What the Iranian People Expect of Ban Ki Moon

What the Iranian People Expect of Ban Ki Moon

Despite calls in some quarters for him to skip out, the UN Secretary General plans to travel to Iran next week, a country that has become a dungeon for its own people. He will attend the 16th Summit of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement, which will be chaired by Iran through 2014. Most of the criticisms of him going have come from states leading efforts to isolate Iran due to the nuclear impasse. But at a time when severe human rights abuses continue unabated against Iran’s citizens, it is a critical opportunity to refocus international attention on the dire situation in the country and pressure Iran’s leaders to improve conditions for its people.

NAM Leaders Should Pressure Iran to End Abuses Against Its Citizens

NAM Leaders Should Pressure Iran to End Abuses Against Its Citizens

Washington D.C. (17 August 2012) United for Iran calls on democratic leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to pressure Iran to end abuses against its citizens ahead of an upcoming conference that will be held in Tehran later this month. The organization further urges UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to secure Iran’s sustained cooperation on human rights before agreeing to visit the country.

Statement on Iranian Officials Denial of Political Prisoners

Statement on Iranian Officials Denial of Political Prisoners

United States (12 July 2012) – The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has issued a statement calling on Iranian officials to “cease spreading lies and disinformation about the existence of political prisoners.” Citing Javad Larijani’s recent remarks during an interview with the Iranian Student News Agency that “there are no political prisoners inside the Islamic Republic…

Elahe Amani’s Presentation on Stoning

Elahe Amani’s Presentation on Stoning

Geneva (26 June 2012) – Speaking at an informal meeting coordinated in tandem with the 20th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Ms. Elahe Amani presented on the need to stop stoning globally. The text of the speech has been reproduced below.

United for Iran Highlights Ongoing Abuses at the 21st Session of the UN Human Rights Council

United for Iran Highlights Violations of Right to Education in Iran at 20th Session of Human Rights Council

I am speaking on behalf of the Democracy Coalition Project in coordination with United for Iran. My name is Puyan Mahmudian. I was jailed in Iran in May 2007 for serving as an editor for a pro-democracy student publication. The government forged false documents to arrest me and other student activists. I spent three months in solitary confinement and endured torture by my interrogators. I was barred from graduate education despite being ranked 6th out of more than one thousand candidates in the national entrance…