'Day of action' planned for Iran

A international 'day of action' has been planned by a group of human and civil rights organisations for restoration of human rights in Iran.

United4Iran aims to bring an end to the human rights violations seen in Iran in response to post-election protests. The group is planning rallies in over 55 cities with the aim to "to condemn the widespread and systematic violations of the Iranian people’s human rights and to call for full restoration of their human and civil rights."

The actions, to be held on Saturday 25 July, are supported by religious leaders, Nobel Peace Laureates and global stars including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, Sean Penn and Shirin Ebadi. Archbishop Tutu said "We deplore the violence and crackdown on peaceful protesters, the increasing restrictions on civil liberties, and the imprisonment of a growing number of civil leaders in Iran."

Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi, commented that "If one country sincerely wants to support democracy in another country that is under dictatorial rule, the only thing to do is to support the freedom fighters who stand for the democratic institutions of that country. Done this way, the sapling of democracy will bear the flower of freedom."




Twenty-seven Iranian political activists, human rights advocates and academics have also called for a hunger strike in front of the UN headquarters in New York from 22-24 July. They have Iranians living in the United States to join them in their display of solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people.

Following last month's presidential election in Iran, millions of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran and other cities in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. The government responded with a tough, violent crackdown on demonstrators and banned foreign news media from reporting from 'illegal' rallies. Many Iranian protestors used internet sites such as twitter and youtube to plan rallies and spread information, pictures and videos.