Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Obama cuts off funding for center documenting Iranian human rights violations

Jihad Watch

Yet another Which-Side-Is-Obama-On Alert: "Obama Cuts Off Funding for Iranian Human-Rights Documentation," by Michael Rubin at The Corner, October 6 (thanks to Banafsheh):

I've got to say, even for the Obama administration, this is a real shocker.

The Clinton State Department has decided to cut off all funding for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), which was compiling lists of protestors imprisoned in this summer's unrest, as well as those who were killed in the crackdown. IHRDC is what human-rights advocates should be: methodical, precise, and apolitical in their work. And yet, the Obama administration has, without explanation, cut off all federal funding to the group which has consistently fulfilled its mandate.

Anyone, across the political spectrum who has any interest in human rights in Iran keeps the IHRDC reports on their desks.

Such as:

Forced Confessions: Targeting Iran's Cyber-Journalists

report cover


This publication is a compilation of witness statements by three Iranian bloggers and cyber-journalists who were arrested and detained by the Iranian government in 2004 and 2005. The witness statements are the results of interviews conducted by IHRDC staff in 2008 and 2009. Two of the journalists—Roozbeh Mirebrahimi and Omid Memarian—were active cyber-journalists residing in and around Tehran at the time of their arrests. The third witness—Arash Sigarchi—was the Editor-in-Chief of Gilan-e Emrooz in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. They were charged with (and convicted of) moral, press, and national security crimes. The statements describe, in detail, the journalists’ arrests, detention, torture, forced confessions and eventual convictions.
http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/reports.htm

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