March 28, Update from Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners:

Campaign’s Emergency Appeal Gathers Initial Momentum in Fight to Transform Dire Situation Facing Iranian Prisoners

March 29, 2021 | revcom.us

 

The initial online publicizing of the Campaign’s Emergency Appeal: The Lives of Iran’s Political Prisoners Hang in the Balance—We Must ACT Now through its new website, social media platforms, revcom and other avenues, are good first steps to meet its challenging but achievable goal. The Emergency Appeal has garnered support and unleashed a beginning but growing core to step up the urgent battle to free Iran’s political prisoners. For example, it has been signed and in some cases promoted by relatives as well as campaigners for Iran’s political prisoners (including dual-national citizens seized while in Iran), former political prisoners, artists and others. And there’s real potential to unleash these forces much further.

International pressure and media coverage—mainly spearheaded by family members, human rights activists, efforts by the Burn the Cage/Free the Birds campaign in Europe, joined by supporters in Canada and the U.S.—have led to small but notable concessions from the brutal Islamic regime. For instance, Nahid Taghavi was recently released from solitary confinement and internationally renowned lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been temporarily released on medical leave.

Yet the situation facing Iran’s political prisoners remains increasingly dire. There are growing reports of the Islamic theocrats suddenly transferring prisoners, especially women, to isolated locations far from loved ones and supporters (see Factsheet: Dangerous Surge in Transfers to Remote Locations of Iran’s Political Prisoners). It is continually widening the targets of its vicious waves of repression. This includes women and workers rights activists, environmentalists, civil rights advocates, religious and ethnic minorities, artists, intellectuals, and revolutionaries. That is, anyone and everyone demanding basic rights is suspected of being intellectual, cultural and political dissidents to be cruelly and forcefully crushed.

It remains a real matter of life and death in the literal sense that this Emergency Appeal gets further out and becomes a social force. Imagine if it becomes a moral and political force that exerts influence in the public square and actually reverses the current trajectory where Iran’s political prisoners face long sentences, continuous interrogations, floggings, tortured confessions and possible executions. Right now there’s a specific need to make a breakthrough. Lives really hang in the balance.

We call on everyone who believes in justice and wants a better world to endorse and actively spread and advocate for the Emergency Appeal to friends, family, colleagues and throughout society—including on social media. In particular get it into the hands of prominent voices of conscience—and correspond with the Emergency Campaign with your ideas for outreach and qualitatively raising the profile of this timely Appeal.

Join the Emergency Campaign / sign the Emergency Appeal at:

FreeIransPoliticalPrisonersNow.org

On Twitter: @IranPrisonEmerg

Write us: FreeIransPoliticalPrisonersNow@gmail.com