In June 2009, millions of Iranians took to the streets to demand democracy and human rights. On the anniversary of this uprising, Archbishop Desmond Tutu sends a message of hope and solidarity to the Iranian people. Archbishop Tutu is a Nobel Peace Laureate and an avid human rights defender worldwide. He is widely described as ‘South Africa’s moral conscience.’
The above signatories representing 17 human rights and student organizations express deep concern about the alarming state of academic freedom in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in particular violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly on campuses; and institutionalized procedures that allow authorities arbitrarily to expel and suspend students…
Human rights activists gathered to celebrate the birthdays of imprisoned activists with Khordad birthdays.
Since the 1979 revolution, when the Islamic Republic of Iran came to power, members of the Baha’i Faith, that country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, have faced relentless state-mandated persecution. In its continuous attempt to destroy the Baha’i community the government has, for nearly thirty years, denied Baha’is the right to attend any of Iran’s universities.
It’s not easy to be gay in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A recent United Nations report decried”harassment, persecution, cruel punishment and even the death penalty.” Because Islamic law requires four adult male witnesses to prosecute sodomy, Iranian police typically seek confessions,often through torture. Women, easier to convict, are given 100 lashes for each case.
In 12 cities around the world on Sunday, April 8, 2012, supporters of seven imprisoned Bahá’í leaders marched, held signs, rode bikes, and organized mobile billboard tours in an initiative coordinated by United for Iran and the international Bahá’í community. The day of action marked a combined total of 10,000 days the seven have spent in prison solely due to adherence to their faith.شنبه ی گذشته هواداران هفت رهبر بهایی زندانی در 12 شهر دنیا در برنامه ای که توسط اتحاد برای ایران و جامعه بین المللی بهاییان سازمان دهی شده بود شرکت کردند. راهپیمایی، حمل پلاکارد، دوچرخه سواری و نمایش بیلبوردهای سیار از جمله کنش ها در این برنامه ها بود. این روز (روز اجرای برنامه ها)، در مجموع 10000 امین روزی است که رهبران بهایی در ایران در زندان به سر برده اند. این هفت تن تنها به خاطر عقاید و باورهایشان زندانی شده اند.
Activists and artists around the world from Egypt to Indonesia, Sweden to Washington, D.C. have been participating this month in the street art campaign Mad Graffiti Week Iran to raise awareness about the serious human rights violations that continue to take place in Iran. People are using artwork on shirts, posters, signs, walls, sidewalks, and the sides of cars to call on for the release of…در ماه جاری فعالین و هنرمندان در اقصی نقاط دنیا، از مصر گرفته تا اندونزی، و از سوئد تا واشنگتن دی سی، در یک کمپین “هنر خیابانی” به نام هفته همبستگی گرافیتی با ایران مشارکت کردند تا در مورد نقض شدید و ادامه دارحقوق بشر در ایران آگاهی رسانی کنند. آنها از کارهای هنری خود، که بر روی لباس، پوسترها، تابلوها، دیوارها، پیاده روها وبدنه ی اتومبیل ها نقاشی و حکاکی شده اند، به منظور بیان خواسته های خود استفاده کرده اند. خواسته ی آزادی زندانیان سیاسی، برابری جنسیتی، اصلاحات دموکراتیک و پایان بخشیدن به اعدام ها در ایران. شما نیز به آنها بپیوندید!
Watch the videos below from the worldwide action for Iran's seven Baha'i leaders! Click here to read more about the campaign.
In his March 20 Nowruz message to the Iranian people, President Obama said “the United States will continue to draw attention to the electronic curtain that is cutting the Iranian people off from the world. And we hope that others will join us in advancing a basic freedom for the Iranian people: the freedom to connect with one another, and with their fellow human beings.”
Berkeley, Calif. – Sunday April 1, will mark 10,000 total days that seven leaders of the Baha’i religion have spent behind bars in Iran. On this day, 12 cities across the globe will raise awareness with mobile billboards featuring a call to “Free Baha’i Leaders: Prisoners of Conscience in Iran.” Former imprisoned activist and hiker Sarah Shourd, who is now the Political Prisoner Advocate…