Iran says: Objective News is like a Bomb

by ok Sat Feb 11, 2006 16:55

URGENT ACTION

Iran: Possible incommunicado detention/ fear of torture and ill-treatment/ possible prisoners of conscience: Elham Afroutan (f)
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/011/2006
10 February 2006

UA 34/06 Possible incommunicado detention/ fear of torture and
ill-treatment/ possible prisoners of conscience

IRAN Elham Afroutan (f), aged around 20, journalist and member of the
Writers' Association
And up to six other journalists

Elham Afroutan and up to six other journalists working for the provincial
weekly newspaper Tammadon-e Hormozgan (Hormozgan's Civilization) were arrested
on 29 January following the publication of a satirical article. They may be
prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to freedom
of expression. The seven may be held incommunicado and are at risk of torture
and ill-treatment. If convicted, they may face the cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment of flogging.

The article published by Tammadon-e Hormozgan compared the 1979 Islamic
Revolution in Iran and the advent of Ayatollah Khomeini to AIDS and gave the
current physical embodiment of the disease as President Ahmadinejad. Reports
suggest that the article was reproduced in the newspaper's health section
because of its title: "Open fight against AIDS".

The journalists were arrested in the city of Bandar Abbas, in the province of
Hormozgan, where the newspaper is based, as soon as the issue appeared on the
streets. Demonstrations were staged and ended with the newspaper's offices
being ransacked and torched. Ali Dirbaz, the editor of Tammadon-e Hormozgan and
the parliamentary representative for Bandar Abbas, was questioned by the Tehran
Prosecutor's Office and then freed on bail. On 30 January the Persian-language
Radio Farda, which broadcasts from outside Iran, reported him saying that he
was not aware of the article being published and that the author should be
executed for the article's numerous insults against the Islamic revolution and
state officials.

The Deputy for Press Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
suspended Tammadon-e Hormozgan shortly after the arrests. The Ministry's
statement on the closure accuses the newspaper of violating Iran's press law
and refers the case to the relevant judicial bodies for prosecution.

Elham Afroutan and those detained with her are not known to have been formally
charged, nor to have had access to legal representation, their families or any
medical treatment. Under various articles of Iran's Penal Code which deal with
insults to Ayatollah Khomeini (the founder of the Islamic Republic), the Office
of the Supreme Leader or defamation of officials or individuals, the
journalists could be sentenced to varied amounts of time in prison. They could
receive up to 74 lashes as an alternative or in addition to a prison term.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Article 24 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution states that "Publications and
the press are free to present all matters except those that are detrimental to
the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public." This
constitutional protection of press freedom, albeit limited, has been paid
little regard over the years by the Iranian authorities. Many writers and
journalists have had their right to freedom of expression severely restricted
and have been victims of grave human rights violations.

Article 19 of the ICCPR, to which Iran is a state party, states that everyone
has the right to freedom of expression. While international law recognises that
this right is not absolute and may be subject to certain restrictions, it
states that such restrictions should be only such as are provided by law and
are necessary and proportionate for certain specified purposes, such as
protection of the rights of others, national security or public order. While
the protection of the rights of others may include protection against
defamation, it is generally recognised that the scope of acceptable criticism
of politicians is wider than that of private individuals. Politicians knowingly
lay themselves open to public scrutiny and accordingly must be expected to
tolerate more criticism than private individuals, particularly in view of the
interests of open discussion of political issues. International law does not
permit freedom of expression to be restricted simply on the grounds that others
find a statement offensive. Amnesty International considers people imprisoned
for exercising their right to freedom of expression in line with international
law to be prisoners of conscience.

AI Index: MDE 13/011/2006 10 February 2006

by Elephant O'Room Sat Feb 11, 2006 09:38

US protestations on the Iran of today , since the 79 Islamic revolution, and on freedom of speech in the region are just beyond the meagre borders of satire!

They and the British smashed Iran's fledgling democracy when in 1953 the elected democratic socialist Mossadeq thought that Iranians, and not BP, should benefit from the majority of their shaggin own oil!

Que the coup, the Shah dictatorship and the the flag of rebellion of Islam...

Check out the link below on,

Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran
-A Joint U.S.-British Regime-Change Operation in 1953 that Holds Lessons for Today-
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB126/index.htm

Also see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddeq

~ All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
by Stephen Kinzer ~

http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-04712....html
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/79/04712651...9.pdf

"Most of Tehran was asleep when an odd caravan
set out through the darkness shortly before
midnight on August 15, 1953. At its head was
an armored car with military markings. Behind came two jeeps and
several army trucks full of soldiers. The day had been exceptionally
hot, but nightfall brought some relief. A crescent moon shone
above. It was a fine night to overthrow a government....."

Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh (Persian: محمد مصدق‎) (May 19, 1882 - March 4, 1967) was prime minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953.

by ok Thu Feb 09, 2006 20:58

iran's goverment controls all the media like a dictatorship. there is no such thing as free press in iran! why is there no indymedia.iran ? why was the bbc website blocked recently for interntet viewers in iran? the iranian press is the mouthpiece of their militarisic government!

by Charles B. Thu Feb 09, 2006 17:53

Der Neo Furher Bush has outlined how 'terrorists' thought about bombing the tallest building in LA, but not with those definite terrorist types, arabs, but with fellers from SE asia, therefore, now all those patriotic americans have to be suspicious about not only the sizeable arab minority, but the even more sizeable asian community. Seems like the only good folk left in the good old US of A is white, because as we all know the black population are already despised already by the majority of white middle class america. Only a matter of time before those Irish illegals are linked to bombing something or other. This Perpetual War thing looks to be hotting up surely. Had a quick glance at the RTE news page, and the headlines include:

Irish Troops for EU Battle Groups;
South East Asians Plan LA Deaths Through Aviation;
Nerve Gas Scare on Capitol Hill, Conveniently Timed to Kill a Bill;
Hamas Parliment to Meet Real Soon, How Long Before Israel Doomed;

Still I'd prefer soft porn myself,
Guns don't fit on the top shelf.

by redjade Thu Feb 09, 2006 17:43

Documentation on Early Cold War
U.S. Propaganda Activities in the Middle East
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB78/

In 1953 it was Brainwash Them before they Brainwash us

by redjade Thu Feb 09, 2006 17:36

Khademolmelleh says he's against censorship of information - unless it's 'Zionist'

"Censorship in the world of today is not only wrong, but is impossible, given the considerable progress made in the communication technology enabling dispatch of every piece of news to the world's remotest places in a matter of a few seconds," he added.

[....]

Responding to another correspondent about "whether there is such freedom in Iran to allow the Israeli prime minister to deliver a speech in the country," he said, "We have a special approach towards the 'Zionist' regime and do not recognize it at all to let any Israeli official speak in our country."

read more at
http://owli.org/node/326

Stop Censoring Us
'The purpose of stop.censoring.us is to provide official and unofficial accounts on Internet censorship in Iran so that International observers and activists have a better picture about the situation of freedom of information in the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
http://stop.censoring.us/