April 2021 Archives

"This is one of the best news I have received after my release from Guantanamo," posts Mansoor Adayfi. "The book is coming. A journey of almost 20 years with Guantánamo and my book."

The Emergency Appeal: The Lives of Iran's Political Prisoners Hang in the Balance--We Must ACT Now, sounds an alarm about the grave danger facing Iran's political and prisoners of conscience, warning:

A brutal campaign of arrests, torture and executions is now taking place in Iran. This is an emergency. The lives and dignity of hundreds of political prisoners are in imminent, mortal danger. 

Executions, including of political prisoners, are often carried out in secret. It heightens the Emergency Appeal's challenge that:

All those who stand for justice and yearn for a better world [to] rally to the cause of freeing Iran's political prisoners NOW.

Amnesty International (AI) has warned of an "alarming rise in executions," with 49 prisoners executed from December 1, 2020 to February 4. 2021. Now, the UN reports that in recent months, more than 20 members of the Baluch minority have been executed, over 100 Kurdish activists have been detained, and members of the Bahá'í faith have been targeted. And recently the Kurdistan Human Rights Association, Iran Human Rights, and other sources report that the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has carried out a wave of at least 13 executions so far this month alone (mainly for alleged drug charges).

https://revcom.us/a/696/update-from-emergency-campaign-to-free-iran%E2%80%99s-political-prisoners-en.html

Photos of political prisoners from @burn_the_cage Instagram 

• Endorse and spread this Emergency Appeal. Share your ideas and/or work with the Emergency Campaign to Free Iran's Political Prisoners to publish this Emergency Appeal to shine a light on this dire situation and amplify the campaign to free ALL Iran's political prisoners NOW. In the U.S., we are acting in solidarity with the burn_the_cage movement in Europe to free Iran's political prisoners.
• Speak out and issue messages of support for Iran's political prisoners. Join with AI's call to send appeals urging the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience who are dual national citizens. Write: Head of Judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi c/o Embassy of Iran to the European Union, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No 15, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. (Copy Amnesty International at ContactUs@Amnesty.org and our campaign.
• Organize meetings, forums and protests in solidarity with Iran's political prisoners.  Watch and spread or screen the film Nasrin.
• Watch for alerts, updates, and information on the website, the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of the Emergency Campaign to Free Iran's Political Prisoners.

A front page headline in The New York Times caught our attention Sunday: "Guantanamo Prisoners Move." What? That would be the first time in 19 years prisoners were free to move. But of course they weren't.  Despite the misleading headline, reporter Carol Rosenberg's piece was clear: prisoners had been moved from the notorious secret Camp 7 to camps in the prison where all 40 remaining prisoners are now held.

Camp 7 was built in 2004 to house so-called "high value detainees" after they were held around the globe in "black sites" and tortured. Anything about it has been highly classified. The new film "The Mauritanian," the story of Mohamedou ould Slahi, brought Camp 7 into public consciousness. Only terrible things happened there, and now its physical edifice was collapsing, long after its fake moral edifice crumbled.

Let the demand be amplified by the people: Close ALL of Guantanamo now!