Sunday, January 31, 2016

For ever so long, on a branch of this willow 
Sits a bird, the colour of a riddle. 
Attuned to him no sound, no colour. 
Totally alone, like me, in this land. 

- Sohrab Sepehri - 
from The Riddle Bird 

1928 - 1980 
Persian Poet and painter

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Friday, January 29, 2016

Culture of Killing by Mana Neyestani


thank you sooooooo much, dear Mana !!!!!

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Concerns over Iran executions as Rouhani visits Europe

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Thousands of Iranians protest against Rouhani in Paris


Thousands of Iranians protest against Rouhani in Paris 

President of clerical regime Hassan Rouhani's visit to Paris was met with a wave of protests by Iranians, French political figures, human rights organizations and activists, and French citizens.
© Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran 

image courtesy National Council of Resistance of Iran

Topless FEMEN 'hangs' herself on Paris bridge to protest Rouhani's visit

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Fardin Hosseini, Political prisoner hanged on verge of Rouhani's visit to Europe

IRAN: Political prisoner hanged on verge of Rouhani's visit to Europe 
© Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

What Obama's Actions Mean for Solitary Confinement in America's Prisons

World Report 2016 » HRW

World Report 2016: 'Politics of Fear' Threatens Rights 
Terror Attacks, Refugee Crisis, and Broad Global Crackdown 
© Human Rights Watch 

2016 | Human Rights Watch 
Report 2016 
Our annual review of human rights around the globe

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Iran's hypocrisy exposed as scores of juvenile offenders condemned to gallows

Obama Bans Solitary Confinement of Juveniles in Federal Prisons

Monday, January 25, 2016

Holocaust Memorial Day 2016: Poignant paintings by Jewish concentration camp prisoners go on show in Berlin

Holocaust Memorial Day 
January 27 

Holocaust Memorial Day 2016: Poignant paintings by Jewish concentration camp prisoners go on show in Berlin 

One hundred paintings and drawings created by Jewish artists during the Holocaust are going on show in Berlin. The exhibition, Art from the Holocaust, includes work by inmates of various concentration camps, labour camps and ghettos. Of the 50 artists featured, 24 were murdered by the Nazis. 
© IBTimes 

Art from the Holocaust – 100 Works from the Yad Vashem Collection is at the German Historical Museum. 

January 26 to April 3, 2016

A new Supreme Court ruling will give more than 1,000 prison inmates serving life terms for murders they committed as teenagers a chance to seek their freedom

Virginia Woolf Birthday







❝ As a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world. 

❝ Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. 

- Virginia Woolf - 

January 25, 1882 - March 28, 1941

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Portugal Presidential election: Rebelo de Sousa elected in first round

Portugal Presidential election: Rebelo de Sousa elected in first round 
© euronews 

this time, not surprising at all !!!!!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

The Dust Between by Nasr Warour



from the series The Dust Between | 2010 

NASR WAROUR 
Syrian Artist, born in 1968 

this series is a magical poem, Nasr !!!!! 
thank you soooooooooooo much !!!!!

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Friday, January 22, 2016

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Launches "Campaign to Close Guantánamo" for Obama's Last Year in Office

IRAN: More child offenders executed under Hassan Rouhani

IRAN: More child offenders executed under Hassan Rouhani 
© National Council of Resistance of Iran

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Death Row Inmates In Limbo After Florida's Death Penalty Scheme Scrapped

Monday, January 18, 2016

The Death Penalty and Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'The Time Is Always Right to Do What Is Right'

Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation & Apartheid South Africa

Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation & Apartheid South Africa 
© Democracy Now!

today is MLK Day, in US of course ....

'He knew they'd kill him in the end': Son of prominent Shia cleric al-Nimr speaks to RT

EU aid cash linked to death penalty in Iran

EU aid cash linked to death penalty in Iran 
Campaigners call for suspension of EU funding to drug program operating in Iran as executions increase 
© Telegraph

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Only Breath - Poetry by Rumi

 
by FourSeasons Productions 

Only Breath was written in the 13th century by the Sufi mystic poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi and translated and recited in our film 
by Coleman Barks. 

Our politicians and generals would do well to absorb the lessons of this poem. 

a must .... always !!!!!

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Friday, January 15, 2016

Martin Luther King Birthday


The absence of freedom is the presence of death. 
Any nation or government that deprives an individual 
of freedom is in that moment committing an act of moral 
and spiritual murder. 

- Martin Luther King -

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Ashraf Fayadh » Writers join worldwide action to protest Palestinian poet's death sentence in Saudi Arabia

Writers join worldwide action to protest Palestinian poet's death sentence in Saudi Arabia 

Hundreds of writers including Irvine Welsh, Ruth Padel and AL Kennedy are taking part in a worldwide reading in support of the Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh, who has been sentenced 
to death in Saudi Arabia after being accused of renouncing Islam.

The readings of Fayadh’s poetry at 122 events in 44 countries on Thursday are part of a campaign organised by the International literature festival Berlin calling on the UK and US governments 

to halt his beheading and to put pressure on Saudi Arabia 
to improve its human rights record.

© The Guardian

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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

FADP Press Release - Florida Death Sentencing Unconstitutional

FADP Press Release - Florida Death Sentencing Unconstitutional 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
© Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

U.S. Supreme Court rules Florida's death penalty system is unconstitutional

Monday, January 11, 2016

14 years - Close Guantanamo NOW !!!!!

In Washington, District of Columbia.

image courtesy Witness Against Torture


Today, January 11, 2016, marks 14 years of torture and indefinite detention at the prison, as well as President Obama’s 8th year 
of broken promises. 

Guantánamo: The USA must turn its back on international symbol of injustice 
© Amnesty International 

"The National Shame Continues": On Its 14th Anniversary, Will Guantánamo Ever Be Closed? 
© Democracy Now!

Gitmo designed to 'destroy human beings': Ex-inmate Shaker Aamer talks to RT
© RT UK

Sunday, January 10, 2016

The Bird May Die... 

I feel sad, 
I feel blue. 

I go outside and rub my cold fingers
on the sleek shell of the silent night. 

I see that all lights of contact are dark, 
All lanes to relate us are blocked. 

Nobody will introduce me to the sun, 
Nobody will take me to the gathering of doves. 

Keep the flight in mind, 
The bird may die. 

- Forough Farrokhzad - 

January 5, 1935 - February 13, 1967 

translation by Maryam Dilmaghani 

Forough Farrokhzad is considered the most famous 
of contemporary Iranian poets.

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Friday, January 08, 2016

Waiting for Capital Punishment by Sadegh Souri



Iran: No mercy for the children by Sadegh Souri 

Waiting to die: the Iranian child inmates facing execution - in pictures 
© The Guardian 
Words and pictures from Waiting for Capital Punishment 
by Sadegh Souri, Iranian photographer 

Sadegh Souri | LensCulture 

Sadegh Souri, Honorable Mention | UNICEF Photo of the Year 2015

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Saudi Arabia: A year of bloody repression since flogging of Raif Badawi

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Syria to allow aid into besieged town where thousands face starvation

Madaya !!!!!

Syria to allow aid into besieged town where thousands face starvation
© The Guardian

what are we doing ???

At Least Seven Prisoners Hanged in Northwestern Iran

Eight Prisoners Including Woman Executed in Northern Iran

Wednesday, January 06, 2016

2016: UK drops death penalty strategy as executions spike in Iran, Pakistan & Saudi

Young protesters, secret trials, torture and beheading

Young protesters, secret trials, torture and beheading 

Next in line for the swordsman's blade 

Following Saturday's mass execution, three juveniles are still awaiting execution - Ali al Nimr, Dawoud al Marhoon and Abdullah al Zaher. 
© Reprieve 

Take Action !!!!!

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Reading: Life and Freedom for Ashraf Fayadh January 2016



















Reading: Life and Freedom for Ashraf Fayadh January 2016 

Brooklyn Museum 

January 14, 2016 
7:00-9:00 p.m. 

Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 1st Floor 
200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, New York 11238

PEN American Center and the Brooklyn Museum present 
a reading of selected poems and other texts in support of Palestinian poet and art curator Ashraf Fayadh, who was sentenced to death by a Saudi court on November 17, 2015, 
for apostasy. 
We are joining forces with the International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB) in their call for all individuals, institutions, schools, and media outlets that care about justice and freedom to participate in a worldwide reading to press the U.K. and U.S. governments to intervene on behalf of Fayadh and free expression, and in defense of human rights. 

With photographer, performance artist, and provocateur Dread Scott; poet, language artist, and educator Natalie Diaz; writer and activist 
Ru Freeman; poet Lawrence Joseph; and writer Dina Omar. 
Hosted by Elissa Schappell and Rob Spillman. 

Join us at the Brooklyn Museum or watch on Livestream! 

via PEN American Center 

Life and Freedom for Ashraf Fayadh

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Sunday, January 03, 2016

Join Us in DC Jan. 3/13 - Close Guantanamo



Fast for Justice, 2016 

You’re invited to join the Witness Against Torture community from January 3-13 to fast, reflect and lift the voices of the men unjustly detained at Guantanamo Bay Prison in the streets of Washington, DC

January 11th, 2016 marks 14 years of torture and indefinite detention at the prison, as well as President Obama’s 8th 
year of broken promises. 

This is our final chance to hold his administration accountable to their promise to release those unjustly detained and close the prison. Right now 107 men remain detained, 48 of whom have been cleared for release and are held without charge or trial. 

Events 

Witness Against Torture

Saturday, January 02, 2016

In Honour of Sheikh Al-Nimr !!!!!


Life does not end when a man dies. Real life begins when 
he dies. Either we live on this land as free men, or die and be buried in it as pious men. We have no other choice. 

Our dignity is more precious than the unity of this land.

- Sheikh Al-Nimr -

June 21, 1959 - January 2, 2016

In Your Honour, Sire !!!!!

Saudi Arabia condemned after executing dozens of prisoners

Saudi Arabia executes 47 people, incl Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr

Saudi Arabia executes 47 people, incl prominent Shiite cleric, on terror charges 
© RT News

Saudi Arabia executes prominent Shiite cleric and 46 others in 12 cities
© The Washington Post

Saudi Arabia executes opposition Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr 
© CBC News 

including 3 Juvenile activists, 
Mohamed Al Sheuikh‬, Mohammed Al Suwamil‬ and Ali Saeed Al-Rebh‬ !!!!!

oh nooooooooooooooooooo !!!!! i have no words !!!!!

Friday, January 01, 2016

In Memoriam: Remembering the Photographers We Lost in 2015

Year 2015 in Illustration

The Year in Illustration 
© The New York Times 

Review of the Year 2015: Top 25 Illustration 
© It's Nice That 

a must see !!!!!
You are not a drop in the ocean. 
You are the entire ocean in a drop. 

- Rumi -

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