The Human Rights Blog

Education in Mother tongue is forbidden for Minorities in Iran

Iranian Minorities’ Human Right Organisation (IMHRO)

In the world which respect for indigenous people and ethnic minorities daily increasing, in Iran education in mother tongue or first language is still forbidden and pressure on cultural activist are increased in recent years.

Yasser 6 year’s old, Kurdish minority talking with IMHRO through his dad said he can not understand his teacher at all.” In home we talk Kurdish in school we have to talk Farsi”

In Iran minorities should only thought in Farsi or Persian language. As a result many children soon leave the school and illiteracy among the minorities is very high. Various study proved that mother tongue is one of the key factors in speed of learning in children.[i]

Mansur, 10 years old a Baluchi from Zahedan told IMHRO that he recently left the school as he did not have progress for last few years as result of not understanding the teacher’s language, which it was in Farsi.

Effect of banning mother tongue hits whole literature and art and music of minorities in Iran. Many pieces of Arts may never be able to replace because of disconnection and lack of ability to record that particular art.

Various human right activist and organisation related To Iranian minorities, (which in total making more that %50 of Iranian population and no longer a minority but are majority) calling the banning of education in mother tongue in Iran a “Cultural Holocaust”

They claim that “Indeed you do not need to kill the people to stop their culture, not allowing them to practice it much the less is same and it is very damaging”

Yasamin 9 years old in republic of Azerbaijan, originally Turks in north west of Iran, told IMHRO that since she moved with family to republic of Azerbaijan and they study in Turkish language in their school, she feel she got more progress than when she was in Iran and had to talk and thought only in Farsi.

Folklore culture if it is not practiced may die. Definition of language is not only communication, it is also identity.

Rasoul an Ahwazi Arab originally from city of Abadan told IMHRO since he moved to UAE, he have less pressure in understanding the lessons in school. “In Iran I had a headache after each lesson and not understanding them at all”

Today is world mother language and this year named by UN year of language to emphasis of importance of languages. Many cultural activists who demand a right of study in mother tongue persecuted in Iran.

We ask international community to pay attention to this huge pain of silencing of millions of people in Iran and call on Iranian government to release millions of people from monopoly of study only in Farsi or Persian language.

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[i] http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/files/38922/11127767843Benson_Language_instruction.doc/Benson%2BLanguage%2Binstruction.doc

Repression against Azeris in Iran

Today I received the following message from one of the visitors to this blog. I'm sharing it with the rest of you.

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Dear Sir,
I'm Southern Azerbijan activist. The day I'm writing to you is our great hero's (Great Babek) birthday when we have national ceromenies for him. But Iranian racist hardliner govrnment blocked all ways to the city Keleyber by army forces.A lot of activisties are detained. Please do kindly declare this violance against my nation in International bearues.
Salman Mohammadi

Iranian HR Organization don't want US Aid

Note: If you agree with them, it wouldn't hurt to call your Congressional representatives

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5/30/07
Request From World Human Rights Communities Regarding United States' 75 Million Dollar Budget for Iran

By Emaddeddin Baghi, Defending Prisoners' Rights Society, Tehran, Iran
May 18, 2007

Dear Colleagues and Human Rights Activists,

We are all sensitive to violations of human rights by governments and consider it our duty to react to these violations even if in countries such as Iran these reactions have costs. At the same time, we are expected not to be indifferent to new kinds of human rights violations or outright endangerment of human rights activists.

In recent years, the government of the United States has announced that it has allocated a yearly budget for the support of civil society, democracy, and human rights in Iran. This so-called "democracy fund" is approved by the United States Congress and extensive media coverage of this financial endeavor has been encouraged.

Given the existence of longstanding hostilities between the governments of Iran and the United States, the government of Iran has shown extreme sensitivity to the idea of individuals or groups receiving funds to engage in activities that, in the public words of at least some American officials, is intended for an eventual "regime change" in Iran. I am sure the United States government would show similar sensitivity if it was revealed that there were individuals or organizations in the United States that were receiving funds from hostile groups or countries intent on creating instability in that country.

The allocation of yearly funds has led to the Iranian government's widespread concern and suspicion towards civil society organizations and human rights activists, clearly exacerbating in significant ways pressures on them and the number of arrests. Undoubtedly, not all these pressures and arrests are reflective of recently developed government concerns and suspicions. Forces that are against liberty also use the U.S. budget allocation as a pretext or excuse to legitimize their opposition to civil liberties and to discredit their critics.

In such an atmosphere, individuals and organizations that are more active and well-known are easier to spot and hence easier to threaten. In the past two years, we have been witness to numerous accusations hurled against civil society institutions such as the Society for Defending Prisoner's Rights. Such organizations have also faced investigation and even closure of their offices. In the past 14 months, for instance, I have been summoned by the Iranian judiciary or intelligence organizations 7 times but have not publicized the matter in order to avoid political tensions. I think it time to change course and act in different ways.

I would like to state categorically that it is neither wise nor morally justifiable for the United States to continue its path, without due respect or concern for the specific harm and harassment the so-called democracy fund entails for human rights activists in Iran. It is not right for independent individuals and institutions inside Iran to pay the price for allocated funds that the United States government spends on broadcasting from the United States into Iran or for the activities of exiled Iranian groups that cooperate with various American organizations.

This is why I hereby make a plea to you and your respected organizations to insist that the United States government change its ways or, in case of its insistence on allocating a yearly budget, make public and transparent the exact amount and recipients (individuals and groups) of these funds. In this way, problems are reduced for independent democracy and human rights activists in Iran. In addition, the United States government can no longer be accused of, willingly or unwillingly, being complicit with the suppressive forces in Iran which have been using the so-called democracy fund as an excuse to harass civil society activists.

I thank you in advance for your careful attention to this urgent matter and hope that the necessary steps are taken as soon as possible to correct the wrong approach taken by the government of the United States and to promote transparency.

Respectfully yours,
Emaddeddin Baghi
Defending Prisoners' Rights Society
Tehran, Iran

Summon to eliminate Execution sentence in Iran

Thousands people are executed in Iran, by 27 years of ruling of Islamic Republic of Iran. Execution is transported form closed jail to streets, city squares and stadiums in the public in front of people eyes. The Cranes are used for killing people rather than use it for development.

Execution method is promoted from Execution in the close place in the jail to hanging many people in public concurrent. It is so shameful, the Stoning as disgusting method of execution is order in the courts since now. Execution commandment has no age range, include Children, olds, and pregnant women so.

In decade of 1980 execution statistics were developed inconceivable as quiet executions of Kurdistan prisons, thousands of political prisoners were executed by firing squad in 1989.

We can see progressive development of execution statistics in last year, there is no week that no execution reported by governmental medias news.

After a quick break time execution of political prisoners is started again, these executed men were 1_Esmaeel Mohammadi 2_ Hojat Zamani 3_Mahmod Pajovini 4_Aziz khalkani 5_Masoud Shooke 6_ Salah Mahmodi 7_ Abdolah Soulimani 8_Ali MotiriNejad 9_maalk bani tamim. 10-Khalf dorhab Khaziravi 11 -Mohammad Ja'ab-pour 12-Abdol-Amir Faraj-allah Ja'ab 13- Alireza Askari

Execution of children has gotten new face, and there are so many children are executed until now. The execution method for children got some change after protests of human rights international organizations, children who are sentenced to death will be kept in prison until they enter to upon legal age, after that they will be executed.

Women are next victims of non-humanity executions. In the last year there were so much increaser executions for them. They were killed in the public as all prisoners. The young girl named Atefeh Rajabi who was paining of mental disorders is an example.

Numbers of people are executed in Balochistan in the last moths and weeks, and statistics of executions in Khozestan are developing.

There is many prisoners sentenced to death are waiting for execution, and some of them are commended to death newly, that they are:

1-Dr. Saeid Masoory 2- Gholam-hosein Kalbi 3- Alireza Karami Khirabadi 4- Khaled Hardani 5- Farhang pourmansoori 6- Shahram pourmansoori 7- Fazel Ramezani 8- Hajat Morad Mohammadi 9- Abdollah Soleimani 10- Abdol-Reza Sanavati 11- Ghasem Salamat 12-Majid Ale-Boghbish 13- Nazem borhe'ee 14- Abdol-Reza Halichi 15- Zamen Bavi 16_Mohammad hasan pour 17_Abdoulah Ghasem zade 18_ bakhsh Ali mohamadi 19_Jahan ali mohamadi

Women who commended to death because of saving themselves and are waiting for execution are:

1_Delara DArabi 2_ Nazanin Fatehi 3_kobra rahman pour 4_Akram Ghavi Del 5_fateme haghighat pajouh 6_Shahla Jahed 7_ Taiebe Hojati 8_Azam Ghare Shiran 9_Akhtar Mohammadi Monfared 10_Limo Ebrahimi 11_Malek Ghorbani 12_ Mohebat Mahmodi 13_ halale Mohamad Zade

Children who are waiting for Execution are:

1- Sina Paimand 2-Ali Alijani 3_Hedait Niromand

By the report of human rights organizations, Iran is second country in execution statistics.

For to ending killing people, to ending fear in social, to commend humanity, to defense of defenseless prisoners, must become united to complain in the worldwide:

We want to end of death sentences, by the asking people who are protest of executions, we as singer of this letter has made this summon by right requests of Iran people. We ask all of human rights members or organization in worldwide to urging the authorities of Iran to stop executions.

Signatures

1- Human Rights Activists in Iran (H.R.A.I)

2- Kurdish Human Rights defence organization (R.M.M.K )

3- Kurdish Woman Rights
4- committee defence for Human Rights in north-west of Iran (H.RN.W.I)
5- Ahwazi Human Rights organization (A.H.R.O)

Detention of Iranian Scholar

Derechos Human Rights sent a letter today to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Iran's minister of justice, to protest the detention without charges of internationally reknown scholar Professor Ramin Jahanbegloo. Prof. Jahanbegloo was arrested on April, when he was about to board a plane to attend an international conference.

Human rights organizations, academic institutions and academics have all asked the Iranian government to set him freed, so far to no avail. We urge you to continue applying pressure on the Iranian government.

June 29, 2006

DERECHOS HUMAN RIGHTS
46 Estabrook St.
San Leandro, CA 94577
USA
510-483-4005

His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my organization's concern with the arrest and detention without charge of Iranian scholar Professor Ramin Jahanbegloo, the head of the Department of Contemporary Studies at the Cultural Research Bureau in Tehran. Prof. Jahanbegloo is an internationally respected political theorist and philosopher who has earned praise for his efforts to disseminate information about Iran's complex society and its rich contributions to world history.

On April 27, Prof. Jahanbegloo was arrested at Mehrabad Airport outside of Tehran while attempting to travel to an international conference. His arrest was confirmed on May 6 by the Iranian Minister of Intelligence. Formal charges have not been levied against him and he has not been allowed to confer with a lawyer.

Mr. Jahanbegloo detention without charges violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

We respectfully request that you secure Professor Jahanbegloo's immediate release or charge him with a crime. In that case, we request that he receive a fair trial in accordance with international standards. We also seek assurances of Professor Jahanbegloo's physical well being while he is in custody pending any release or proceedings.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Margarita Lacabe
Executive Director
Derechos Human Rights

Stop War on Iran

Those concerned about the US going to war against Iran (as if the US military wasn't overextended enough in Iraq and Afghanistan) may want to check out may want to check out StopWarOnIran.org - a new site with news and a petition against the war.