Pro-Mousavi supporters have used a popular radical leftist’s song in a campaign video they made for him, which is also posted on YouTube.
The song comes from leftist group the Fedaii Guerrillas, who fought against the Shah’s regime. Now Mousavi himself is accused of being one of the main perpetrators in suppressing the far-left opposition in the 1980s, so by using this song the Mousavi supporters caused a great deal of anger on Facebook.
h/t observers
Iran Human Rights, May 27: The scheduled execution of juvenile offender Mohammadreza Haddadi has been halted.
Haddadi’s defence lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, wrote in a letter that Mohammadreza Haddadi’s execution, which was scheduled to take place this morning, was halted after an order from the Iranian judiciary.
No further details have been provided.
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have
received the original UA when issued on March 13, 2008. Thanks!
26 May 2009
Further Information on UA 71/08 (13 March 2008) and follow-ups (19 August 2008; 14 October
2008) – Fear of execution
IRAN Naser Qasemi (m), aged 23 ]
Mohammad Reza Haddadi (m), aged 20 ] alleged juvenile offenders
Mohammad Reza Haddadi has been scheduled for execution on 27 May 2009. He has been sentenced to death after being convicted of a crime he was alleged to have committed while still under 18.
His lawyer should have been given 48 hours’ notice by the authorities, but received no warning from them at all; he only learned of the execution date from Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s father. The execution is to take place in Adelabad prison, in the city of Shiraz where he is held. His death sentence had been confirmed by the Supreme Court in July 2005.
Branch17 of the Supreme Court is reportedly conducting a review of the case and is said to have recently informed the implementing court in Shiraz so that they do not carry out the execution of Mohammad Reza Haddadi.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi was sentenced to death in January 2004 for a murder committed in 2003, when he was 15. He had confessed to the murder, but retracted the confession during his trial, saying he had claimed responsibility for the killing only because his two co-defendants had offered to give his family money if he did so. During the trial he said that he had not taken part in the murder. His co-defendants later supported Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s claims of innocence, and withdrew their testimony that had implicated him in the murder. They were both over 18 at the time of the crime and received prison sentences.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi was first scheduled to be executed on 9 October 2008. However on 7 October, at his weekly press conference, the spokesperson of the judiciary announced that the death sentence had been confirmed, but that the Head of the Judiciary had ordered a stay of execution; he did not give a new execution date.There is no further information on Naser Qasemi, who was sentenced to death for a crime he
was alleged to have committed when he was 15.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 43 people convicted of crimes that they allegedly committed when they were under 18 [alleged juvenile offenders]. Eight of these executions were in 2008 and two in 2009.
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Iran is a state party, and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.
In Iran a person convicted of murder has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).
For more information about executions of juvenile offenders in Iran, please see Iran: The last executioner of children (Index: MDE 13/059/2007), June 2007,(http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007).
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing great concern that Mohammad Reza Haddadi is in imminent danger of execution for a crime he allegedly committed when he was under 18;
- calling on the authorities to halt the execution of Mohammad Reza Haddadi immediately, and commute his death sentence;
- reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
c/o Director, Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
Ardeshir Sadiq
Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
No. 57, Pasteur St., corner of Khosh Zaban Avenue
Tehran
IRAN
Email: info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Judiciary spokesperson
Alireza Jamshidi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
IRAN
Email: info@a-jamshidi.ir
Salutation: Dear Sir
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter(Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
IRAN
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 965 1073
Email: requests@daftar.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 7 July 2009.
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Senator Dick Durbin said last week that the banks own Congress.
That’s true.
But they don’t come close to the hammerlock their brothers in the health insurance and drug companies have over the place.
The drug companies and health insurance companies control every nook and cranny on the Hill. If you doubt it, look no further than the events of the past two weeks at the Senate Finance Committee. Committee chair Senator Max Baucus called a full 28 witnesses for two hearings on health care reform. Senator Baucus called on the Business Roundtable. He called on the Heritage Foundation. He called on the lobby known as America’s Health Insurance Plans. But not one of the 28 witnesses called by Baucus supported what the majority of the American people want. And what the majority of doctors, nurses and health economists want.
Single payer, full Medicare for all, everybody in, nobody out, free choice of doctor and hospital health care.
And so, Single Payer Action decided to act.
Last week, eight citizens – including three doctors – led by Single Payer Action – simply demanded that Baucus add a seat at the table for a single payer advocate.
Instead of adding a seat at the table, Baucus called for the police.
The eight were arrested, handcuffed, and charged with so-called “disruption of Congress.” The police left behind undisturbed the horde of corporate lobbyists accustomed to “the purchase of Congress.”
This week, two doctors, two nurses, and a citizen from Maine – inspired by the actions of the Baucus 8 – rose and simply demanded that Baucus add a single payer advocate to the witness list.
Again, Baucus refused.
And again, Baucus called for the police.
Now it’s the Baucus 13.
Single Payer Action will not rest until America gets what every other Western industrialized country has – universal, not-for-profit, health care – everybody in, nobody out.
More efficient. And more humane.
The launch of Single Payer Action is one of the more successful launches of a citizen action organization in recent memory. Single Payer Action has gained widespread publicity – on National Public Radio, Democracy Now, in Politico, the Associated Press, and the National Journal. Go to singlepayeraction.org and Join the Campaign.
For many Iranians, President Obama’s Norooz message to Iran seemed to indicate a more conciliatory approach towards the Islamic Republic. In his address, he said he was committed to diplomacy with Iran that “will not be advanced by threats.” Though many may take this as a hopeful sign that the US rhetoric will tone down in the upcoming months, these hopes have not seen the corresponding results. Just last week, new anti-Iran legislation, fully supported by the White House, was introduced in Congress. If approved, it would impose harsh new sanctions on Iran by restricting its gasoline imports – a move that would cripple Iran’s already faltering economy. The Obama Administration and its allies in Congress are likely to use these sanctions as the next step in punishing Iran for its nuclear program.
It is unlikely that these new sanctions would prove successful in persuading the Iranian leadership to abandon its nuclear program. Previous sanctions have failed, and although members of Congress seem to think that the new legislation will allow Iranians to choose between their economic welfare and their country’s nuclear program, there is little historical evidence leading one to believe that economic sanctions are an effective method of altering a regime’s behavior (take Cuba, South Africa, Iraq, et. cetera). Rather than encourage domestic opposition to the Iranian nuclear program, the sanctions could have the opposite effect and may end up uniting Iranians against the United States and its agenda in the region.
Finally, I should mention that the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a neoconservative think tank with close ties to the Israeli right wing, is actively lobbying in favor of these sanctions. In order to thwart their efforts and in order to prevent a future crisis with Iran, it is of paramount importance that these sanctions be resoundingly rejected as policy options. It is essential that Congress defeat the proposal, as it would do nothing more than increase the economic difficulties facing the Iranian people and further poison Iran’s relationship with both the United States and the West.
We should join J Street’s campaign to notify our members of Congress of our opposition to further sanctions. Here’s the link: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2747/t/3251/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2723
The clip of my last week’s testimony in favor of HR 480 Judge Sharon “killer” Keller’s impeachment from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals at the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence has been posted online. Our group at the capitol included Scott Cobb, Gloria Rubac, Crystal Wilson, Terri Been (sister of Jeff Wood), Lawrence Foster (grandfather of Kenneth Foster,jr) and Kenneth Foster Sr (father of Kenneth). I joined later at the hearing to give my testimony to the committee on Sharon Keller.
On Sept 25, 2007, Keller said “We close at 5″ and refused to accept an appeal from the attorneys of Michael Richard, who was scheduled for execution at 6pm that night. The U.S. Supreme Court had decided at around 10am that morning to accept a case from Kentucky (Baze v Rees) in order to rule on the constitutionality of the method of lethal injection as a means of carrying out executions. Richards attorneys had to rewrite their appeal to incorporate the issue of the constitutionality of lethal injection. The had a computer problem and called the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to ask for an extra 20 minutes to submit their re-written appeal. Keller said “We close at 5″ and refused. Richard was executed later that night after the U.S. Supreme Court was unable to issue a stay, because there had been no final decision at the state-level court. If Keller had not refused to accept the appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court could have issued a stay. Richard was the last person executed in the United States before the start of a de facto moratorium on executions pending the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Baze case.
Here is a short video I made for one of my classes. It includes some clips from a 2007 protest we did at her office.
The following is Prof. Michael C. Hillmann’s introductory speech to the Ferdowsi Teach-In at Texas titled, “Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in America Today.”
In this video Bahram Moshiri talks about his visit to the University of Texas campus in Austin for the Ferdowsi Teach-In. I will post his talk on Ferdowsi as soon as I’m done with transfer and editing of it.
| Date: |
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
|
| Time: |
3:30pm – 5:00pm
|
| Location: |
Mezes #1.122
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Those of us who attended last Thursday’s panel discussion featuring Shirin Ebadi at the LBJ Library Auditorium were disappointed. Both the comments of several panelists (e.g., no mention of any Iranian or American foreign policy makers or experts or researchers or the impending Iranian elections, and no questioning at all of Ms.Ebadi’s categorical statements) and the panel chair (whose inability pronounce the surnames of two panelists suggested to some audience members unfamiliarity with the panel’s subject), the panel composition (no representation of specific political science expertise on Iran, e.g., Jason Brownlee) and the panel format (e.g., only fifteen minutes for questions from a patient audience among whose members were likely individuals no less expert in the panel’s subject than some of the panelists) left some audience members feeling that a serious conversation on the subject of Iran-America foreign policy in 2009 did not take place. Consequently, we’re going to have that conversation this coming Tuesday at 3:30 to 5 in Mezes 1.122.
Everyone will get a chance to ask questions or make comments.
Moderated by Prof. Michael Hillmann
Facebook Event
