Newsroom

Update

We are glued to news coming out of Iran, literally watching as history is unfolding. Commentators have been grasping for relevant comparisons; is this another Tiananmen Square? Another Prague Spring? Or is it even a Second Iranian Revolution? But no comparisons are appropriate for the phenomenal outpouring of people demanding that their rights be respected. Why is this happening in Iran? We don’t see massive protests in other Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt when there have been allegations of electoral impropriety. Adjectives such as fearless, indomitable and awe-inspiring come to mind as we see Iranians continually defying bans on…

June 17, 2009

Update

June 19 Update: Any soccer players that were seen wearing the green wristbands have been suspended for "government interference". The Iranian soccer team was seen clad with green wristbands during their World Cup qualifying match against South Korea. Green is the signature color of the mass Iranian movement for former presidential candidate Mir Hussein Musavi. Daily protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, numbering in the tens of thousands, have become virtual seas of green--with participants sporting green-colored headbands, shirts, and posters. While there is no confirmation that the soccer team wore the wristbands in support of Musavi, it is…

June 17, 2009

Update

Ibrahim Yazdi, the Secretary General of the Freedom Movement of Iran political party, was just arrested at 3 PM today by the Iranian Security Forces at the Pars Hospital, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.  He has since been transferred to the Evin Prison in northwest Tehran. Yazdi was Deputy Prime Minister for Revolutionary Affairs for the interim Iranian government in 1979 directly after the Islamic Revolution. He also served as Foreign Minister and was elected to the Islamic Consultative Assembly parliament, serving for 4 years. As recently as Saturday, the day after Iranians went to…

June 17, 2009

Update

Kudos to President Obama for breaking his long silence on the Iranian election violence that has been raging since Saturday. Obama said, “I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability for folks to peacefully dissent, all those are universal values and need to be respected.” Yesterday’s protests left seven people dead after hundreds of thousands took to the streets against what they view as the fraudulent re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. While his remarks did not touch on how he viewed the results of the election, Obama did take a strong stance against the security forces’ reaction to…

June 16, 2009

Update

8 more people were killed during Monday’s protests against Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s electoral victory in Tehran. Rallies in support of Musavi nonetheless continued on today, with more people than yesterday, according to witnesses. Numbers cannot be confirmed as all foreign media have been barred from entering the city. Protesters have persistently been updating the world on Twitter and on YouTube, though. While yesterday’s rallies came to a bloody end, today’s was relatively calm. Meanwhile, experts around the world are trying to figure out whether the results of Friday’s election were legitimate or not. While no one has been able to deem…

June 16, 2009

Update

This weekend, the streets of Tehran erupted in violent protests against Friday’s presidential election results declaring incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad the winner. Here’s a firsthand look at Iran’s worst unrest in 10 years: For more photographs of the protests, click here. Samah Choudhury contributed to this post

June 15, 2009

Update

Iran went to the polls on Friday, June 12th, to vote in its highly anticipated and closely watched Presidential election. Within hours, and with 2/3 of the votes counted, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared the victor by state media-- a declaration that sparked this weekend's ongoing violent protests. For more information on what exactly happened and is continuing to happen in Iran, take a look at the following articles and blogs for some excellent commentary: Juan Cole has tackled allegations of election fraud on his blog, Informed Comment, as has Reza Aslan on the Daily Beast Both the Huffington Post…

June 15, 2009

Update

Since Friday's Presidential election, the Iranian government has blocked access to several social networking sites, such as Facebook, and cut off cell phone services. But updates have continued to stream in from Iran via Twitter. While these updates are only 140 characters or less-- they are certainly packing a punch. Recent tweets read: "Demo spread from Azadi sq, to streets and hwys around it. Cars honking horns, smaller groups marching. False hopes?" "Dispersed fights in Tehran; sound of shooting heard" "Tho today's protest is illegal, police not moving in. Possibly too big to handle, or images of attax beg. to…

June 15, 2009

Update

(Originally posted on the Christian Science Monitor) With Dick Cheney and the infamous torture memos making headlines, President Obama and our nation face a choice.  Should they prosecute or protect those responsible for the torture of detainees in secret CIA detention centers? If our leaders wish to steer our country back to the right side of the law, they must act immediately and unequivocally to prosecute. The problem is that leading senators want the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to complete its investigation into the treatment and interrogation of detainees (which could take between four and six months), before any…

June 15, 2009

Update

Two significant reports were just issued on human rights in Sri Lanka.  The first, AI's report entitled "Twenty Years of Make-Believe:  Sri Lanka's Commissions of Inquiry," was released today.  The report describes how for the past 20 years, the Sri Lankan government has used ad hoc commissions of inquiry to investigate human rights violations by the security forces.  The commissions were established, for the most part, to deflect international pressure on the government to combat the ongoing impunity afforded to the security forces for human rights abuses.  The formal justice system in Sri Lanka has failed to provide redress for victims of human rights violations;…

June 12, 2009

Update

What do you get when you put nearly 100 people in a room on a steamy DC summer evening to listen to two amazingly talented musicians perform an acoustic set and share information about Women of Zimbabwe Arise and the International Violence Against Women Act? Well, you definitely get an environment that's a little, shall we say, musty. But you also get alot of energy and passion and commitment all directed toward improving the lives of the people of Zimbabwe and women in particular. Last night, Chad Stokes and Brad Corrigan (aka Braddigan) of the former band Dispatch reunited in anticipation of a…

June 12, 2009

Update

Peru’s Congress temporarily suspended two Amazon investment laws – dubbed the “Law of the Jungle” – that triggered violent clashes that left at least 30 protesters and 24 people police officers dead last weekend. The controversial laws made oil drilling, mining and logging – including on indigenous land – much more accessible for corporations. Indigenous protesters say that the laws, being passed in part to comply with a trade agreement with the U.S., weaken their rights to land they have inhabited for hundreds of years.  One of the laws removed more than 170,000 square miles of Peruvian jungle from the…

June 12, 2009