Fallen out of blogging

I know, I have not been blogging at all in months, and I also know that you are still checking it regularly. But what can I say? This one-way conversation was interesting as long as I felt the need to vent and somehow expose the IRI. Today it is one year after the deaths, the tortures, the rapes... and the world has finally come to know what has been going on for years, decades. And when Mr. Larijani says at the UN that "we are, perhaps, the only, the greatest democracy in the Middle East" it raised laughter in the audience.
So you will understand why there is no longer much to say here, and perhaps decide to communicate differently.

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

I don't know if it is because the situation in Iran has deteriorated, or if his statement was far worse than the usual, or just because I am depressed, but Mr. Mottaki's address to the UN Human Rights Council gave me a bad migraine.

I mean, he started with "I would like to reiterate our firm commitment to work towards making the Human Rights Council a strong, effective and efficient body capable of promoting and protecting all human rights for all on the basis of inclusion, equality and human dignity..."

-- as if all human rights for all, inclusion, equality and human dignity existed in Iran --

and then he ended with: "Our commitment to human rights stems from our firm belief and it is aimed at realizing our goal which is the "inherent dignity of man".

Of course, it is dignified to be beaten so hard that you lose your hearing, it is dignified to have your face plunged into excrement, it is dignified to be flogged...

Just as a footnote, just before the quote, our Minister said that Iran's commitment was based on the Divine Teaching of Islam and in accordance with its International obligations...

Perhaps while writing all this his assistants should have sought help from the Japanese.

A women's rights defender

Don't you love it when Mr. Ahmadinejad implies that the US is not advanced enough to elect a woman as president?

A MehrNews wire was quoted in the New York Times but unfortunately, I was not able to find the original article.

We all know what the situation in Iran is. I have blogged about it a number of times and things aren't getting better.

But my question to our president is: can a woman be elected as President in Iran in the first place? And since he said that: "Presidency of a woman in a country that boasts its gunmanship is unlikely." Does it mean that Iran is also great at boasting its gunmanship? (and I have no wish to posts links about this...)

Best time to be forgotten

Although it might have looked as if I had taken long holidays, I am proving the assumption wrong by posting twice (for now) between Christmas and the Gregorian New Year!

However, I have come to realize that this is probably the best time of the year for human rights violators to perpetrate their worst crimes: not many will be there to raise their voices. The other day, I sent an email to the three persons in the Iran team of a big (if not the biggest) human rights organization. A few minutes later I received three similar responses: on holidays until 7 January 2008...

Well, at least Reporters sans frontieres is still alert, but is anyone else worried for Emad Baghi?

No words

I just saw the photos of Zahra Baniyaghoub's funerals and the pain of her relatives is heart wrenching, and there is nothing more to say.

Women and human rights activists

When most in Iran do not dare to come out and speak of human rights, these ladies demonstrate, write a petition open for signature, create a website, are prosecuted, and demonstrate some more and get arrested some more.

Their courage is remarkable, particularly as we all know too painfully that torture and rape is not unheard of in Iranian prisons.

Here's a remarkable piece written by one of them and translated by another, just a week ago.

Too painful not to post...

... and yet I could not put the video itself on the blog either, so here's the link.

The other gory part, I hear, is that apparently one of the two "interrogators" is now a broadcaster in an IRIB weekly programme.