Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Attending Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar's memorial service on Sunday, November 22, 3-5 pm; No. 18, Moradzadeh St, Hedayat St, Tehran

--Spreading news about Dec 7 (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.

News:

--Jaras: Ramin Pourandarjani, the 26-year-old physician of Kahrizak detention was buried amidst security measures and his family was not allowed to conduct autopsy to discover the cause of death. A video of Dr Pourandarjani delivering his commencement speech is attached to this newsletter.
--BBC: Tehran Prosecutor's Office is a statement announced that the file of Kahrizak physician Dr Ramin Pourandarjani's death is under investigation at Criminal Prosecutor's office. This statement recalls that the body of this doctor was found on November 10 at his service department, and that the initial autopsy shows his death was not caused by poisoning.
--Jaras: Tehran Revolutionary Court in a released statement announced that the closed trial of Engr. Shapour Kazemi, brother of Zahra Rahnavard was held on Sunday November 15. The Revolutionary Court also announced that the trial session of Saeed Leylaz, journalist and economic consultant will be held on Tuesday. According to this statement, Clotilde Reiss, the French citizen and teacher will also be tried at Tehran Revolutionary Court on Tuesday and that the prosecutor's representative and the lawyer of this French national will be present at the trial.

--Radio Zamaneh: Mehdi Karroubi called on the youth to not allow "troubled people" lead them towards harsh behaviors. While talking to a group of MPs from the minority fraction at his house last night, he advised the youth protesting to election results to abstain from "violent behaviors" at any condition.

--Radio Zamaneh: Over 100 independent human rights and civil society organizations across the world demanded UN representatives to support the UN General Assembly resolution condemning human rights violations in the Islamic Republic. These organization and institutes have expressed concerns regarding "deterioration" of human rights situation in Iran.

--Radio Zamaneh: Over 50 writers, critics and journalists in a letter to Sadeq Larijani, head of the Judiciary asked him to issue release command of Javad Mahzadeh, detained writer and journalist. Javad Mahzadeh was arrested at his house by prosecutor's officers about a month ago and has been detained since then. There has been no exact information reported about his fate and the judicial authorities have not declared his charges yet.

--In a meeting with members of University of Arts Islamic Association, Ayatollah Sanei said the increase and exacerbation of problems do not show domination of oppression but rather are signs of weakness. He also said: "Be sure that the nation's efforts especially dear academia will harvest." He added, "Although some people have become artistically successful in telling lies, some other are using all their art to struggle."

--Asr-e Iran: Mohammad Reza Shajarian's lawyer said this Master of Iranian music has been summoned to the Intelligence Ministry. He said last Saturday after Master Sharian returned to Iran, intelligence officers stationing at the airport invited him to go to a building on Jordan St. to have discussion and "deliver some explanations".

--AUT Newsletter: Students of Najaf-Abad Azad University in a union assembly protested against extremist action of university officials. These student who were unhappy about installation of surveillance videos inside departments and sexual segregation in university buses en-route Shiraz gate, Isfahan, expressed their protest by chanting slogans such as "Our dishonor, Our Culture Minister" and  "Student dies but does not accept abjection".

--Hana Makhmalbaf, a referee at Denmark Documentary Film Festival who is also attending this festival to display her movie "The Green Days", spread the color of Iranian people's movement to this festival. After this movie was displayed, the festival jury wore green scarves on solidarity with the movement of Iranian people.

--Norooz: The commemorative ceremony of Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar [translator's note: two victims of 1998 chained murders] will be held on November 22. Their children will soon invite people to attend this ceremony in an official statement. This ceremony will be held on Sunday, November 22, 3-5 pm at their house No. 18, Moradzadeh St, Hedayat St, Tehran.

--Parleman News: Hossein Mar'ashi, spokeman for Executives of Construction Party in response to a question about the latest situation of this party, said: This party is in the process of reorganizing details of which will be explained later. Regarding the possibility of reformists taking part in the upcoming elections, he said: In case the current condition continues, my personal suggestion to Executives of Construction Party and the Reform Front is not to officially attend this election.

--Norooz: After the government's coup against the Culture Academy to seize it and remove Mir Hossein Mousavi as its chair, they are not trying to eliminate the Institute of Culture and Civilization Studies which runs under the supervision of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ghorban Behzadian-nejad. It has been reported that the second biennial of "The Persian Gulf: Culture and Civilization" is being held on November 15-16 at Faculty of Literature and Human Science of University of Tehran, but the name of this Institute which had organized the first series of these biennials has been removed from the second series.

--BBC: On Sunday November 15 and on the occasion of International Student Day (November 17), Iranians in Washington, D.C., held a protesting assembly to express support and solidarity with protesters to results of Iran's presidential elections. "The Green Scroll" which displays the slogan "Ahmadinejad is not Iran's President" was brought to Washington, D.C., after being shown in Paris, Stockholm, and New York and was marched by Iranian in the city center in front of the Congress building.

NEWS OF THE ARRESTED, MISSING, AND DECEASED

--Norooz: Mostafa Shafiei, a medical student at Anzali University was arrested on November 3 while going to the campus and has been transferred to an unknown location. According to Human Rights Activists, Shafiei was active in Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign.

Analysis

--BBC: Ahmadinejad has recently called on responsible organs to conduct the resolution of Higher Council of Cultural Revolution in the field of human science. Formerly, Ali Khamenei had said teaching the humanities in Iran's universities is against the foundations of Quran and religion. Mehdi Khalaji, an Islamic researcher in Washington told BBC Persian that "This council does not aim to transform the field of the humanities, but rather make this scientific field Islamic." Mr Khalaji believes that the humanities are secular in nature but "From the beginning, the Islamic Republic has attempted to make this nature religious which means bringing it down to the level of theology. The ultimate goal of this council is to return to the medieval era before the humanities were formed." He added that "the ultimate goal and ideology of Iran's ruling system is to achieve power, and as the modern humanities cannot be used as a tool for this end, it is being condemned by them. That is why the nuclear technology is the main focus of power in Iran, because ideology has a thirst for weapons and thinks of science and philosophy as weapons as well. However, it is obvious that the humanities formed in the Europe and spread worldwide is not an effective weapon for the Islamic ideology."

Recommendations and Warnings:

--A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.

--Mohsen Sazegara mentioned the following points in his Sunday and Monday videos:

    -Referring to the joint session between Mr Mousavi and Mr Karroubi and their emphasis on not using violence during struggle, he mentioned the "non-violent struggle" but reminded that people should be aware of escape and defense techniques as well.

    -He said the coup agents will attempt to lead the struggle to use violence and have an excuse to start a serious repression.

    -IRGC's commander emphasizing that all their actions were undertaken as commanded by the Leader is somehow giving the infamy of all murders to the Leader.

    -Burying Dr Ramin Pourandarjani without conducting autopsy and released information about pressures on him increase the likelihood of his murder.

    -The rumour of universities being shut down during the week of Dec 7 is a mental war that should not cause any interferes in plans of the green movement.

    -He also talked about the 3,000 students of Najaf-Abad Azad University and said it shows the high potential of student movement.

    -He talked about strikes and protests of workers in a number of factories in Rasht, Sanandaj and Arak and said workers' movement is an important comrade of the Green Movement.

    -Finally, he said the official announcement of an increase in people's approach toward satellite channels shows illegitimacy of the ruling system, government and their various organs among the people.

Email: student.information.center@gmail.com

Tel: +1 (253) 234-IRAN , +1 (253) 234-4726

Join the mailing list:http://groups.google.com/group/student-information-center

Twitter: IranSIC

 

Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 4:34 PM 0 comments  

Future Plans:
--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.
--Accompanying mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

--Spreading news about Dec 7th (Azar 16th) demonstrations on the anniversary of Student Day in private and public universities across the country; inviting people and students to attend these ceremonies in universities.

Summary of the News:

--Jaras: Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in their third meeting expressed objection to the security line-up and oppressive, violent behavior of the ruling system against people present on Nov 4 demonstration as part of the Green Movement. In this meeting, Mousavi declared that "Green Movement condemns repression and will not involve in violence itself" and that "All people realize that our weapon is our peaceful and rational slogans." He also said "We demand full implementation of the constitution and release of political prisoners.  We call for ensuring healthy elections, and demand that freedom of the press, thoughts and beliefs be assured."

--Radio Zamaneh:Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in their third meeting condemned violent attacks against women protesting to the election results. Taghir, the news portal of National Trust party, reports that in this meeting Mehdi Karroubi said attacks and behaviors which have taken place against people in the past five months had not occurred during "Pahlavi regime" with their opposition. Mr. Karroubi also expressed pity over violence against women and said he "cannot figure out" which source issues commands of such behaviors with people. The latest news of such violent crackdowns belongs to Nov 4 protests during which, a video widely published on the Internet shows a special guard police beats a young girl with baton on the head, causing her fall down.

--Norooz: Dr Ramin Pouandarjani who was spending his military service as a physician at Kahrizak detention, committed suicide following disclosure of incidents occurred in this detention center. According to Norooz' report, this doctor and outstanding student who had passed the universities entrance exam with a two-digit rank, has been questioned following the "closed" trial session related to those incidents, and has been the first victim of this case. While the main people involved in the brutal beatings of prisoners in this detention have not been questioned yet due to pressures on the MPs by Judge Mortazavi, this 26-year-old doctor was accused of negligence in testifying in events involved with martrdom of some prisoners and threatened that his medical license would be canceled and he would be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.

--BBC: In an interview with Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, IRNA reported that Mr. Shapour Kazemi's case, the brother of Mrs Zahra Rahnavard, has been forwarded to the Revolutionary Court, but did not present more information on the date of reviewing this case nor Mr Kazemi's charges.  Shapiur Kazemi, 62, is an expert in telecommunications in Iran and was arrested shortly after the presidential elections.

--BBC: On Thursday November 12, in a meeting with a number of faculty from Iran University of Science and Technology, Mohammad Khatami said: "I have repeatedly stated that at this time, no human being accepts any type of tyranny and dictatorship and rejects [it]; evidence to this statement is that nowadays even the dictators claim to be democratic rulers." He also criticized country's political atmosphere becoming "more limited" and said this issue will induce "irrecoverable" loss to the country. Mr Khatami also criticized violent crackdown of the government against the post-election protests.

--Radio Farda: News indicate that Ehsan Fatahian, the 27-eyar-old Kurdish youth previously sentenced to death on charges of fighting against God has been executed. One of his relatives in an interview with Radio Farda confirmed that he was executed at 6 am local time on Wednesday November 11 in Sanandaj Central prison.

--BBC: Shirin Ebadi called the execution of Mr Fatahin on Wednesday November 11 "hasty" and "unprecedented" expressed objection against his family not being allowed to visit him before his execution. Ms. Ebadi said: "Considering the inappropriate behavior unfortunately becoming common in Iran's prisons, especially with political prisoners, one can doubt about the cause of Mr Fatahian's death."

--Radio Zamaneh: Dozens of people in Sanandaj on Thursday protested to execution of Ehsan Fatahian, Iranian Kurdish political activist. Reports indicate that protesters started by leaving from Eqbal Sq. in Sanandaj and were scattered by police forces before reaching Namaki crossroad.

--BBC: The White House announced that US President Barack Obama once again extended the thirty-year sanctions against Iran on Thursday. These sanctions were first applied against Iran during November 1979 hostage crisis.

--BBC: America's Federal government prosecutors called for seizure of a skyscraper and four mosques in possession of Asa Company and Alavi Foundation in New York.

--Jaras: Families of political prisoners in their gathering in front of the Judiciary addressed the judicial system and demanded release of political prisoners and the Green Movement detainees, and enforcement of law and justice for all.

--Jaras: Following the failure to pay salaries of Abadan Oil Refinery workers, a number of these workers held a protesting assembly yesterday. The protesters whom were estimated to be over 300 have not received their salaries for the past 3 months. 

--Radio Zamaneh: In response to the arrest of a number of its members, Tahkim-e Vahdat Alumni Organization in a statement announced that it will "stand before despotism with all its power". This organization has condemned arrests of student activists and declared that along with leaders of the protesting movement of Iranian people, it "will strive to take back concepts such as republicism, Islamicism and justice which were confiscated by a number of power-greeds during the recent years.

--Radio Zamaneh: On Saurday evening, the Corps' commander while mentioning the recent change in the IRGC structures, said these changes arise from the will of the Leader and have been implemented to "protect the Islamic revolution and system better and more powerful". He said confronting with soft threats is one of the most important missions of the provincial corps.

Analysis

-- In an analysis entitled "transformation in the ranks of Ahmadinejad supporters 100 days after his inauguration", Ali Asghar Ramezanzadeh claims that in the very begining it seemed that the demostrations would die away as time passes and Mr. Ahmadinejad and his supporters would eventually dominate the situtation. However, as we pass the 100 days mark, he has yet failed to contain the crisis and quel the demonstrations. Also, in the process, he has created a rift among the ranks of his supporters and he has even lost a number of his moderate supporetrs. These moderates, who in the begining were trying to forge a deal to solve the crisis, are now marginalized and Mr. Ahmadinejad is not trying to appease them. In practice, his government has preferred to lean on its most zealous supporters. In his previous term, these forces, such as Basij and Revolutionary Guards, were independent of the executive system; however, in this term they have garnered direct power in the bureaucratic system. On the other hand, as the supreme leader clearly voices his support for this presidency, a part of the conservative fraction has reduced its criticism. Nevertheless, they fail to see a bright future for this cabinet.

Recommendations and Warnings:

-- A new anti-filtering strategy: 1- Visit AOL.com, 2- register an account (sign up for a free email), 3- download free software (AOL 9.5), 4- sign into your account in AOL 9.5, 5- enjoy surfing high speed internet without filtering.

-- Mohsen Sazegara in his Thursday update indicated:

-       Sepah has paid each of their agents 400 dollars. There were around 35000 agents, which would be 14 million dollars in total.  He added that the goal  of such activities is to invoke violence in people. Such violence would cause the ordinary people to detach themselves from the movement and, therefore, Sepah's image would be improved!

-       In order to paralyze Sepah, Sazegara mentioned, the pressure from people on Sepah agents to join the people should increase.  He added that the new efforts from Ahmadinejad's side to avoid the responsibility for the recent clamp-down of the protests and blaming the government's inefficiency is a sign of division in the government.

-       Sazegara said that the movement should organize ceremonies in all the country's universities on the student's day. The people and highschool students (after the schools close down) should be invited to these events.

In his Friday update, Sazegara indicated:

-       He alluded to the recent gathering of  the families of the political detainees in front of the judiciary department. He mentioned that these families have threatened that they will continue demonstration and then food strike, if their demands are not met.

-       He mentioned that the recent demonstrations in Sanandaj, protesting against the execution of Ehsan Fattahian ( a Kurdish Marxist activist), the demonstrations in Science and Technology university and Khajeh Nassir University, the strike of almost 300 laborers in Abadan refinery, the strike of 450 workers in Bandar-abbas refinery because of their overdue salaries, and, in addition, the renewal of the American sanctions are positive developments for the movement . He insisted that the Green and Worker's movement should become more and more connected.

On Saturday Sazegara mentioned the following:

-       The beggar-like words of the head of Iran's Armed Forces towards Russia in the quest for the S-300 missile are embarrassing and humiliating for any Iranian.

-       Sazegara noted that the strike of workers in Khorramshahr municipality, the harsh conditions in the city  and the protests of workers in Kanaf Kar in Rasht are aimed towards solving the problems of the workers and this is in harmony with majority's will and also the dismissal of the coup leaders.

-       With regards to the Students' day, he asked the heads of reformists (Khatami, Mousavi and Karroubi) to give speeches in different universities.

The audio file of Sazegara's complete addresses for Thursday, Friday and Saturday  is attached to this newsletter.

Email: student.information.center@gmail.com

Tel: +1 (253) 234-IRAN , +1 (253) 234-4726

Join the mailing list:http://groups.google.com/group/student-information-center

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Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 9:08 AM 0 comments  

Note: Hamid Dabashi, Iranian professor of Columbia University at New York has started a series of videos titled "WeekInGreen" which discusses Iran's democratic movement. Student Information Center recommends all readers to watch and share them. If interested visit the "WeekInGreen" youtube channel and Facebook group:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWeekInGreen

http://www.facebook.com/pages/WeekInGreen/168006002362?ref=search&sid=693095675.709705614..1

Future Plans:

--Iranian-style protests, Thursday evening, go to parks and around in the city with family.

-- Accompanying the mothers of the green movement victims in Laleh Park – every Saturday afternoon.

Summary of the News:

--Radio Zamaneh, Radio Farda, the wave of freedom, BBC News: Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of human rights organizations, Ehsan Ftahyan, 28-year-old political activist was executed today. He was initially sentenced to   10 years imprisonment at a lower court. But the opposition appealed and he was sentenced to death. Various efforts of his family and "human rights watch" and "amnesty international" organizations were not successful in even delaying his execution and he was executed this morning.

--Radio Zamaneh: Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate met with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the human rights situation in Iran. In this meeting, Ms. Ebadi discussed the "illegal" behavior of the authorities of the Islamic Republic towards human rights groups. She also wrote a letter to the head of human rights organization asking for them to put pressure on the Iranian gouverment regarding their ban on human rights activists to leave Iran. In this letter, she wrote that members of human rights groups are "constantly threatened, imprisoned, and deported. Essentially, she added that these individuals were being held hostage in Iran. 

--Rooz Online: A day after the new media and press deputy was introduced at the Ministry of Culture, Tehran's prosecutor delivered harsh remarks to the media stating that reports that can "disturb public opinion" will be confronted legally. At another ceremony, he warned: "I emphasize that online news sources should also mind their content otherwise they will also be taken care of". 

--Mowj-e-Azadi: Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, has written a confidential message to Ezzatollah Zarghami (head of media) and has asked that two important conditions be met for the next five years. First he has asked for a reduction in the number of television hosts especially the elimination of images of women in media productions. Next, he has asked for the reduction of use of music during television programming. Based on this report, it is apparent that the new government plans on restricting television content in the future.

--Rooz Online: In a response to journalists regarding the execution of some protesters and those under the age of 18, Ayatollah Montazeri answered that these shame trials have no religious or legal legitimacy and therefor any prison or execution order has no merit.

--Mowj-e-Azadi: the National and Religious Coalition has released a statement condemning the oppression of the green movement. They have stated that the Iranian goverment should recognize the green movement as a legitimate cause for some of the Iranian people and instead of oppressing them, they should start a dialogue. This would be in the long term intrest of the Iranian nation.

--BBC News: The Human Rights Watch Organization has awarded 4 Iranian activists with the Hellman Hammett award for their courage and resilience despite the Iranian government's oppression and threats. These activists are Asiya Amini, Yusef Azizi Banitaraf, Mohamad Sadigh Kaboodvand and Arash Sigarchi. This award was given to  human rights activists from 18 countries. 

--AFP: After sprotets from the Iranian Embassy in London due to the establishment of a special scholarship from Oxford University, today one of the officials of the university defended the move. Oxford representatives stated that this new scholarship for a degree in p

hilosophy has been established to provide financial help to an Iranian student and that the source of this scholarship is well-known to the College.   

--Deutsche Welle: on Tuesday (10 November, 19 Nov.), a public meeting on the sidelines of parliament, revealed that the Supreme National Security Council has divided the executive responsibilities of national security between police and security institutions. POlice security forces are now responsible for monitoring information propagated on the internet and the revolutionary guard are now responsible for satellite signal-jamming towers. The latter has raised criticism in the parliament from the minister of health since these high-energy signals are shown to be bad for public health. 

University News:

 --Mowj-e-Azadi: Morteza Asadi, a former member of the Islamic Association of Allameh Tabatabai University (student activist) was arrested by security forces outside of this home on Saturday. He had already received a 2 year ban on attending the University.  

News of Arrested, and Deceased: 

BBC News: A Danish journalist who was reporting on Iranian student protests of last week was arrested in Iran yesterday. He had travelled to Iran to investigate the current situation. 

Analysis

Siraj al-Din Mirdamadi, journalist and political analyst in living Paris, interviewed with adio Farda regarding the current issues in Iran  Mir Hossein Mousavi. He said:

- After the recent events and the way in which the regime confronted the opposition, it appears that since then the opposition leaders' language and rhetoric has changed dramatically. It appears that they are more established now, but not necessarily radicalized.-He added that he thinks the rhetoric of Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi might still change under the pressures of the regime. After the pressures of the government as well as pressures from state-backed media for their arrest, it is possible that in the future they might have to back away from some of their earlier ideological statements. For example, some of their statements regarding defending the Imam's (Khomeini's) values. He added that further harsher reactions are also expected from the government. Already, the police confrontation with protesters last week was more violent than the previous demonstrations. But at the same time, the slogans shouted by protesters were also more volatile and direct. It is hard to tell whether less people came out to protest last week as compared to the Qods day protests, or whether they were just more wide-spread (and thus diluted). Either way, the slogans and songs were definitely stronger. It seems that both sides are gaining fervor in their cause and are further challenging the other sides' theoretical and intellectual stands. 

Recommendations and Warnings:

Mohsen Sazegara mentioned various points about the revolutionary guards in his Tuesday and Wednesday videos. He pointed that MirHossein Moosavi currectly mentioned in his earlier interview that the revolutionary guards are deeply involved in fraud and also that their legitimacy should be taken by publicizing notions about their moral, religious, political and financial illegitimacy due their acts in torture and rape of prisoners, bringing in arms in politics and corrupting the economical system.

Sazegara also pointed that the green slowgans were heard this Nov. 4th in schools so this counts as the birth of Iran's high school students movement.

 

Email: student.information.center@gmail.com

Tel: +1 (253) 234-IRAN , +1 (253) 234-4726

Join the mailing list:http://groups.google.com/group/student-information-center

Twitter: IranSIC

 

Posted by مرکز اطلاع رسانی دانشجویی‌ at 9:05 AM 0 comments