Freitag, 25. Februar 2011

The Arab Revolution

On February 21st protesters gather in Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi, where the uprising against the regime of Col. Muammar el-Gaddafi began the 16th February. The protesters made their own flags to replace those representing their dictator's regime (Photo via Public Broadcasting Service, USA)



On February 25th, the first Friday prayer service since Benghazi declared itself free from Colonel Gaddafi, was charged with emotion, both triumph and anger. Worshipers cried as an imam, on a stage and through loudspeakers, gave a defiant, impassioned speech about liberating Tripoli, and the fight for justice and freedom. Benghazi is now being run by committees of citizens (Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters via Boston Globe; with text from NYT)




In Benghazi, a relative mourns the death of Ahmed Sarawi, 36, who was killed in recent clashes. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that reports indicated that "thousands may have been killed or injured" during the regime's bloody attacks against the uprising. (Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters via Boston Globe)



Migrant laborers and other expatriates prepare to board a ship going to Greece from the Libyan harbor in Benghazi. (Photo: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters via Boston Globe)


The Libyan uprising and brutal counterattacks by forces still loyal to Muammar el-Gaddafi have prompted tens of thousands to flee, including these Chinese evacuees arriving on the Greek part of the island of Crete. Many of those fleeing were able to take Greek ferries to safety; others were stuck in Libyan ports waiting for ships to arrive and seas to calm. The main airport in Libya has been overrun with people desperate to leave, witnesses say. (Photo/text: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images via Boston Globe)



Libyan protesters shout slogans against Libyan leader Muammar el-Gaddafi in front of the Libyan embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Photo: Getty Images via New Statesman, UK)


Anti-government protesters attend a rally in Taiz, Yemen, on February 25th. It was the biggest pro-democracy protest day in Yemen's recent history. Local media reported 30,000 demonstrators in Sana'a and more than 100,000 nationwide. In Saana where also 10,000 government loyalists took to the streets the protestors called for an end to the 32-year reign of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The protest was peaceful, though at times tense. Protesters want better living conditions as well as political reform. One banner read simply: "Look at the gap between rich and poor." In the southern port city of Aden with more than 10,000 people on the streets two people were killed and thirty-four wounded, mostly by live bullets, witnesses said. (Photo: Reuters via Time, USA; text from The Guardian, UK, and The Peninsula, Qatar)



Sana'a, Yemen, 25 February: An anti-government protester chants slogans demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The president ordered security services to protect protesters. (Photot/text: Muhammed Muheisen/AP via The Guardian, UK)



Iraqi anti-government protesters confronting the riot police during a demonstration in Baghdad on Friday 25th, billed as "day of rage". Thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces Friday in cities across Iraq in an outpouring of anger that left eleven people dead — the largest and most violent anti-government protests in the country since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world weeks ago. (Photo/text: AP via Arab News, Saudi-Arabia)


Bahraini protesters thronged Manama on Friday to demand the end of the ruling Sunni regime, as top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen reaffirmed Washington's commitment to embattled King Hamad. "The people want to topple the regime!" roared tens of thousands of demonstrators in Pearl Square, which has become the epicentre of protests that began on February 14th (Photo: Associated Press; text: Agence France-Presse)



Today, February 25th, protesters, not satisfied with only ridding Egypt of Mubarak, protested the new cabinet. Tens of thousands rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square, keeping the pressure on Egypt's military rulers to carry out reforms and calling for the dismissal of members of the Mubarak regime who are still in place. (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP; text: Axis of Logic)


Tunisians chant slogans as they hold Tunisian and old Libyan flags during an anti-Gaddafi protest at the Tunisian-Libyan border crossing of Ras Jdir. Weighed down with suitcases, blankets, and, for some, horrific memories, people fled into Tunisia by the thousands. (Photo/text: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters via Boston Globe)



Freitag, 11. Februar 2011

Tunisia's and Egypt's Revolution

Tarek el-Tayyib Mohamed Ben Bouazizi, known as Basboosa, the street vendor who set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and sparked the Tunisian Revolution




An Egyptian woman cries as she celebrates the news of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who handed control of the country to the military, Friday night, in Tahrir Square, Cairo





Freitag, 4. Februar 2011

On Revolution

Cairo, Friday night: Several thousand demonstrators remained in Tahrir Square, for the Night Prayer and Protest, after curfew (Photo: Ed Ou for The New York Times)


From the writings of Ruhollah Khomeini:

"All governments in the world are based on bayonets. We do not know any monarchy or republic in the contemporary world that is founded on justice and reason. They all maintain themselves only by repression."


From the New York Times, USA (by Anthony Shadid):

" 'We decided on eliminating all businessmen', Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said Friday of his cabinet in an interview with Al Arabiya, an Arabic satellite channel, in a gesture toward protesters who have made Mr. Ezz a symbol of everything corrupt about the state."


From the Press Trust of India via Hindustan Times:

"A failed assassination bid against Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has left two of his bodyguards dead, according to a media report. The incident was reported by Fox News which said, "Such an attempt on the life of Omar Suleiman would mark an alarming turn in the uprising against the government of President Hosni Mubarak, who only recently named Suleiman as Vice President in an effort to quell the unrest and possibly line up a successor." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, however, refused to comment on the issue."


From the Indo-Asian News Service via Deccan Herald, India:

"Protesters stand their ground in Cairo square

Cairo, Feb 5, (IANS):

Defiant protesters continued to camp in Cairo's Tahrir Square to seek the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, a day after tens of thousands of Egyptians held a ''day of departure'' for their president who has ruled for the past 30 years.

Demonstrators stood their ground in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the unrest that has swept through the country. Massive protests also took place in Alexandria, Mahalla and Giza. The protests entered the 12th day Saturday.

Mubarak is under intense pressure to quit as the protests gained momentum. He said he is willing to step down at the end of his term in September, but refused to quit now. He has even warned that if he leaves now, there will be chaos in the country.The protesters are unimpressed with Mubarak's statement and have kept up their demand for his immediate ouster.

Al Jazeera reported Saturday that protests continued into the night as the demonstrators defied a curfew. The newly relaxed curfew now runs from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time.

The protesters have made it clear that they would not budge till Mubarak steps down.

"It's either death, or freedom," a protester said.

'Go Mubarak!' chanted the protesters.

Egypt's Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was a surprise visitor to ground zero Tahrir Square Friday. He met his military commanders and a few protesters [see photo below].

The square has been encircled by the army with checkpoints at a few entrances and the soldiers have been trying to keep the pro-Mubarak supporters away from the anti-president demonstrators [see also this Tahrir square protest diagramm].

The unrest had turned violent Wednesday when bloody clashes took place between the pro- and anti-government supporters, leaving 13 people dead and over 1,000 injured. It has been estimated that around 300 people have died across Egypt.

On Friday, there was a huge cheer when a rumour went around that Mubarak had stepped down. The protest leaders quickly said it was false. The protesters became even more upbeat, saying it will be true the next time around.

An Egyptian journalist died Friday of a gunshot wound suffered while covering the unrest a week ago in Cairo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in New York.

Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud, who was working for the newspaper al-Ta'awun, was hit by what the newspaper described as sniper fire while filming a confrontation between security forces and protesters Jan 28 near Cairo's Tahrir Square, DPA reported.

His death Friday was the first by a journalist covering the unrest in Egypt, according to CPJ. A number of journalists have been detained or assaulted while covering the protests in Egypt.

Hosni Mubarak said he doesn't care what people say about him and was fed up of being president.

"I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt," said Mubarak. Mubarak, 82, told ABC News that he was fed up of being president.

He said he would like to leave now, but can't as he fears that the country would sink into chaos, ABC News reported."

A natural gas pipeline exploded on Saturday in El Arish in Egypt's North Sinai, after mass protests broke out in the country more than a week ago (Photo: Xinhua)

See also

Iranian leader links risings in North Africa to Iran's revolution (CNN, USA)

Egyptian Journalist Dies of Gunshot Wounds (A roundup on violence against journalists, from Associated Press via New York Times)

Saboteurs attack Egypt gas pipeline to Israel (Agence France-Presse via Ma'an News Agency, Palestine, see also Jerusalem Post, Israel)

Anti-Mubarak protests staged in Mauritanian capital (trend, Azerbaijan)

We Are All Egyptians (New York Times' Nicholas Kristof reporting from Tahrir Square on Thursday)

Mubarak's Hired Thugs - Rural Poor Paid To Attack Opposition Supporters (Der Spiegel, Germany, via Free Interned Press, USA)



Egypt's defense minister, Mohamed Tantawi, center (with cap), spoke with demonstrators on Friday in Cairo. (Photo: Khaled Desouki/AFP- Getty)


Source:

Ayatollah Khomeini, Meine Worte. Weisheiten-Warnungen-Weisungen (Auszüge aus Valayat-e Faqih, Kaschfol Asrar und Touzih-ul Masa'el), München 1980, Seite 19 (Original title: Principes politiques, philosophiques, sociaux et religieux, Paris 1979)




Donnerstag, 3. Februar 2011

Growing concerns over rise in killings - UN urges Iran to halt executions

Undated photo of Zahra Bahrami, an Iranian-Dutch citizen, who was executed under dubious circumstances in Tehran on Saturday, January 30

While there seems to be no change in the cases of Sakineh Ashtiani and Habibollah Latifi (who are still supposed remaining on death row), there are now growing concerns not only in Western media over a dramatic rise of executions so far in 2011 in Iranian prisons. Expressing alarm at the increase, United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Wednesday at least 66 people were executed in January in Iran, while Ms Pillay’s aides said they had recorded about 300 executions for the whole of last year.

Two Iranian opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have also condemned the growing number of executions in Iran, while expressing support for the popular movements that are shaking up countries in the Arab world.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department had urged the Iranian government to halt executions after Tehran hanged Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian woman, saying she was a drug smuggler. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has said the drug charges were only a pretext to execute Bahrami, and the Netherlands froze all ties with Iran on Sunday, a day after the hanging. According to Reuters news agency her family said the charge was fabricated after she was arrested for participating in anti-government protests in 2009.

According to the United Nations Office for Human Rights (Geneva), there are at least three known cases in which Iranian political activists were executed in January. The three persons, Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei and another man whose name was not disclosed, were affiliated with banned political parties. Kazemi and Aqaei were arrested in September 2009 during protests. All three were convicted of mohareb or "enmity against God", and hanged last month.

In the United States there were forty-six executions in 2010 and four executions so far in January 2011 (and more than 3.000 prisoners are actually waiting on death row).


At least 66 executions in Iran's death penalty in January - UN says (BNO News, Netherlands, via New Kerala, India)

Iran: UN Human Rights chief concerned about recent spate of executions (United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva)

UN experts call for a moratorium on death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran (United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights)

Concerns grow over fate of Political prisoner in Iran after disappearance (National Council of Resistance in Iran, an organisation linked to the People's Mujahedin of Iran)

Iranian opposition leaders speak out against surge in executions (Payvand, San Francisco)

Message of Zahra Bahrami's execution to the world (Radio Zamaneh, Netherlands, via Payvand, San Francisco)

Zahra Bahrami Executed in Iran (Rohama.org, Union of Islamic World Students, Tehran)

2 Terrorists Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei Executed in Iran (Rohama.org)

Death Row Prisoner's Father: Confessions After 17 Months of torture (International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Netherlands, via Payvand, San Francisco)

Dutch gov't seeks return of hanged woman’s body (Reuters via cnews, Canada)

No change in Ashtiani case, says Iranian judiciary (Roundup) (DPA, Germany, via Monsters & Critics, UK & USA)

Judiciary still examining Sakineh Ashtiani case (Tehran Times, Iran)

Iran: 103 Hinrichtungen seit Beginn des Jahres 2011 (Weblog von Ali Schirasi, Germany)

Alle 8 Stunden wird im Iran ein Mensch hingerichtet (Weblog von Ali Schirasi)

Iran: Elf Jahre Gefängnis für Nasrin Sotoudeh (Weblog von Ali Schirasi)

Feuer unter der Asche - Wo ist die iranische Frauenbewegung? Man hört nichts mehr und sieht nichts mehr (Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany)

Women, Islam, Egypt and Iran (The Huffington Post, USA)

Iran urged to drop prison sentences against human rights activists (Amnesty International)

Die Menschenrechte im Iran als Herausforderung für die Weltgemeinschaft (IranAnders.de, Germany)

USA Executions 2011 (as of 01/25/11) (Website of Rick Halperin, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA)


Iranian Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security. In January 2011, she has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years.

To help Ms Sotoudeh, write letters to the Iranian authorities. More information is here (in German, with English summary).