Human Rights
Oct 5-9, 1998 / Mehr 13-17, 1377
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* IHRWG Condemns Crackdown
on the freedom of expression
* Khamenei speaks on press freedom
* Some 500 Baha'i homes raided in Iran
* Human Rights Watch calls for release of Iranian journalist
* Iran reformists meet rejection
* Hadi Khamenei's speech at rally
* Council of Guardians rejects criticisms
* Iran women's fight not feministic, says official
* Iran to appoint first woman to U.N. mission
* "Banoo" still banned
* Factions face off before key election
* Rushdie shows at German book fair
* Khatami confronts election body
* Writers told not to organize, reports say
* "Asr-e-ma" suspended for 6 months
* Iran Panel: Rushdie Edict in Force
* Death sentence against editor lifted - unconfirmed
* Iran accused of crackdown, arrests of Bahais
* U.S. urges Iran not to execute condemned Bahais
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* IHRWG Condemns Crackdown on the freedom of
expression
Iranian Human Rights Working Group (IHRWG) - "We
remind the authorities of the Islamic Republic that it is the basic right
of all Iranians to criticize and question both their leaders and their
government and to freely express their opinion on both matters. The freedom
of expression becomes meaningful only when it is accorded to one's opponents
as well as one's supporters..."... FULL
TEXT
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* Khamenei speaks on press freedom
Oct 8, (BBC) - The Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said
the press is free to criticise the leadership on any subject, provided
it does not try to undermine the government. Speaking on Iranian radio,
he said the state had to confront those who misused freedom of expression
to try and hatch conspiracies against the government... FULL
TEXT
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* Some 500 Baha'i homes raided in Iran
TORONTO, Oct. 7 (UPI) - Iranian authorities are reported to have raided
more than 500 Baha'i homes across the country, seizing television sets,
furniture and other items of private property. Gerald Filson, a spokesman
for the Baha'i Community of Canada, said today the raids were carried out
simultaneously with the arrest of 36 Baha'i academics in 14 Iranian cities
last week... FULL
TEXT
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* Human Rights Watch calls for release of Iranian journalist
New York, October 7, 1998 - In an open letter sent today to the Head
of the Judiciary in Iran, Ayatollah Yazdi, Human Rights Watch called for
the immediate and unconditional release of four journalists from the daily
newspaper Tous, who were arrested on the order of a Revolutionary Court
on September 16. "We fear that the real motive in jailing the four
journalists is to punish them for their activities as journalists, and
to intimidate other independent-minded journalists in Iran," said
Hanny Megally, the Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa
Division... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran reformists meet rejection
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Most reformists who sought to run for a key assembly
that chooses Iran's spiritual leader -- the country's most powerful position
-- have been rejected by hard-liners. The list of candidates, published
Wednesday, is evidence of the overriding clout of the hard-liners in Iran's
clerical government, where President Mohammad Khatami and a small group
of moderates are struggling to ease social and political restrictions ...
FULL
TEXT
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* Hadi Khamenei's speech at rally
TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - At a rally attended by some 3,000 outside Tehran
University, Hojatoleslam Hadi Khamenei questions methods used for disqualifing
Experts Assembly candidates and ... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Council of Guardians rejects criticisms
TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - The Council of Guardians has detailed its reasons
for disqualifying 214 candidates for the Assembly of Experts ... FULL TEXT
IN PERSIAN
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* Iran women's fight not feministic, says official
TEHRAN, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Iranian women's efforts to gain equal rights
with men would not fit into the Western notion of feminism, a presidential
adviser on women's affairs said on Wednesday. ``Our attitude towards women
has fundamental differences from the extremist Western trends under the
title of feminism,'' Zahra Shojaei said at a news conference, adding that
Iranian women were nevertheless experiencing unprecedented social and political
activity... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran to appoint first woman to U.N. mission
TEHRAN, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Iran for the first time is to appoint a female
diplomat to serve full-time in the Islamic republic's mission to the United
Nations in New York -- but only when a vacancy appears. Fatemeh Hashemi,
head of the Foreign Ministry's department of women's and social affairs,
made the announcement on Wednesday but did not say who would get the job...
FULL
TEXT
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* "Banoo" still banned
TEHRAN, (Hamshahri) - Despite rumors that the ban on Dariush Mehrjouie's
"Banoo" has been lifted, the film still has not received permission
to screen, nearly five years after it was first made... FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
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* Factions face off before key election
TEHRAN, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Rival political factions faced off in the
streets of Tehran on Tuesday in a prelude to an election for a powerful
state body which alone can appoint and dismiss Iran's supreme leader. About
3,000 leftist Islamic students held a rally outside the gates of Tehran
University to protest against the rejection by the conservative-dominated
Guardian Council of some of the moderates who had signed up to run for
the Assembly of Experts... FULL
TEXT
* Rushdie shows at German book fair
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- British author Salman Rushdie, who still
has a $2.5 million bounty on his head for allegedly insulting Islam, showed
up at the Frankfurt Book Fair late Tuesday. Rushdie walked in for the opening
ceremony, at times smiling broadly as he chatted briefly with several escorts.
Before Rushdie's appearance, Gerhard Kurtze, president of the German Book
Publishers' Association, said if the bounty on Rushdie is lifted, Iranian
publishers, who have been barred from the fair since the edict, would be
welcomed back... FULL
TEXT
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* Khatami confronts election body
President Khatami and his followers are regarded as liberals in Iran
President Khatami of Iran is reported to have protested to an electoral
body which disqualified most of his supporters from standing in a crucial
election this month. No details have been released, but Mr Khatami is believed
to have expressed his deep concern about the way the body screened candidates
for the Assembly of Experts, a clerical council which has the power to
appoint and dismiss Iran's supreme leader - currently Ayatollah Khamenei...
FULL
TEXT
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* Writers told not to organize, reports say
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iran's Islamic authorities have told a group
of prominent writers to give up efforts to re-activate an independent association
of authors, Iranian literary sources said on Monday. An Islamic revolutionary
court has in the past few days repeatedly questioned several cultural activists
and writers, including the prominent novelist Houshang Golshiri, a source
told Reuters... FULL
TEXT
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* "Asr-e-ma" suspended for 6 months
TEHARN, Oct. 6, (IRNA) - publication of bi-weekly asr-e-ma was suspended
for six months for repeated insults, the tehran public court branch 1410
announced here monday. managing director of bi-weekly, asr-e-ma, mohammad
salamati, also is fined by rls 3 million for dissemination of fabrications
and insults... FULL
TEXT
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* Iran Panel: Rushdie Edict in Force
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- More than half the members of Iran's hard-line
parliament have signed a letter saying the death edict against British
author Salman Rushdie still stands. The letter, broadcast Sunday on Iranian
television, was prompted by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's announcement
last month distancing the government from the fatwa and the $2.5 million
bounty placed on Rushdie's head in 1989 by a semi-official Iranian foundation...
FULL
TEXT
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* Death sentence against editor lifted - unconfirmed
WASHINGTON, Oct 2, (THE IRANIAN) - The death sentence against newspaper
editor Morteza Firoozi has been lifted, sources in Tehran said. Judicial
authorities have made no official announcement and there has been no independent
confirmation. But sources close to Iran News, where Firoozi worked, said
they had received word from the judiciary that Firoozi is no longer facing
the death sentence. Firoozi had been condemned to death in January after
being convicted of adultery and spying.
* Iran accused of crackdown, arrests of Bahais
PARIS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Members of the Bahai faith in France accused
the Iranian authorities on Friday of launching a major crackdown against
Bahais in 14 cities across Iran, arresting 32 people and breaking into
and looting many homes. All those arrested were professors and teachers
conducting ``open-university'' type courses for young Bahais who their
French fellow believers say are banned by authorities from attending universities
and other institutions of higher learning, a Bahai spokeswoman in France
said... FULL
TEXT
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* U.S. urges Iran not to execute condemned Baha'is
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday called on
Iran not to execute two condemned members of the Baha'i faith, which is
considered heresy by Islamic fundamentalists. The State Department issued
the call after Baha'is in France said on Tuesday that death sentences had
been confirmed against two of their co-religionists imprisoned in Mashhad,
northeastern Iran... FULL
TEXT
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