704 Cases of Execution in Iran in 2013 ...... And Iranian Human Rights Advocates are worried about Ali Chebishat and Seyed Khaled Musavi ....Regime is planning to execute the two individuals....

Death penalty 2013: Small number of countries trigger global spike in executions

 

 

27 March 2014

 

Iran and Iraq caused a sharp global spike in the number of executions carried out in 2013, bucking the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, Amnesty International found in itsannual review of the death penalty worldwide.

Alarming levels of executions in an isolated group of countries in 2013 - mainly the two Middle Eastern states - saw close to 100 more people put to death around the world compared to the previous year, a jump of almost 15 per cent.

“The virtual killing sprees we saw in countries like Iran and Iraq were shameful. But those states who cling to the death penalty are on the wrong side of history and are, in fact, growing more and more isolated,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Only a small number of countries carried out the vast majority of these senseless state-sponsored killings. They can’t undo the overall progress already made towards abolition.”

The number of executions in Iran (at least 369) and Iraq (169) saw the two countries take second and third place in the death penalty league table, with China topping the list. While the number of executions in China is kept secret, Amnesty International believes thousands are put to death every year. 

Saudi Arabia (79) and the USA (39) take fourth and fifth place with Somalia (34) in sixth place.

Excluding China, at least 778 executions were known to have been carried out in 2013, compared to 682 in 2012.

People were executed in a total of 22 countries in 2013, one more than in the year before. Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria and Viet Nam all resumed use of the death penalty. 

Despite the setbacks in 2013, there has been a steady decline in the number of countries using the death penalty over the last 20 years, and there was progress in all regions last year. 

Many countries who executed in 2012 did not implement any death sentences last year, including Gambia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, where authorities again suspended the use of the death penalty. Belarus also refrained from executions, meaning Europe and Central Asia was execution-free for the first time since 2009.

Twenty years ago, 37 countries actively implemented the death penalty. This number had fallen to 25 by 2004 and was at 22 last year. Only nine of the world’s countries have executed year on year for the past five years.

“The long-term trend is clear – the death penalty is becoming a thing of the past. We urge all governments who still kill in the name of justice to impose a moratorium on the death penalty immediately, with a view to abolishing it,” said Salil Shetty.

In many executing countries the use of the death penalty is shrouded in secrecy; no information is made public and in some cases the authorities do not even inform family members, lawyers or the public in advance of executions taking place.

 Link:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/death-penalty-2013-small-

number-countries-trigger-global-spike-executions-2014-03-27 

 

When the intelligence agents of the Islamic regime first broke into my apartment they beat me to death and took me for interrogations.

As one of the victims of the totalitarian Islamic regime ruling Iran, I was sentenced to 4 years in prison as a result of voicing my criticism and concerns at the injustice and the violation of human rights and freedom violations in my country. All these years, I have been kept in appalling inhumane conditions in the Islamic regime’s prisons. Right now, I’m writing this in a 21-square meter cell in which I’m being kept with 40 other inmates most of whom are murderers, rapists, child molesters, smugglers robbers and psychotic patients. With all the violence going on in the cell I’ve been feeling like on the death row myself. All this is happening despite my suffering from cardiac disease, diabetes and kidney stone for which I have been hospitalized, though under very poor hospital conditions, several times.

When the intelligence agents of the Islamic regime first broke into my apartment they beat me to death and took me for interrogations. I was put in a solitary confinement completely cut off from the outside world without even enjoying basic prisoner rights. I was constantly threatened to death. I was once taken into a room where I was put in a chair and led to believe I was going to be hanged with a blindfolded on; All these sufferings only because I tried to share articles 17 and 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with my fellow citizens; all these because I tried to make my fellow citizens aware of the rights reserved for them by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My fate as a blogger and a prisoner of conscience is only one example of the thousands of the victims of human rights violation in Iran.

The people of Iran are now ensnared in the hands of a religious, medieval and extremely backward regime that has no respect for the values the civilized world has been seeking out for the past 4 centuries. This regime has already assembled a huge army and founded a terrorist army unit armed to the teeth called The Revolutionary Guard Corps in order to violently repress Iranian Civil Rights and fight against freedom and democracy in Iran and world-wide.

The totalitarian regime of the Islamic republic harshly represses the public so not even one single individual or the media can freely expresses their opinion on the conditions of the country and its people.

The Islamic regime ruling Iran has already established the Islamic Penal Code, a body of disgraceful unjust laws including execution, stoning, limb amputation, eye gouging, burning and whipping every single one of which is clearly a sign of barbarity and a blatant violation of human rights.

The Islamic Regime is following a systematic plan for repressing basic human rights such as curtailment of freedom of speech, internet filtering and censorship, satellite censorship, lack of right of assembly, prohibiting family parties, compulsory veiling for women, sex segregation, curtailment of sexual freedom to name a few in order to exert social and psychological control on the public. They have been spending huge amounts on religious propaganda to help promote superstition and ignorance in the society. Add to this the inhumane public execution of the convicts and the resulting intimidation of the public and the growing sense of public indifference among people.

Thus, one must bear in mind the fact that the Islamic regime’s fight against the civilized world and their achievements in freedom and democracy is an innate property of and an axiom in the Islamic ideology. Prior failed experiences of civil and political dialogues with the Islamic regime are proof enough of that and also of the fact that efforts by international organizations to urge the Islamic regime to respect the very basic human rights of the Iranian people have proved largely ineffective and that it is high time we sought alternative approaches.

In sum, any improvement in the closed and repressed society of Iran today entails a structural as well as political transformation of the present system. Hence, it is necessary to avoid disorganized misguided efforts by international human rights organizations and communities, and to organize all those communities into a coherent integrated whole as “Iran’s friends” whose cause involves human rights and global security in order to help Iranian people achieve their fundamental civil rights as well as the right of determination.

Thank you

Mohamad Reza Pour Shajari

March 10, 2014
Link:
https://khodnevis.org/article/56347#.UzRB0l7m3x4

A Young Iranian Actress and stage player Is Sentenced to Death .....Her Lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi said,the death sentence has gone for execution...

Reyhaneh Jabari is a young Iranian woman sentenced to death by Islamic judiciary. She is 26 years old and spent 7 years in jail. She is accused of murdering an agent of the ministry of information. She said ,she did it in self defense.
Reyhaneh is an actress and stage player. On the day of the event , "a man who came with condom, money , power and medication to make you unconscious " , the man who was as old as her father and was member of the ministry of information of the regime,tried to sexually assault her , in self defense she used a knife and escaped the scene and the agent died of bleeding.
She also played in Asghar Farhadi 's film . Asghar Farhadi received Oscar for his film.
Don't Let Islamic regime in Iran to kill this woman. She needs your help. Stop her execution.
Earlier Iran Watch Canada had reported about this case.
Link to this news:
https://khodnevis.org/article/56375#.UzQ_jl7m3x4

An " Osulgra" ( Principalist ) Newspaper is closed due to violation of Media Code....

According to news " Weekly Nohe Day " is banned for publication due to a report. This paper is managed by Hamid Resaei a fundamentalist clergy ,member of " Jebhe Paydari" and an anti reform Mp.  Resaei said: his paper is banned because of its critical views on president Rohani's policy.
Media Watch Dogs has seven members, out of seven ,two members are representing the government .
The members are:
A judge representing the judiciary,
Minister of Islamic Guidance or his representative,
A member representing  Parliament,
A professor representing Minister of Culture
A representative from media
A representative from Clergies ( from Houzeh Elmieh)
A representative from cultural revolution
Link:
http://www.akhbar-rooz.com/news.jsp?essayId=58972

Austrian MPs grill Iranian foreign minister over rights

BY MICHAEL SHIELDS

VIENNA Wed Mar 19, 2014 12:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif defended Iran's human rights record to Austrian members of parliament on Wednesday but acknowledged there was room for improvement, according to people who took part in the meeting.

In Vienna for Iran's nuclear negotiations with big powers, Zarif met members of parliament's foreign affairs committee for talks on Iranian relations with the West, its nuclear program, human rights and the situation in Syria, participants said.

Alev Korun, a Greens party MP and human rights specialist, said she had the chance to discuss the issue with Zarif.

"He did not have a negative view on the situation in his country but noted that human rights can still be improved everywhere," she said after the hour-and-a-half meeting Behind closed doors.

It came little more than a week after Iran warned the Austrian embassy in Tehran for hosting a meeting between the European Union foreign policy chief and Iranian human rights activists during her first visit to Iran.

A United Nations investigator said last week that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, had made only "baby steps" to improve human rights at home and that forces loyal to the clerical supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are "working to suppress the rights of people".

Ahmed Shaheed, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said the Islamic state was holding almost 900 political prisoners, including people persecuted for religious activities, lawyers and journalists.

Iran has refused to let Shaheed enter Iran, saying its human rights record is good and accusing the West of using the issue as a pretext to add pressure to a country already under sanctions for its nuclear activities.

Rouhani's landslide election win in June had raised hopes among human rights campaigners for reform in Iran, but, perhaps wary of further antagonizing powerful hardliners skeptical of his rapprochement with the West on the nuclear issue, he has not made significant policy changes on political freedoms.

The United Nations highlighted the fact that Iran executed more people per capita than any other country, with at least 687 people put to death last year, mostly for drug offences.

Werner Fasslabend, a former Austrian government minister and head of the Austrian-Iranian Society, said Zarif had also attributed the rise in executions to drug trafficking.

"He also was asked about political executions and he said a clear no, this does not happen...Maybe it may seem sometimes (that way) but political dissidence never is a reason for the death penalty," Fasslabend recalled Zarif saying.

Zarif acknowledged that human rights are not just an internal affair but took issue with using the subject as a way to score political points, Fasslabend said.

Werner Amon, an MP from the conservative People's Party, said he was impressed by Zarif's openness and keenness for reform. He said the progress that Iran was making on reforms and human rights was to be welcomed.

Amon did not want to reveal details of the closed-door discussions on Iran's track record for executions, but said: "Of course one should not have a double standard for countries with the death penalty. That is important. But we got the impression that there will soon be dramatic changes for the better."

(Reporting by Michael Shields)

Link:

 

Happy Nowruz to all Iranian , Tajic, Afghan & Kurd All Over the World.......

This year March 20 ( today) at noon time marks the first day of spring and that makes the starts of the New Year, which was celebrated for more than 3000 years and at least from the time of Syrus the Great and Persian Empire.

Its our New Year .....Lets Celebrate......We celebrate our New Year for 13 days ( From today until April 2 ) and on the 14th we get back to work........

A Petition with More than 40,000 Iranian workers Warned Minister of Labor and Government for Protest....

More than 40,000 workers from United Free Iranian Workers in a petition warned the minister of labor and Government for protest what they called a shame by minister and government on speaking only a 25% increase despite of increase in inflation . Workers told in their statement that, they have warned the minister in the past for increase in their salary according to the inflation ......
President Rohani in his election campaign promised to use the law to increase the minimum wages of the workers but lied .......

In their petition they have asked the minister and Government to reconsider their decision in workers minimum wages ....
Link:
http://www.akhbar-rooz.com/article.jsp?essayId=58974

Son of photojournalist to ask Supreme Court for right to sue Iran over her death

SEAN FINE

JUSTICE WRITER — The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Mar. 17 2014, 9:37 PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Mar. 17 2014, 9:43 PM EDT

The son of a Montreal photojournalist who died after allegedly being sexually assaulted and tortured by Iranian authorities will ask the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday for permission to sue the Iranian government and its officials.
Zahra Kazemi, a dual citizen of Iran and Canada, was covering protests in front of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran in 2003 when she was arrested. Two days later the 54-year-old was in a coma after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Iran acknowledged she was beaten, but no one has ever been convicted in her death.

For her son Stephan Hashemi of Montreal, now in his mid-30s, “it’s about some form of justice,” his lawyer, Mathieu Bouchard, said in an interview. Although Mr. Hashemi is unlikely to collect any damages from Iran in the $17-million lawsuit, Mr. Bouchard said that’s not the point.
“The point is to have an official recognition by an independent court of what happened, and the damage it caused, to his mother and to him. He suffered tremendously as a result of those events. He’s still suffering.”
Federal law in Canada expressly grants foreign states immunity from being sued, and the Canadian government argues that, if Mr. Hashemi is permitted to sue Iran, Canada could lose its immunity abroad, and its relationships with other countries would suffer. But Mr. Bouchard quotes a British judge’s reaction to a similar argument: “I’m not impressed by arguments based on the practical undesirability of upsetting foreign regimes which may resort to torture.”
Even so, Mr. Bouchard acknowledges that allowing the lawsuit to go ahead would set Canada apart from other nations. A Quebec judge dismissed Mr. Hashemi’s suit because of the federal law on immunity, a decision upheld by that province’s highest court. Ontario’s top court threw out a lawsuit in 2004 for similar reasons, in another torture case involving Iran. And courts in Britain and New Zealand have come to similar decisions. But Mr. Bouchard argues that the Supreme Court has the legal tools to put Canada at the forefront of international human rights law. The United Nations’ Convention Against Torture requires that nations allow for legal redress in cases of torture; the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects security of the person from breaches of fundamental justice (Mr. Bouchard argues that Mr. Hashemi’s suffering at being denied legal accountability violates his security); and the rarely used 1960 Bill of Rights protects the right to a fair process.
He says suing in Iran is impossible, and taking action against Iran in other forums is also impossible because Iran is not a party to the Convention Against Torture, and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
“We have some very solid foundations for this. We’re saying that in the case of torture, when the foreign state does not afford any way for redress, then Canada should take jurisdiction.”
He added, “Torture is probably the worst form of human rights breach that we can deal with, on a par with genocide and slavery. There aren’t a lot of crimes of that nature around. These three are of a special nature and require special treatment.”
Iran will not be sending a lawyer to present arguments. The Supreme Court has appointed Toronto constitutional specialist Christopher Bredt to ensure that all arguments that Iran might make are heard. He will argue that the 1987 Convention Against Torture obliges Canada only to permit lawsuits over torture committed within its borders.
Several rights groups, including the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, will back Mr. Hashemi’s case and argue that the court should permit the lawsuit to go ahead.

Link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/son-of-photojournalist-
to-ask-supreme-court-for-right-to-sue-iran-over-her-death/article17537514/

Daniel Cohn Bendit - دانیل کوهن بندیت

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran* **

IRAN WATCH CANADA: A portion of Doctor Ahmed Shaheed's report on Iran Human Rights situation.....

Human Rights Council

Twenty-fifth session

Agenda item 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Summary

 In the present report, the third to be submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolution 16/9, the Special Rapporteur communicates developments in the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran since his third interim report submitted to the General Assembly (A/68/503) in October 2013.

In the report, the Special Rapporteur outlines his activities since the Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur at its twenty-second session. He examines ongoing issues and presents some of the most recent and pressing developments in the State’s human rights situation. Although the report is not exhaustive, it provides a picture of the prevailing situation as observed in the preponderance of reports submitted to and examined by the Special Rapporteur. It is envisaged that a number of important issues not covered in the present report will be addressed by the Special Rapporteur in his future reports to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. 

I. Introduction

1. A number of positive overtures have been made by the new Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, apparently aimed at advancing President Hassan Rouhani’s campaign pledges to strengthen human rights protections for civil, political, social, cultural and economic rights, and at remedying some cases of human rights violations. This includes the proposal of a new charter for citizens’ rights. Since September 2013, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has released 80 individuals, some of whom appear to have been prosecuted for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to expression, belief, association or assembly.¹ Some detainees were furloughed for a few days; others appear to have been permanently released, while hundreds of others remain in some form of confinement, including several individuals whose detention was identified as arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (see annex I).²

2. The Special Rapporteur, while welcoming the above-mentioned positive steps, stresses that they currently do not address fully the fundamental human rights concerns raised by the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and its special procedures, the treaty bodies, human rights defenders and international organizations. This includes the need to address laws and practices that infringe upon the rights to life, to the freedoms of expression, association, assembly, belief and religion, to education and to non-discrimination.

3. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the basis of these concerns is primarily the non-compliance of national laws with the State’s international obligations and a lack of adherence to the rule of law, as well as a failure to investigate complaints and to bring human rights violators to justice. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur believes that the recent engagement with the international community presents opportunities for future cooperation, particularly with regard to capacity-building to advance the State’s international human rights obligations.

4. Reports of the arbitrary detention of individuals for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to expression, association, assembly, belief and religion remain prevalent. Interpreting article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee recognized, in a draft general comment on liberty and security of person, that “liberty of the person is a right of profound importance, both for its own sake and because deprivation of liberty has historically been a principal means by which other human rights are suppressed.

5. Information in the above-mentioned reports also reveal that aspects of Iranian laws, policies, attitudes and practices extensively identified by the United Nations human rights machinery regretfully continue without redress and persist in undermining the independence of the State’s judicial organs, and in nullifying safeguards for fair trials. This is all the more alarming when considering the frequent use of the death penalty, in particular for crimes not considered the “most serious offences” under international law.

6. The present report, far from being exhaustive, analyses the prospects for reform of the administration of justice, in particular with regard to progress made in implementing the recommendations made by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2003,³ during the universal periodic review in 2010⁴ and by the Human Rights Committee in 2011.⁵

7. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran forwarded a detailed reply to all sections of the present report,⁶ in which it revealed its ongoing dissatisfaction with credible sources of information, contending that the report violated article 6 of the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders, which directs them to pursue due diligence in gathering and corroborating information emanating from credible sources. The Government asserted that the present report selectively considered comments made by other United Nations human rights mechanisms, and questioned whether visiting a few European countries to collect information on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran was “the correct methodology for the compilation of a report”.

8. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur continues to maintain that he only presents corroborated information, gathered from credible sources, that he has sought clarification on a number of issues and cases through communications with the Government – a majority of which remain unanswered – and that he has accurately presented concerns raised by other human rights mechanisms. He also concurs that the alternatives pursued in the absence of an approved visit to the country are less than ideal.

9. In its comments, the Government also asserted that individuals that are guilty of serious crimes – including alleged acts of violence, the disruption of public order and the promotion of ideas with the intent of inciting “secessionist” activities – were inappropriately identified as human rights defenders in the report. It also maintained that journalists and lawyers are not immune from prosecution when they violate “the boundaries of a duty entrusted to him/her by law and engages in acts that run contrary to his/her standing”. Lastly, the Government continued to maintain that drug trafficking is a serious crime that warrants capital punishment.

1 David Keyes, “Iran rejails political prisoner Majid Tavakoli”, Daily Beast, 7 November 2014, available from www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/07/iran-rejails-political-priosner-majid-tavakoli.html.

2 On 29 August 2012, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its opinion No. 30/2012, found that the detention of Mir Hossein Mossavi and Mehdi Karoubi was arbitrary (see A/HRC/WGAD/2012/30).

3 E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2.

4 A/HRC/14/12.

5 CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3.

6 See http://shaheedoniran.org/english/dr-shaheeds-work/latest-reports/march-2014-reply-by-the-islamic-republic-to-the-srs-report/.

Nowruz (Simply Explained!) نوروز

Human Rights Day 2013 - Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

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Islamic Regime in Iran is sending another young Iranian Lady to the Execution Gallow ........What a Shame ....What a dark judiciary system....

Rayhaneh Jabari in court

This lady Ms. Rayhaneh Jabari is awaiting for her execution on the Gallow...
She has been in prison since four years ago for a murder she agreed to commit ,but she says :she did it in self defense.  The man she murdered was Known as Sarmady a member of the Ministry of Information . The Islamic laws deals with this type of murder with " Ghesas " meaning she will be hanged ,the only chance remain for her is , the family of the victim will come forward asking the judiciary to pardon her , only then the hanging will be stopped .
Please Voice Against this execution and save her life !
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/zendani.siasi4

Ban Ki-moon rebukes Iranian president for human rights failings

UN secretary general condemns continuing abuse, highlighting 'executions, unfair trials and bias against minorities'

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has sharply rebuked the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, for failing to improve human rightssince taking office in August.

Despite "commendable steps" under Rouhani, including the release of a limited number of high-profile political prisoners, violations had continued, Ban reports in a new report to the UN human rights councilissued on Tuesday.

Execution, arbitrary detention and unfair trials, descrimination against minorities, mistreatment of political prisoners, and restrictions on freedom of expression, are among subjects that remain concerns, according to Ban.

The secretary general said he was particularly concerned about the increased use of capital punishment in Iran.

"At least 500 persons are known to have been executed in 2013, including 57 in public. According to some sources, the figure may be as high as 625. Those executed reportedly included 27 women and two children," Ban said.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said on Wednesday that, in Iran, at least 176 people so far had been put to death this year alone.

Ban complained that Iran had not allowed Shaheed to visit and investigate the abuse claims on the ground.

Ban said: "The new government has not changed its approach regarding the application of the death penalty and seems to have followed the practice of previous administrations, which relied heavily on the death penalty to combat crime."

His report also urged Rouhani to consider the immediate release of the two opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest without trial since the aftermath of the 2009 presidential election, won by the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ban said that at least 80 political prisoners had been released since mid-September, including the prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, but that many remained in jail.

"Despite these welcome developments a large number of political prisoners, including high-profile lawyers, human rights activists, women rights activists and journalists, continue to serve sentences for charges that are believed to be linked to the exercise of their freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly."

Lawyers including Abdol Fattah Soltani, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, and Mohammad Seifzadeh, were "detained solely for exercising their rights to freedoms of expression, association and assembly", according to the report.

Ban said that Rouhani's administration had not made "any significant improvement in the promotion and protection of freedom of expression and opinion" despite pledges made by the president during his campaign and after his swearing-in.

At least 35 journalists were also held behind bars, and two newspapers had been shut down recently.

"Both offline and online outlets continue to face restrictions including closure," the secretary general said.

On freedom of belief, he warned: "Religious minorities such as Baha'ís and Christians face violations entrenched in law and in practice. Harassment, home raids and incitement to hatred, are reportedly commonly applied by the authorities to suppress the Baha'i community."

Apart from Ban, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has also raised concerns about the situation of human rights in Iran. Ashton infuriated Iranian hardliners when she met a number of women's rights activists during a recent visit to Tehran.

On Wednesday Ashton's meeting was still creating ripples in Iran, with the head of the judiciary and parliament condemning it.

Link:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/12/ban-ki-moon-iran-rouhani-failing-human-rights 

 

Ayatollah Javadi Amoli : " Chahar Shanbeh Souri " is against religious laws ,it is unwise and it is a bitter tradition which was unfortunately founded !?

ISNA reported-

The Persian New Year Nourooz is close ,it is going to be celebrated on March 20 at noon time all over the world by Iranian -Tajic ,Kurd , Afghan and....... 
One of the celebration before March 20 ( First Day of Spring ) is Chahar Shanbeh Souri ( The Last Wednesday of the year- Fire celebration /jumping over Fire )-
Nourooz and Chahar Shanbeh Souri are celebrated for more than 2500 years in Old Persian Empire...

Ayatollah Javadi Amoli an Islamic cleric who repeatedly stood against all cultural progress in Iran and rejects pre Islamic history of Iran  and supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad coup Government during Green movement uprising ,in speaking about Quran Said:

 " Chahar Shanbeh Souri " is against religious laws ,it is unwise and it is a bitter tradition which was unfortunately founded !? 

Since its founding after the revolution ,this Islamic Regime tried its most to brain wash young Iranian and to ban people celebrating Nourooz but failed miserably and their effort will remain in vein ........

Cleric like Javadi Amoli don't know nothing about the history and are the most dangerous enemy of Iran and Iranian.

Link:

http://www.isna.ir/fa/news/92122114316/

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton visit to Iran and her meeting with Narges Mohammadi the Human Rights advocate ....

Catherine Ashton Should have met the three Green Movement leaders too and should have demanded for their release !

This meeting is good but not a big deal.... 

There are still lawyers , Human rights activists , Workers rights advocates, Teachers rights advocates ,Journalists and political activist inside the prisons.....
On Saturday Catherine Ashton High Representative of EU arrived in Iran for two days official visit ,during her visit she met Human rights advocates and the mother of Satar Beheshti a young Iranian murdered inside the regime prison. Ms. Ashton met seven women and human rights advocates including Ms. Narges Mohammadi for two hours on March 8 the International Women's Day. Fars News which belong to Sepah wrote:" Ashton met with a convicted sedition ".  In December also she met with Nasrin Sotoudeh an Iranian lawyer and human rights defender and Jafar Panahi an Iranian  film maker in Iran.

Link:
http://kaleme.com/1392/12/19/klm-177263/

Said Razavi Faghih Past Central Council member of the " Dafter Tahkime Vahdat" is Arrested.....

Said Razavi Faghih the central council member of Daftar Tahkim Vahdat  is arrested. He was arrested  while speaking in the gathering of reformist in the city of Hamedan. Taleban style clerics and their followers protested against his speeches . In his speech Mr. Said Razavi Faghih openly criticized the officials in the parliament , the Guardian council and the assembly of experts.
Link:
http://www.akhbar-rooz.com/news.jsp?essayId=58714

President Rohani, Stop Violation Against Dervishes in Iran.......

In long run Regime Won't be able to suppress people's protest for their demands. Its impossible , No regime in Iran can destroy Iranian people struggle for their human rights and the struggle for a free and democratic Iran ,where all Iranian from all background , Ideologies , belief , faiths , ethnic or political parties can freely participate for their own future and in the future of their country.

Iranian won't allow foreign countries for intervention in Iran via a yet another Libyan style war and preparation for infiltration of Al Qaeda forces into Iran and creation of civil war and secession of ethnic provinces like Bluchestan ,Kurdistan , Khuzistan ..... 

In recent months influential fundamentalists, and forces close to their circle ,in various rank & position in the regime are trying to show of their force and creation of an atmosphere of fear and in fact are trying to de stabilize the Government of Rohani and the whole country , from ethnic provinces to the arrest and pressure on independent Iranian and media. President Rohani must stand against these forces and fulfill his promises given during election campaign.

One of the systematic violation is on Iranian Dervishes. Many of their leaders are already in prison ,  recently some of them in Evin prison went on hunger strike in protest against the way prison officials treated the ill dervishes , or transferring some to Rejaei shahr prison from Evin prison , because of their hunger strike as many as 500 Dervishes stage rally on Saturday in front of Tehran public prosecutors office which extended until today Sunday. This rally ended with clashes between Dervishes and the security forces. As a result of this clashes many Dervishes are wounded and arrested . The website of Dervishes "Majzooban Noor " released many names of those arrested ( more than 25 Dervishes detained in Evin prison )or wounded.

More than 2000 Dervishes demanded the medically ill imprisoned Dervishes to be transferred to the hospital and the three transferred Dervishes from Evin to Rejaei Shahr prison must be returned to Evin prison.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.akhbar-rooz.com/article.jsp?essayId=58802