“Better light a candle than curse the darkness”
Frequently asked questions:
Who are we? We are a new organization in support of the opposition movement in Iran. Living in Diaspora we feel that by our action we can still make a difference, so the contributors of blog community of Iranian sites have decided to form a common ground for all those individuals or groups that are opposed to the current Iranian regime for we oppose discrimination, intolerance, violence and abuse and we from all walks of life have decided to stand side by side and take action to oppose this force of darkness.
Where are we based? To collaborate, for now we use a facebook group as the means to take more cohesive campaign for Human rights and Iranian political issues.
Our aim is to build a strong International Iranian lobby, and amplify the opposition campaigns within the wider non-Iranian community in the same way as the anti-apartheid and solidarnosc type campaigns.
We intend to organize marches, rallies, and flashmob events, write protest letters in a coordinated way. Our action would include campaigns for law change and once established with our democratic structure we shall act as a pressure group in the interest of our community. This can only be possible if like-minded active individuals who care about the future of Iran join us. It also depends on our numbers and the motivation of the members.
We intend to form a democratic organization, decide on a formalized manifesto, elect leaders, and invite respected Humanitarians as patrons that would serve our Humanitarian political interests.
Until we formalize a manifesto we shall work with the following rules:
· That the campaign or any protest must be for the benefit of Iranians both inside and outside Iran but at the moment those inside have the priority (with consideration from other admin members we may consider collaborative work and make an exception to this rule if we feel it is appropriate).
· That all calls for action are non-violent, exclude military action but we respect our fellow Iranians inside Iran need to defend themselves against a regime that does not adhere to the UN Human rights charter.
· We are not mutually exclusive another words we encourage those who are active members of the Green, monarchist, secular, republican or religious minority groups or those who are members charitable, non profit organizations to bring in their expertise and use this group to stand shoulder to shoulder with others and amplify their existing work, and feel free to be open about their other identity.
When was this group created?
We announced IIC in Iranian.com on 7th January. We are already making a difference, perhaps the biggest obstacle for the opposition groups has been to work together, but this is not an issue for us.
As long as the objective is to help our fellow Iranians by peaceful means and a campaign is non-violent and humanitarian we would review and if appropriate accept it (we make an exception to that rule for Iranians inside Iran and recognize that inside Iran people have the right to defend themselves against a totalitarian regime that does not respect Human rights).
Are we associated with, or funded by any existing political groups, partisan or non-partisan associations based in any country?
No, we are not. Our members consist of individuals from many groups but the overall group is not related to any individual group. As we are aiming to form a coalition of an opposition group that wants to see the current Iranian regime changed, we mainly consist of non-military, non-violent opposition groups. Many of our activities coincide with the secular Green movement; we also have monarchists and socialists. We are not associated to PAAIA, NIAC, IAAB etc individual members of course would exercise their right to be a member of various groups.
How do we work together? On the basis of information that can be reasonably verified (within the limitations of News that comes out of Iran) and on the request of members we create an event for a particular campaign, discuss the best means of conducting the campaign and publish the required resources for the activists. You do this by sending a message to the appropriate admin member (we shall have this listed in future and segregate responsibilities).
Do we allow non-Iranians within our organization?
Yes, we do, we encourage those within the wider community to join us, all members based on their merit can stand for our election when we have our structure in place.
When will this group transform into a democratically elected lobby?
When we have enough members, we will set the ground rules to make this happen but for now, the group administrators are responsible for governing the activity within the group.
So what have we achieved? The best way to find out is to check our activity reflected on the facebook wall and the events that have been setup.
The current events are:
Plea to Amnesty International for release of 500 prisoners – ACT
Expedited Sale of Chinese Anti-Riot Trucks to Iran
Petition to stop sale of technology used for oppression of Iran
Support for escaped, stranded Iranian Journalists
In addition, I had setup another group called Flashmob for freedom of Iran and this will hold its first event on 31st January in London.
Dance, green and silent! London Liverpool street station
If you care about such issues, please visit our page or join us.
We also have a discussion area where we discuss ideas, refine articles or hold cyber meetings.
Here are some of the discussions:
Interim Constitution of the Secular Republic of Iran
Campaign against imminent executions
alternatives to circumvent censorship?
Ramin Tork.
