Contact: European Coordinator for United4Iran, Kamran Ashtary
kamran@united4iran-nl.org
Tori Egherman tori@united4iran-nl.org

IRAN THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS
Documentary: Letters to the President, followed by a discussion with the director

For Immediate Release

AMSTERDAM, December 10, 2009. On Saturday December 12th, 2009, United4Iran-NL, an affiliate of United4Iran, an organization dedicated to civil rights and democracy, will join a global day of action in solidarity with the civil and human rights movement in Iran. “Arts United 4 Iran” will be from 16:30 – 02:00 at Studio /K in Amsterdam.

Journalist Angus McDowall, who spent more than four years reporting from Iran for the Economist and the Independent, will lead a discussion with Petr Lom, the director of the provocative documentary, Letters to the President. This should be a lively discussion as the two compare and contrast their experiences working and traveling in Iran.

The film, Letters to the President, will be shown at 18.10 and the discussion will follow at 19.40. Petr Lom was granted unparalleled access to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as he traveled throughout Iran’s many provinces, visiting small towns and villages that other officials had ignored. In some towns, he is met with adoring crowds that shower him and his team with letters, most of which request loans. In others, crowds complain about unfinished public works projects.

What we see in this film is the desperation of people who want reasonable loans in order to stay above water. In a heartbreaking scene, we watch as a man begs for money to buy sheep. He tells the bureaucrat that he is so desperate that he might have to sell his daughter and wife. The bureaucrat responds with a simple, “There is no money in the banks.”

The film also presents an undercurrent of the tension surrounding speaking with the press in Iran. Often, bystanders urge others “don’t speak to the foreigner.” A mural painter expresses surprise that the filmmaker and his crew have not been arrested. “We heard that you had been arrested,” he tells them. The film is entertaining, distressing, and thought-provoking. The conversation following the film should be equally so.

For more information about the other programs, visit united4iran-nl.org.

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Reporting from the “world’s biggest prison for journalists”

A discussion with New York Times correspondent, Nazila Fathi

Contact: European Coordinator for United4Iran, Kamran Ashtary kamran@united4iran-nl.org
Tori Egherman tori@united4iran-nl.org

New York Times reporter, Nazila Fathi, speaks about her experiences reporting from Iran with writer and journalist Chris Keulemans as part of Arts United 4 Iran on December 12, 2009.

Date: December 12, 2009
Time: 16:30
Location: Studio /K, Amsterdam
This discussion is part of full program of films, discussion, arts, and music at Studio /K. Price, Doors open at 16:00 and close at 02:00.

December 7, 2009. Amsterdam. The Western media is often blamed for misleading coverage on Iran, but reporting within Iran can be a daunting task. Reporters need to get permission to travel outside of Tehran and a few other “safe” locations. People are often hesitant to speak on the record and once they do will claim that they were misquoted or misunderstood. Iranians who report from inside Iran can find themselves without the support or security to do their jobs effectively and safely. Reporters without Borders calls Iran the “world’s biggest prison for journalists.” Still, Iran is filled with people who long to tell their stories to the rest of the world, as we have seen via blogs, youTube, and Twitter. Until recently, Nazila Fathi reported for the New York Times in Iran. (Read Roger Cohen’s article about Iranians in Exile here.) She will be joining journalist and writer Chris Keulemans at Studio /K on December 12 for a discussion about the challenges of reporting from Iran.

Until a few months ago, Nazila Fathi was reporting from her hometown of Tehran, where she lived with her husband and two children. Occasionally she was called in for questioning by Intelligence, as were most independent reporters in Iran: foreign and local. About a year after the election of Ahmadinejad, the hardline newspaper Keyhan, started quoting from fabricated New York Times stories and attributing them to Nazila Fathi. Sometime after that, her family began to be harassed by unidentified and unknown intelligence operatives. “They started going to my inlaws, to our neighbors. They would ask about us and told them that they were looking for drug smugglers,” Fathi said.

Fathi speculated that she was caught up in competing intelligence interests a few months before the elections of June 12, 2009 around the time that the American journalist, Roxana Saberi was in prison in Iran. Her home came under 24-hour surveillance. “The guys that were in front of our home were very disheveled, clearly not professionals,” she said. At one point, both the local police and the unknown Intelligence officers were facing down each other in front of her house. “ The local police told us, ‘Never talk to them again. Don’t open the door on them again.’”

During campaigning for the elections, there were many foreign reporters in Iran including columnists and reporters for the New York Times where Fathi worked. No one expected the post-election demonstrations and Fathi thought she should postpone a long-planned vacation in order to continue covering the unfolding drama. Before she could change her tickets, however, she found herself under a de facto house arrest. 16 men had camped out a few meters from their house and were clearly keeping watch. Many of Fathi’s colleagues, sources, and friends had been arrested in the preceding days and weeks, and she was concerned that she would be next.

Fathi decided not to postpone her vacation but called the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, Ershad, to ask if there were plans to arrest her or prevent her from leaving the country. “It was very emotional. I called Ershad and said, ‘If they want to arrest me, come and arrest me. I do not want to be dragged away in front of my kids.’ I told them I was traveling and I did not want to be taken off the plane in front of my kids.” Contacts there told her that they had heard nothing of plans to prevent her from leaving the country. “Later Maziar [Bahari, the Newsweek journalist who was imprisoned in Tehran for 118 days] told me that the interrogators told him that they had planned to arrest me, but that I had gotten away.”

On December 12, Nazila Fathi will be in conversation with the Dutch journalist and writer Chris Keulemans at Studio /K in Amsterdam. She will be available for interviews from members of the press on Saturday.

There is more information at united4iran-nl.org. The discussion will focus on Fathi’s experiences reporting from Iran and specifically on the challenges of reporting on the recent elections. This discussion is part of full program of films, discussion, arts, and music at Studio /K. Price, 17 euros. Doors open at 16:00 and close at 02:00.

*New York Times reporter, Nazila Fathi, available for interviews while she is in the Netherlands.*

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Contact: European Coordinator for United4Iran, Kamran Ashtary kamran@united4iran-nl.org
Tori Egherman tori@united4iran-nl.org

A GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH ARTS AND CULTURE
IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN IRAN

For Immediate Release

AMSTERDAM, December 2, 2009. On Saturday December 12th, 2009, United4Iran-NL, an affiliate of United4Iran, an organization dedicated to civil and human rights, will host the event “Arts United 4 Iran” from 16:30 – 02:00 at Studio K in Amsterdam.

On that day, artists from around the world will come together in solidarity with the Iranian people’s struggle for civil and human rights. The day will be filled with music and performing arts to not only highlight the violations of human rights and institutional violence and discrimination against women, but also to bring awareness and celebrate the Civil Rights Movement in Iran.

Arts United 4 Iran will honor the 61st anniversary of the UN adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as U.N. International Human Rights Day (December 10th). December 12th also marks the six-month anniversary of the June 12th Iranian Presidential election and the peaceful protests that were violently suppressed by the regime.

The event in Amsterdam will feature live music, DJs, discussions, and films, including the Netherlands premier of Austria’s selection for the Oscars, For a Moment, Freedom. More details on the program can be found on the website united4iran-nl.org.

Many brave artists in Iran are among those speaking out to demand human rights, and it is up to each and every one of us living in the free world to support them. We ask the media and people to show their support by attending and covering this event.

QUOTES:

Iran is number one in the world in executions per capita, and number two, after China, in real numbers. According to Hadi Ghaemi from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, executions have been stepped up since the June 12th elections:

“Since the election, at least 150 people have been put to death. And we’re seeing increased number of political prisoners executed. Just last week, we had a Kurdish activist put to death even though the lower court had sentenced him to 10 years of prison. But the appeals court, in contradiction to Iran’s own law, increased the sentence to execution. And we believe these are politically motivated acts by hardliners in the government who want to sow fear in the population and give the signal that they will hold on to power by any means necessary.” (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120646682&ft=1&f=7)

Tori Egherman, a spokesperson for United4Iran, says:

“You might ask why Iran? For me, Iran is important right now because there is a strong, mature internal movement with leaders that support equal rights for women and minorities and free speech and peaceful assembly. They have shown that millions of Iranians want change and are willing to work hard to gain it. Iran is now engaged in an historical struggle for civil rights. Those of us outside Iran can help them most by showing that we are listening and by making sure that their cause does not get forgotten.”

A statement from the Iranian Freedom Movement, in a summary of a Persian post by the Iranian blogger, Agh Bahman on Pedestrian: http://www.sidewalklyrics.com/?p=2537)

The state will have to pay a heavy price for using this much violence. It will want to continue this path. Thus, it will need to justify it. The authorities want to radicalize this movement. Experience has shown us that once citizens utilize violence, this only gives the state an excuse to use more of it.

…

The Freedom Movement of Iran believes that this movement will only triumph if it abides by peaceful, paths of reform. “Non-violence” is not only a temporary tactic. But rather, from the birth of this movement, it has been the main strategy.

Contact: European Coordinator for United4Iran, Kamran Ashtary
kamran@united4iran-nl.org
Tori Egherman tori@united4iran-nl.org

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85 cities and counting, Peace Leaders, Artist and Organizations
Join Worldwide New Media Driven Movement
in Solidarity with Iranian People

(July 23, 2009) On July 25th in more than 80 cities worldwide, Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Betty Williams, Mairead Maguire, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Kim Dae-jung, joined by Dolores Huerta, Sean Penn, Dariush, Simin Behbahani, Ismael Khoie, 43 Arab Human Rights Organizations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Nobel Women’s Initiative, Peacejam, Reporters without Borders and hundreds of thousands of citizens around the globe will stand in solidarity with the Iranian people’s human and civil rights.

“The people of Iran have shown their desire for freedom, democracy and equality. No one needs to be told that injustice and oppression are wrong. We know that those who strive for freedom are on the winning side. You in Iran who want democracy and accountable government are on the winning side and we support you.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1984
“There have been critical moments in history when people have risen up to demand their human and civil rights. Once again we are at such a moment. Mass protests in Iran join Gandhi’s India, Martin Luther King’s USA, and Mandela’s South Africa. We are bearing witness to global outrage and solidarity. The world must unite with the people of Iran on July 25th, the global day of solidarity.”

United4Iran

“Through Global Day of Action for Iran, we will raise the international public’s awareness toward the Iranian people’s fight for democracy and ask Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to travel to Iran at once in order to stop the escalation of violence and to investigate the human rights violations committed by the government of Iran.” Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate, 2003

“I join with my five Nobel peace laureates, and millions of people both in Iran and around the world in calling upon the government of Iran to immediately restore civil liberties, release all political prisoners, withdraw police and special guards from the streets, and to respect the fundamental rights of the Iranian people.” Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1976

United4Iran was born on July 1st 2009 in response to the images of atrocities committed against peaceful protestors that were tweeted instantaneously around the world by the Iranian youth. After watching blogs in horror and anguish, Firuzeh Mahmoudi, a San Francisco Area Iranian-American mother, decided to plan a global day of action for Iran. The next day United4Iran was launched with a rudimentary website. Mahmoudi called Hadi Ghaemi, Director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Ghaemi connected with his global network of activists, academics and NGOs. Ghaemi leads strategy, outreach and press. Mahmoudi leads grassroots organizing and volunteer coordination. Bitta Mostofi, an immigrant right’s attorney and Pantea Beigi, Director of Communications for Peacejam Foundation, are spokespeople.

The response was overwhelming. Throughout the world, countless citizens have turned into activists, making the Global Day of Action an unprecedented grassroots movement in solidarity with the people of Iran. In three weeks, working 18 hours days out of Mahmoudi’s living room, volunteers are typing, skyping, talking and texting to activists around the globe. One by one Nobel Peace Laureates joined United4Iran’s movement. We have rallies planned from Manila, Lahore, Amsterdam, Cairo, Caracas, Toronto, Los Angeles, Paris, Melbourne, to New Delhi.

United4Iran is a non-partisan collaborative of individuals and human rights organizations. United4Iran does not promote any political agenda. United4Iran is opposed to any foreign interference or military attack on Iran. Our only aim is to support Iranian people’s human rights and to stop the widespread and systematic violations. We promote non-violent peaceful citizen activism.

Check www.united4Iran.org for a full list of participating cities, supporters and supporting organizations.

For more information contact:
Pantea Beigi (303) 455 2099
Hadi Ghaemi (917)669 5996
Bitta Mostofi (773) 655 2980

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