ارغوان
شاخه همخون جدا مانده من
آسمان تو چه رنگ است امروز؟
آفتابی است هوا؟
یا گرفته است هنوز؟

من درین گوشه که از دنیا بیرون است،
آسمانی به سرم نیست،
از بهاران خبرم نیست،
آنچه می بینم دیوار است
آه، این سخت سیاه
آن چنان نزدیک است
که چو بر می کشم از سینه نفس
نفسم را بر می گرداند
ره چنان بسته که پرواز نگه
در همین یک قدمی می‌ماند
کورسویی ز چراغی رنجور
قصه پرداز شب ظلمانی است
نفسم می گیرد
که هوا هم اینجا زندانی است

هرچه با من اینجاست
رنگ رخ باخته است
آفتابی هرگز
گوشه چشمی هم
بر فراموشی این دخمه نینداخته است
اندر این گوشه خاموش فراموش شده،
کز دم سردش هر شمعی خاموش شده،
یاد رنگینی در خاطر من گریه می‌انگیزد
ارغوانم آنجاست
ارغوانم تنهاست
ارغوانم دارد می گرید
چون دل من که چنین خون آلود
هر دم از دیده فرو می ریزد

ارغوان
این چه رازی است که هر بار بهار
با عزای دل ما می آید؟
که زمین هر سال از خون پرستوها رنگین است؟
وین چنین بر جگر سوختگان
داغ بر داغ می‌افزاید

ارغوان
پنجه خونین زمین
دامن صبح بگیر
وز سواران خرامنده خورشید بپرس
کی برین دره غم می‌گذرند؟

ارغوان
خوشه خون
بامدادان که کبوترها
برلب پنجره باز سحر غلغه می‌آغازند،
جام گلرنگ مرا
بر سر دست بگیر،
به تماشاگه پرواز ببر
آه بشتاب که هم پروازان
نگران غم هم پروازند

ارغوان
بیرق گلگون بهار
تو بر افراشته باش
شعر خونبار منی
یاد رنگین رفیقانم را
بر زبان داشته باش
تو بخوان نغمه ناخوانده من

ارغوان،
شاخه همخون جدا مانده من
هوشنگ ابتهاج

ه. ا. سایه
فروردین ۱۳۶۳

The police have denied there had been any fatalities. Opposition parties had urged people to take to the streets as the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura reached a climax. People were chanting “Khamenei will be toppled”, opposition sources said, a reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Thousands of demonstrators are reported to have taken part in the protests, in defiance of official warnings. Initial reports said the security forces fired in the air to disperse the protests, but several different reports said that at least one, and possibly as many as four demonstrators, had been shot dead.

Police sources, quoted by the Iranian Fars news agency, denied this, saying foreign media were exaggerating reports of unrest. Although there were deaths in the immediate aftermath of the disputed elections and protests in June, fatalities since then have been rare. The security forces clearly have to tread a fine line between not appearing weak but also not provoking opposition protesters, says Siavash Ardalan of BBC Persian TV.

Police helicopters were seen flying over central Tehran as clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky, reports said. On the ground, the security forces clashed with protesters trying to reach central Enghelab Square, witnesses said.
Protesters were chanting, “This is the month of blood”, and calling for the downfall of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to opposition websites.

At the same time, crowds of pro-government demonstrators marched on Enghelab Street to voice support for Ayatollah Khamenei, witnesses said. Protests were also reported in the cities of Isfahan and Najafabad.

Source: BBC
In pictures: Tehran clashes

Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran’s Islamic state, and was at one stage set to become its leader.

One of Shia Islam’s most respected figures, he was also a leading critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne says the death comes at a crucial time in a standoff between the government and opposition.

Iran’s rulers will now fear the opposition may attempt a big turnout for his funeral on Monday and other ceremonies marking his death, especially in the run-up to the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura on 27 December, our correspondent says.

Read more.

Mr. Ban urged the Government and the opposition to peacefully resolve their differences through dialogue and legal means, while describing the public debate during the election campaign, the high level of participation of the electorate in the 12 June polls and the peaceful post-election demonstrations as positive signs of the vitality of civil and political life.

“The handling by authorities of the protests that followed has raised concerns about respect for freedom of expression, assembly and association, the use of force in policing demonstrations and the treatment of and due process afforded to detainees,” Mr. Ban wrote in the report.

Mr. Ban said that following the announcement of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory, tens of thousands of supporters of the other candidates took to the streets over several days to protest the result, with national television reporting the death of seven people after violence erupted.

“There is no accurate measure of the number of casualties during the protests, but numerous media reports have cited at least 20 people killed and many more injured during the demonstrations,” stressed Mr. Ban.

He noted that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay led a chorus of UN rights experts voicing concern over the use of excessive police force, arbitrary arrests and killings, in particular reported acts of violence by members of the Basij militia.

As the protests grew, authorities restricted the media by blocking websites, banning them from unauthorized demonstrations and implementing new restrictions requiring journalists to obtain permission before leaving the office to cover any story.

Iranian authorities also sought to block the use of social networking and other websites that had been used to broadcast information and visual images of the protests internationally.

Mr. Ban highlighted the death of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman who was shot in the chest during a demonstration in Tehran. The incident received widespread international attention as a result of its wide circulation via the Internet.

Among the other human rights issues covered in the report, the Secretary-General spotlighted the execution of juveniles as a specific area for concern.

“The imposition of the death penalty on individuals who commit crimes while under the age of 18 is a breach of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party.”

Iranian authorities executed eight teenagers in 2008, and by the end of September three juveniles had been put to death in 2009, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group also said that from 1990 to 2009 Iran had executed 41 juveniles, accounting for more than half of the reported executions of children worldwide.

On 11 October, Behnoud Shojaie was executed for the murder of another boy in a street fight when both were 17 years old, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Iran Caravans for Peace and Freedom Join All Freedom Loving Iranians and World Citizens at the UN on September 23 to Protest the Illegal Presence of Mahmoud Ahamdinejad and to Demand Freedom and Democracy for Iranian People

Where: Dag Hammarsskjold Plaza, First Ave. and 47th St., Manhattan, New York
When: September 23, 2009, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The Iranian people’s protests following the June 12 elections continue despite a government crackdown that has resulted in the death of dozens of protesters and the detention of hundreds more.

With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on September 23rd, thousands of Iranians from the United States, Canada and around the world are converging on New York City in a show of solidarity. What is that unites so many disparate groups: their love for the Iranian people and the cry for a free, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Iran.

As one of the groups converging on New York, the Iran Peace and Freedom Caravans, including a Caravan of former political prisoners under the Islamic Republic, are proud of the courage of their compatriots and determined to guard the flame of hope lit by the faith and sacrifice of the Iranian people, particularly Iran’s youth. Never again will we permit the future of Iran–the faith, spirit, life and love of our children–to be violated behind the Islamic Republic’s veil of duplicity and violence. Nor will we permit their life, their faces, their hopes and dreams to be extinguished.

Inspired by world renowned photographer, Reza Deghati, the protesters in New York will hold 1,000 images of Neda Agha Soltan during Ahmadinejad’s attendance and speech at the United Nations a number of times between 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The images will link the protests in New York to Paris and other capitals as a sign of global solidarity and support for protesters inside Iran.

Joined by many prominent Iranians, including Nazanin Afshin-Jam, the Canadian-Iranian beauty queen whose work on Stopping Child Executions in Iran has been recognized by governments and people around the world, Caravans will call on the Islamic Republic to release all political prisoners held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison as well as secret detention centers.

We also reject as contrary to the judicial practice and humanitarian teachings the coercion of false confessions, fabrication of evidence, torture and rape of the Iranian people for contesting fraud and rejecting falsehood: the results of the 2009 elections. We call on the United Nations to establish a special rapporteur to investigate allegations of rape and torture in Iran’s prisons as well as reports of secret burial of victims by security forces. Such practices are in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We urge world leaders to demonstrate their solidarity with the Iranian people by joining our Carvans in defending the sacred ideals that unite all of humanity in rejecting violence and aggression against the Iranian people. Iranians from all creeds and faiths, no matter what their race, gender, age or politics, stand united against tyranny and terrorism.

We believe that the surest way to secure peace and prosperity in the Middle East is to stand resolute in securing the civil and human rights of the Iranian people to an accountable democratic government elected by the direct vote of people whose leaders honor the oath of their office by protecting the life, reflecting the humanity and advancing the future of all Iranians as well as their neighbors.

Note About Caravans: We do not accept funding or support from any government and are not affiliated with any institution or organization. We wish to extend our gratitude to Omid for Iran as well as countless individuals for donations and tireless work. Together we strive for a better future for a free and democratic Iran that is secure, prosperous and at peace with the world.

In the context of post-election violence, harsh repression and other violations of international human rights standards by Iranian authorities, FIDH and LDDHI believe that, an official visit from the High Commissioner would provide a key opportunity to observe the reality on the ground, support the Iranian civil society and gather information regarding the human rights situation and the fate of hundreds of protesters and political prisoners as well as human rights defenders, currently in prison.

Full text of the letter:

H. E. Ms. Navanethem Pillay

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Paris Geneva, 20th August 2009

RE. Call for an Official Personal Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency,

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI), wish to convey to you our deepest concern regarding the recent postelection violence, harsh repression, and other grave human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We are writing to you to call upon you to personally visit the country in order to gather information on serious human rights violations and complete your report on the human rights situation in Iran, in particular in view of the forthcoming Universal Periodic Review.

As you are aware, spontaneous protests to denounce the official result of the election have been violently repressed, several hundred people have been arbitrarily arrested, including reformers, students, journalists and human rights defenders. The numbers of those arrested, detained and killed remain unclear. The Iranian authorities have acknowledged the death of 20 persons during these events. On 10 August 2009, the commission of inquiry mandated by Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi, two reformist candidates in the recent election, presented a non-exhaustive list of 69 protesters killed by the authorities and the names of 245 persons still arbitrarily detained. During a press conference on 11 August 2009, Iranian judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi admitted that 4000 persons had been arrested during the post-election events, including 300 protesters still in detention. The vast majority of the persons arrested have been deprived of any independent human rights NGOs operating in the country, the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), FIDH affiliated member in Iran, and the arrest of several of its members since January 2009. We are convinced that a meeting with Ms. Negress Mohammadi and Mr. Seyfzadeh, founding members of DHRC, as well as with Mr. Soltani and Mr. Dadkhah, currently detained, would be also particularly relevant as a sign of support to Iranian civil society.

FIDH and LDDHI are calling on you to personally visit the country as soon as possible. Our organizations are convinced that your position would enable you to obtain crucial access to the Iranian authorities, access which is denied to national or international human rights groups in the context of the current harsh repression.

We thank you for taking into consideration this call and we remain at your disposal for any further information.

Respectfully,
Souhayr Belhassen                                               Karim Lahidji
President FIDH                                                      President LDDHI

Several of the ministers are relatively young and little known.

Others have been accused of lacking knowledge of their relevant departments.

The nominations come despite repeated calls from parliament for the president to choose a more competent team.

It seems almost a deliberate provocation, that is bound to lead to a new battle between the president and parliament, which has to approve the appointments.

Reaction

Already there has been criticism from one of the Deputy Speakers of Parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, who said he believed four or five of the nominees would be rejected by parliament – though he did not specify which.

The influential Speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, gave a more coded criticism.

He was quoted by state radio as saying that a minister must have experience and expertise – “a ministry is not a place for tryouts,” he said.

One of the targets for criticism is the new Intelligence Minister, Heidar Moslehi.

He replaces Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, who was sacked by Mr Ahmadinejad after the election during the bitter row over the appointment of Vice-President Mashaie.

The influential conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli asked: “How can someone who has not spent a single day of their lives in intelligence work, whose most important work was as the head of a charitable organisation, be suitable for the intelligence ministry?”

However, to be named for the intelligence ministry, Mr Moslehi is likely to have the approval of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

He was also Mr Khamenei’s representative in the Basij militia, an indication of the growing power of the militia in the government.

So that should secure his approval by parliament.

Revolutionary Guards

Another controversial appointment is the proposal of Masoud Mirkazemi for the important post of oil minister.

He is currently the commerce minister, but has been accused of having little knowledge of the oil industry.

His close links with the Revolutionary Guards are a sign of their growing influence over the government.

The Revolutionary Guards now control the Basij militia, at least in theory, though some observers believe there are divisions between the two organisations.

The Industry Minister, Ali Akbaar Mehrabian, has been re-appointed despite his recent conviction for fraud.

Then there is the nomination of three women for cabinet posts.

They would be the first women ministers in the 30 years of the Islamic Republic.

But the names are unlikely to be welcomed by conservatives, who are uneasy about seeing women in leadership positions, or reformists who do not like the hardline views of the three women.

Internal security

A key figure in the running of the disputed presidential election, Kamran Daneshju, has been given the ministerial post in charge of universities.

He is a close and hardline ally of Mr Ahmadinejad, suggesting the president is already getting ready for student protests that are expected to break out when the university term begins in a month.

Another important security appointment is the move of the Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar to the interior ministry.

He is another man closely connected with the Revolutionary Guards, a further indication of their growing power over internal security.

After much speculation about the post of foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki has been nominated to remain in the job.

This might give some small reassurance to the West about the possibility of new talks on the nuclear issue, though Mr Mottaki is not seen as a particularly influential voice in setting Iran’s foreign policy.

The Iranian parliament, the Majlis, is expected to begin a debate and votes over the names on 30 August.

In 2005, after Mr Ahmadinejad’s first election victory, the Majlis rejected four of his ministerial nominations.

The members of the Majlis are overwhelmingly conservative, but there is a growing hostility towards Mr Ahmadinejad even in conservative circles.

It could be a long and bruising debate.

Much will depend on how much support Ayatollah Khamenei is prepared to give to the man whose re-election he has already endorsed.

BBC

“They [the authorities] asked those who were abused and raped in prisons, to present four witnesses [to prove their claim] … Those who committed the crimes were the establishment’s agents,” Mousavi said in a letter to reformist leader Mehdi Karoubi, the reformist mowjcamp.com website reported.

“They were threatening detainees to keep silent … it is not possible to appease the suppressed people by using money and force,” Mousavi said.

In a forthright declaration that puts the Islamic republic’s influential top clerics on the spot, Mousavi demanded that they step in and pass judgment on a growing political scandal.

“It is the main duty of revolutionary clergy to reflect the realities, but some have closed their eyes and ignored this responsibility,” Mousavi’s letter added.

His accusation lent support to Karoubi, who angered hardliners for saying some post-election protesters were raped in jail. The authorities have rejected the accusations as “baseless.”

“I praise your courage and hope the other clerics join and strengthen your efforts,” Mousavi’s letter said.

Some hardliners have called for Karoubi to be arrested or tried if he failed to prove the abuse accusations. Karoubi says he has evidence of mistreatment of detainees. On August 13, he said some of those arrested were killed under torture.

The June 12 poll and its turbulent aftermath have plunged Iran into its biggest turmoil since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening rifts within its ruling elite and also further straining relations with the West.

Iran arrested thousands of people after the election during its worst street unrest in three decades.

At least 200 people remain in jail, including senior moderate politicians, activists, lawyers and journalists. Iran has this month staged three mass trials against detainees. A fourth trial will be held on August 19, official media reported.

Mousavi and Karoubi, who came second and fourth respectively in the election, say it was rigged to secure hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election. Ahmadinejad and his allies deny it.

The hardline president has until August 19 to present a cabinet to parliament for approval but may get a rough ride from the conservatives who dominate the assembly, as well as from his moderate foes who see his next government as illegitimate.

The losing candidates say 69 people were killed in unrest following the vote. The figure is more than double the official toll of 26.

In a letter to former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mehdi Karroubi said senior officials had informed him of the “shameful behaviour” taking place.

Mr Karroubi wrote that both male and female detainees had been raped, with some suffering serious injuries.

He asked Mr Rafsanjani to consult the Supreme Leader about the allegations.

About 200 people arrested during the mass protests sparked by June’s disputed election, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected by a wide margin, are still being detained.

‘Brutality’

In the letter addressed to Mr Rafsanjani in his capacity as head of the Assembly of Experts, Mr Karroubi demanded an investigation into allegations that several detainees had been sexually assaulted.

“Some of those arrested [as a result] of the unrest claim that detained girls have been sexually assaulted with… brutality,” he wrote.

“The young men in detention were also sexually assaulted in such a way that some are now suffering from depression and other physical and psychological problems, and are incapable of even leaving their homes,” he added.

Mr Karroubi said that the people who had told him about the allegations of sexual assault held “sensitive positions”.

“Even if one account is true, it would be a tragedy for the Islamic Republic… and it would whitewash the sins of many dictatorships, including that of the deposed Shah,” he added.

On Thursday, police confirmed serious rights violations had taken place at the Kahrizak detention centre, where most of those arrested at the protests were sent.

The head of Kahrizak was sacked and jailed on Sunday along with three of his guards, who were found to have beaten detainees.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of the centre in July, because it had failed to “preserve the rights of detainees”. Police officials have admitted that some of those held since June might have been tortured.

Earlier on Sunday, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said that Mr Karroubi, and the other main defeated opposition presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, should be tried for inciting unrest after the election.

“If Mousavi, Karroubi and [former president Mohammad] Khatami are the main suspects behind the soft revolution in Iran, which they are, we expect the judiciary… to go after them, arrest them, put them on trial and punish them,” Yadollah Javan told the Irna news agency.

Foreign media, including the BBC, have been restricted in their coverage of Iran since the election protests turned into confrontations with the authorities in which at least 30 people died.

Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said:
In just over 50 days, we recorded no less that 115 executions – an average of more than two each day

‘This is a dreadful situation, and one that is made worse by the fact that all or most of those executed are likely to have been denied fair trials, in gross breach of international law.’

From the start of 2009 up to 12 June, Amnesty International recorded at least 196 executions in Iran, placing the country second in the world behind China for the number of executions carried out. The 115 executions known to have been carried out since the presidential election on 12 June included 14 executions on 2 July, 20 on 4 July, 13 on 14 July and a further 24 executions on 5 August, the day of the presidential inauguration.

Amnesty is also stressing that the true total number of executions in Iran is almost certainly higher even than the number it has been able to record, which is based on official Iranian, media and other sources. Most of those executed are said to have been convicted of drug-smuggling or related offences. Those executed by hanging are believed to have been men, mostly between 20 and 50 years of age, but include at least two women. Some but not all of the victims’ identities are known. In particular, the authorities have not named any of the 24 prisoners executed on 5 August at Rejai Shahr Prison in Karaj, disclosing only that they were executed for drugs-related offences.

Typically, people accused of drugs offences or other serious crimes are held for long periods in pre-trial detention, routinely ill-treated, and allowed access to a lawyer only at the point where they go on trial, if at all.

Background
Last year Amnesty recorded at least 346 executions in Iran, the second highest number (behind China) of any country in the world. Of these at least eight were child offenders – those convicted for crimes which took place when they were aged below 18. The true overall figure is likely to have been higher, as the Iranian authorities do not issue official statistics on capital punishment.