Advocacy

December 24, 2010

Urgent Request: Protest Upcoming Execution

Urgent Request: Protest Upcoming Execution: In a continuing pattern of oppression of minorities, the judiciary is preparing to execute Habibollah Latifi, an Iranian-Kurd. He has always denied the trumped up charges agains him. A letter-writing campaign has been organized by United4Iran. You can participate by sending an e-letter.

December 1, 2010

Getting to Know a Student Activist: “Freedom is not Free”

United4Iran recently published an interview with the roommate of student activist, Majid Tavakoli, who is currently imprisoned in Iran. Here is what his friend had to say about the speech Majid gave in December of 2009 that led to his arrest:

I, and other close friends, tried to convince him to revise his decision but he was persistent. He reasoned that if we retreat [from] our basic rights, in holding peaceful protests inside campuses, we [would] have to retreat [from] the worst level of dictatorship. He was reasoning that as a prominent student leader, his speech would give the courage to other students to stand for their rights. He used to say: “Freedom is not free.”

October 13, 2010

The need to move into compliance with international pacts on human rights requires more understanding of those rights among defenders, leaders, civil servants, and the general public. One of the challenges going forward will be to address a mindset that accepts and participates in the abuse of human rights. Recent events in Iran show that there is a strong urge for civil rights and individual freedoms and that a majority of the population wants to attain these rights through non-violence and reform. This presents us with the historic opportunity to rise and meet this desire for civil rights and individual freedoms with a comprehensive program of capacity building and advocacy to ensure that respect for human rights remains central and urgent.