Iranian Election Divides Arabs, Their Leaders

by Peter Kenyon
Morning Edition
National Public Radio
June 25, 2009

Around the Arab world, reactions to the Iranian election have ranged from street demonstrations to Internet protests. But Arab leaders, many of whom are wary of the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have either remained silent or embraced his re-election as legitimate...The gap between the public and their leaders in the tightly controlled, economically powerful Persian Gulf states has rarely been this clear...

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Amnesty International
Online Action Center

Iranian authorities must refrain from using excessive violence against those protesting against the recent election results

Since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in the June 12 elections in Iran, there have been widespread protests against the contested election results. The Iranian authorities have responded with violence and repression. Reports indicate that large numbers of people were severely beaten by riot police and that several people have been fatally shot Furthermore, over 100 people are reported to have been arrested, including the brother of former President Mohammad Khatami. Amnesty International is concerned that those detained may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The Iranian authorities have attempted to stop the flow of information both among Iranians and from Iranians to those outside by blocking cell phone communication, text messaging and email. Amnesty International is also concerned that the protests, which have already drawn massive crowds in Tehran and other cities in Iran, may be met with increased levels of violence by Iranian authorities. AI calls for the authorities to exercise restraint in response to further demonstrations and to release all those who have been detained for peacefully expressing their opinions about the results of the election. It also calls for an end to restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and association, including the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas.

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Abuses In Sri Lanka Worry Human Rights Groups

by Philip Reeves
Morning Edition
National Public Radio
June 19, 2009

It's been a month since the civil war ended in Sri Lanka. Government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, who they fought for nearly three decades. Tensions remain high on the island, and human rights activists say they're worried about the future of democracy in Sri Lanka...

Sure They Stole It...Up Front and Honestly

By REZA FIYOUZAT
CounterPunch
June 15, 2009

...Here was Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a man who is as much a figurehead of the regime as any, and here were these people willing to go along with this insult of a 'choice' within a highly anti-democratic setup, and yet even the presidency of one of their own could not to be tolerated by the deeply conservative establishment. The Iranian people have been forced, yet again, to admit painfully that they clearly cannot call the theocratic rule over them anything other than an absolute dictatorship...

Why the Taliban won't take over Pakistan

By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 7, 2009 edition

For reasons of geography, ethnicity, military inferiority, and ancient rivalries, they represent neither the immediate threat that is often portrayed nor the inevitable victors that the West fears.