Sunday, October 24, 2010

ISAA Movie Night- Na Yek Tavahhom (Not An Illusion)


Film Screening: Not an Illusion (Na Yek Tavahhom) [Iran]

Followed by a Q&A session with director, writer, producer Torang Abedian.

In Persian with English Subtitles.

Date: Thur, Oct 28, 2010, 7:30pm
Location: 159 Mulford Hall, UC Berkeley Campus (map)


*Not An illusion is a documentary about underground musicians of Iran. The film follows Sara and her musician friends in Tehran over six years, looking at the development of the underground music scene in Iran. The film offers unique insights into contemporary Iranian society.

Running Time 85 minutes.

*The event is free and open to public, but suggested donation is $5-$10 to support the film.

Facebook Event | Video Trailer | Movie's Webpage | Director's Webpage

Open Letter to President Obama on Visit to USC, October 22, 2010

Press Release:

In a pledge he made on March 21, 2010, President Obama promised to “stand up for those rights that should be universal to all human beings”. In an open letter to President Obama, Students for Civil Rights in Iran at University of California, San Diego (SCI) petition the United States to use its power in the United Nations Security Council to send special envoys to Iran on a fact-finding mission to inspect the human rights conditions in Iran. Furthermore, SCI calls upon Obama to focus on these human rights conditions, as opposed to issue threats of war and impose sanctions that harm the people of Iran. SCI asks for the help of your agency to publicize this letter and our efforts to the public.

Open Letter to President Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
In your 2010 Nowruz address, you pledged that America’s “commitment—our responsibility—is to stand up for those rights that should be universal to all human beings”. The commitment you made is rooted in the founding principles of your country, echoed in the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men and women around the world are endowed with the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These founding principles are undeniable truths that have guided the United States, since its inception, on a path toward justice and universal rights for all people. We call upon you, Mr. President—as the leader of this country and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate—to wholeheartedly pursue these ends in your dealings with the regime of Islamic Republic in Iran. We ask that the U.S. government not engage in threats of war and sanctions against the people of Iran, but rather encourage them in building a democracy of their own.

Iranians around the world are deeply concerned and ashamed of the Islamic Republic’s consistent violation of international human rights conventions as well as the civil rights of its own citizens guaranteed in the current constitution. Accordingly, we kindly ask that you leverage American power in the United Nations Security Council to demand from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to send special envoys to Iran on a fact-finding mission to investigate the regime’s human rights abuses. Specifically, we call for the UN to inspect the condition of prisoners, investigate the claims of torture or other cruel and unusual treatment, and meet with members of the Iranian Bar Association concerning restrictions on their ability to defend their clients. During the past year the regime has systematically increased its violations of numerous articles within its own constitution that guarantee the right of freedom of speech and assembly.

Mr. President, we believe that the only way for the United States to help the Iranian people, and in turn best serve U.S. security interests, is to focus on human rights violations—not the nuclear issue. Thus, we commend your administration’s recent sanctioning of Iranian human rights abusers and encourage you to extend the punitive measures to more regime members responsible for violating human rights.

Other key steps toward building relations between the American and Iranian people include removing internet and media technology restrictions imposed from the outside, promoting anticensorship programs, facilitating travel for Iranian citizens to the United States, and changing the single-entry visa policy against Iranian students. The Iranian students who have come to the United States face unbearable hardship due to the single-entry visa policy, especially because there is no US embassy back home. If they were granted more opportunity to travel to their home country, Iranian students would play an extremely effective role in promoting understanding and dialogue between both nations.

In the end, we would like to emphasize the importance for America of being seen as an advocate for human rights for all peoples in all parts of the world. Throughout the years, the vast majority of Iranians have expressed their utmost respect for Americans. We encourage you to stand on the side of the people in their time of difficulty by focusing on human rights violations in our motherland.

With Utmost Respect,

Students for Civil Rights in Iran

University of California, San Diego

Endorsements

Iranian Student Alliance in America at University of California, Berkeley

Iranian Democratic Student Association in George Washington University (Endorsement from the student organization)

Farsi Translation:

جناب آقای رئیس جمهور،
در پیام نوروزی سال 2010 خود فرمودید که “ما (آمریکا) متعهدیم تا برای حقوق جهانشمول تمامی افراد بشر ایستادگی کنیم”. تعهد شما ریشه در اصول بنیادینی دارد که این کشور بر آن بنا شده و آوای آن در اعلامیه استقلال آمده است که تمام مردان و زنان در سراسر جهان دارای حق “زندگی، آزادی وتلاش برای خوشبختی” میباشند.

این اصول بنیادین حقایق غیر قابل انکاری هستند که ایالات متحده را از بدو تأسیس در مسیر عدالت و حقوق جهانی برای همه مردم، راهنمایی کرده است. آقای رئیس جمهور، ما از شما به عنوان رهبر این کشور و برنده جایزه صلح نوبل میخواهیم تا با یکدلی با توجه به این اهداف در مواجه با رژیم جمهوری اسلامی در ایران اقدام کنید. ما از دولت آمریکا درخواست داریم که از تهدید به جنگ و تحریم علیه مردم ایران فاصله گرفته و مشوق آنها در ساختن دموکراسی درونی باشد.

ایرانیان در سراسر جهان عمیقا نگران و خجالت زده از نقض مداوم کنوانسیونهای بینالمللی حقوق بشر، همچنین حقوق شهروندی تضمین شده در قانون اساسی فعلی، توسط رژیم جمهوری اسلامی هستند. بر این اساس، ما از شما میخواهیم تا از قدرت آمریکا در شورای امنیت سازمان ملل بهره جسته و از دبیرکل آن آقای بان کیمون و کمیسر عالی حقوق بشر خانم ناوانتم پیلای خواسته شود تا برای فرستادن نمایندگان ویژه به ایران جهت یک ماموریت حقیقتیاب در مورد نقض حقوق بشر توسط رژیم اقدام نمایند. به ویژه، از سازمان ملل متحد میخواهیم تا وضعیت زندانیان و ادعاهای شکنجه و یا سایر مجازاتهای بیرحمانه و غیر معمول را بررسی کرده و با ملاقات با اعضای کانون وکلای ایران، در مورد محدودیتهای آنها در دفاع از موکلینشان گزارشی تهیه شود. در طول سال گذشته رژیم فعلی به طور سیستماتیک مواد متعدد از قانون اساسی خود، که تضمین کننده حق آزادی بیان و اجتماعات است، را نقض کرده است.

آقای رئیس جمهور، ما معتقدیم تنها راهی که ایالات متحده میتواند به مردم ایران کمک کند و همزمان منافع امنیتی خود را به بهترین وجه تأمین نماید، توجه به نقض حقوق بشر است و نه مسئله هستهای. بنابراین، ما ضمن ستایش از تحریمهای اخیر دولت شما علیه متجاوزین به حقوق بشر در ایران از شما میخواهیم نسبت به گسترش اقدامات تنبیهی علیه افراد بیشتری که در نقض حقوق بشر دخالت دارند، اقدام کنید.

گامهای مهم دیگر برای ساختن ارتباط بهتر میان مردم آمریکا و ایران عبارتند از حذف محدودیتهای اینترنتی و تکنولوژی رسانهای تحمیلی از خارج، حمایت از نرمافزارهای ضد فیلترینگ، تسهیل سفر برای شهروندان ایرانی به ایالات متحده و تغییر سیاست روادید تک ورودی برای دانشجویان ایرانی. دانشجویان ایرانی که به ایالات متحده آمدهاند، به علت این که آمریکا هیچ سفارتخانهای در کشورشان ندارد فشارهای فراوانی را به دلیل سیاست روادید تک ورودی تحمل میکنند. اگر به دانشجویان ایرانی فرصت بیشتری برای سفر به کشور خود اعطا شود، آنها میتوانند نقش بسیار موثری در پیشبرد تفاهم و گفتگو میان دو ملت بازی کنند.

در پایان، بر اهمیت شناخته شدن آمریکا در سرتاسر جهان به عنوان مدافع واقعی حقوق بشر برای همه مردم تأکید داریم. در طول سالیان، اکثریت قریب به اتفاق مردم ایران نهایت احترام خود را به آمریکاییها ابراز داشتهاند. ما از شما میخواهیم تا در این زمان سخت، با تمرکز بر نقض حقوق بشر در سرزمین مادریمان، در کنار مردم قرار گیرید.

با احترام فراوان،
دانشجویان طرفدار حقوق شهروندی در ایران

دانشگاه کالیفرنیا- سن دیگو

تشکلهای امضا کننده:

همبستگی دانشجویان ایرانی در آمریکا، دانشگاه برکلی کالیفرنیا

انجمن دانشجویان ایرانی دموکرات در دانشگاه جورج واشنگتن


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Student Movement and the need of Today's Green Movement of Iran

"Student Movement and the need of Today's Green Movement of Iran"- A talk by Aliakbar Mousavi

جنبش دانشجويي و نياز امروز جنبش سبز
Iranian Student Alliance in America-ISAA
Presents

Student Movement and the need of Today's Green Movement of Iran

Aliakbar Mousavi (Khoeini) is a notable Iranian human rights activist and politician. He was an active member of Tahkim vahdat before he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of Iran. In the parliament, he made a significant attempt to defend the rights of political prisoners during the 1990s. Mousavi Khoeini started his political career as an activist in the Islamic Students Association of Khajeh Nasir University. Students in "Islamic Associations" are the biggest pro-democracy student groups in the universities in Iran. He was later elected to be a member of Adver Tahkim Vahdat, a representative body of Islamic Students Associations in Iran. In 1999, he was elected to the Majlis of Iran (Iranian Parliament) from the district of Tehran. He along with Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Ali Tajernia and others started the student faction in the parliament. They followed up the demands of student activists within the parliament.
In this talk he is going to talk with us about the Iranian Students in prison and their contribution to democratic movement of Iran and also the future of the movement.

Time: Thurday, October 14, 2010 - 6:00pm

Location: UC Berkeley Campus,

MLK Student Union (Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave.)

4th floor - Chinquapin Room

Facebook Event - Campus Map