Revolution in Tunisia: Forward and Onward!

English/Français

On Friday 14th January, a month-old mass protest and struggle of the working class and people of Tunisia against unemployment and destitution and the corrupt police state resulted in the hasty flight of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, the President of Tunisia. This was the first achievement of the people of Tunisia in their fight for freedom and equality.

This is the beginning of a revolution whose victory cannot be anything short of the establishment of direct rule of citizens based on direct popular participation in administration of the state, complete overthrow of the current government, and the destruction of the oppressive machinery of the state which has been used against the people of Tunisia for more than half a century.

The swift victory of the people Tunisia in forcing Ben Ali, who has been at the helm of a fearsome machinery of terror, to flee, gave rise to optimism and was welcomed by the people of the world, particularly in Arab countries. In some countries, people demonstrated in support of the people of Tunisia, while a shadow of fear fell on the face of the dictators. In Iran the people eagerly watched the scenes similar to their own struggle against the Islamic regime in the 2009 revolution, and sent messages of support and congratulations following the flight of the Tunisian dictator; they felt stronger in their fight against the Islamic regime of Iran.

The start of the Tunisian revolution is an important development with a momentous impact on the region and in particular on the countries of the so-called ‘Arab World’. This revolution must move forward vigorously and achieve its victory. The ruling elite of Tunisia, in co-ordination with Western powers, particularly France and the United States, is trying to ‘put out of sight’ some of the hated figures of the Tunisian state and save the oppressive state machinery, such as the army and other oppressive organs; by inviting some nationalist, Islamist and reactionary elements of the opposition to form a government of ‘national unity’, they are trying to maintain and justify the current system of oppression and exploitation. The code name for this operation is the ‘Jasmine Revolution’, which is supposedly based on the model of the Velvet Revolution. By passing the power between different groups of the ruling class, the ruling elite aims to defeat the people’s revolution in Tunisia.

The people of Tunisia must advance their revolution; they must put forward such demands as the unconditional release of political prisoners, public trial of Ben Ali and all those responsible for the recent killings, an end to Marshal Law, abolition of all the oppressive organs of the state, publication of the all the documents of the theft and embezzlement by top government officials, direct and popular participation in all decision- making in industries, government organisations, universities and neighbourhoods, unconditional freedom of expression, strike, organisation and political activities, immediate rise in pay levels, etc. No government - ‘national unity’ or otherwise - has any legitimacy unless it recognises the above demands. Any government that fails to recognise these demands would be deemed as the continuation of the old dictatorship and consequently must stand aside.

Moving forward and achieving these demands is only possible by the mass organisation of the working class and people of Tunisia.

We are for the advance and comprehensive victory of the people of Tunisia; their victory will be a victory for the people of world, including the people Iran.

Worker-communist Party of Iran
16 January 2011

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Français

Révolution en Tunisie : En avant ! En avant !

Le vendredi 14 janvier, un mois de protestations et de luttes de la classe ouvrière et du peuple de Tunisie contre le chômage, la misère et l'Etat policier corrompu a conduit à la fuite précipitée de Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, le président de Tunisie. Ce fut la première réalisation du peuple de Tunisie dans sa lutte pour la liberté et l'égalité.

C'est le début d'une révolution dont la victoire ne peut être que l'établissement du pouvoir direct des citoyens basé sur la participation populaire dans l'administration de l'Etat, le renversement complet de l'actuel gouvernement et la destruction de la machine répressive d'Etat utilisée contre le peuple de Tunisie depuis plus d'un demi-siècle.

La rapide victoire des gens de Tunisie pour forcer Ben Ali, qui était à la tête d'une redoutable machine de terreur, à fuir, pousse à l'optimisme et a été saluée par les peuples du monde en particulier dans les pays arabes. Dans plusieurs pays, les gens ont manifesté pour soutenir le peuple de Tunisie, alors que l'ombre de la peur plane sur la tête des dictateurs. En Iran, les gens se précipitaient pour regarder ces scènes similaires à celles de leur propre lutte contre le régime islamique lors de la révolution de 2009, et envoyaient des messages de soutien et de salutations après la fuite du dictateur tunisien ; ils se sentent plus forts pour leur lutte contre le régime islamique d'Iran.

Le début de la révolution tunisienne est événement important avec un impact considérable dans la région et en particulier dans les pays de ce qui est appelé le “monde arabe”. Cette révolution doit vigoureusement aller de l'avant et réaliser sa victoire. L'élite dirigeante de Tunisie, en coordination avec les puissances occidentales, en particulier la France et les Etats-Unis, tente de mettre “hors de la vue” quelques uns des visages les plus haïs de l'Etat tunisien et de sauver la machine répressive d'Etat, comme l'armée et autres organes de répression, en invitant quelques nationalistes, islamistes et éléments réactionnaires de l'opposition pour former un gouvernement “d'unité nationale”, ils tentent de maintenir et de justifier l'actuel système d'oppression et d'exploitation. Le nom de code de cette opération est celui de “révolution du jasmin”, supposée être basée sur le modèle de la révolution de velours. En transférant le pouvoir entre différents groupes de la classe dirigeante, le but de l'élite au pouvoir est de provoquer la défaite de la révolution du peuple en Tunisie.

La population de Tunisie doit faire avancer sa révolution ; en mettant en avant des revendications comme la libération inconditionnelle des prisonniers politiques, le jugement public de Ben Ali et de tous ceux qui sont responsables des récents assassinats, la fin de la loi martiale, l'abolition des organes répressifs de l'Etat, la publication de tous les documents concernant le pillage et les détournements de fond par les hauts fonctionnaires du gouvernement, la participation directe et populaire dans toutes les prises de décision dans les industries, les organisations gouvernementales, les universités et les quartiers, la liberté inconditionnelle d'expression, de grève, d'organisation et d'activités politiques, la hausse immédiate des salaires, etc. Aucun gouvernement, qu'il se nomme “d'unité nationale” ou autrement, n'aura aucune légitimité pour diriger tant qu'il ne reconnaîtra pas ces revendications. Tout gouvernement qui refusera d'accepter ces revendications sera considéré comme la continuité de l'ancienne dictature et par conséquent ne pourra être reconnu.

Aller de l'avant et obtenir ces revendications ne sera possible que par l'organisation de masse de la classe ouvrière et de la population de Tunisie.

Nous sommes pour l'avancée et la victoire complète de la population de Tunisie ; sa victoire sera une victoire pour les peuples du monde, dont le peuple d'Iran.


Parti Communiste-Ouvrier d'Iran
16 Janvier 2011

London protest: Save Habib Latifi! No to executions! Free all political prisoners in Iran!

Sunday January 2^nd, 2011, 2-4pm

Trafalgar Square, North Terrace

(outside the National Gallery)

 

WPI – Organisation Abroad (UK)

Contact:

wpiengland@gmail.com

07950-924434

On the suicide bomb attack in Stockholm

From the statement by WPI’s organisation in Sweden on the suicide bomb attack in Stockholm on Saturday 11 December:

We must stand up to Islamic terrorism!

“An audio message sent earlier to Sweden’s news agency and Secret Police (Säpo) by the suicide bomber, mentions “Sweden’s silence” over the cartoons [of Prophet Mohammed] by [artist] Lars Vilks, as well as the presence of Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan. It says the time has now come for your children, daughters and sisters to die.

There is no doubt that this is another example of Islamic terrorist acts in Europe, brutally targeting defenceless citizens. We categorically condemn such terrorist crimes. We once again stress the unconditional freedom of expression and defend Lars Vilks’ right of free expression. To stand up to this terrorism we must defend the unconditional freedom of expression and the rights of women and children in communities and families labelled as Muslim. We must defend the struggle of people to smash the reactionary Islamic movement in the Middle East and support the fight for secularism in Sweden and around the world. The hands of religion and terrorism must be kept off people’s lives!

In the wake of this terrorist attack, racist forces will no doubt try to target people labelled as Muslim, and will advocate further restrictions in rights of refugees. We strongly condemn such racist ploys. Islamic terrorism and racism feed off each other. We must stand up to both with the banner of humanity”.

12 December 2010 

Protest in support of students in Iran

Call for protest outside the Islamic Republic of Iran’s embassy in London

Tuesday 7th December (16th Azar in Iranian calendar) is Student Day in Iran. And year after year, Iranian students have used the occasion to protest against the barbaric Islamic Republic regime.

In solidarity with those struggles, come and join the protest on Tuesday from 6 to 8pm in front of the Islamic Republic’s embassy at 16 Prince’s Gate, SW7 1PT.
Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge

For further info, please contact: 07950 924434

Worker-communist Party of Iran (WPI) – UK



فراخوان تظاهرات در مقابل سفارت جمهوری اسلامی در لندن

بمناسبت ١٦ آذر، در همبستگی با مبارزات دانشجویان ایران علیه رژیم جنایتکار جمهوری اسلامی، عموم ایرانیان ساکن لندن را به تظاهرات در مقابل سفارت جمهوری اسلامی دعوت می کنیم:

سه شنبه ٧ دسامبر از ساعت ٦ تا ٨ شب

16 Prince’s Gate

London, SW7 1PT

Tube: Knightsbridge

برای اطلاعات بیشتر با این شماره تماس بگیرید:

07950924434
حزب کمونیست کارگری ایران – تشکیلات انگلستان

'Women must be free - fight for your rights!'

After their semi-clothed protest in Kiev a couple of days ago in support of Sakineh Ashtiani, FEMEN activists are being interviewed by Sohaila Sharifi on NCTV live. Watch the interview in English, and at the end of the clip the summary of the interview in Farsi.

Protest at fuel shortage in Iran

Watch how this political science student from Azad university in the north of Iran is making his way to university in protest at the fuel shortage. He was arrested by the university's security guards.

Complaint to Greek government for violation of refugee rights

Complaint by the International Federation of Iranian Refugees lodged with the European Court of Human Rights against the Greek government for its violation of refugees’ rights

I submit this complaint on behalf of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) against the Greek government for its violation of the refugees’ rights in the country.

A sizeable number of Iranian refugee seekers, i.e., escapees from fear of imprisonment, torture and execution, have started a sit-in in front of the UN office in Athens which still continues after 40 days. In a prior protest action a different number of them had initiated a sit-in, which led, in consequence of the irresponsibility response of the Greek’s government, to their going on hunger strike and sewing their lips in protest. Now, after forty-odd days of their second sit-in, the Greek government still refuses to accept any of the refugee’s demands. Indeed, it has basically refused to respond to their demands in any way, except by, once in a while, ordering its police force to raid their sit-in site, beat them and trash their belongings. As a result the protesting refugees began a hunger strike on Thursday, October 14, and eight of them sewed their lips. According to the latest news as of October 21 eleven individuals, out of the total of twenty-five striking refugees, have sewn their lips. The ghastly scenes of the refugees sewing their lips, reported on the internet and in the media, make one’s hair stand on end. These scenes are transpiring in Greece, a member country of the European Union. This country has, evidently, no defined standards as far as reviewing the refugee applicants’ cases and/or meeting even their most basic, dire needs. Still worse, it has, unfortunately, become renowned for its encroachments on their human rights as refugees and mistreating them.

These refugees have come to Greece seeking protection from a country by the name of Iran – a country suffering under a criminal Islamist regime which has, for the past 31 years, ruled by the horrific rules belonging to a barbaric era. Relying on these ‘holy’ rules it has committed a whole catalogue of medieval crimes against the dissenters, the accused individuals, the youth, the women, the workers, the intellectuals, in short, against the whole society – a catalogue extending from flogging to imprisonment, amputation of the limbs, torture, rape, execution, lynching, assassination and stoning. Thanks to the on-going Iranian people’s movement for freedom, as well as the ridiculous lies of the heads of the Islamic Republic about their oppression of the people in Iran, its true murderous nature has become common knowledge around the world. The Iranian refugees in Turkey, Greece and other countries have escaped such conditions, that is, the 31-year long war of the regime against the nation. They should, therefore, be accepted as refugees with open arms and the least ‘investigations’, and their safety and security be guaranteed in accordance with the 1951 Refugee Convention, ‘the Legislation that Underpins our Work’ (UNHCR, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0e466.html).

To reiterate, the nature of the Iranian regime is clear to the people around the world. What remains to be explained is the irresponsive, and therefore irresponsible, policy adopted by the Greek government vis-à-vis their plight. The silence of the Greek government has, in practice, amounted to ignoring the very human rights the EU is committed to. Are the refugees not human to deserve the protection of the Charter of Human Rights? The Greek government ignores the refugees, their needs and their demands as if it is not part of the EU and does not have to abide by its obligations thereof. The Greek government has simply closed its eyes to the reality of what transpires in Iran. That is the chief reason why it refuses to acknowledge their needs and pay them what they are legally entitled to. Indeed, it essentially refuses to consider them human. It is reported that refugees, the sick and the healthy, the smoker and non-smoker, are detained in overcrowded salons at decaying old detention centers. These locales have nothing in common with modern facilities, especially in Europe, and are totally unhygienic, unwholesome environments. The intolerable conditions of detention centers have brought the refugees to the verge of insanity. Those who have been released from them have reported that they had been not only languishing in unhealthy, squalid and deadly dull conditions but also from time to time severely assaulted by the police. It must be emphasized that during its 22 years of its existence the IFIR has relentlessly defended the refugees from a progressive perspective as humans sans phrase, independent of their faith, political affiliation, race, ethnicity and gender. By the same token it has never encouraged such forms of protest as hunger strike or lip-sewing. However, it is the Greek government and the inhuman atmosphere it has created for the refugees that has forced those innocent human beings into self-harm’s way. This Greek government’s treatment of the refugee seekers violates all universal charters and conventions established to protect humans and, specifically, the refugees. It should therefore be condemned as such and stopped immediately.

Why should, especially in a European country, the escapees from hells like Iran and Afghanistan be driven to sewing their lips in a battle to defend just their natural right to life?! The refugees in Greece are rotting away in constant fear of not having any stay permit, job, housing, health services, and so on. There is no responsible office or authority to deal with their plight or protest and give them what is rightfully theirs. In short, they have been pushed into the abyss of despair, which spawns only depression, chronic anxiety, and a whole host of other socio-psychological symptoms. In view of the above the IFIR would like to lodge this complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against the Greek government for its gross violation of both the Geneva Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Abdollah Asadi
Secretary, IFIR
October 23, 2010

CC Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch

WPI protest New York against Ahmadinejad in UN General Assembly

WPI activists protested outside the UN Headquarters in New York against Ahmadinejad's presence in the UN General Assembly on 23 September along with thousands of other people.









See footage here from the WPI protest, the wider protest and interviews with participants




(If you are unable to view the video, go here)



(If you are unable to view the video, go here)



(If you are unable to view the video, go here)

The International Campaign to Save Sakineh Ashtiani Shows the Way to Liberation from the Islamic Regime in Iran

For the Islamic regime in Iran stoning is a survival tool. This criminal regime has for over three decades enchained the entire Iranian society through jailing, flogging, torturing, executing, stoning, etc., and thus managed to prolong its despicable life. Stoning more than 150 people, predominantly women, to death for the ‘crime’ of sex out of wedlock; continuous execution of political opponents, including the massacre of tens of thousands of political prisoners and burying them in unmarked mass graves; systematic execution of adolescents; execution of the gay people; flogging men and women in public, as well as in front of their loved ones; gouging eyes; amputating limbs; killing the ‘perpetrators’ by pushing them off the cliff; torturing political prisoners physically and emotionally in a multitude of unspeakable ways; opening fire on people in the streets; assassination of opposition activists and personalities inside and outside the country form only a part of this regime’s horrendous track record.

On the one hand, sentencing Sakineh Ashtiani to stoning or hanging is a manifestation of the criminal nature of the Islamic state in Iran, and, on the other hand, fighting to free her is a part of the struggles of the people of Iran, as well as the world, for liberation from this medieval regime. For the past 30 years the Iranian people have been waging continuous, steadfast struggles against the criminal regime in different fields. These struggles reached their peak, and captured the world’s attention, in the summer of last year. Neda Agha-Soltan and Sakineh Ashtiani are two faces, two symbols, of the same revolutionary movement in Iran. Neda fell victim to the murderous regime, but Sakineh can, and must, be saved. Saving Sakineh will be a great step forward in the struggle against the Islamic Republic as well as against the world movement of political Islam in its entirety.

The Islamic Republic is the back bone of Islamic terrorism, which today constantly commits crimes throughout the world, especially in the Middle East and north of Africa. Bringing down the regime in Iran will be a hard blow to the whole movement of political Islam across the world. The people of Iran and, indeed, the world must, therefore, rid themselves of the Islamic Republic. The on-going revolutionary movement in Iran and the current international campaign against stoning are showing the people of the world the real, humane way of doing just that. Military attack or economic siege is not the way. The real way is that the people, the personalities and the progressive organizations of the world support the struggles of the Iranian people, and the governments as well as international bodies refuse to recognize the Islamic regime and isolate it proactively. That is the only viable, humane, civilized and practicable way to bring it down. Even if people are only worried about this regime’s nuclear projects and its support for terrorism in the region, they must actively support the struggles of the Iranian people.

The international campaign against stoning and execution in Iran is now spearheading these struggles. Join this campaign, and support it in any way you can!

Worker-communist Party of Iran
August 25, 2010

Terrorist agents attack Babak Shadidi again

Babak Shadidi targeted for the second time in Sweden by the terrorist agents of the Islamic regime of Iran

As reported earlier in a statement, the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic regime of Iran - well organized and active in the Western countries, had plotted the group assassination of several leadership members of the Worker-communist Party of Iran (WPI). The plot was to be carried out by Babak Shahidi, then a passive member of WPI. But Shadidi, troubled by his conscience, disclosed the vile, terrorist plot shortly before it was supposed to hatch. This obviously angered the Islamic regime in Tehran, which immediately boosted the level of persecution of Shadidi in exile and his family in Iran. Shadidi began receiving death threats, until on June 20 of this year he was assaulted in his residential apartment in Stockholm by two masked agents of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. He had to be transported to hospital by helicopter due to his critical condition after the attack. Shadidi was saved. But the death threats continued and finally materialized at around 3:15 PM on August 3rd when he was attacked for the second time by two masked agents in his work place, an apartment in a northern suburb of Stockholm. The assassins first struck severe blows to his head and neck and then forced him to call Khalil Keyvan, Secretary of the Abroad Organization of WPI, to tell him, ‘all my previous exposés of the terrorist activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as those of the persecution of my family in Iran, have been just lies.’ He did as he was told. They then tied his hands and feet, went on to harm him more for while, then forcibly poured a chemical solution down his throat that was supposed to kill him, and fled the scene. On the other side, Khalil Keyvan who had obviously become suspicious of both what Shadidi had to say and his curious tone of voice, contacted the police immediately after the conversation. Shadidi, barely alive at this point, was transported to hospital a short while after Keyvan’s emergency call to the police. His condition is now still critical but not life-threatening, and we are happy to report that he is recovering well. Thus the terrorist attempts of the agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Shadidi’s life were thwarted for the second time.

The Worker-communist Party of Iran will square up to such criminal acts. We have already, in several instances, seriously protested the Swedish government’s lax attitude toward the terrorist activities of the Islamist regime of Iran in Sweden. The last instance was the open letter by seven well-known Iranian activists living in Sweden addressed to the Swedish Prime Minister. It was made extensively available to the Swedish media, political parties, and various social and political organizations. In their letter the seven activists have criticized the nonchalant attitude of the Swedish police toward the dangers threatening the safety and security of the Iranian opposition activists in that country.

We call on all organizations and individuals opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran across the world to exert pressure on the Swedish government for its policies of forbearance in dealing with the Islamist regime and its careless attitude toward the terrorist conspiracies of that regime in Sweden. The Swedish government bears the chief responsibility for the safety and security of all political activists in its country. As far as the Iranian opposition groups and individuals in Sweden are concerned, it must be stipulated that should the Iranian regime’s terrorist agents do them any harm in that country in any way, shape or form, the Swedish government will, naturally, be held accountable. After all, it is exactly for their safety and security that such activists have fled their homeland.

Worker-communist Party of Iran – Abroad Organization
August 4, 2010

Article in Swedish which reports on the attack on Shadidi

Jamal Saberi has been released

After months of an international struggle we can finally declare that Jamal Saberi has been released form detention in Japan today!

The first phase of the Free Jamal! Campaign - to prevent the deportation of Jamal to the Islamic Republic of Iran and to get him released from the horrible detention centre - ends successfully. Now we are focussing on getting Jamal refugee status and permanent residency.

This success would not have been possible without your help! Jamal’s friends in Japan, the Railway Workers Union in Japan, organisations such as "Mission Free Iran" and thousands around the world who helped us in this campaign – you all share this victory and our success. Congratulations to all of you! We also thank our members and officers of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees worldwide and the Worker-Communist Party Abroad Organisation who stood repeatedly outside Japanese embassies and consulates in various countries and who were negotiating with Japanese officials.

We have always considered ourselves part of a global effort to free all refugees who are in detention and denied their rights by governments such as Japan. This success of freeing Jamal is the base from which we continue the advanced and extensive task to realise the rights of refugees everywhere.

International Federation of Iranian Refugees
4 August 2010

Stop appeasing terrorists

Open Letter to Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden, Regarding the Islamic Republic's Terrorism

Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt:

In January this year, Mr. Babak Shadidi, an Iranian-born Swedish citizen and a former member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran, revealed a plot to assassinate a number of the leaders of that party. The plot was planned in Sweden and was intended to be carried out in Germany. Babak Shadidi, who had planned to play a role in this plot, had a change of heart: he informed the party and the Swedish police, and disclosed the conspiracy. He has subsequently received numerous death threats.

Although a considerable amount of information and leads were provided to the police regarding this case, no serious attempt was made to apprehend the conspirators. It must be emphasized that one of the two agents of the Islamic Republic, who took Babak Shadidi blindfolded to a house on the outskirts of Stockholm to explain the details of the plot, has been identified.

While the Swedish police have passively neglected this case, on June 20th, Babak Shadidi was attacked by agents of the Islamic Republic while entering his home and was severely injured inside the house. He was then immediately flown by helicopter to a hospital for treatment.

Mr. Prime Minister!

You are certainly aware of the Islamic Republic's terrorism. This regime’s existence has its foundations in terror and thuggery. The terrorists reigning in Tehran have organized hundreds of assassinations of their opponents outside Iran. There are a number of leading figures in the regime who are sought by Interpol for direct involvement in organizing terrorist activities abroad. The plot to assassinate the leaders of the Worker-communist Party of Iran, which was conducted from Sweden, as well as the Köln kidnapping for 12 days of Dariush Shokouf, the director of “Iran, Prison” (a film about the rapes and torture of the political prisoners), are two links in this chain of assassinations and terror.

The people of Iran have shaken the foundations of the Islamic Republic regime, and the world is now aware of its criminal and dangerous nature. Today, even United Nations judges* are talking about the necessity of indicting the top figures of this regime on charges of genocide. The time of governments remaining silent and appeasing this murderous, terrorist regime has long passed.

Yet, the Islamic regime, out of desperation, continues its efforts in various ways to spread fear and silence the opposition outside of Iran.

Hence, we would like to draw your attention to this issue. We expect that you not allow Swedish soil become a safe haven for Islamic Republic’s terrorism against its opposition. So far, different interests have led to silence in the face of the Islamic Republic's terrorist actions. We will continue to spread public awareness against this policy of silence and condemn it. We demand first of all that you not ignore these terrorist acts by the Islamic Republic with the excuse of “national interest” and “diplomacy.” Secondly, we demand that this particular case be thoroughly investigated and the public informed of the findings.

Neither the Iranian people nor Swedish public opinion will accept that you allow Islamic terrorism do it pleases in Sweden. It is your obligation to protect the lives and safety of the Islamic Republic's opposition in Sweden. In closing, we would like to emphasize that Babak Shadidi continues to be victimized by the Islamic Republic of Iran and must be protected.

With regards,
Abdollah Asadi, Secretary General, Solidarity-Confederation of Iranian refugees
Kima Pazuki, Human rights activist
Mahin Alipur, Head of the Campaign to Defend Women's Rights in Iran
Karim Shah-Mohammadi, Head of the Children First Foundation, Sweden
Asad Nodinian, Responssible for Cmmunist combatant site
Afsane Wahdat, head of Ex-Muslim organization Sweden
Khalil Keyvan, secretary the Worker-communist Party of Iran, Abroad Organization

To respond to this letter, please contact: Afsane Vahdat
0046702468454Tel:
E-mail: afsanehvahdat@yahoo.se

Copy to: European Parliament

July 19, 2010

* Geoffrey Robertson's report on crimes committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran for among others genocide is here.

WPI statement on Zahedan bombings in Iran

Friday 16 July 2010

Two suicide bombings outside a mosque in Zahedan yesterday have left scores dead and hundreds wounded. As well as the two suicide bombers and members of the Pasdaran Army, casualties included many ordinary people. The bombings have led to fears among the people and have allowed the Islamic regime to step up its militarisation of the city and of the whole region. The group Jundullah has claimed responsibility, publishing photos of two young people said to be the bombers. The group said the bombings were in retaliation for the recent execution of the group’s leader Abdolmalek Rigi, as well as in support of the “Sunni people”.

This is, however, yet another instance of the war of Islamic terrorists: between, on the one hand, Iran’s Islamic regime, which cannot last even a single day without execution and terrorisation of the people, and, on the other, the Alqaeda-like Jundullah. People, whether stamped as “Shia” or “Sunni”, are the victim of these crimes. They have no interest in this brutal conflict between the Islamic regime and the vile political Islamic forces.

The Worker-communist Party of Iran strongly condemns these crimes, Islamic terrorism as a whole and the massacre of innocent people. WPI calls on the people, regardless of the fake identities that have been manufactured for them, to step up their efforts, hand in hand, for the ousting of the regime, which is itself the source of Islamic terrorism and the system of murder, repression and impoverishment of the people, for a secular, non-ethnic and humanist political system.

Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran
Neither ethnic, nor religious, but a humanist state
For a socialist republic

Worker-communist Party of Iran

18 Tir and anti-execution protest in London

WPI UK went to the IRI's embassy in London on Friday 9 July (18 Tir) to protest on the anniversary of the student uprising in 1999 and against executions and stoning in Iran.

Keep the pressure on until we end stoning and save Sakine

Mina Ahadi’s rebuttal of the press release issued by the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London on the stoning case

8 July 2010

With regards to the 8 July 2010 press release issued by the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London on the stoning sentence of Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani:

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran has retreated to some extent due to international pressure and widespread coverage received by the international campaign to save Sakine’s life. The main aim of the embassy’s press release, however, is to create doubt and detract from the campaign to save Sakine and others sentenced to death by stoning and execution.

2. Still the press release is a clear confirmation of the barbaric act of stoning saying only that the regime rarely carries out such sentences! The International Committee Against Executions and Stoning has a list of 13 people languishing for years in prison awaiting death by stoning. The real numbers are much higher.

3. The embassy’s press release says Sakine will not be stoned but it does not say what fate awaits her. They may execute her instead. The regime has retreated from stoning on a number of occasions in the past but has executed the accused instead. The execution of Abdulla Farivar in Sari prison for the alleged crime of sex outside of marriage is a case in point. Therefore, Sakine’s life is still in danger.

4. The aim of the campaign to save Sakine Ashtiani Mohammadi is for an official rescinding of her stoning and execution sentence and her unconditional release. Sex outside of marriage and the sexual relations of adults is their private affair. It is not a crime and must never be prosecuted.

5. The Islamic Republic of Iran must officially rescind the stoning and execution sentences of Sakine and all those facing stoning and execution and end the inhuman and barbaric punishment of stoning and execution.

6. Even this limited retreat is a success for Sakine and her children Sajjad and Faride as well as all the activists of the campaign against executions and stoning and decent people everywhere. Our campaign has shown that we can force the regime to back down. The embassy’s press release will not stop us from intensifying our powerful campaign. The retreat, however limited, has shown that the regime is under pressure.

I congratulate all those who have joined and supported our campaign for this limited success. I ask however that you step up your efforts for Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani, Mohammad Reza Hadadi (juvenile offender awaiting imminent execution), Zeinab Jalalian (sentenced to death for ‘enmity against God’) and others awaiting execution and stoning. Our pressure is working. We must intensify it until we secure a victory for the people of Iran by saving the lives of Sakine and others. We mustn’t stop until we deprive the regime in Iran of this tool for suppression and murder.

International Committee against Stoning and Execution

Mina Ahadi

8 July 2010

Notes:

1. For more information, contact:

Mina Ahadi

Telephone: 00491775692413

minaahadi@aol.com

www.notonemoreexecution.wordpress.com

2. The London embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s press release on the matter can be found below:

In the Name of God

PRESS RELEASE

Considering the statements made by the Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt on an Iranian national, Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, and her execution, hereby this mission denies the false news aired in this respect and notifies the Ministry that according to information from the relevant judicial authorities in Iran, she will not be executed by stoning punishment. It is notable that this kind of punishment has rarely been implemented in Iran and various means and remedies must be probed and exhausted to finally come up with such a punishment.

It should be added that the stoning punishment has not been cited in the draft Islamic Penal Code being deliberated in the Iranian Parliament.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran highly recommends that news and reports should not be taken for granted and considered a reliable source of information for official statements or misjudgements.

Press Section

July 8, 2010

WPI protests in support of Sakine & 18 Tir

This week, two important dates are coming up. The first one is the International Day against Stoning on Sunday 11 July. The other is the anniversary of the student uprising in Iran in 1999 this Friday 9 July (18 Tir).
WPI branches in various countries have organised around these dates to protest against Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani's death sentence by stoning in Iran and in memory of the student uprising.

Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani has been in prisone since 2005 and was convicted in 2006 for adultery and received 99 lashes. However she has subsequently been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. For more information on her case go here


Oslo, Norway
Thursday 8 July
4pm
Outside Parliament building

Gothenburg, Sweden
Thursday 8 July
5pm
Brunnsparken

Frankfurt, Germany
Thursday 8 July
7pm
Hauptwache
(organised together with the Communist Party of Iran)

London, UK
Friday 9 July
5-9pm
opposite the IRI embassy, 16 Prince's Gate SW7 1PT
Contact: Jalil Jalili +44 7950924434

Ottawa, Canada
Friday 9 July
12-2pm
Iranian embassy

Vancouver, Canada
Saturday 10 July
3-5pm
Art Gallery/Georgia
(organised together with International Federation of Iranian Refugees)

Message from workers in Iran to 2nd ITUC World Congress, Vancouver, Canada

Greetings to all the friends and colleagues taking part in the ITUC Congress

Dear Friends,
We are very sad that no representative from Iran can be there with you to convey the solidarity of Iranian workers with your Congress and to discuss face to face the issues of the workers’ movement in Iran. However, although we are far away, we feel next to you. We wish you and the world workers’ movement a productive and successful week.

Colleagues,
In nearly a decade you have been supporting us and have been aware of our pressing problems. And now we wish to let you know that at this moment the workers’ movement in Iran is going through one of its most difficult periods.

The Iranian government, throughout its life, has not only disregarded international conventions on fundamental worker rights, but over the past year, has used the current political situation in Iran to organise an even greater offensive on workers’ most basic rights and the few existing workers’ organisations in Iran.

Our colleagues Mr Saeed Torabian and Mr Reza Shahabi have been arrested in broad daylight by intelligence ministry officers on spurious charges. They were arrested in their workplaces and in their homes in front of their families, who after nearly two weeks remain unaware of their fate. In addition, over the past few weeks Mr Alireza Akhavan and Mr Behnam Ebrahim-zadeh have been arrested. Their whereabouts are also unknown.

Mr Mansoor Ossanlou and Mr Ebrahim Madadi have been in prison for the last three years for building a trade union, and during this time, they have not been granted any leave, have been denied medical care and have been kept in dangerous prisons.

Members of the executive committee of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers’ Union have been jailed for months and have even been fired from their jobs for union activities. The execution of Farzad Kamangar, arbitrary arrests, harassment and the sentencing of the worker activists to prison terms and lashes have created a most worrying situation for them and for the most basic form of union activity.

Not only our teacher colleagues, but also their families and their loved ones, are suffering from these problems. Many of them are either already in prison or on the way there.

Friends and colleagues,
This year at the ILO conference not only was the Iranian government not reprimanded, but was taken off the ‘special list’. We know that you are using all your resources and are trying to ensure that the workers’ movement in Iran is not sacrificed for the economic and political dealings of the states.

We salute your efforts so far and request and expect that you take even further steps in solidarity with the workers in Iran so as to reverse the conditions that have been imposed on them.

In achieving their human demands, workers have no other means but their class solidarity. While reaffirming the international solidarity of the working class, we shake your hands and send you our warmest greetings for your ongoing congress.

In solidarity,

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs United Bus Company – Syndicate of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers – Free Union of Iranian Workers – Committee to Relaunch the Syndicate of Metal and Mechanical Workers – Trade Association of Kermanshah Electrical and Metal Workers


----

Translated by the International Labour Solidarity Committee of the
Worker-communist Party of Iran
http://worker-communistpartyofiran.blogspot.com/

wpi.workers.iran@gmail.com

Imprisoned workers, teachers, and all political prisoners should be freed immediately

Worker activists have recently come under intensified pressure from the regime, and several additional worker activists have been arrested and imprisoned. These arrests serve as indicators of the regime's fear of workers entering the scene. They serve both to confront activists' efforts to organize workers and to intimidate the whole society. But the head of the regime should know that today, every factory is a stronghold for strike and struggle, and in each factory, tens of worker activists rise to unite and organize their fellow workers. We assure the heads of the regime that arrests, harassment, and persecution of worker activists will not obstruct the process of unifying and organizing workers.

Saeed Torabian, an official of Vahed Syndicate, was arrested on June 9. On June 12, Reza Shahabi, a member of the board of directors of the Vahed Syndicate, was arrested. Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a pipe worker at Shourabad pipe manufacturing in Shahr-e Rey, a member of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organizations, and a children's rights activist, was also arrested on June 12 and subjected to intense beating; it is believed that two of his ribs are broken. In the past few days, security forces have unsuccessfully sought Habib Rezapour, an active member of Vahed Syndicate, at his home. Alireza Akhawan, a co-worker of the Foundation of Defenders of Workers Rights, was arrested on June 3rd. Pezhman Rahimi, an active worker from the Khuzestan region, was arrested on April 17, charged with disturbing the peace, and sentenced by the General Court of Ahvaz to a year's imprisonment and 40 lashes. Rahimi had previously been accused of agitating Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane workers and the Pipe Manufacturing Workers of Ahvaz and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

Information agents and Pasdars from Kamyaran and the villages of Gashki and Gazerkhani arrested Kaveh Golmhammadi, a worker activist and member of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organizations, along with his 18 year old brother Kianoush Gholmohammadi, on Thursday June 3rd. Both are students. From 9am to 6pm , they were detained in the police station in Ghazarkhani, where they were subjected to pressure and harassment. The regime's thugs have threatened Kaveh Golmohammadi, demanding that he stop his activities; they have also tried to access information from his mobile phone.

In addition to these cases, six leaders of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane workers, Ali Nejati, Fereidoon Nikofar, Ghorban Alipour, Mohammad Heidari and Reza Rakhshan were fired from their jobs for trying to organize workers. Each has been arrested before and spent time in prison. Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, from Vahed Syndicate's leadership, have been imprisoned for an extended period of time. Osanloo in particular has been continuously harassed, pressured, and conspired against by the regime.

A number of teachers also have been imprisoned, among them, Abdol Reza Ghanbari( who has been sentenced to death) Seyed Hashem Khastar, Rasoul Bodaghi,, Abdollah Momeni, Mahmood Bheshti Langerudi, Ali Akbar Baghani, Mohammad Davari, Ali Reza Hashemi, Hosein Bastani -Nezhad, and Gorban Ahmadi.

This provides only the broad outlines of the Islamic Republic's oppression against workers, teachers, workers leaders, and activists, and against the arisen masses. But each incident first and foremost is an indicator of the fact that there is an ongoing vast mobilization of workers and teachers towards organizing. The Islamic Republic's fear is grounded in their knowledge that once workers and teachers have been mobilized, no degree of suppression, arrests or lay-offs can stop peoples' revolution.

The party calls upon all workers and workers' organizations, all teachers and students, university students of the whole country, organizations advocating women's rights, and revolutionary youth to intensify their struggle, confront these arrests, and demand the immediate and unconditional freedom of all workers, teachers and political prisoners, including the 22nd Khordad (June 12) arrestees.

All case files should be discarded, workers and teachers who have been laid off should be reinstated, and compensation of lost wages should be issued for those who spent time in prison or were laid off. Protests against these arrests by workers' organizations inside Iran, as well as by international organizations, have begun and are now in need of becoming more widespread and developing into larger coordinated actions. The party calls upon all international organizations, institutions, and concerned humanitarian individuals to join this struggle.

The struggle to free worker activists, teacher activists, and all political prisoners is an important pillar to overthrow the Islamic Republic. We should everywhere, in all gatherings, resolutions, and petitions, loudly declare these demands.

Worker-communist Party of Iran
June 14, 2010

12 June protest in London in front of Iranian embassy

WPI UK were in front of the Iranian embassy in London yesterday marking the first year of the uprising of the people of Iran against the Islamic regime of Iran.

20 June 1981 - 20 June 2009

The upcoming anniversary of Neda Agha-Soltan's murder on 20 June 2009 in Tehran by the Islamic regime's forces brings to mind 20 June 1981 when the Islamic regime in Iran manifested its power through a coup d'etat.


June 20, 1981: One of the Greatest Crimes of the 20th Century
Interview with Mansoor Hekmat

Radio International: The common perception is that the Islamic Republic is a result of the 1979 revolution. You have stated, however, that like most revolutions, the 1979 Iranian revolution was ultimately defeated by brutal suppression. Explain this.

Mansoor Hekmat: Any independent observer who examines that history will see that the people rose against a dictatorial Monarchy and its secret police, prisons and torture. (Those who have not experienced that period first hand should seriously review that history.) In that society, there was no freedom of expression, press and organisation. Trade union and Socialist activities were non-existent. There was no freedom of political activity. It was a despotic one-man rule, reliant on the police, army and intelligence service. There was staggering economic inequality, with widespread poverty alongside enormous wealth. People rose against these and for equality and freedom from political suppression and economic exploitation. This is known as the 1979 (1357) revolution.

When it became evident that the Shah’s regime was incapable of suppressing this revolutionary movement, the Islamic movement begins to rear its head. This reactionary movement, which belonged to the past and existed in a corner of Iranian society, was against civilisation, social modernisation, women’s right and development. One of this movement’s personalities, Khomeini, who was in exile in Iraq, was taken to Paris and placed under the spotlight. From then on, Western governments and media widely promoted this Islamic movement as the alternative that could and should replace the Shah’s government. Finally, General Robert Huyser, the United States government’s Special Envoy went to Iran, spoke with the army and secured their allegiance to Khomeini. A large segment of the traditional and national opposition of the time, such as the National Front, the Tudeh Party, etc. declared their allegiance to the Islamic movement. As a result, the Islamic current was pushed to the forefront of the anti-Monarchy movement. Contrary to the wishes of the Islamic current, the people rose up (known as the uprising of 22 Bahman, 11 February 1979) and eventually defeat the Shah’s army in a military confrontation. This process resulted in the formation of a government under the leadership and control of the Islamic current.

The two and a half years during 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman 1357) and 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360) was still not strictly speaking, however, an Islamic rule. It was a period of relative open political activity, which the state was incapable of suppressing on a widespread scale, despite the existence of thugs and Islamicism. At that time, Khalkhali [infamous as the hanging judge] was the regime’s executioner but even so, the regime did not have the power to completely suppress and neutralise the increasing people’s movement. Political parties were flourishing; books of Marx and Lenin were sold everywhere; Communist organisations published papers; labour councils were established; various women’s organisations were formed and the wave of protests continued to escalate, until an Islamic, counter-revolutionary coup d’état took place on 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360). They attacked and executed 300 to 500 people a day in Evin prison and all over the country; they closed down newspapers and crushed the opposition. This was what enabled the Islamic Republic to exist today. The point of the Islamic Republic’s establishment was 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad), not 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman). 11 February (22 Bahman) was the people’s revolution. During 8 September 1978 (17 Shahrivar 1357, the day that the Shah’s army massacred demonstrators at Jaleh Square in Tehran) until 20 June 1981, Right wing forces and governments attempted to obstruct the people’s revolution. 20 June 1981 is the eventual juncture that the suppression took place.

The Islamic government’s execution list was basically taken from the list of those who had been imprisoned during the Monarchy. A person who had been sentenced to two-month’s imprisonment by the Shah’s government was executed by the Islamic regime. They attacked and killed the very same people the Shah’s regime wanted to but couldn’t.

Radio International: The Islamic Republic suppressed the revolution that the Shah’s regime failed to do; in fact, it took revenge from the people who had revolted against the Shah. How could it do this? Before 20 June 1981, there were Left-wing newspapers; demonstrations took place and despite arrests and street fighting with thugs, there was freedom. What was it about 20 June (30 Khordad) that established the Islamic government and defeated the revolutionary movement?

Mansoor Hekmat: It was a violent coup d’état that succeeded as a result of widespread executions and murders. It was not like today where they shut down 16 newspapers run by their friends (‘insiders’) and the accused go to court and are still called Mr so and so. They poured onto the streets and arrested anyone who did not look like a Muslim. If someone had salt and pepper in his/her pockets, they accused him/her of planning to throw it in the eyes of the Revolutionary Guards. They arrested anyone who had recited a poem, who was known to be a Socialist or supporter of women’s rights, anyone who was not veiled and anyone who looked Left wing and executed them that same night. Statistics, documents and witnesses proving these atrocities are ample. There will come a day when the people of Iran and the world will observe the trials of those who committed these crimes. On that day, the world will weep for the hundreds of thousands of victims of 20 June (30 Khordad 1360) and after and particularly 1988 (1367).

This was one of the greatest crimes of the 20th Century, comparable to Nazi Germany, the genocide in Indonesia and Rwanda, and much more brutal than what took place in Chile. It is one of the most important catastrophes and human tragedies of the 20th Century. They attacked, suppressed, killed and buried in unmarked graves, innumerable people. They massacred many of the best, the most passionate and progressive people in order to remain in power.

Radio International: The Islamic Republic’s leaders who are now in rival factions, namely the Right and 2nd Khordad [also known as the Reformists] factions were at the time responsible for this suppression. To name a few 2nd Khordad personalities, for example, Behzad Nabavi was the government’s spokesman, Hajarian was one of the architects of the terrifying intelligence service and Khatami himself was in government at that time. How did they emerge unified after the 20 June (30 Khordad) suppression but are now fighting amongst themselves?

Mansoor Hekmat: Factions were present in the Islamic Republic then, but they were not the same factions we see today. For example, the Mojahedin-e- Enghelab-e- Eslami, the Islamic Republic Party and Khat-e- Imam’s (Imam’s Line) grouping were at the forefront of the government. The Freedom Movement, which is now part of the 2nd Khordad, was one of the victims of the Khat-e- Imam grouping, which also in part now belong to the 2nd Khordad. At the time, the government was in the hands of the Khat-e- Imam grouping – I mean the cabinet. This phenomenon of 2nd Khordad, which was created later, comprises many who were leaders of the suppression at the time. Many of those who are now students of Voltaire, have become democrats and call themselves journalists, were Revolutionary Guards, interrogators, torturers and were responsible for people’s executions. Consequently, 30 Khordad (20 June) is a common experience for both factions. 2nd Khordad are as responsible for the 30 Khordad (20 June) suppression as Lajvardi, Gilani, Khomeini and Khamenei. This was their government. Khomeini, whose name should be recorded in history as a reactionary executioner and criminal against humanity, headed this effort, following by the lot of them.

I think that it is extremely important for the people of Iran to review that history and these people over the past twenty plus years and be aware, in particular, of the nature of the differences between them today.

At the time of 30 Khordad 1360 (20 June 1981), they had no differences on the issue of maintaining the Islamic regime by mass killing and murder. That is what they did. Now, also, they are trying to do the same under different circumstances. They want to maintain the Islamic state vis-à-vis the people.

Radio International: Could it, therefore, be said that the 2nd Khordad regrets its 30 Khordad (20 June) policy and thinks that it should have acted differently?

Mansoor Hekmat: Not at all. The 2nd Khordad personalities will proudly tell you that they are the very same 30th Khordad (20th June) personalities. They do not regret 30 Khordad (20 June). Of course, later on, during their trials they will do so – but not now. Right now, they will not do anything to undermine their ‘insider’ status. 30 Khordad (20 June) is the ultimate criterion that separates the ‘insiders’ from everyone else. ‘Insiders’ are those who defended the ‘system’ vis-à-vis its opponents. 30 Khordad (20 June) is a most defining moment; it is the Islamic Republic’s birth date. Any of them who opposes 30 Khordad (20 June) will be stepping out of the circle of ‘insiders.’

Sooner or later – and much sooner than they think – free public trials to investigate their crimes against humanity will begin. They are not the sorts of people who can take their money and go to Los Angeles. Many of them will face people’s courts. One of the areas to be dealt with will be 30 Khordad (20 June), what any of them know about that period and their role during it, as well as public exposure to help reduce society’s suffering from that period.

Radio International: The Worker-communist Party of Iran has launched a campaign on 30 Khordad 1360 (20 June) to expose its realities and in commemoration of those whose lives were lost. What are the WPI’s aims in this campaign?

Mansoor Hekmat: 60-70% of the population does not remember 30 Khordad 1360 (20 June 1981), but it is an important moment in the formation of the Islamic Republic. We want to remind today’s generation in Iran and the world that the Islamic Republic, which is in power today, is the result of a massive crime against humanity. This must firstly be remembered, recorded, stated, exposed and not forgotten.

Secondly, these people are still on the scene. The same people who organised the murders and killings of 30 Khordad 1360 (20 June 1981) onwards are still the politicians of this country. They are still members of parliament, they are in the cabinet, and they are leaders and heads of the judiciary, army and Revolutionary Guards. The struggle against them continues. Their criminal charges are still unsettled, including the charges surrounding the crimes of 30 Khordad (20 June). This is one of the arenas of struggle against the Islamic government, its foundations, its personalities from Khomeini, Beheshti to Khatami, Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Gilani and all those who played a role in this process. It is part of our battle against the Islamic Republic.


Translated: by Maryam Namazie and Fariborz Pooya;
First Published: in Persian by Radio “International” in June 2000.

WPI protest at the ILO conference: ‘Iran’s regime out of ILO!’

Delegates applaud the action



7 June 2010

Members of the Worker-communist Party of Iran staged a powerful protest at the opening session of the International Labour Conference last Wednesday in Geneva, calling for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the ILO.

The protest specifically drew attention to the recent brutal execution of dissident teacher and human rights activist Farzad Kamangar and four other political prisoners.

Raising pictures of Farzad Kamangar, which carried the words: ‘Murdered, Iran out of ILO!’, as well as posters of jailed workers Osanloo and Madadi, six WPI protesters climbed onto the main stage at the sounding of the opening bell. The action, which lasted for around two minutes, was greeted by applauds from the delegates. (See footage here) Later, a banner reading ‘A regime which executes trade unionists and political prisoners should not be in the ILO. Iran out of ILO!’ was unfurled by a WPI member from the press gallery. (See footage here)

This was the fourth action of its kind at the ILO’s annual conferences by the Worker-communist Party of Iran in the past few years. This year the ILO had gone to great lengths, with extra security measures, to keep protesters out of the UN compound. It is ironic, and a scandal for the ILO, that meanwhile a regime which murders trade unionists and political prisoners is let in as an official guest with full credentials.

Trade unions from across the world, and specifically the global union Education International, had been campaigning for years for the release of Farzad Kamangar, and vehemently condemned his execution in early May. It was no surprise, therefore, that the delegates should break into loud applause the moment Farzad’s pictures went up on the stage. It is remarkable, and indeed unprecedented, that the participants and protesters at a conference find themselves on the same side, while the organisers are isolated and shamed, along with the group that is the object of the protest.

Later, a rally was held at the nearby Place des Nations in protest at the attendance of the regime of Iran at the conference.


The campaign for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the ILO continues. Already a number of locals of the French CGT union have taken up the call in the form of a petition that is circulating among the union branches. The disgust and anger felt by the world’s trade unions towards the regime of Iran for its callous murder of Farzad Kamangar and the horrific abuse of human rights should translate into a clear call for the expulsion of this regime from the ILO.

The International Labour Conference in Geneva is in session until 18 June. We urge trade unions from across the world and specifically their delegates participating at the conference to protest against the attendance of the Islamic Republic of Iran and to boycott that regime’s delegation. Above all, we urge them to take up the call and join the campaign for the expulsion of the regime of Iran from the ILO. A UN body purporting to promote global labour rights and welfare is no place for a regime which murders trade unionists and represses a people.

International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran

wpi.workers.iran@gmail.com http://worker-communistpartyofiran.blogspot.com/ http://www.kargaran.org/

Successful protest against the Islamic regime of Iran at the ILO

The International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran held a protest against the presence of the Islamic regime of Iran at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva on June 2.

The below are some of the coverage of the protest:

Pictures of the Day The Wall Street Journal

India Times

Day Life

US Today

The Crimes of the Fascist Regime of Israel against People of Gaza should be Condemned!

The attack of Israeli commandos on the ships that were carrying peace activists and aid to the people of Gaza evoked anger and hatred in humanitarian and progressive people of the world. The attack took place in international waters without any notice; according to some sources at least ten people and according to other sources some twenty people lost their lives and several got wounded due to this attack. This is an obvious and atrocious crime that is not only in contrast with the most basic humanitarian and civilized standards, but also overtly violates international laws and regulations; every political party, movement, state, and international organization that claims to be defending basic human rights should openly and strongly condemn this attack. People of the world and left-wing and progressive political organizations should pressure governments and international institutions in all countries to build up pressure on and condemning the Israeli government that has committed such atrocious crimes against the Palestinian people several times. The world should not tolerate such a crime.

Terrorist activities of political Islamic forces in the region and around the world do not justify crimes of the Israeli regime. The Israeli regime has used Hamas’ coming into power as an alibi in order to economically sanction the people of the Gaza Strip since June 2007. The siege, on the one hand, has devastated the lives of more than one and a half million innocent people, while, on the other hand, has provided Islamic terrorist forces such as Hamas with the ground for growing and strengthening their influence. We have always declared that Islamic terrorism and the state terrorism of Israel are two sides of the same coin; the tragedy of Gaza is just another example of the bloody confrontation between these two reactionary poles. The people of Palestine, as always, have been paying the price for this confrontation.

The solution for Palestinian people is cutting the hands of the fascist Israeli regime and the reactionary forces of political Islam off their lives and forming an independent and secular Palestinian state. Standing against fascist and antihuman policies of the Israeli government and protesting the silence and policies of Western states in support of crimes of this regime is the first step toward a humane resolution of the problem of people of Palestine who have been deprived of their basic rights.

The Worker-communist Party of Iran strongly condemns the Israeli regime and its criminal policies against the Palestinian people and calls upon all progressive and humanitarian forces, organizations and parties around the world to protest the fascist regime of Israel unanimously and unequivocally.

Worker-communist Party of Iran
June 1, 2010