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Sanctions and Regime Policies Cause Growing Crisis in Iran
The international community should target sanctions more effectively to impose costs on the Iranian government and not its citizens, and the Iranian government should end its policies that worsen the crisis in access to medicines, foods, and other essential imports, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.
Oil Wars—Nusra’s Expanding Reach—Syrian Taliban
By Matthew Barber and the Syria Video team This long post contains the following sections: The Defectors Defect Will EU Oil Purchases Finance al-Qaida? Al-Musareb: Al-Nusra Punishes a Village Regime-Style Syrian Taliban The Opposition’s...Show More Summary
What happened to Iran’s Green Movement? It is Metastazing.
When every single avenue of organization and communication is either controlled, completely blocked, or under attack by the state apparatchik, one place where a form of organization can occur away from the eye of the state is within the realm of the inner, in individuals who witness the same things, the same injustices. Within individuals [...]
67-year-old Baha’i Prisoner’s Psychological and Physical Health Suffers
Riaz Sobhani, a 67-year-old Baha’i citizen imprisoned since June 2011 for financially assisting the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE), is in dire physical and psychological conditions, especially considering his age, his son told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The Baha’i prisoner was hospitalized in May 2012 for an acute heart condition.
2013 Elections: Former MP Arrested for a Political Meeting That Never Happened
Former Member of Parliament Hossein Loghmanian and four reformist activists from Hamadan Province were arrested while on their way to Tehran to meet former president Mohammad Khatami on March 16, 2013. These arrests may mark the first detentions of political figures in relation to the upcoming June 2013 presidential elections in Iran.
supper on the farm
Only one day since my return from Sicily and I am already missing it. I think I will retire there, preferably on a property like Mary‘s, in the middle of fabulous countryside with gorgeous views wherever you look and organic fruit and vegetables to pick whenever you want. I had invited Amy to stay with me in... View Article
Buffer Zones: Can They Help?
Buffer Zones have become the topic de jour in Washington DC. For some time, the language used in the White House to frame the Syria problem has been that of containment. Here are some of the oft repeated phrases I have been hearing from White House insiders: “Keep the violence inside Syria “Cauterize” “Prepare for [...]Show More Summary
beautiful food shopping
I didn’t cook much when I lived in Paris, preferring to go out to restaurants or friends but I loved going to the market. Like in Beirut where I grew up, most of the produce was seasonal and it all looked gorgeous. Sadly, there are few places in London where I love to shop in... View Article
Accused of Waging “Soft War,” Christian Pastor Beaten in Iran’s Evin Prison
Christian pastor Saeed Abedini was conducting a routine visit to the non-profit orphanage his family helped to start in Rasht when Iranian security forces arrested him and seized his passport in July 2012. Five months later, IranianShow More Summary
Jordan Shudders Under 331% Increase in Refugees as Conflict in Dera’a Intensifies
by Matthew Barber and the Syria Video team Mile-long line of Syrians fleeing into Turkey If you haven’t yet watched it, allow me to strongly encourage you to view the Frontline documentary Syria Behind the Lines. Superior even to this documentary, however, is a segment of extra footage from the journalist who filmed the [...]Show More Summary
Thanks for nothing
Unprecedented anger from the Syrian Coalition tonight, the bloodiest day of the Syrian revolution, and the day of yet another alleged massacre. “The deafening silence of the international community is shameful… Syrians no longer expect a chivalrous intervention from our brothers and neighbors. We no longer expect to be supported with the necessary arms.” The world [...]
egyptian fiteer
Yesterday, my new best friend (I love making new best friends), Susan Hack, wrote up a post about our koshari meal at Abu Tareq in Cairo and other street foods I like and she rightly said that my favourite, together with koshari, is fiteer, so, I thought I would post about an amazingly good fiteer [...]
Kurdish Former Political Prisoners Intimidated and Harassed in Orumiyeh and Mahabad
Over the past several months, Orumiyeh and Mahabad Intelligence Offices have summoned, detained, and harassed several Kurdish former political prisoners on the pretext of concern over their continued political activities after their release from prison, a local source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Show More Summary
Political Prisoners Protest Cell Search with 72-hour Hunger Strike
Political prisoners in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj are currently undergoing a 72-hour hunger strike in protest of degrading treatment by Special Guard forces, a local source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.Show More Summary
City of Shiraz Advertises Public Hanging of Nine Armed Robbers
The Public Relations Office of the Fars Province Judiciary reported on April 16 the public execution of nine individuals described as “armed robbers” and “members of three armed robbery gangs.” According to the Fars Judiciary report,...Show More Summary
Syria Across the Lines
Olly Lambert‘s excellent documentary must be watched. (If you’re outside the UK, watch it in the American language). He spent five weeks in Syria, risking his life to tell the story of the civil war through a village divided. He uses a young FSA fighter on one side, and a regime soldier on the other [...]
tripe & flies
Every now and then I find myself in a rather disgusting food market where I find beauty amongst the horror. A few years ago, it was in Karachi where I couldn’t believe the number of flies swarming inside a tiny fish stall but they looked beautiful against the stone counter and the fish. And again [...]
Podcast 58: Elahe Amani on Stoning and Women’s Rights in Iran
“In late February of 2012, Iran announced that ‘We reformed the penal code, and there is a ban on death penalty by stoning and execution of minors.’ But... during the course of [the] last three decades, stoning has been claimed to be banned and then practiced,” gender, peace, and social justice activist Elahe Amani told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Public Outcry in Kurdish City After Male Suspect Paraded in Female Clothing
A group of Kurdish activist women from Marivan, along with a few citizens of the city, held a demonstration April 16 on the main streets of the city in protest of the authorities’ parading a man in Marivan after dressing him in the traditional women’s clothing of Kurdistan, a local source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Show More Summary
Regime Gains Ground—For Now
The State of the Regime Some believe that the clearer identification of Jabhat al-Nusra as al-Qaida will benefit the Syrian regime by drawing sentiment away from the rebels. Others, however, see the possible stepping-up of an effort to back nationalist rebels who offer an alternative to Islamists as a death knell for the regime, [...]Show More Summary
