Tag: Iran

Iranian security forces fired repeated rounds of tear gas, and militiamen wielding batons moved in quickly to try to disperse thousands of protesters who massed in the streets of central Tehran on Thursday evening, witnesses said, defying government warnings and resuming a strategy of direct confrontation with the police nearly a month after Iran’s disputed presidential election.

The protesters set trash alight and threw stones. Motorists honked horns in solidarity, as shopkeepers closed for business but opened their doors to offer refuge to demonstrators fleeing from the militia forces, witnesses said.

There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.

Throwing aside admonishments of a “crushing response” by the state security forces, the demonstrators gathered on the 10th anniversary of violent confrontations at Tehran University, both to mark that event and to commemorate the demonstrators who were killed in the turmoil after the June 12 election, which the protesters say was corrupt and invalid.

The Times says that the protest was initially “festive,” even though police in riot gear had shut down the streets.  But then, as was threatened by the regime:

…the effort to halt the protest quickly turned violent, people at the scene said. A middle-aged woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains. Trash fires burned, cloaking the streets in black smoke, as protesters lobbed rocks at security forces. Two men held a huge floral arrangement of yellow and purple flowers on green leaves in commemoration of those killed last month and in 1999, a witness said.

“Tell the world what is happening here,” one 26-year old engineering student demonstrator said. “This is our revolution. We will not give up.”

Asked what he wanted, he said, “We want democracy.”

And so, phoenix like, the demonstrations for democracy in Iran continue.  The press embargo continues (the Times article was datelined from Cairo).  The Government was not reported to fire bullets at demonstrators.  However, reports of detention of large numbers of demonstrators and also their lawyers continue, as do reports of torture and disappearance. It was not reported what opposition leaders say about the current demonstrations, but their web sites continue to contest the election.  And it appears that there may be a split in the clerical backbone of the Government.

The Twitter feed for #iranelection is still active, though the volume seems lower than last week.  It continues to report the democracy movement.

I am delighted by the news.  I was afraid that the democracy movement had been snuffed out.  That it was over. But I see now that was not the case.  The movement hasn’t given up, and it is still asking us to stand in solidarity with it.  

cross-posted from The Dream Antilles

I implied on Saturday that the Iran Revolution was in ashes, but that I hoped there was a fire under them.  Then I disconnected from the story. I turned away.  I assumed it really was over.  Finished.  But, thankfully, I was wrong.  It’s not really over.  The demonstrations continued on Sunday.  Despite the threats.  Despite the arrests.  Despite the violence.  This movement has not succumbed to the brutality and violence.

AP reports on Sunday evening:

Several thousand protesters – some chanting “Where is my vote?” – clashed with riot police in Tehran on Sunday as Iran detained local employees of the British Embassy, escalating the regime’s standoff with the West and earning it a stinging rebuke from the European Union.

Witnesses said riot police used tear gas and clubs to break up a crowd of up to 3,000 protesters who had gathered near north Tehran’s Ghoba Mosque in the country’s first major post-election unrest in four days.

Some described scenes of brutality, telling The Associated Press that some protesters suffered broken bones and alleging that police beat an elderly woman, prompting a screaming match with young demonstrators who then fought back.

The reports could not be independently verified because of tight restrictions imposed on journalists in Iran.

So, I was wrong.  It’s not over.  The demonstrations are continuing.  Smaller perhaps.  But continuing.

Twitter about #iranelection has slowed down.  But it’s still constantly updated.  And from what I’m reading, it’s not over.  It continues.  It continues despite brutal repression.

It’s dropped down on but not off the front page.  The New York Times reports the Sunday demonstrations on page 1:

In spite of all the threats, the overwhelming show of force and the nighttime raids on private homes, protesters still flowed into the streets by the thousands on Sunday to demonstrate in support of Mr. Moussavi.

Mr. Moussavi, who has had little room to act but has refused to fold under government pressure, had earlier received a permit to hold a ceremony at the Ghoba mosque to honor Mohammad Beheshti, one of the founders of the 1979 revolution who died in a bombing on June 28, 1981, that killed dozens of officials. Mr. Moussavi used the anniversary as a pretense to call a demonstration, and by midday the streets outside the elaborately tiled mosque were filled with protesters, their arms jabbing the air, their fingers making a V symbol, for victory.

The demonstrators wore black, to mourn the 17 protesters killed by government-aligned forces, and chanted “Allah Akbar,” or God is great.

“There was a sea of people and the crowd stretched a long way onto the main street on Shariati,” said one witness, who remained anonymous because he feared retribution.

What started as a peaceful demonstration turned into a scene of violence and chaos by late Sunday, witnesses said.

So, it is not over.  It may move down the front page.  It may move off the front page. It may move off of this blog.  But there was fire beneath the ashes, as we assumed, and this is not over.  Not yet.

As I wrote before, we need to remember the demonstrators and continue in solidarity with them:

All we can do outside of Iran is bear witness as the struggle unfolds. And while we bear witness, we can continue to lift our voices as individuals (and not as a government) in solidarity with the demonstrators.  And offer our thoughts and prayers* for a peaceful resolution.  And find other, creative ways to support the struggle in Iran for democracy and freedom.

The Iranian Democracy movement is absolutely worthy of our personal (as opposed to governmental) support.  Support and solidarity at this point require, indeed permit only the simplest of things.  There are only simple things we can and should do:

Things like changing our location and time zone on Twitter to Tehran and GMT +3.5 hours.  Things like making our avatar green.  Things like reading the posts of those who are there.  Things like posting and distributing their videos on youtube.  Things like writing blogs and asking others to link arms with them in solidarity.  Things like talking about what ideas we might have that could be of help to them. [Things like putting a green ribbon on docuDharma]

These are things that might be completely ineffective to help Iranians achieve democracy, to get a new, fair election, to overturn the sham outcome of their last election, to prevent governmental violence and repression.  I realize that.  But that’s not what’s important.  That’s not what’s important now.

What’s important, I think, is our continuing solidarity with this struggle, our saying, however we can say it, “Brothers and Sisters, we’re with you.  We want you to succeed.  We want you to be safe, and free.  We want you to obtain the change you seek.”

Let’s stand firm with the Iranian democracy movement.  Let’s not forget them.

cross-posted from The Dream Antilles

7:52 p.m. Now that it is early Friday morning in Iran, an Iranian blogger writes on Twitter of a new way of registering protest opposition supporters say they plan for this afternoon:

   

at one PM people all over Iran will be airing green balloons and make the sky GREEN!

Let’s not waste energy on trying to launch balloons simultaneously with those in Iran (Iran is 3.5 hours ahead of GMT, 8.5 hours ahead of ET).  Let’s just blow up those balloons in solidarity.  Let’s see some green balloons on your car, at your home, at your work, on the street.  It’s easy.  It’s solidarity.

This “defiance” is particularly appropriate today.  Reuters is reporting that Ahmad Khatami has called for the execution of “rioters”:

A hardline Iranian cleric on Friday called for the execution of “rioters” in the latest sign of the authorities’ determination to stamp out opposition to the June 12 presidential election. …snip

“I want the judiciary to … punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson,” Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University….snip

Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading “rioters” as being “mohareb” or one who wages war against God.

“They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely,” he said. Under Iran’s Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as mohareb is execution.

Last time I checked flying a green balloon was not being a “leading rioter.”  But definitions in Iran are extremely flexible.

cross posted from The Dream Antilles

Events in Iran yesterday show exactly what lack of accountability looks and feels like. It’s not a pretty picture.  And it hurts. CNN provides this small vignette:

On Wednesday afternoon, security forces used overwhelming force to crack down on protesters who had flocked to Baharestan Square near the parliament building in Tehran, according to more than a half-dozen witnesses.

Police charged at the gathering — clubbing demonstrators with batons, beating women and old men, and firing weapons into the air to disperse them, witnesses said.

“They were waiting for us,” one witness said. “They all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap.” …

“They emptied buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on … and then, all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs of wood, they came out of the Hedayat Mosque, and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone,” she said.

Government-run Press TV gave a starkly different account, saying about 200 protesters had gathered in front of the parliament and 50 others in a nearby square. All were dispersed by a heavy police presence, it said.

This is what happens when there is no accountability.  The Government gives a “starkly different account.”  Deadly force dictates the events.  Demonstrators are clubbed.  Women and old men are beaten.  Government approved goons launch surprise attacks.  Government approved media say nothing happened.  Repeat as necessary.

There is no official reckoning of events, there is no real investigation, there is no trial, there is nothing but official minimization and silence.  Crickets.  Silence until the next demonstration appears, then they do it again.  Intense and brutal violence, followed by official silence.  Repeat as necessary.

My heart goes out to the demonstrators in Iran.  Because their Government shuns accountability, they are, each of them, in mortal danger.  Their Government believes that it is appropriate to use deadly force to shore up a stolen election.  It believes that violence will end civil unrest.  And if the present level of violence proves to be insufficient to bring compliance, even greater violence is threatened.  No other course is contemplated.

Of course, lack of accountability is nourished by lack of reporting, by officially imposed silence.  It’s important to the Iranian government to make sure that the whole world isn’t watching (except on Twitter).  It’s important to Governments that are not accountable to thwart all inquiries about their activities, to impose secrecy, to resist disclosure, to disrupt investigations, to shield past misdeeds, to hide the truth.

The New York Times reports the difficulties in knowing what is happening in Iran and a different version of the same Wednesday afternoon brutality:

The government also stepped up its efforts to block independent news coverage of events all across the country. The government has banned foreign news media members from leaving their offices, suspended all press credentials for foreign correspondents, arrested a freelance writer for The Washington Times, continued to hold a reporter for Newsweek and forced other foreign journalists to leave the country.

That made it difficult to ascertain exactly what happened when several hundred protesters tried to gather outside the Parliament building Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said they were met by a huge force of riot police officers and Basij vigilantes, some on motorcycles and some in pickup trucks, armed with sticks and chains. Witnesses said people were trapped and beaten as they tried to flee down side streets.

“It was not possible to wait and see what happened,” said one witness who asked for anonymity out of fear of arrest. “At one point we saw several riot police in black clothes walk towards a group of people who looked like passers-by. Suddenly they pulled out their batons and began hitting them without warning.”

The authorities said they were moving to impose order and secure the rule of law. “I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on national television. “That means we will not go one step beyond the law. Neither the system nor the people will yield to pressure at any price.”

That is what lack of accountability looks like.  This is what it feels like.  First it’s the crime, the brutality, the torture, the violence.  Then it’s the lie, “We will not go one step beyond the law.”  That echoes previous official posturing in Washington, “The United States does not torture.”  That’s what lack of accountability looks like.   The Government can and does say anything it wants to about its activities.  It lies when it wants to.  And nobody dares to lift the curtain to see whether it’s true.  That’s what lack of accountability is.

cross-posted from The Dream Antilles