Human Rights
Dec 21-24, 1998 / Azar 28-Dey 4, 1377
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Latest
* Iran local polls to heat up factional rivalries
* Asghar-Zadeh severely beaten
Recent
* Iran forms panel to probe killings
* World press group award for Iran's Sarkuhi
* Shadowy group claims murder of Iranian writers
* Murder, most foul
* Struggle over upcoming local council elections
* Khatami pushes liberal reforms
* Iran meets EU amid concern over killings
* Moin: ignoranceroots of recent killings
* Leftist group calls for U.N. action
* Iran court arrests pro-Khatami cleric for fraud
* Khatami ally arrested
* Ardabili criticises Islamic regime
* New head of religious court
* Government awaiting decision on attackers
* Writer escapes possible murder attempt
* Funeral for slain writer, Pouyandeh
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Wednesday
December 23, 1998
* Iran local polls to heat up factional rivalries
TEHRAN, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Iran's rival factions are gearing up for
upcoming municipal polls, the next battleground over the drive for a ``civil
society'' by moderate President Mohammad Khatami, who has limited power
despite a huge electoral mandate. The municipal elections in February could
help tip the balance of power between moderates and conservatives locked
in heated rivalry after last year's landslide election of Khatami on a
platform of social and political reforms ... FULL
TEXT
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* Asghar-Zadeh severely beaten
TEHRAN, Dec 23 (AFP) - A political activist who helped orchestrate an
attack on the former US embassy in Tehran in 1979 was severely beaten by
a group of Islamic fundamentalists while delivering a public speech, a
newspaper reported Wednesday. Ebrahim Asghar-Zadeh, a former left-wing
MP and now a supporter of President Mohammad Khatami, was attacked by the
extremists after addressing students at the University of Hamedan, a town
southwest of Tehran, on Sunday, the daily Zan (Woman) said ... FULL TEXT
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Tuesday
December 22, 1998
* Iran forms panel to probe killings
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- The chief of Iran's hard-line judiciary has ordered
the formation of a committee to investigate a spate of dissident killings,
Tehran newspapers reported Tuesday. The official, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi,
said the committee would improve coordination of information and evidence
concerning the cases, the Farsi-language Iran and other newspapers reported.
No other details were available ... FULL
TEXT
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Monday
December 21, 1998
* World press group award for Iran's Sarkuhi
PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The World Association of Newspapers awarded
its 1999 Golden Pen of Freedom award on Monday to exiled Iranian writer
Faraj Sarkuhi. The association said Sarkuhi, former editor of the cultural
journal Adineh freed from jail in January after serving a 12-month sentence
for ``propaganda'' offences, had consistently defended press freedom in
Iran ... FULL
TEXT
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* Shadowy fundamentalist group claims murder of Iranian writers
TEHRAN, Dec 21 (AFP) - A shadowy Islamic fundamentalist group has claimed
responsibility for a series of murders of writers and dissidents in Iran
in the past month, a newspaper reported Monday. "The revolutionary
executions are a warning to all those whose pens are in the service of
foreigners and want Iran's return to foreign domination," the Fedayeen
(Devotees) of Pure Islam said in a statement published in Khordad daily
... FULL TEXT
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* Murder, most foul
December 28, 1998, (The Economist) - THE Islamic republic of Iran has
never been the happiest place for liberal intellectuals and secular dissidents.
Ever since the 1979 revolution, they have been harassed for holding views
that are seen as a threat to Islamic values. But now, when they could have
reasonably hoped for greater freedom under President Muhammad Khatami,
their lives are not only difficult but horribly at risk ... FULL TEXT
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* Struggle over upcoming local council elections
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - Arguments between conservatives and moderates
rage over who should and shouldn't be allowed to become a candidate for
local council elections, due to be help in February. There are several
reports in Monday's political section of Hamshahri ... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Khatami pushes liberal reforms
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- It's an uphill battle, but President Mohammad Khatami
is doggedly pushing through liberal reforms over the opposition of powerful
conservative rivals. What's emerging, says Abbas Abdi, editor of the moderate
newspaper Salam, is that the country is being run by a special kind of
balance. The conservatives challenge Khatami at every turn, but ousting
him from office ``isn't doable,'' Abdi says. ``To a certain extent, they
stick to their boundaries and don't exceed their limits.'' ... FULL TEXT
Friday
December 18, 1998
* Iran meets EU talk politics and economics
Dec 18, (BBC) - Senior officials from Iran and the European Union have
begun talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on economic, political and
human rights issues. The officials also discussed the recent killings of
a number of Iranian writers and opposition figures, suspected to have been
carried out by conservative Iranian elements opposed to President Mohammmed
Khatami's reforms ... FULL
TEXT
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* Moin: ignorance, devious thinking roots of recent killings
Qom, Dec. 17, IRNA - Minister of Higher Education Mostafa Moin said
on Thursday that the recent atrocities and killings of some the country's
writers arise from ignorance and deviative thinking of those who hold no
belief in rationality. Addressing a group of top students in the graduation
ceremony at Qom academic center, he expressed dismay over the outcome of
rampage in society... FULL
TEXT
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* Leftist group calls for U.N. action
December 13, 1998 (Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iran) -
Rah-e Kargar, Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iran, has called
on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan to take appropriate action to stop
the wave of killings in Iran ... FULL
TEXT
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Thursday
December 17, 1998
* Iran court arrests pro-Khatami cleric for fraud
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - A court in Iran has arrested a prominent cleric,
who backs moderate President Mohammad Khatami, to serve a jail sentence
for fraud, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday. "Assadolah
Bayat, who had been sentenced to a one-year jail term and 100 million rials
($33,000) on fraud and forgery charges was arrested and sent to prison,"
the agency quoted a statement by the Special Court of the Clergy as saying.
Bayat, a former deputy speaker of parliament, is a senior member of the
pro-Khatami League of Militant Clerics ... FULL
TEXT
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* Khatami ally arrested
Dec 17, 1998, (BBC) - A prominent Iranian cleric who backs President
Mohammed Khatami has been arrested and sent to prison to serve a sentence
for fraud. The Iranian news agency said Asadollah Bayat was arrested on
the orders of the special religious court after he ignored a court summons
to begin serving a one-year sentence imposed earlier. Mr Bayat is a former
deputy speaker of parliament and a close ally of Mr Khatami.
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* Ardabili criticises Islamic regime
Dec 17, 1998, (BBC) - A prominent Iranian Ayatollah has criticised the
country's Islamic system for failing to protect its citizens following
the killings of a number of writers and opposition figures over recent
weeks. According to the Khordad newspaper, Ayatollah Abdolkarim Mousavi
Ardabili, a former head of the judiciary and a prominent Islamic scholar
at Qom's theological centre, strongly condemned the killings. He has also
expressed regret that non-clerical scholars were being undermined, which
he said did not bode well for the country.
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* New head of Iranian religious court
Dec 17, 1998, (BBC) - The judge who jailed the reformist mayor of Tehran
after a controversial trial last year, has been named as the head of a
special religious court. The official Iranian newsagency said Gholam-Hossein
Mosheni-Ejel will head the court which was set up by Ayatollah Khomeini,
to try crimes committed by the clergy. He replaces Mohammed Reyshahri who
has resigned for undisclosed reasons. Critics say the special religious
court is controversial because it is unconstitutional and that Mr Reyshahri
is a former intelligence minister.
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* Government awaiting decision on attackers
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - The interior ministry is awaiting a decision by
the judiciary on the case of those accused of attacking two ministers...
FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Khatami: Iran "does not belong" to any one group
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - The interior ministry is awaiting a decision by
the judiciary on the case of those accused of attacking two ministers...
FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Writer escapes possible murder attempt
Human Rights Watch, (New York, December 16, 1998) - Akbar Ganji, the
editor of the recently-banned weekly newspaper Rah-e No (New Way), was
approached by two unknown men as he was leaving his office in Tehran at
6:10 p.m. local time on December 13. Ganji had been held incommunicado
for three months in early 1998 for criticizing government policies. The
men asked him, "Where can we find Akbar Ganji?" Ganji, realizing
that they represented a danger, did not identify himself but asked them
who they were. After a brief exchange the two men ran away ... FULL TEXT
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* Funeral for slain writer, Pouyandeh
Tehran, dec. 17, irna - A funeral procession was held for the slain
writer and translator mohammad ja'far pouyandeh from al-nabi mosque in
tehran thursday morning. later, pouyandeh's body was calmly transferred
to emamzadeh taher cemetery in karaj, a suburb west of tehran ... FULL TEXT
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