|
|
Press releases: Iran: New President must deliver on human rights promises
The victory of Hassan Rouhani, a 64-year-old cleric, in Iran's presidential election, presents a new opportunity to address human rights abuses in the country, Amnesty International said today. Hassan Rouhani, described as a moderate and a pragmatist, made a number of pledges to improve Iran's dire human rights record during his electoral campaign, for which he must be held accountable in the coming months. ...more
Share  |
 |
|
Reading Marx in Tehran
In the face of Iran's economic crisis and declining living conditions, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers' concerns. They have made references to difficulties and criticized the Ahmadinejad administration's mismanagement and corruption, but they have not proposed or discussed any solutions to the workers' plight. IRAN'S presidential election on June 14 will be neither free nor fair. The candidates on the ballot have been preselected in a politically motivated vetting process that has little purpose other than ensuring the election of a compliant president who will be loyal to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the most urgent challenge for both the next president and Ayatollah Khamenei will be to confront a rising tide of discontent resulting from a rapidly deteriorating economic situation. ...more
Share |
 |
|
Iranian people urged to speak through protesting not voting
With elections in Iran scheduled for the 14th June the international community is beginning to focus attention upon the outcomes. Jane Green considers the implications of the election for the people of Iran.
The ruling clergy in the Islamic Republic of Iran have once again denied the Iranian people the opportunity to vote in free and fair elections by loading the outcome in favour of candidates who support the existing theocratic regime. ...more
Share
|
 |
|
A journey through Iran: Eye-opening photographs reveal an enchanting, mysterious and rarely seen side of the country
Photographer Amos Chapple took this stunning collection of images over three trips to the Islamic state.
Striking photos show the contrast between the country's unspoilt rural villages and the ultra-modern capital Tehran
It is perceived as one of the most introverted countries in the world with a policy of eradicating any outside influence from foreign nations.
But a photographer's stunning collection of images from his journey through the Republic of Iran offers a rare insight into what life in the Islamic state is really like.
With its tiny villages nestled into the side of mountains and picturesque farm land, which is rarely seen by outsiders, the country is as enchanting as it is mysterious.
But photographer Amos Chapple said the real surprise of Persia was not its untouched and beautiful countryside, but how different it is from 'western perceptions of the country'....more
Share |
 |
|
| Iran's ban on female presidential candidates contradicts Constitution Iran's ban on female presidential candidates contradicts several articles of the country's Constitution as well as international law and should be removed, Amnesty International said. Mohammad Yazdi, a clerical member of Iran's Council of Guardians, a constitutional body responsible for ensuring that legislation adheres to Iran's Constitution, as interpreted by Iran's religious scholars and Islamic law, and for vetting presidential candidates has announced that Iranian laws "do not allow women to become presidents". Thirty women have registered to stand as candidates for the forthcoming presidential election on 14 June 2013. Women were previously prevented from standing in presidential elections, but there was a chance that the Council could have overturned that situation this time. ...more
Share |
 |
|
The message of solidarity from the NAW Executive
At its Annual General Meeting in Sheffield on Saturday 11 May 2013, members of the National Assembly of Women (NAW) from across Britain learned from CODIR something of the abuse, repression and segregation suffered by women in Iran at the instigation of a vicious and dictatorial regime and of their brave struggle for equality and respect. The next day the Executive Committee of the NAW, when it convened for the first time after the AGM, published the following statement:
The National Assembly of Women wishes to express its solidarity with the women of Iran who are struggling for peace, democratic rights, equality and social justice. We congratulate the Committee for the Defence of Iranian Peoples' Rights (CODIR) for its work in campaigning for the release of all political prisoners, for women's rights and in support of independent trade unions in Iran.
...more
Share |
 |
|
The Women's Committee of UNISON stands in Solidarity with the struggle of Iranian Women for equality
Dear CODIR
We, UNISON South West's Women's Committee, would like to send the following message via you to our sisters in Iran:
Dear Sisters in Iran
We have heard from the Committee for the Defense of Iranian Peoples' Rights (CODIR), to which our trade union is affiliated, about your brave struggle for equal rights for women and for a future determined not by dictatorship but by the people of Iran.
We know that your struggle is met with harsh oppression by the Iranian theocratic regime and that women are being silenced by every means - intimidation, incarceration, torture and sometimes death - for what they do to protest against abuse and discrimination, to demand that trade union and human rights are respected and to continue their progressive struggle for peace, democracy and justice.
...more
Share |
 |
|
Iran prepares for high-stakes presidential election
Hashemi Rafsanjani's last-minute entry makes race more unpredictable, but many voters have bitter memories of 2009. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, gazes down from a giant coloured backdrop that adorns the wall of the Tehran ministry that has been registering candidates for next month's presidential election. Slightly above and behind him are the unmistakably baleful features of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - a reminder that the political system of the Islamic Republic he founded back in 1979 remains as complex and opaque as ever. Next month millions of Iranians will vote for a replacement for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the abrasive populist Khamenei anointed in 2005 and who won a second term four years later in a contest which that is widely believed to have been rigged. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the Green movement leader who claimed victory in 2009, is still under house arrest, his supporters in disarray, in prison or in exile. ...more
Share |
 |
|
May Day message!
CODIR's urgent call for solidarity!
This May Day Iranian working people once again mark International Workers' Day in extremely difficult conditions. Inflation, mass unemployment, poverty wages, unpaid salaries and attacks on trade unions are the everyday experience of our comrades in Iran. The Iranian people face massive challenges. International sanctions have brought the economy to its knees; the threat of military attacks is still in the air.
Workers protests against these conditions are brutally suppressed. The regime does not tolerate trade unions. Many trade union activists are imprisoned. Some are tortured. ...more
Share |
 |
|
The May 2013 issue of CODIR's Bulletin, published
We thank you for your continued support for the campaign for peace, democracy and human rights in Iran.
In this Issue: - May Day message page 1
- Oppose
War &
Sanctions
against Iran
Page 2
- Regime
Attacks
Trade Unionsists
Page 3
- Gender
Segregation
in TV!
Page 3
- URGENT
ACTION!
Page 4
...more
Share |
 |
|
May Day message from UNISON to the Committee for the Defence of Iranian Peoples' Rights
On behalf of UNISON I would like to send a message of solidarity to the Committee for the Defence of Iranian Peoples' Rights (CODIR) and to the workers and trade unionists of Iran on the occasion of May Day 2013.
UNISON stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people for peace, human and democratic rights and social justice. To this end UNISON will continue to support CODIR's campaigns for the release of all political prisoners, for women's rights and in support of independent trade unions in Iran. UNISON commits to work through the TUC to ensure that the issue of workers' rights stay high on the agenda of the ILO....more
Share |
 |
|
Trial by camera - "TV confessions" and the death penalty in Iran
TIt was called "Terror Club" - an hour-long "documentary" that aired on Iranian state TV in
August 2012. The 12 individuals - seven men and five women - featured in the show,
appeared, one by one, in front of a camera, "confessing" to their involvement in the killing of
Iranian nuclear scientists over the past year.
Beyond their starring role on television, no clear details about the arrest and detention of these
12 people are known. It is not known if any of them have been charged or tried - despite the
recent announcement that 18 unnamed people will shortly go on trial for these murders. But it
is known that all 12 could face the death penalty if they are found guilty of the alleged
killings....more
Share |
 |
|
IRANIAN HUNGER STRIKERS IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Two men imprisoned in Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, south-west Iran, are in critical condition after a prolonged hunger strike protesting the harsh treatment of dervishes, including lawyers, in Tehran's Evin Prison. They have been beaten, have lost consciousness several times, and are being kept alive by intravenous drips in prison. Saleh Moradi and Kasra Nouri, are Gonabadi dervishes from the Nemattolah Gonabadi order, one of Iran's largest Sufi orders. They started a "wet" hunger strike (taking water but not food) on 15 January in protest at the illegal transfer of seven dervishes, including lawyers, imprisoned without trial, to solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin Prison. On 21 March, both men intensified their protest by entering into a "dry" hunger strike (refusing water as well as food). They have reportedly each lost 35 kilos and are thought to be in critical condition. ...more
Share |
 |
|
Press release: Urgent call to free imprisoned teacher in Iran
The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People's Rights (CODIR) has today called for the immediate release of Mohammad Tavakoli, Secretary of the Kermanshah Teachers' Guild Association. Mr Tavakoli was arrested last week after being called to present himself for questioning at the intelligence section of the Kermanshah Revolutionary Guard. Kermanshah is a provincial capital in Western Iran, 525 kilometres from the Iranian capital, Tehran. Mr. Tavakoli teaches at one of the Kermanshah's zone two district schools. Prior to his arrest he had been harassed on a number of occasions by the security forces for his trade union activities. In August last year he was threatened by the security forces for publicising news of teachers' pay cuts. Mr. Tavakoli has previously stated, "During their last contact with me, the security officer told me that the Kermanshah Teachers' Guild Association is illegal. They added that if you continue your activities, you will be dealt with severely." ...more
Share |
 |
|
ONE OF WORLD'S BIGGEST PRISONS FOR JOURNALISTS 34 YEARS AFTER KHOMEINI'S RETURN
Reporters Without Borders learned today of the arrests of three more journalists, bringing to 16 the number detained in a renewed crackdown on media personnel in Tehran that began a week ago. In all, a total of 42 journalists and 20 netizens are now detained in Iran, which makes it one of the world's biggest prisons for news providers. The two latest detainees are Rihaneh Tabtabai, a journalist with the daily Bahar, who was arrested yesterday, and Ali Dehghan, Bahar's business editor, who was arrested the day before. The third newly-reported arrest is that of Fatemeh Sagharchi of the news website Jamaran, who was detained on 26 January "in connection with the current crackdown on journalists," her lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh, said. Like Tabtabai and Dehghan, she was arrested by plain-clothes intelligence officers. In a statement on 29 January, the intelligence ministry accused the journalists of belonging to "a media network linked to the West, created by the BBC and managed in cooperation with several western governments." ...more
Share |
 |
|
| |
|
© 2005-2006, Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People's Rights
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Home
Contact us CODIR says... CODIR in Action
CODIR against the War CODIR Canada About Us Archive
