UPDATE ON IRAN - Sept. 5, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No. 697

Downfall

False Claims of Manuchehr Mottaki about the executions by German Radio
September 4, 2010
German Radio broad casted the false claims of Manuchehr Mottaki the foreign minister of Islamic Republic in an interview with weekly Eshpigel: Nobody has been executed in Iran because of political reasons.
This June, the country’s supreme bureau, confirmed the execution of Mohammad Ali Haji Aqaii and Jafar Kazemi for cooperation with PMOI. They both were arrested after election. Nasim Naghavi attorney of Mr. Jafar Kazemi said to Dutch Veleh that his client was arrested in September 2009, he was in prison for his political activities for 10 years and he was set free at 1991. Mrs. Ghanavi says that his client’s sentence is due to be implemented and we are expecting his execution.
According to Mrs. Ghanavi, he is sentenced to fight against God through relation with PMOI group and this is the reason for his execution and when we complained to section 28 of the court, they referred the file to section 36 of Tehran’s court which unfortunately the vote was confirmed and now this vote is definite and is going to be implemented imminently.
Farah Vazehan and Mohammad Ali Sarami are two other captives of Ashura Day. They both are sentenced to death, Farah Vazehan mother of two is convicted of taking pictures and films at this day. Her court was in August and in the court she was sentenced to death because of having relation with PMOI.

Installation of a large poster of Sakineh Mohammadi in front of Italian parliament and Mullah’s reaction
September 4, 2010
International campaign against stoning and execution sentence of Sakineh Mohammadi has caused intolerance reactions from the Mullah’s regime. Yesterday a large poster of Sakineh Mohammadi was installed in front of Prime ministry palace and the municipality building in Rome. Italian Prime ministry declared this picture will remain until Sakineh is set free. Mullahs called Italian act as intervention.
One official media called, Ati news wrote: installation of a main Iranian criminal in central city of Italy.
A large picture of an Iranian woman, who killed her husband in cooperation with another man, was installed in Kolona square with western agents of Italy.
A report by an international reporter of Ati news says that a large picture of a woman who is culprit of adultery and murder is installed near Italian prime ministry.
Franko Fratini the foreign Minister and Mar Karfania the equal chances minister are organizers of this interventional act. These two persons are also famous in Europian predicate and political circles for their support of Zionist regime. This photo is installed on the building belonging to Equal Chances ministry. Fratini and Karfania by saying some false claims against the Islamic republic said that this picture will stay there as long as she is safely freed.
Andrea Berdochi one of Florance officials said he had chosen this unusual place on purpose because this place is being visited by Italian and foreign tourists.
Western authorities after their fail in showing nuclear activities of our country, they now want to condemn Islamic republic in violation of human rights.
As a reminder, the attorney of Sakineh Mohammadi and her children said that her claims where all have been taken from her under torture and pressures and they have no value. Sakineh Mohammadi’s son in an interview with foreign Medias has said that the so called mullah’s court had destroyed all the documents of her files that has pointed out the contradictions which was in her file.

Workers gathering in Qazvin protest 12-month unpaid wages
September 4, 2010
A group of Qazvin’s Naznakh Spinning Factory staged a gathering outside the plant, protesting over 6 months of delayed and unpaid wages.
“I haven’t paid my mortgage for 4 months, and no one is listening to us,” a protesting worker said. “My children haven’t even seen meat for 8 months.”
Furthermore, 180 workers of Qazvin’s Alborz Porcelain Factory gathered on Tuesday, demanding 12 months of delayed and unpaid wages and protesting an order to close down the factory.
Workers of Shiraz’s Long Distance Telecommunications are continuing their protests over 17 months of unpaid wages.


Resistance

Neda's mother: Her eyes will remain open until she obtains her goal
September 4, 2010
The mother of a young woman whose death last year became a symbol of the anti-regime uprisings in Iran has demanded the trial of her daughter’s murderer by the International Court of Justice at the Hague, the International Human Rights Campaign reported on Monday.
Neda Aqa Soltan was murdered by the Iranian regime’s agents during a peaceful rally on June 20, 2009. Scenes of her death, which were captured by a cell phone and broadcasted all over the world, provoked an international outcry against the clerical regime’s barbaric suppression of the protests. The Iranian regime tried to cover up the crime by producing a number of fabricated footage and outlandish documentaries to silence protests.
However, in reaction to the documentaries broadcasted on state-run TV, Neda’s mother said, “Nobody believes these lies, neither the people of Iran nor the people of the world. I know who the murderer is, but the government doesn’t accept it.”
“When I protested against a documentary that said Neda committed suicide, they replied that I should share my complaint with the media. But, what would I say in a state-run newspaper? … I replied that I know who Neda’s murderer is and that is why I will never appear on state-run TV and radio. … They discredited themselves even more by making such films.”
Ms. Aqa Soltan also recounted scenes of her daughter’s death by saying, “Neda’s eyes were open and they will always remain open until she obtains her goal. … If her eyes were closed perhaps her influence would not have been as much. It was her open eyes that shook Iran and the entire world.”

Slain protester’s widow: those who attacked my husband’s gravesite should know that I have become more intent to speak out

September 2, 2010
Massoumeh Chegini, the wife of slain protester Moharam Chegini said in an interview that in the past two weeks, the gravesite of her husband, who was shot and killed in the June 15, 2009 march in Tehran ,was attacked. She also said that her pursuits of this issue via the authorities of Behesht Zahra Cemetery have had no result.
“The first week they broke all the showcase glasses (next to his grave) and this week when I went to my husband’s gravesite, I saw that they had taken his picture and the Quran in the showcase. They even pulled out a board with his name on it from the ground and took it away with them”, she said.
Mrs. Chegini said that the identity of the culprits is still unknown.
“I initially went up to the head of the Behesht Zahra cemetery with this issue but they tell me that I have to go their offices and from their offices they told me to go somewhere else and in the end they told me to put up another board up next to his grave”.
“Eyewitnesses in Behesht Zahra say that four people attacked my husband’s grave in section 256 and pulled out the board that we had made ourselves for my husband. But the eyewitnesses were not able to distinguish who these people were or why they did this”, she added.
“It is correct that there are no more marches on the streets, it is correct that it seems that the people have been silenced but I think there is something in our hearts that will not be forgotten so easily. Because neither my husband nor other young people who went out on the streets have not gotten their votes back and we have not received any answers on who the murderers of our loved ones are”.
“The blood of all these people cannot be trampled on. People will never forget that protesters were shot and killed right in front of their eyes and that they did not help any of the families afterwards. I hope that one day I find the murderer of my husband so that the blood of my husband and other young people will not be trampled upon and I urge the leaders of the movement and the people not to let us be”.
“My husband was a laborer and made ends meet with much effort. None of the officials who claim justice in an Islamic country asked themselves that when they kill the breadwinner of a household, how is his lonely wife supposed to live under these abhorrent conditions? Have any of the officials asked themselves why they do not even answer to our lawyer?”
“Those who kill young people and then act as if nothing has happened when these slain people have wives and children and that they might live under tough conditions should know that the hope that is flourishing in our hearts and that of the people will one day bring down the murderers. It is true that we are suffering when we see that our wounds are made fresh everyday but with these measures they have led me to become more intent in following the goal in my heart to not let the blood of my husband be trampled on”, Mrs. Chegini concluded.



Suppression

Urgent call to save life of hunger striking political prisoner in Gohardasht Prison
Sep. 2, 2010
According to reports, the condition of political prisoner Arjang Davoudi is very critical and dangerous on his 51st day of hunger strike.
There is great danger that his health will reach the point of no return. Davoudi has been taken to the prison infirmary several times in the past few days with a stretcher and has been returned every time after a short time…
According to other reports, his wife went to the 15th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to see Salavati, the judge on his case regarding her husband’s sentence from a trial that has been going on for three years. She was told that the case had been referred to the Bandar Abbas Revolutionary Court to be seen to and that she has to go to that town to follow up his case. This is while Davoudi is a Tehran resident and is jailed in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj and was arrested by intelligence agents in Tehran. The relevance of his case with the Bandar Abbas Revolutionary Court is not clear.

Tortured prisoner murdered in prison
Sep. 2, 2010
Mohsen Bikvand, a non-political prisoner in Rajayi Shahr (Gohardasht) in Karaj was murdered in prison on August 31.
According to reports, Mohsen Bikvand was severely tortured several times by prison agents and was murdered in cellblock 6, Hall 16 in this prison.
Bikvand was transferred to solitary in the beginning of June 2010.
Gohardasht Prisoners believe that prison officials ordered his murder and the murder of other dissident prisoners is carried out systematically by prison officials.
The Human Rights Activists in Iran published a film of the tortures of this prisoner and according to this document, both of his feet broke as a result of torture, his hands were made useless and his body was burned.
Direct link of the video: http://hra-news21.info/Video/002.mpg
(Human Rights Activists in Iran)

Prison gang run by prison officials critically wound prisoner in Gohardasht Prison
September 4, 2010
According to reports, in a bloody clash in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, a prisoner who was severely wounded and near death was taken to a hospital outside of prison.
On the morning of September 2 at about 2am, a prison gang in cellblock 6 in Gohardasht Prison which acts on the orders of the heads of prison attacked a prisoner identified as Mohammad-Reza Karimi. This prisoner was stabbed at least six times. He was stabbed in the lungs, next to his heart and his back and he was reportedly severely injured.
This prisoner who was on the verge of death was taken to a hospital outside of prison.
These gangs work on the orders of Ali Mohammadi, the assistant head of prison, Kermani and Faraji, the head and assistant head of the prison’s Intelligence Unit, and the heads of the cellblocks. They play a part in distributing narcotics and suppressing dissident prisoners.
Despite this clash which led to the injury of this prisoner, none of the gang members have been called in by prison officials for questioning.
This clash took place in cellblock 6 where currently 5 Baha’i leaders are jailed. They are Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naiemi, Saied Rezayi, Behrouz Tavakoli and Vahid Tizfahm.

Eyewitness accounts from Gohardasht prison in Iran
September 4, 2010
Prisoners in Gohardasht prison, situated in Karaj, undergo continuous psychological torture, according to eyewitness accounts.
Gangs and drug dealing has become rampant in the prison while food is limited and has extremely low quality. The rice, for example, is served almost uncooked. Some inmates are forced to go hungry because the food ration is not enough.
According to these reports, the prison’s shop is not well stocked. Meat and protein products which were previously sold twice or triple the regular price are now only limited to prison personnel and not the inmates. Long lines for the shop often lead to fights.
According to one of the prisoners, even after all this, the shop sometimes uses various pretexts and closes its doors without serving the prisoners.


Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)

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UPDATE ON IRAN - Aug. 22, 2010

The Beginning of the End of the Clerical Rule in Iran

No.689

Suppression

Political prisoner details abhorrent condition of Rajayi Shahr Prison
Aug. 20, 2010
Letter of PMOI political prisoner Saleh Kohandel from Rajayi Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison: Today, 250 people have to sleep in 100 cubic meters of space and hundreds of prisoners are forced to sleep compressed next to each other on their sides and sometimes even sleep on top of each other.
About 40 to 50 people are brought to this prison every day. The new arrivals are left in prison without the minimum necessary items and it only takes a few minutes for them to realize that in order to escape the beatings and abuse, they have to become blind, deaf and mute and to give in to the hell like conditions of prison.
If they have someone on the outside to at least transfer 250,000 tomans a week to their account, they will be able to buy narcotics or have a place to sleep but otherwise, they have to give in to the derogatory conditions and it does not take long for them to either commit suicide or cut their wrists as a result of the pressure. Or they go mad and sit around in the prison yard completely nude. Every once in a while a young handsome new arrival is hunted down by other prisoners and is group raped on the first or second night. Afterwards he pounds himself to the walls in a crazed fashion. You barely find anyone who is safe from the lice and groups of people can be seen sitting under the sun in the yard looking for lice in their underwear…
Only one overflowing bathroom exists for hundreds of people…
There are old men who stink of urine and excrement from meters away and mentally ill young men who urinate on each other at night or go to the bathroom anywhere they want, whether it is in their own pants, the area where they sleep, or the praying hall.
This place is filled with young and old men who have lost hope in everything and it is as if they have surrendered to death and there is no one to save them from torments of life…
I have nothing to say to the regime and its mercenaries whose sole responsibility is to be at animosity with the people of Iran and other countries, but I have a few words with human rights organizations.
The world that you human rights activists see is completely different from the world of Rajayi Shahr Prison. You talk of human rights, but here prisoners are even deprived of animal rights. You talk about sanitary facilities but the word ‘sanitation’ is like a dream for a prisoner and is so unheard of that prisoners easily transmit the most dangerous diseases to each other. You talk of the lack of fruits and vegetables in prisoners’ diets while prisoners here have to look in the trash for a piece of bread…
Your idea of the real pain of prison is much smaller than what I see in prison and if someone has experienced Rajayi Shahr Prison, they would protest and ask me why I was not able to convey the condition of this prison in these few sentences. I ask their forgiveness beforehand because they are right.

Iran cuts tongue of Kurd political prisoner
Aug. 20, 2010
Evin Prison interrogators cut the tongue of Kurd political prisoner Matin Arjan who is from the town of Batman in Turkey’s Kurdistan and he is in danger of death in prison. Arjan suffered two brain strokes in the past year in prison and is now paralyzed in both legs. Zaki Arjan, his brother, confirmed this report and said that he has gone to Iran four times to visit his brother.
“Matin is continuously tortured and is kept in solitary most of the time. They have cut his tongue and he has not received treatment and is close to death”, his brother said.
“They asked for 20,000 Euros for my brother’s release but they not only did not release him, they threatened that if I don’t leave Iran, I will be killed”.

Man sentenced to death on fabricated charges of murder of security forces
Aug. 19, 2010
According to reports, Amir-Abbas Tavakoli Berazjani was sentenced to death by the 71st branch of the Tehran Penal Court on false charges including murdering security forces.
On Tuesday August 17, Berazjani was taken to the Tehran Penal Court without prior notice and was trialed by Norollah Aziz Mohammadi. This prisoner is detained in cellblock 6 in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj.
He was accused of complicity in the death of a security agent, 5 counts of armed and unarmed robbery, the possession of and carrying arms and ammunition, addiction and beating security forces…
The Judge did not allow him to defend himself in court…
Judge Aziz Mohammadi charged Berazjani with addiction even as this prisoner does not even smoke cigarettes…
On the same day after the trial, state-run media published false reports on Tavakoli’s trial and announced that he was sentenced to retribution (death) because of intentional murder, 10 years of prison on charges of armed robbery, and 74 lashes.
Before this, Tavakoli defended jailed teacher Rasoul Bodaqi in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj after he was attacked by security forces and was summoned to the office of the head of the prison intelligence department where he was abused and threatened.
Three agents of the intelligence agency went to the home of Soudabeh Shahpour, his mother, and after threatening her told her that she is not to mention in court that she was shot in the neck by security forces else she will be charged with apostasy on charges of becoming a Christian and will be executed. She was also threatened that they would harm her other children and nephew.
Notably on July 17, 2008, Tehran's security and intelligence agents raided the apartment of the Tavakoli Berazjani family arresting all the members of this family present at the time. Agents shot Soudabeh Shahpour, the 50 year old mother of the family in the neck. Abbas Tavakoli and his brother Hossein Tavakoli Berazjani were beaten and tortured in front of their other family members in their home for several hours.
All the arrestees were taken to this city's criminal intelligence department. Some of the people arrested were, Tan-naz Abolhusseini Ahmadi (16 year old female), Khosro Qaedi (17 years old), Mahnaba Tavakoli Berazjani (26 year old female), Fatemeh Farahani (female), Soudabeh Shahpour (50 year old female), Abbas Tavakoli Berazjani (38 years old), Hussein Tavakoli Berazjani (33 years old), and Mohsen.
The tortures inflicted on this family were as follows:
The skin of the sensitive parts of the prisoner's body were pressed with pliers which sometimes led to wounds and injuries
Toe nails were pressed with pliers
Beatings with clubs and other objects for a prolonged amount of time
Tying the hands and feet of the prisoner from the back and keeping him this position for a long time
Hanging the prisoner from the ceiling until the prisoner passed out
Depriving the prisoner of drinking water in the hot summer temperatures
The prisoner was only allowed to use the restroom twice in 24 hours
The judge handling their case threatened the female detainees with rape
Pulling a bag over the head of the prisoner while he was being tortured
Jumping on the hands and feet of the prisoner while handcuffed
The prisoners witnessed the torture of his/her family members or heard their cries while they were being tortured
Hussein Tavakoli Berazjani whose whole body was black and bruised from the torture, died in this detention center.

Political prisoner under torture for more than 90 days
Aug. 20, 2010
According to reports, political prisoner Reza Sharifi Bukani has been under physical, sexual and mental torture for close to 82 days to give a confession on television.
This 29 year old prisoner who has a degree in the French language was arrested on May 10 in Tehran by agents of the Intelligence Department of the Revolutionary Guards Forces. He was jailed in solitary in the 2A cellblock. Sharifi was physically and mentally tortured in solitary for 22 days. One of the tortures was being placed in a solitary cell for 22 days which was pitch-black both night and day. He was also tortured with electric shocks.
After 22 days, he was taken to a solitary cell in cellblock 209 in Evin Prison and was tortured there by intelligence agents for another 70 days.
Intelligence agents of the RGC tried to force him to ‘confess’ on television to later use against him in court by physically, sexually and mentally torturing him.
Sharifi did not have any visits or any contacts with his family while in solitary in cellblock 2A or 209. His family was not aware of his condition in this time.
Reza Sharifi was a member of the RGC Intelligence Agency who was arrested on charges of having email communications with a Kurd party. He has been charged with espionage and cooperation with political parties.
Sharifi has been transferred to Gohardasht (Rajayi Shahr) Prison and is kept under medieval conditions.

Jailed kickboxing instructor becomes paralyzed in prison as result of torture
Aug. 18, 2010
Hossein Armin, a kickboxing instructor was arrested after police filed a criminal record for him and was tortured to accept the charges. As a result of the torture, his spinal cord was damaged and he has become paralyzed.
According to reports, he was falsely charged with murder but with time it was determined that the charges were made because the police were not able to arrest the real culprits and because of public dissatisfaction.


Iran: Rise in the abduction of ‘street children’
19 August 2010
According to a report from Iran Press News, with the economic pressures on a daily rise as a result of the Iranian regime’s plunder and looting, the number of ‘working children’ in the streets is on the rise and families are forced to send their children to the streets for work to provide their daily necessities. This has caused crimes against children to rise, and by luring children are forced into vehicles and kidnapped.
Such crimes have risen to the point that state run news agencies are forced to broadcast several reports on it. In one case, Jahan News wrote: Ali, a small child who is seen throughout all hours of the day with his clear plastic bags of pealed nuts in the Tehran Pars intersection, told the Jahan News reporter: “Last night at around 9:30 pm, while my mother was waiting for us on the other side of the street, a big black truck stopped in front of us and pulled my sister in. I screamed so much that the man had to let my sister go!”

Iran: Suppressive forces attack and arrest youth in Tehran on bogus charges
20 August 2010 
The Iranian regime’s State Security Forces (SSF) attacked youths and passersby in Tehran’s Narmak and Tehran Pars districts, according to reports on Monday, arresting more than 50 people under the pretexts of “mal-veiling” and as “hooligans and thugs.”
SSF forces went on alert on Monday afternoon in Narmak, Haft Hoz, and Javadieh streets in Tehran Pars, patrolling the areas and arresting and beating passersby. Youths, however, resisted the violent attack and clashes ensued. SSF forces fired tear gas to combat the protests.
In Haft Hoz Street, a number of young girls were arrested for “mal-veiling.” Motorcycle riders were also attacked and a number of them were arrested and later transferred to the police station in Haft Hoz.
On Sunday, there were reports of several hours of clashes between people and the regime’s suppressive forces, with gun shots being heard, in the southern Tehran district of Ghiasi.
A number of pictures have in recent days been published on the Internet showing the suppressive agents’ attacks against youths in Iran

78 workers of a company fired in one month
19 August 2010
78 workers from the Yassan Company have been fired from work. The Yassan Company is the manufacturer of various lifting cranes located on Arak Road, south of Tehran,  Hambastegi Meli website reported.
At the beginning of the month, these workers with different ranks in the factory were fired by the management and 200 other workers of this factory are also facing the possibility of being fired.


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