from Africasia Some stats and figures on Iran. - KaleAt least 14 million Iranians live below the poverty line, according to a central bank report quoted by the press on Monday, adding to concern about the welfare of those worst off in Iran as prices soar.The central bank figures, published in the reformist daily newspaper Sarmayeh, represent one in five of Iran's 70 million population."If an urban family of four makes less than four millions rials (425 dollars) a month then the family is under poverty line," it said.In August last year, Social Security and Welfare Minister Abdolreza Mesri said around 9.2 million people were living in poverty, 10.5 percent of the population in cities and 11 percent in villages.Mesri also said that two million people live in extreme poverty in Iran,...
29 Adults and Two Juvenile Offenders Hanged
The Iranian judiciary should immediately halt all executions of juvenile offenders and Iran’s parliament should move swiftly to ban such executions, a group of human rights organizations said today....
Arrested Physicians Have Not Been Charged, Whereabouts Unknown
Iranian authorities should immediately release or charge two physicians who are internationally recognized for their work on HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said today. The men, Arash and Kamyar Alaei, who are brothers, were detained without charge by Iranian security forces in late June, and their whereabouts remain unknown....
Enforce International Prohibition on Death Penalty for Juvenile Offenders
Today 24 international and regional human rights organizations called on Iranian authorities to spare four youths facing execution and to stop imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by juvenile offenders – persons who commit crimes while under the age of 18 – and to uphold their international obligation to enforce the absolute prohibition on the death penalty....
Harsh Sentences May Await Two Rights Activists
Iranian judicial authorities should guarantee two Kurdish women’s rights activists transparent court proceedings when their cases come up for a hearing, Human Rights Watch said today....
HRC Panel to Address Challenges for Activists
The Iranian government should cooperate with United Nations human rights bodies in order to address the ongoing abuses in the country, a group of international human rights organizations said today....
Health of Three Men at Risk
Iranian authorities should immediately grant three men detained on politically motivated charges access to proper medical care, Human Rights Watch said today. Cleric Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi, journalist and activist Mohammad-Sadiq Kaboudvand, and prominent human rights defender Emad Baghi are in poor health and urgently require specialist medical attention....
from Reuters UKBy Parisa HafeziTEHRAN (Reuters) - An influential Iranian cleric has criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in unusually blunt terms by saying his government was pursuing policies that were leading to "public impoverishment", newspapers said on Monday.Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a political rival of Ahmadinejad, called on the government to rein in populist spending policies largely blamed for fuelling inflation that is now running at more than 20 percent.Ahmadinejad swept to power in 2005 vowing to spread Iran's oil wealth. Benefiting from soaring world oil prices, he has won applause by announcing big handouts at provincial rallies but ordinary Iranians now gripe about the price rises that followed.Rafsanjani, head of a powerful arbitration body, has...
Authorities Should Investigate Allegations of Abuse
Iranian authorities should immediately investigate allegations that Ministry of Information agents and interrogators tortured four detained student activists, and punish officials involved in such abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. According to sources familiar with the case, the students have suffered physical and psychological abuse during detention. Three students remain imprisoned, and the whereabouts of the fourth detainee, taken from his hospital bed on April 5, are unknown....
Authorities Escalate Arbitrary Arrests, Harassment
The arrest of more than 30 men attending a party in a private home in the city of Esfahan signals renewed efforts by Iranian authorities to enforce “morality” codes, and highlights the fragility of basic rights in a country where police powers routinely undermine privacy, Human Rights Watch said today....
Iran’s exclusionary process of vetting candidates for the March 14 parliamentary elections violates the principles of a free and fair election, Human Rights Watch said today. The widespread disqualifications of candidates, most from reformist factions, show that authorities are rejecting candidates on politically motivated grounds....
The Iranian judiciary should revoke the death sentence of Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar, Human Rights Watch said today. Kamangar was active in a number of civil society organizations....
The head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, should immediately order a stay of execution for Mohammad Reza Haddadi, who was sentenced to death for a crime that he allegedly committed at the age of 15, Human Rights Watch said today....
Revoke Sentences, End This Cruel and Inhuman Punishment
The head of Iran’s Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, should immediately revoke the sentences of death by stoning imposed on three persons convicted of adultery, Human Rights Watch said today. In separate cases, two sisters from the town of Shahriar in Tehran Province and a man from the town of Sari in the province of Mazandaran, are all at imminent risk of execution....
Two Alleged Prison Suicides Raise Suspicion
Iranian authorities should investigate the sudden deaths of two people while in custody in northwestern Iran, Human Rights Watch said today....
Vague Security Laws Sharply Restrict Peaceful Dissent
The Iranian government is relying on its broadly worded “security laws” to suppress virtually any public expression of dissent, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. It uses these laws to subject those arrested to prolonged incommunicado detention without charge, solitary confinement, and denial of access to counsel....
Government Should Drop All Charges, End Harassment
Iran should drop politically motivated charges against two women’s rights activists facing trial this week because of their participation in a peaceful protest, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should release Jelveh Javahari and Maryam Hosseinkhah without delay....
Prisoner Convicted on Recanted Testimony Now Faces Death
The Iranian government should prevent the execution of Makwan Mouloudzadeh, who was sentenced to death for crimes allegedly committed when he was aged 13, Human Rights Watch said today. Court authorities in the city of Kermanshah should follow the recent order by the head of the Judiciary to allow judicial review of the case....
Government Detains More Activists and Students in Extended Sweep
The head of Iran’s Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, should suspend a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence upheld this week against women’s rights activist Delaram Ali, Human Rights Watch said today. Such a step is permitted under Iranian law. The government should also release at least 14 other students and activists it has detained for their participation in peaceful demonstrations and campaigns....
Dubious Conviction Based on Recanted Testimony Requires Re-Trial
Iranian authorities should immediately prevent the execution of Makwan Mouloudzadeh and commute his death sentence, Human Rights Watch said today. Mouloudzadeh, 20, was sentenced to death in May by a court ruling on questionable evidence for a crime supposedly committed when he was a 13-year-old child....
Emadeddin Baghi Jailed Under Politically Motivated Charges
Iranian authorities should immediately release prominent human rights defender Emadeddin Baghi and drop the politically motivated charges against him, Human Rights Watch said today....
The Iranian government should immediately release Ali Shakeri, an Iranian-American held in detention for more than four months without charge, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also expressed concern that the Iranian authorities have denied basic due process rights to Shakeri and to four Iranian student journalists....
Government Discriminates against 800 Students on Basis of Faith
Iran should immediately end practices aimed at barring Baha’i students from attending universities, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should quickly resolve the situation of some 800 Baha’i students whom it prevents from obtaining their educational records and completing the university admission process....
As moderates who appreciate the tenuous position of dogs in Muslim countries, the Carpetdogs were outraged when they heard about how the Iranian police are cracking down on dog owners by confiscating their dogs! Dog ownership, it seems, is a symbol of western depravity and another excuse for the police to insinuate themselves into people's private lives.
As on many other theological questions, Islamic scholars are divided over whether dogs are unclean like rats, or if Allah says in the Koran that nothing bad has been created in this world.
Something must be done!
Since life is slow in Istanbul and the Carpetdogs underscheduled, they are ready to leap into action. Perhaps there is U.S. funding to organize dogs in support of regime change, democratization? They are experienced...
from Persian JournalThe resignations of the two ministers came at a time when Iran's economy is experiencing problems with double-digit inflation, poverty and high unemployment.Ahmadinejad was elected on a platform letting all Iran's population feel the benefits of its oil wealth but poverty remains a major problem in the Islamic republic.More than 13 percent of Iranians live under the poverty line, a government minister was quoted as saying last week, amid increasing concern about the welfare of the worst-off in the country."Around 9.2 million people are living under the poverty line. That means 10.5 percent of people in cities and 11.0 percent in villages", Social Security and Welfare Minister Abdolreza Mesri said.Iran's population is 70.4 million, according to the most recent census,...
Authorities Should Release 19 Detained Students and Activists at Once
The Iranian government should immediately release 19 students and activists arrested in May and June on apparently politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that the authorities have been subjecting them to abuse to coerce confessions....
The Iranian government should cancel the scheduled July 18 broadcast of the “confessions” of two detained Iranian-Americans, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that Iranian authorities have used coercive means to compel Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh to make statements that may be later used to incriminate them in court....
Government Should Revoke Laws That Permit Execution by Stoning
Iran’s top Judiciary official must act immediately to prevent the execution by stoning of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a 43-year-old mother of three, Human Rights Watch said today....
from The Middle Eastern Times TEHRAN -- Iran's last post-revolution prime minister has broken years of silence to warn that poverty is threatening the basis of the Islamic republic, the media reported Sunday.Mir Hossein Moussavi, seen as close to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, served in the now-defunct post of prime minister from 1981 to 1989, but has largely stayed out of politics ever since.In a speech quoted by most of the reformist newspapers, he complained that the country was becoming immune to pictures of impoverished minors and statistics that he said showed that 20 percent of Tehran children were homeless."It seems that we have distanced ourselves from the revolution's vision and thoughts," said Moussavi. "It seems like we think that our responsibility is...
Prolonged Solitary Confinement on Spurious Charges Coincides With Student Elections
The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release eight student editors and activists arrested in recent weeks for allegedly defaming Islam in student publications, Human Rights Watch said today....