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	Fears remain over stoning death of mother Ms Ashtiani in Iran by Human Rights Watch / Amnesty Iran   Nov. 4, 2010   "Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani was not executed today," exiled human rights activist Mina Ahadi from the International Committee Against Stoning told AFP. "The execution time has now passed. But the danger remains and it could still happen at any time."   Ms. Ashtiani, a 43 year-old mother of two, was punished with flogging for having a purported "illicit relationship," and now faces imminent death.   The Iranian government has refused the Brazilian government"s offer of asylum for Ms. Ashtiani. After a public outcry, her execution by stoning was indefinitely postponed.   Oct 2010   Rights Defender dedicates award to Iranian Women Activists. (Human Rights Watch)   Sussan Tahmasebi, recipient of the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism for 2010, dedicated her award to the imprisoned lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and other detained women activists on November 10, 2010.   Human Rights Watch is presenting the award to Tahmasebi for her courageous work to promote civil society and women"s rights in Iran.   Tahmasebi expressed her concern about Sotoudeh"s deteriorating health. Sotoudeh has been on a "dry" hunger strike since October 31, 2010, refusing to eat or drink anything to protest being held in solitary confinement since her arrest on September 4. Prosecutors charged Sotoudeh with various national security crimes, but have not made public any information regarding the basis for these charges.   "Nasrin Sotoudeh has dedicated her life to defending the rights of the accused, often at great risk to herself and her family," Tahmasebi said. "Now she is behind bars, for no other reason than being unwilling to compromise with authorities when it comes to safeguarding her clients due process rights."   Prison officials have prevented Sotoudeh from meeting with her husband and lawyer. Sotoudeh"s health is in serious decline and she is in critical need of emergency intervention, Tahmasebi said.   Since 2005, and especially since the disputed presidential election in June 2009, Iran has stepped up repressive measures against Iranian civil society activists, including those who advocate women"s rights and speak out against discriminatory laws. The government has arrested scores of volunteers and members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grass-roots campaign aimed at overturning discriminatory laws.   "Iranian women in prison today include human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, and students," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "What they have in common is their relentless pursuit of justice, at great risk to themselves, their families, and their reputations."   Tahmasebi expressed particular concern about three other women sentenced to prison for their work:   •Bahareh Hedayat, the first secretary of the Women"s Commission of the Office to Foster Unity (Tahkim-e Vahdat), and the first - and so far only - woman elected to the national student organization"s central committee.   Authorities arrested her on December 30, 2009, and charged her with various national security crimes, including "propaganda against the system," "disturbing public order," "participating in illegal gatherings," and "insulting the president."   In May, Judge Moghiseh of Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Hedayat to nine and a half years in prison in relation to her student and women"s rights activities. In July, an appeals court upheld the sentence. She has remained in prison since her arrest and is currently serving her term.   •Jila Baniyaghoub, an award-winning journalist and women"s rights activist. Security forces arrested her and her husband in their home on June 20, 2009. Prosecutors charged her with "propaganda against the regime" for her journalism and released her on bail after she spent two months in detention.   Her husband, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, is currently serving a five-year sentence on various national security charges related to his journalism.   On June 8, a revolutionary court sentenced Baniyaghoub to a year in prison and barred her from working as a journalist for 30 years. In late October an appeals court affirmed the lower court"s ruling. She has not yet begun her sentence.   •Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights activist who worked with the Committee of Human Rights Reporters. Security forces arrested her on December 20, 2009, as she and several colleagues were preparing to take a bus to Qom to attend the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, a dissident cleric who long criticized the government.   Prosecutors charged her with "assembly and collusion to commit a crime," "propaganda against the regime," and moharebeh, a vaguely defined offense meaning "enmity against God" that carries the death penalty and is often reserved for people accused of belonging to an organization that takes up arms against the state. On September 18, a revolutionary court sentenced Ahari to six years in prison, to be served in Izeh prison, 500 miles from Tehran, her home town. Ahari"s lawyer has appealed.   Tahmasebi also referred to the situation of several other women activists and journalists who have been sentenced to prison terms.   These women include:   •Aliyeh Eghdamdoust, a women"s rights activist serving a three-year sentence for national security crimes after taking part in a peaceful women"s rights gathering at Haft-e Tir square in Tehran on June 12, 2006.   •Shabnam Madadzadeh, deputy chair of the Tehran Council of Tahkim-e Vahdat, the national student organization. Authorities arrested her and her brother on February 20, 2009. Prosecutors charged the two with moharebeh and "propaganda against the regime" in connection with their student activities.   In February, after they spent a year in detention, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Moghiseh, sentenced them to five years in prison. Prison authorities transferred her to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, where conditions are notably poor, on August 2. They have denied her family"s requests for medical leave though she reportedly suffers from numerous physical ailments.   •Mahdieh Golroo, a student activist and member of the Committee to Defend the Right to Education, a group dedicated to restoring the rights of students prohibited from continuing their college education because of their political activities.   She has been in prison since November 3, 2009. A revolutionary court convicted her of national security crimes and sentenced her to 28 months in April 2010. Although she reportedly suffers from intestinal problems, prison authorities have refused to grant her temporary medical leave.   •Jila Tarmasi, a member of a group of mothers protesting their children"s detentions, who was arrested on October 9, along with her daughter, when security forces raided her home in Tehran. Tarmasi"s daughter was released after 12 days, but Tarmasi still remains in prison and has not been allowed visits by her family. She joined the "Mourning Mothers," now called the "Mothers of Laleh Park," to protest her son"s detention.   "Mourning Mothers" was established in June 2009 by mothers whose children lost their lives in state-sanctioned violence following Iran"s disputed June 12 election. They used to conduct silent protests in Tehran"s Laleh Park, but security forces now prevent them from holding the protests.   •Akram Zienali, another member of "Mourning Mothers," was also arrested on October 9 along with her daughter when security forces raided her home in Tehran. Her daughter was released after 12 days, but Zeinali remains in custody. Her son, Saeed Zeinali, was a university student arrested 11 years ago after protests erupted at Tehran University. He has since disappeared, and his mother has been trying for years to discover his fate.   •Fatemeh Masjedi, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign from Qom who worked to promote women"s rights. She was charged with "spreading propaganda against the state" and supporting a "feminist group which works in opposition to the regime" and sentenced on August 29 to a year in prison. Her lawyer is filing an appeal, and she has not yet begun serving her term.   •Maryam Bidgoli, another Qom resident who is a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and who worked for women"s rights. She was arrested and sentenced to a year in prison along with Masjedi, on the same charges. Her lawyer is filing an appeal and she has not yet begun serving her term.   •Mahsa Amrabadi, a journalist who sent a public letter to the head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, criticizing the arrest and detention of journalists, including her husband, Massoud Bastani. Judge Moghiseh of Branch 28 of Iran"s Revolutionary Court sentenced her to a year in prison in October for "acting against national security" in connection with her interviews and reports regarding the post-election crackdown on journalists. She has not yet appealed the decision in her case nor has she begun serving her prison term.   •Hengameh Shahidi, a journalist and women"s rights activist sentenced to six years in prison on November 15, 2009, by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Security forces arrested her on June 30, 2009, in Tehran and charged her with various national security crimes, including "participation in illegal gatherings," "propaganda against the regime," and "insulting the president."   After persistent requests from her family, authorities temporarily released her from Evin prison on October 28 so that she could undergo medical treatment for a variety of physical ailments, including heart problems.   Tahmasebi called on the Iranian authorities to release those who are serving prison terms or are in "temporary detention," including Nazanin Khosravani, a journalist who was arrested by security forces last week, and to overturn the convictions of all of the women whose cases she highlighted.
	Intimidation of UN-backed Lebanon tribunal unacceptable by UN News & agencies   Jan 29, 2011   Hariri boycotts new Lebanese government.   Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati on Thursday began discussions with parliamentary blocs on the makeup of a new government, which already has secured the support of Hezbollah, the influential Shiite group, as well as the neighboring government of Syria.   Saad Hariri, caretaker prime minister, said his party will not join the government of his successor, yet urged Mikati to respect the findings of a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri''s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in which Hezbollah is suspected of close involvement.   29 October 2010   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned this week’s attack against three staff members of the United Nations-backed tribunal set up to try suspects in the 2005 murders of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others, calling such acts of interference and intimidation “unacceptable.”   The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Mr. Ban stressed in a statement issued by his spokesperson yesterday, is an independent court set up at the request of the Lebanese Government and with a clear Security Council mandate. “It is an important tool to uncover the truth and end impunity,” he said.   On Wednesday, two investigators from the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal and their interpreter were attending a pre-arranged meeting at a doctor’s office in Beirut as part of the investigation when a large group of people “showed up unexpectedly” and violently attacked the three staff.   The Lebanese army extracted the three staff members and brought them back safely to the Tribunal’s office where they were provided with medical attention. In his statement, the Secretary-General called on all parties to refrain from interfering in the Special Tribunal’s work and from prejudging its outcome.   He also underscored the importance of The Hague-based Special Tribunal carrying out its work safely and securely.   The Prosecutor’s Office denounced the use of violence, emphasizing that the investigation into the Hariri attack will continue undeterred.   The Tribunal is an independent body that was set up following a probe by the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) after an earlier UN mission found that Lebanon’s own inquiry into the massive car bombing in February 2005 that killed Mr. Hariri and the others was seriously flawed and that Syria was primarily responsible for the political tensions that preceded the attack.   The investigation of the murders is being carried out under the guidance of the Tribunal’s Prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, a Canadian prosecutor and former head of the IIIC.   Oct 2010   Hezbollah officials are not above international law.   The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has issued a warning against any cooperation with the international tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, putting new pressure on Lebanon’s fragile coalition government.   Lebanese authorities have cooperated with the tribunal since it was established. But in recent months reports have circulated that prosecutors are set to indict members of Hezbollah, and subsequently Mr. Nasrallah has denounced the investigation as a tool of Israel and the United States.   Hezbollah and its allies have repeatedly warned that an indictment against any of its members could lead to civil strife.   Oct 2010   Senior UN official warns of ‘hyper-dangerous’ situation in Lebanon.   A senior United Nations official warned today that the presence of heavily-armed militias and a recent escalation of rhetoric and confrontation have created an extremely dangerous situation in Lebanon, calling on all parties to do their utmost to reduce tensions.   “We know that in Lebanon you have militias which are very heavily armed and increasingly so. This creates a hyper-dangerous situation,” Terje Roed-Larsen told reporters after providing a briefing to the Security Council.   Mr. Roed-Larsen is the UN Special Envoy for the Implementation of Resolution 1559, which was adopted by the Council in 2004 amid concern about high tensions within Lebanon.   It calls for free and fair elections, an end to foreign interference and the disbanding of all militias.   He said he believed that the situation in Lebanon is “the most critical issue of international peace and security today,” and instability in the country will have ripple effects across the region.   “This is why all parties in Lebanon, in the region and beyond must now shoulder their responsibilities to stop irresponsible and reckless rhetoric,” the official stated.   “Critical to this is also the disbanding and disarming of all militias,” he added.   “Militias holding arms in Lebanon today is an intimidation in itself, particularly when it is paired with reckless and irresponsible rhetoric.”   In his latest report on the implementation of resolution 1559, which Mr. Roed-Larsen presented today to the Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern about the recent escalation of political tensions in Lebanon, and urged all parties to focus on strengthening the country’s sovereignty and security and on resolving issues such as the presence of armed militias.   “I remain keenly aware that the combination of mistrust among the parties and the continued presence of militias could lead to tensions and possible insecurity and instability in Lebanon and beyond,” he wrote in the report.   “The country should not be used as a staging ground for furthering regional aspirations or promoting conflict.”   Mr. Roed-Larsen told reporters he believed that the Middle East is at “an extremely critical juncture,” adding that there are “crosswinds and a hurricane blowing up” in the region.   “And in the middle of those crosswinds, there is a tent standing, and that tent is critically upheld by two poles. One is the Palestinian one and the other one is the Lebanese. If one of those poles cracks, the whole tent will go down.”
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