centre for Human Rights Defenders of Iran and propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic regime.”

Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s Nobel Peace laureate and a founding member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, has written to the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urging her to use all of her influence to get Mohammadi out of prison.

Morality Police Hunting “Improperly Clothed” Women In Tehran

The “morality police” in Tehran has stepped up enforcement in the capital city. Mostly women are the targets as they are stopped, questioned, or detained by the police for “improper” clothing or makeup.

Don`t forget Hila Sedighi – Poem – I’m iranian woman

Hila Sedighi

 

Portraits of Hila Sedighi. She is representative of a new generation of Iranian women who are vociferous in asserting their sense of allegiance to ancient Iran.

Women Restricted by Government Imposed Regulations

A Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations in Iran from April 30th to May 6th 2012
Headlines in Iranian news about women included issues such as the poor conditions of female prisoners, opposition to increased political participation by women in parliament by the head of the women’s issues and family center, unemployment of 35,000 midwives, approval of a regulation that caps dowries for women at 110 gold coins, lack of fight against cancer for half of the population, lack of support for women in sports, increase in girls dropping out of education as a result of high gas prices and opposition to “insufficient Islamic hijab of women.” (1) Also last week, the second round of parliamentary elections in Iran was held, even though people have not participated in large numbers due to a lack of trust in the government. However, authorities running the sham election paint participation rate as “very high and 10 percent more than in the first round.” (2) Last week Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and deputy of the “Defenders of Human Rights Center” was detained and sent to prison to serve an unjust prison term as she had been forced to stay in a detention center for some time. (3) Another piece of news that received a lot of coverage was the detention and lashing sentence for a cartoonist from Arak who had drawn a cartoon of Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, the representative of this city in parliament. (4) This weekly report contains dozens of more news items about the violations of human rights in Iran.
Statements
Human Rights Watch has asked for the release of all students who have been arrested for speaking their minds. (5) The International Workers Association asked for the release of Reza Shahabi, an imprisoned labor activist. (6) The committee for the support of journalists released a statement, calling Iran one of the top ten countries which suppressed journalism. Iran ranks fourth after Eritrea, North Korea and Syria. (7) Just before the Tehran book fair is held, in a letter a number of writers have asked the Ministry of Culture to allow “Sheshmeh” and “Sales” publications to participate in the fair. (8) The teachers’ guild association released a statement criticizing the problems teachers have faced during the past few years. (9) In the ongoing reactions to the detention of civil and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, 311 individuals, personalities, cultural, political and civil foundations wrote a letter to Ahmad Shahid, the UN Special Reporter on Iran and requested medical treatment for this political prisoner. (10)

Nachtrag zur Buchmesse in Teheran

Festnahme vor dem Eingang zur Teheraner Buchmesse – da kommt Lust zum Lesen auf…

Wie üblich, werden im Iran vor den Wahlen die Kontrollen der „Sitten“polizei etwas gelockert, um die Bevölkerung dafür an die Urnen zu locken. Sobald die Wahlen vorbei sind, geht der Straßenterror wieder los. Das Foto zeigt eine Frau, die sich gegen die Festnahme wegen „unislamischer Kopfbedeckung“ zur Wehr gesetzt hat und nun am Boden liegt. Um sie herum sind einige Vertreter der staatlichen Organe, Passanten, und Zuschauer, die sich weiter hinten bedeckt halten. Von einem Eingreifen der Zuschauer ist hier nichts zu sehen.

Source: Ali Schirasi

Amnesty: IRANISCHE BLOGGERIN IM EXIL

Farnaz Seifi war anlässlich der Filmpremiere von «Forbidden Voices» zu Gast in der Schweiz. Sie ist eine von drei Protagonistinnen im Film.| © Philippe Lionnet

 

Farnaz Seifi musste ihr Land 2007 verlassen: Wegen ihrer Arbeit als Journalistin und Bloggerin und ihres Engagements für die Menschenrechte. Seither setzt sie ihre Arbeit von Europa aus fort. Doch das Leben im Exil ist eine harte Erfahrung.

Amnesty: Der Film «Forbidden Voices» wird jetzt in den Schweizer Kinos gezeigt. Warum haben Sie in dem Film mitgemacht?
Farnaz Seifi: Die Regisseurin Barbara Miller kam 2009 auf mich zu. Ich lebte damals in den Niederlanden. Wir haben uns getroffen. Ich war zunächst nicht sicher, ob es eine gute Idee war, mitzumachen. Schliesslich habe ich zugesagt. Spannend schien mir, dass Frauen im Zentrum des Films stehen. In stark repressiven Ländern konzentriert sich die Medienaufmerksamkeit normalerweise auf bloggende Männer, die über Politik schreiben. Hier war es für einmal anders. Auch dass drei ganz verschiedene Frauen porträtiert und damit auf gewisse Weise miteinander verbunden werden, gefiel mir.

Im Zentrum von «Forbidden voices» stehen starke Frauen, die ihre Meinung sagen. Wie kommt es, dass es gerade im Iran so viele bloggende Frauen gibt? 
Im Iran nutzen etwa 25 Millionen Leute jeden Tag das Internet. Blogs verschaffen ihnen die Möglichkeit, sich auszudrücken, ohne dass ihnen jemand vorschreibt, was sie zu sagen haben und wie sie es zu sagen haben. Gerade wir Frauen werden im Iran stark eingeschränkt und alltäglich unterdrückt. Nach der Revolution haben wir alles verloren. Wir haben keinerlei Rechte mehr. Über Blogs haben wir eine Stimme, können sagen, was wir denken, nicht was die Regierung oder andere uns vorschreiben. Viele Frauen im Iran sind gebildet, haben Universitätsabschlüsse. Sie kennen ihre Rechte und wollen Wege finden, die Unterdrückung zu überwinden.

Sehen Sie denn Unterschiede zwischen Blogs von Frauen und Blogs von Männern?
Oh ja, das ist ein grosser Unterschied. Die Frauen reden mehr über sich selbst. Sie schreiben über das, was in ihrem Alltag passiert. Männer reden eher über die grossen allgemeinen Themen, über Politik, nicht über sich selbst.

BILD: DIESE Neda lebt – und fürchtet um ihr Leben

MIT BILD.DE SPRACH SIE ÜBER IHRE GESCHICHTE DER DRAMATISCHEN FOTO-VERWECHSLUNG

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  IRANProtest-Ikone Neda

  Medien druckten 2009 das falsche Foto (links) von Irans Protestikone Neda (rechts). Neda Soltani fürchtet seitdem um ihr Leben

  Foto: dpa

Von NADINE DELISTAT und JULIAN REICHELT

Am 20. Juni 2009 geht ein Foto um die Welt: Es zeigt die Sterbeminute der Studentin Neda Agha Soltan. Einer jungen Frau, die bei Straßenprotesten gegen das iranische Regime auf der Straße erschossen wurde. Blut quillt aus ihrem Mund und ihrer Nase.

Engel des Iran, Ikone des Widerstands, Stimme des Protests tauft man die Tote, über die jeder mehr erfahren will.

Wenige Stunden nach dem Mord zeigen Nachrichtenagenturen und Fernsehsender auf der ganzen Welt ein Porträtfoto. Irgendein Journalist hat es bei Facebook gefunden und einen fatalen Fehler begangen. Denn die Frau, die auf dem Bild zu sehen ist, heißt zwar Neda und sieht der Getöteten ähnlich: Doch sie lebt!

Deutschland: Kinostart von SHARAYET – EINE LIEBE IN TEHERAN am 24. Mai

Am 24. Mai startet SHARAYET – EINE LIEBE IN TEHERAN, der Debütspielfilm der iranisch-US-amerikanischen Regisseurin Maryam Keshavarz, in den deutschen Kinos.
Das Drama um eine iranische Mittelstandsfamilie, die durch das sexuelle Erwachen der Tochter und die gefährliche Obsession ihres Bruders herausgefordert wird, erhielt den Zuschauerpreis sowohl beim Sundance Filmfestival als auch bei den Lesbisch-Schwulen Filmtagen Hamburg.

Nach außen hin passen sich die beiden Schülerinnen Atafeh und Shirin den strengen Vorsätzen des öffentlichen Lebens in Teheran an, doch im Untergrund treffen sie sich mit anderen Jugendlichen auf geheimen Partys, experimentieren mit Sex und Drogen, tanzen zu Technomusik und träumen von einem freieren Leben. Bisher bildete auch Atafehs liberale Familie einen Schutzraum gegen die Moralpolizei und ihre rigiden Vorschriften. Doch als ihr Bruder Mehran nach einem Drogenentzug zurückkehrt und seinen Halt mehr und mehr im religiösen Fundamentalismus findet, wird Atafehs Freiheitsdrang auf eine harte Probe gestellt. Umso mehr, als Mehran merkt, dass sie und Shirin mehr als nur gute Freundinnen sind…

One Tongue, No Tongue: ‘Return’ and Afghan-Iranian Dialogue

by ARIA FANI

Merrier to speak / in one heart than in one tongue

–Rumi

[ poetry ] San Diego, California. “Hey, Afghani!” an Iranian student scoffs at his Afghan classmate. The term, often used as a pejorative epithet in Iran, is empty of associations for most Americans. It resonates meaningfully with the two of them, having evoked the narrative of Afghan suffering in Iran. The Iranian student’s condescending tone reflects the profound sense of marginality and hardship that Afghan communities have faced while living in Iran.

Kerman, Iran. November 2011. Following a law banning illegal immigrants from attending public school, an underground school is reported to have begun serving the children of Afghan residents.

Tehran, Iran. A small school for Afghan children kickstarts a project to document the lives of undocumented Afghan children in Iran. Through photography, children take an active role in capturing the environment around them, as they see and experience it.

Isfahan, Iran. Nowruz 2012. A discriminatory law banning Afghan residents from entering Sofeh Park on the New Year’s celebration’s 13th day, traditionally spent outdoors, is protested by many Iranians. The picture of three young men holding signs attacking racism, including one that reads “I am also an Afghan,” goes viral on the Internet. Authorities claim that the decision was made to ensure the “safety” of Iranian families.

Concerns Rise As Incarcerated Human Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi’s Heath Deteriorates Behind Bars

by banooyesabz

May 10th, 2012 – Taghi Rahmani, the husband of incarcerated human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has informed BBC Farsi that in a brief telephone conversation with her family, Mohammadi informed them of the recurrence of her paralysis.  According to Rahmani, after speaking to her children, Mohammadi spoke with her mother-in-law, informing her that on the evening of Sunday May 6th, 2012 she became dizzy, falling to the ground several times and on one occasion even banged her head on the floor.

Rahmani stated that Mohammadi who began serving her prison sentence at Evin two weeks ago, has once again been interrogated.  Rahmani who himself currently lives abroad claimed that Mohammadi’s latest interrogation is nothing but a pressure tactic and no different than ”hostage taking”.

FORBIDDEN VOICES

Ihre Stimmen werden unterdrückt, verboten und zensiert. Doch Yoani Sánchez, Zeng Jinyan und Farnaz Seifi lassen sich von ihren diktatorischen Regimen nicht einschüchtern. Die furchtlosen Frauen repräsentieren eine neue, vernetzte Generation moderner Widerstandskämpferinnen. In Kuba, Iran und China bringen diese Pionierinnen mit ihren Blogs das staatliche Informationsmonopol ins Wanken – und riskieren dabei ihr Leben.

Barbara Millers Film FORBIDDEN VOICES begleitet die modernen Rebellinnen auf ihrer gefährlichen, entbehrungsreichen Reise und zeigt, wie die jungen Frauen mit Hilfe sozialer Medien wie Facebook, Youtube und Twitter die Missstände in ihren Ländern anprangern – und dabei so viel politischen Druck aufbauen, dass sie weltweit Resonanz auslösen.

Das “Time Magazine” zählt sie zu den einflussreichsten politischen Stimmen der Welt. Basierend auf ihren bewegenden Zeugnissen und klandestinen Aufnahmen ist FORBIDDEN VOICES eine Hommage an ihren mutigen Kampf.

Crisis Guide Iran OVERVIEW Council on Foreign Relations

 

Ahmadinejads Frau wählt….

teheranbureau: Cuisine | Too Much Is Never Enough: Making Ghelye Mahi

by TORI EGHERMAN

Redefining “leftovers,” “hot,” and “cold,” and more lessons from the Iranian kitchen.

Every time we had people over for dinner, my husband would say to me, “Tori, we didn’t make enough food.”"How can that be?” I’d ask. “There are leftovers.” It wasn’t until we moved to Iran in 2003 for a four-year stay that I understood what he meant. A chicken leg or two is not leftovers. It’s ta’rof – good manners. It’s what the guests leave behind so you won’t think you served them insufficiently. “Enough food” means that another party can be fed with what is left over at the end of the evening.

The first time we were invited out in Iran, we were served omelets, fish, whole roasted chicken, yogurt and cucumbers, yogurt and spinach, tomato, cucumber, and onion salad, salad with iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing, spring chicken kebabs, and chopped lamb kebabs. All of this was brought to the table just before midnight. Kamran whispered, “Do they think we’re cows?”

I tell you this so you won’t balk at the amount of food my friend Zohreh Sanaseri (pictured) prepared for our dinner of ghelye (ghalieh) mahi – a stew of fish, herbs, and tamarind paste. She invited three others to share the stew with us, but made enough for at least ten people.

In four years of living in Iran, I never once encountered ghelye mahi. In fact, it wasn’t until a night out at a Persian restaurant in Amsterdam that I ate it for the first time. The flavor was surprising: sharp, sour, sweet, and fishy all at once. It was made with many of the ingredients found in other stews I’d eaten in Iran, but tasted nothing like them. I searched for recipes and tried making it a few times before giving up. None was as good as my first time…

And then I ate ghelye mahi at the home of my friend Zohreh, who hails from the city of Abadan in southwestern Iran. “It was the Paris of Iran,” the eldest of her two daughters, who were born in the Netherlands, tells me. “Was,” Zohreh emphasizes. “Before the war.”

It was the war with Iraq that drove Zohreh and her family out of Iran. She settled in the Netherlands with her husband when she was just 25. “I had never cooked before in my life,” she says. “I learned everything here.”