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Topic: HUNDREDS of striking bus workers arrested in Teheran
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lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534
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posted 31 January 2006 11:21 AM
quote: Beginning on Friday, 27 January, security forces in Iran began arresting hundreds of striking bus workers in Teheran, including the leadership of the union. Workers are also being intimidated into signing pledges to give up strike and protest actions or risk being fired. The management of the company and the company's Islamic Council worked hand in hand with the security forces to help identify the workers and assist in the arrests. Union officials said the brutality of the security forces was indescribable. The wives and children of some union executive members were also arrested, but later released. They were taken out of bed and beaten up during raids on Friday night. The beatings continued in detention. On Saturday, as the workers arrived at the picket lines, they were rounded up. Many were verbally abused, threatened and beaten up to force them to drive the buses. Those who refused were taken away. The majority of the detainees are now in the high security Evin Prison, which is notorious for the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners. In arresting these workers, the Iranian government is in violation of ILO core conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and deserves to be condemned by the entire world. Please add your name to the thousands who are sending a loud and clear message to President Ahmadinejad -- free the jailed workers now!
Free the jailed workers now!
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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swallow
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2659
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posted 06 March 2006 01:26 PM
This thread, also closed, has some good links. And i did want to respond to one point on that thread: quote: Are we calling for support for the workers because they are facing a ruthless employer or because they are facing an "Islamic Regime" and "taking on the Mullahs" ?
Like Michelle on that thread, i think the answer should be both. I'd be keen to see more support for pro-democracy activism in Iran, which seems to stem from a growing civil society. People keep coming on babble and demanding support for this sort of union activism against the Iranian dictatorship. To those people, please can you tell us what sort of actions might be useful to support? The CLC seems to be making some efforts, but is there anything else that can be done?
From: fast-tracked for excommunication | Registered: May 2002
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rici
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2710
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posted 06 March 2006 01:57 PM
skdadl, what is your source for this: quote: Ahmadinejad came to power on promises to "the poor," implying the working classes of Tehran (ie, these bus drivers), which is crap. Ahmadinejad is a very raw country populist who came to power through right-wing demagoguery in rural and provincial Iran.
which you used to discount Roya Hakakian (about whom I know nothing). According to Aljazeera: quote: Rafsanjani's supporters tend to be from the upper and middle classes who are tired of Iran's isolation and want more social freedom. They fear Ahmadinejad will turn back the clock to the strictures and purges that followed the 1979 Islamic revolution.To them, Ahmadinejad is an outsider challenging the vested business interests of Rafsanjani's wealthy family and others they believe have benefited most from booming oil prices. Ahmadinejad, a former instructor of the Basij militia, guardians of the revolution's ideals, has support among the working-class, who struggle to make ends meet.
and quote: Voting was brisk in Ahmadinejad bastions of support such as south Tehran and the Islamic seminary city of Qom."I vote for Ahmadinejad because he wants to cut the hands of those who are stealing the national wealth and he wants to fight poverty ... and discrimination," said Rahmatollah Izadpanah, 41. In wealthier north Tehran, Rafsanjani voters said they feared Ahmadinejad would reverse modest reforms made under Khatami that allow women to dress in brighter, skimpier clothes and couples to fraternise in public without fear of arrest. "(Rafsanjani) will prevent society from going backwards and he will give us some freedom," said businessman Morteza, 46.
First quote from Iranians vote in presidential run-off, June 24, 2005 Second quote from Ahmadinejad elected president of Iran, June 25, 2005 That seems to justify the claim (also used as a photo caption in the latter story) that: quote: Mahmood Ahmadinejad appealed to the urban and rural poor.
From: Lima, Perú | Registered: Jun 2002
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