Where is Farshid Faraji?

Farshid Faraji, an independent Iranian cameraman, who was arrested by the American military forces in Iraq, is missing. Faraji, who entered Iraq on May 2nd 2005 with a valid visa and proper documents to complete the filming of the documentary, "In Search of Cyrus the Great," does not appear on the Red Cross list. While the Red Cross has registered the arrest of Koroush Kar, the producer of the film, there is no information available about Farshid Faraji’s whereabouts.

After shooting scenes in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey, Faraji and Kar entered Iraq, in order to film the historical site of Babylon, but lost contact with their families after the first week of entering Iraq. Koroush Kar contacted his family and notified them that the he and Faraji were arrested on May 19th, 2005. Farshid Faraji's family, who are gravely concerned about his safety, have not been able to find any information about Farshid from the Red Cross and the Iranian authorities.

Iranian filmmakers and advocacy groups are putting pressure on the Iranian government to take appropriate steps to find Farshid Faraji. We need the help of human rights groups and international advocacy organizations in asking the United States government to provide Fashid's family with information about their son's arrest. We believe that while Farshid is being interrogated, his family has the right to know about his status and his whereabouts.

Thank you,

People who are concerned about Farshid Faraji and his family.

Elections in Iran

What is happening in Iran?! I keep wanting to write a post about it, but feel like I don’t have a proper grasp on it. So I keep reading news stories and scratching my head.

Last Friday I woke up and went over the Radisson hotel in Cambridge, MA to cast my vote. I even called my mother before hand to make sure I had the correct spelling (in Persian) of Mostafa. At the polling place there was an AP reporter who asked me questions afterward such as, “Do you feel that these elections are free and fair?”; “Do you think the candidates you have to choose from are representative of political spectrum?”; “How do you feel about the call to boycott elections?”

I answered these questions the best I could, warning the reporter that a great deal of my views are informed by my studies, rather than from my Iranian heritage. First of all, no, these elections are not free and fair, but I don’t think I’ve participated in free and fair elections since we elected class presidents in high school. In Iran you have to “have proper respect for Islam” (a la the Guardian Council) and in the US you have to be able to please enough rich people for them to give you the money needed to run an election campaign. So it’s either Islam, or the religion of this country, the creed of the holy Prophet Greenback. So no, they are not free and fair, but as imperfect as it is, I prefer to cast my vote, rather than abstain in protest. 60% of the electorate has been staying home in the US for election after election in this country and it hasn’t made a lick of difference.

Furthermore, with Iran under so much pressure internally and externally, I feel like although I think the Iranian political system needs to be overhauled and restructured, at this point I’d rather let my vote be partially appropriated by hardline conservatives to extol the legitimacy of the system, than have an extremely low voter turnout exacerbate internal tensions and give aggressive external forces an excuse to “liberate” Iran. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but something tells me that most Iranians would prefer these flawed elections and their potential for gradual reform to the kind of democracy the US is dishing out – in the form of unelected 2 ton bombs and freedom to stare into the barrel of a gun.

And, of course these candidates are not representative! But, again, the last time I voted in an election where everyone who wanted to run was on the ballot was in high school. How many times have I stared at a US presidential ballot forced to pick between the lesser of the two evils, rather than a favored candidate…

I think it is the right of people to boycott elections if they want – everyone should be free to show their disapproval or support for the system in the way they deem best. After all, is that not the point of democracy, to think for yourself? Boycott is just not the way I have chosen.

This Friday it is time for yet another choice and I dread the idea of voting for Rafsanjani. I am still unclear how this man suddenly has become a moderate and a pragmatist. Has he moved over to the left or has the relative pool of candidates moved over to the right? Is he referred to as such in the English language press because he supports free-market capitalism? Wasn’t he just on the Expediency Council, the notoriously conservative group that resolves legislative disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council? What was he doing during the four years the reformist dominated parliament was trying to pass laws to make the system more democratic?

And while Ahmadinejad is extremely conservative, he does look better to some in contrast to a fabulously wealthy Rafsanjani. Not once have I seen an English news story ask how he acquired all this wealth. If they did, their pragmatic candidate might start stinking of nepotism and corruption. Is there an economic layer to this election we are not getting access to? The mainstream press glosses this over because it embraces free market capitalism as an absolute Go(o)d. The left leaning press is usually (not always) unable to soak up economic nuances in any situation that smacks of religion. So what is the deal with Ahmadinejad’s popularity and why are we told that he appeals to the poor? Why doesn’t Moin appeal to the poor? And I don’t accept the artificial connection that poor people are stupid and uneducated and thus mindlessly follow the most conservative religious candidate. That sort of dehumanization of the poor and/or religious is unproductive if we are to try to figure out what is going on and take steps from there. The Pahlavis thrived on that sort of dehumanization as the backbone of their political legitimation and look where it got them.

These are not rhetorical questions, I really would like to know what the deal is… Should I stay home this Friday, or should I do my duty and vote the only possible way to keep Ahmadinejad out of office?

And with all these claims of ballot tampering, was I wrong in telling the reporter that while I thought the Guardian Council’s vetting of candidates was reprehensible, once underway, the elections were real elections (contra the claims of Bush)?

I am posing this post mostly in the way of questions to encourage a dialogue…

*Mana Kia is a PhD student in History and Middle East Studies at Harvard University.

Petition Against U.S. Military and Monetary Intervention in Iran

The office of Senator Brownback, the author of the Iran Democracy Act, and Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, has confirmed that on June 9th, the Commission will hold a hearing on Iran "to discuss the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran and the prospect for a joint US Europe response." This hearing is scheduled between 1:30 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. at 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. It is now confirmed that Goli Ameri, the Co-Founder of Iran Democracy Project at the Conservative think tank, Hoover Institute, and Larry Diamond, a Senior Fellow at Hoover, will be among the panelists.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency, which consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce. Goli Ameri was appointed by President George W. Bush as one of three public delegates to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Ameri was the Republican candidate for Congress in Oregon’s first district during the 2004 election cycle. Last year, during her campaign, Ameri wrote an open letter to Secretary of State Colin Powel, encouraging him to take a harder stand on Iran, which stirred much reaction among Iranians. To our knowledge, Ameri has now contacted a selected number of her supporters to attend this hearing. Diamond, who is introduced on Hoover’s webpage as "a specialist on democratic development and regime change, and on U.S. foreign policy affecting democracy abroad," served as a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad in 2004. In his Iran Democracy Act, Senator Brownback, the author of the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, suggested the establishment of an "Iran Democracy Fund," according to the model that allocated money for Iraqi opposition groups in exile in 1998.

Considering the political background of the organizers and participants in this hearing, we are worried that the plight of human rights in Iran may be abused for geo-political agendas that will only harm the development of any viable democratic movement, by the imposition of economic sanctions or military intervention. We believe that the voices of the Iranian diaspora should not be limited to the selected few that claim to represent the will of the Iranian people. Despite our objection to the arrest of Iranian journalists and bloggers in Iran, we strongly oppose military intervention or monetary support for "dissident groups" in Iran or in its diaspora, and ask the U.S. representatives to represent our voices, which are often suppressed in such hearings.

If you are against U.S. military and/or monetary intervention in Iran, please sign this petition. We plan to send this petition to the members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe by June 7th. Please help us circulate this petition by sending it to others in the community.