U.S. says Syrians built crematorium at prison to dispose of bodiesThe US

The issue is that regime apologists like that claim iran is "better" now under the clerics than it was under the shah, which is pure garbage.

They haven't really "crushed" or eliminated the opposition; the youth bulge of that country is enormous and I can tell you they despise the regime, which is on its last legs - the regime is already dead, they just don't know it yet. I'm curious to see what the apologists like our friend here will claim when it falls; it'll be like in Animal House where they'll say: "oh, but we always knew the regime was horrible, we were just forced to say good things about it..."

 

What garbage. What should he say when the UK corporate scum are falling all over themselves to do business there; that it is a cancerous, terrorist police state like everyone knows it is?

Claiming iran is "not remarkable" is laughable BS, not many countries are running terrorist proxy armies all over the mideast.

 

So when are you going to address the political prisoners like Atena? Or its huge gulag system? Or the bus driver who had his tongue cut out for going out on strike? Or the thousands of beaten teens and college students from the faked 2009 elections or for dressing "Western"? Or iran's terrorist attacks on so many other countries? Or its genocide in syria? Or its lack of free speech, assembly, civil/human rights? Or its shut down press offices?

 

People want assad removed whether they are in the US or in Chile. He's a monstrous animal who is committing genocide.

 

Really? How's Atena's cell these days for drawing cartoons about the regime?

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-bl...litical-prisoners-demand-the-worlds-attention

On Jan. 4, the reports came from within Gohardasht Prison, near the Iranian capital Tehran, that activist and political prisoner Ali Moezzi, still behind bars despite completing his term, had disappeared.

Moezzi has faced repression from the Islamic Republic since its earliest days. He spent years in prison in the 1980's for his affiliation with the Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK).

He served two more years, beginning in 2008, for having visited his two daughters residing in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. He was arrested again in 2011, seven months after his latest release, because he had attended the funeral of a fellow political prisoner, another MEK activist who had died because authorities denied him access to life-saving medical treatment.

Over the course of Moezzi’s long history as a prisoner of conscience, he has faced many different forms of pressure, including the arbitrary and unlawful extension of his most recent prison term beyond its specified four years.

The extension signals the Iranian regime’s aversion to letting its political prisoners go free. In Moezzi’s case, as in many others, that aversion was underscored by numerous explicit death threats.

Moezzi’s life was already in danger before this latest development. He was reportedly subjected to routine beatings and torture and, as with many ill or elderly prisoners, the absence of medical care and dire prison conditions had aggravated pre-existing health problems.

Moezzi’s most recent arrest came shortly after he had been released from a hospital after undergoing surgery following a cancer diagnosis.

Over the years, the regime has repeatedly demonstrated its callous and deliberate disregard for the health and well-being of prisoners, especially those detained for political or religious “offenses.”

One prominent, recent example is the case of Arash Sadeghi, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for his peaceful human rights activism. Sadeghi began a hunger strike shortly after his wife was arrested over the contents of an unpublished short story found in her home.

Sadeghi finally ended his hunger strike after judicial authorities made the tiny concession of granting his wife temporary release from her pre-trial detention. It took more than 70 days for the regime to agree to even that, and, in the end, it was apparently not the likelihood of Sadeghi’s imminent death that prompted them to act, but the massive outpouring of support that his protest had garnered within Iran and abroad.

 

Well, actually, I have said very little about the Shah here, except to say in one of the threads that I actually do not subscribe to views that try to demonize the Pahlavi dynasty. Indeed, I come from a family that left Iran and immigrated to the US at the time of the revolution. Whatever you might imagine, I have no reason to carry this regime's brief. But I do have a reason to stop those who like to spread lies about Iran, or think Iran would benefit (or who wish Iran harm) by plunging it into civil war and mayhem based on vengeance, greed, or ignorance or whatever else motivates them.

 

We used to joke that there were more lebanese in syrians prisons than earning a living in Beirut. That's why the lebanese government never had any money, the joke was that if the tax collector wanted to get paid he should go to Damascus.

 

iran's "kindly" treatment of its citizens:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1558187/Unions-rally-to-free-Irans-Lech-Walesa.html

Iran has sparked a storm of protest from trade unionists around the world after imprisoning a bus driver known as the Lech Walesa of the Islamic Republic.

Mansour Osanloo, who leads a 17,000-strong bus workers' union, was abducted on the streets of Teheran on July 10 by an unidentified gang, thought to have been secret policemen. He had just returned from a trip to Europe, including Britain, where he met officials from the London-based International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF) to discuss the government harassment his members were suffering.

Now he is languishing on unspecified charges in Teheran's notorious Evin Prison - described as the "Islamic Alcatraz" - on the orders of Saeed Mortazavi, a hardline judge accused of presiding over numerous human rights abuses and illegal detentions.

Mr Osanloo's imprisonment comes as part of a clampdown on dissidents by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ultra-conservative government, in which scores of pro-democracy activists and -academics have been arrested over the past five months.

Unlike some of his fellow political prisoners, Mr Osanloo, 48, has largely restricted his activities to campaigning for better working conditions for his union members, demanding increases in their wages and better protection against Teheran's appalling smog.

He has insisted: "All we are asking is for Iranian workers to be treated as free human beings, not as slaves."

Even that, however, has invited the ire of Iran's mullahs, for whom any independent organisation with a large membership poses a potential threat similar to Solidarity, the Polish shipyard workers' union led by Mr Walesa, which opened the first major cracks in communism in the early Eighties

In Brussels, Mr Osanloo described the intimidation which union members had faced, with some members having been arrested 10 or more times, and family members, including children, being beaten, detained and subjected to inhumane treatment.

Asked how he coped with arrests and harassment, he replied: "We decided it is better to die than to live like this."

The international union, which represents nearly 5 million transport workers in 148 countries, has now written a letter to Mr Ahmadinejad's office, urging him to free Mr Osanloo immediately.

A spokesman for the ITWF, Sam Dawson, said: "Mr Osanloo has pushed to create an independent and democratic trade union in Iran, and that appears to be something that the regime is not happy with.

"His organisation is not against the Iranian state or a threat in any way. It is open, popular and transparent. We are hoping that the Iranian government will be amenable to outside pressure."

Mr Osanloo was on his way home from work when the bus in which he was a passenger was pulled over by a carload of men, some allegedly armed with clubs and knuckle-dusters. They dragged him into their vehicle, telling passers-by who tried to intervene that he was a "hoodlum and a thug" who was wanted by the police. Witnesses said he was beaten up during the abduction, even after he had stopped trying to fight off his attackers.

His abductors carried no identification, but drove a Peugeot car of a kind commonly used by the security services. Iranian authorities at first denied all knowledge of his arrest, and only admitted that he was being held after 48 hours of fraught inquiries by family and friends.

As yet no charges against him have been specified, but Mr Dawson said the court had indicated he would spend at least two months in prison.

Mr Osanloo formed the Syndicate of Workers of Teheran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) in 2003, at the height of the reformist reign of President Mohammad Khatami.

However, Mr Osanloo has been unable to avoid becoming embroiled in some of the most sensitive issues in Iranian politics. In 2005, his staff brought Teheran's public transport network to a standstill in protest at a newly introduced rule that tried to segregate female passengers to the back of each bus.

Some religious hardliners are theologically opposed to the concept of a union, arguing that the separation of bosses and workers is a divisive Western approach which Islam should discourage.

Since organising strikes in 2005, he has been arrested several times and also beaten up by members of the basij, the irregular militia deployed to harass enemies of the regime. On one occasion he suffered a deep knife cut to the tongue, intended as a warning that he should keep quiet. He is no stranger to a prison cell, having spent eight months in prison from December 2005 and a month after being arrested last November.

David Cockroft, the general secretary of the ITWF, said: "The Iranian authorities, who have persecuted this valiant man for so long, must explain what charge Mansour is held on or release him. While they're struggling with that idea, the least they can do is allow him access to his family, a lawyer and a doctor."

The Iranian Embassy in London did not respond to requests for comment.

 

http://cartoonistsrights.org/artist-activist-atena-farghadani-gets-12-year-prison-term-in-iran/

Iranian artist-activist Atena Farghadani has been handed a 12 year prison sentence by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court for posting a cartoon in protest of legislation to restrict birth-control and make divorce more difficult in her country. The illustration, in which Iran’s parliamentarians were depicted with animal heads, was posted on Farghadani’s Facebook page.

After spending nine months in prison awaiting trial, during which time she reportedly suffered a heart attack while on a hunger strike, Farghadani has been found guilty of “insulting members of parliament through paintings” and “insulting the Iranian supreme leader.”

The 28-year-old painter had also been charged with “gathering and colluding with anti-revolutionary individuals and deviant sects” for contact she had with families of political prisoners and followers of the Baha’i faith during a painting exhibition. The exhibition — Parandegan-e Khak (Birds of Earth) — focused attention on protesters killed by government forces in the wake of Iran’s contested 2009 election.


Atena Farghadani cartoon

In 2014, Farghadani posted a YouTube video documenting police abuse during a previous incarceration.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hope you sleep well at night knowing you defend a regime that beats little girls and arrests, imprisons and tortures women cartoonists. Something to really be proud of, that's some legacy to leave for future generations - being known as the absolute scum of humanity.

 

Actually, Atena Farghadani is free, living in Iran, and busy talking to foreign media about her ordeal and it doesn't seem her brush with the law made her any less defiant. She didn't spend 12 years in prison and her sentence was reduced on appeal to 18 months.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...t-her-captivity-and-new-freedom-a7142501.html
Atena Farghadani: Iranian cartoonist opens up about her captivity
In her first interview to Western media since winning her release, Atena Farghadani talks about the horrific conditions behind bars in Iran and how she plans to continue producing political art, even if that means going to prison again

 

Wow. That language isn't eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany and the Soviet gulag at all...

 

There is as much truth in those barrel bombs as there is in the crematorium. Those who oppose him have no qualms in beheading children, so you expect them to have qualms about lying or anything else.

As for Assad and his relationship to Christians, his sister was cured of cancer in a Christian monastery, so I know differently.

 

All the Syrian refugees everywhere talked about Assad's barrel bombs... He dropped them on Muslims and Christians.

Assad doesn't care about religion.. Was the Christian monastery a hospital or did they just pray her cancer away?

 

Wow, so she was only imprisoned and tortured for 18 months for drawing a cartoon...that's so might kind and generous of the fascist iranian regime.

She got out because of the international outcry, what of the thousands of others who don't have international aid orgs pushing their cases before the world media?

And what of the thousands slaughtered in syria by iran's hand? Should they be forgotten as well?

 

I thought Polonium poisonings were common in Britain and the US? Wasn't Roger Stone here the latest victim?

 

Uhhh, I have news for you, the terrorists are Sunnis not Shias, so how about stopping the lies and gaining some credibility.

 

1- There aren't "thousands" of political prisoners in Iran. Even stretching the definition of a "political prisoner" very widely, there are at most 800 political prisoners in Iran, most of them guilty of committing acts which are legitimately unlawful. For instance, people who have indeed colluded with organizations which are actively working on the violent overthrow of the government and have committed acts of violence and terrorism, like the organization which the other day claimed responsibility for killing 2 Iranian conscript soldiers for no reason except for a small foreign funded terror group that would otherwise go unnoticed, gain some attention. There are, however, a few cases involving what I would also consider political prisoners. People who have published articles (or in this case, drawn cartoons) which were found to be particularly offensive. (The cartoon that got her in real trouble is not the one that is shown in many articles, but one that is aimed at Iran's top spiritual and political authority).
2- The prison conditions for prisoners who are serving "security crimes" are actually quite lax in comparison to prisons for ordinary criminals, that is unless they have committed violent acts of terrorism. They are hardly gulags by any measure! Which is why the cartoonist here petitioned so strongly to be moved from a regular prison to the prison for those who have committed security offenses.
3- In the United States, someone who sympathizes with Hezbollah or Hamas and who provides material support to them, even though neither have committed any violent acts on US soil, would face imprisonment. Given the host of sanctions against Iran, and not just the Iranian government, any normal business transaction with someone living in Iran by a US person would be a crime and, certainly, if such contacts were with those affiliated to the Iranian government, this would be doubly true. In Iran, you have less stringent restrictions in comparison, but certainly you will be under a watchful eye and can be nabbed if you are deemed to be working in some way, directly or indirectly, with states or groups which Iran considers its enemies.

Anyway, enough about Iran and its human rights situation. We have said enough about it in a thread that isn't about this subject.

 

Roger Stone is a crazy old liar...... LOLOL

 

50 Islamist Jihadists a week ? I will not be shedding too many tears.

How many civilians is the Saud killing per week in Yemen ?

 

The Syrian refugees will say what they are paid to say, so I wouldn't pay them too much heed. As for the Syrian people, the Christians support Assad as do all the minorities and the moderate Sunnis as well. He received 88% of the votes in the elections with a 73% turnout. No one wants sharia law, would you?

As for his sister being cured of cancer, I don't know how she was cured, the religious article did not say. It was probably by anointing with holy oil and prayers. I also know that Assad has gone there secretly at night and prayed and that he had a spiritual experience... so to say he has no feelings for the Christians is just another lie by those who know nothing but lies.

Anyway the Syrian people are not stupid. They know very well what nations are behind their destruction and they have been willing to sacrifice their lives to fight for their country. I know in due time the criminality of all the nations that did this to Syria will pay. I can only cry for my grandchildren and hope that they will be spared.

 

I do not know enough about the current political scene in Iran or its political opposition to predict the likelihood of regime change or the likely result of such a change.
Some form of tyranny is the human norm - alas. It was clearly not in the interest of the US or the West to remove the Shah. It was probably not in the interest of the US or the West to install the Shah in the first place.

 

So you think all the Syrian refugees including the Christian refugees are liars. Did you notice the huge holes in all the roads? Those are from barrel bombs.

The people aren't willing to die for the Assad regime.. That's why 5 million have fled the country.

 

Great post ... Well done. Margot is proved wrong yet again.

See Margot - The people of Syria do not want to be ruled by the Islamist Jihadist terrorists that were armed and supported by Saudi Arabia.

They do not want a totalitarian extremist theocratic police state like Saudi Arabia.
They want rights for women and religious freedom.

They want to be able to drink alcohol, dance in bars and wear proper bathing suits rather than parade around in holloween costumes 365 days a year.

They do not want to stone adulterer's and kill people for apostasy. They do not want to teach their children to hate Jews, Christians and Muslims for disagreeing on some extremist OT interpretation of the Qu'ran.

 

Well, that is the official line. Most of us have little confidence in official justifications for military intervention. The USG's concern for genocide has has historically been very selective, and I have seen no evidence of genocide in Syria by the Syrian government. Which ethnic group in Syria are they supposed to be trying to exterminate?