Podcasts Archives - Center for Human Rights in Iran: Recent Episodes
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"Capital punishment itself is a form of premeditated murder," Ramin Jahanbegloo tells us in today's podcast. Today we discuss a culture of violence that’s become deeply entrenched in Iranian society. State violence in the form of inhumane executions, cruel and unusual punishments, brutality in response to public dissent, and ill treatment and torture throughout the judicial system, is pervasive, and some argue that Iran’s citizens have become acclimated and desensitized to this violence.
In today's podcast, Persis Karim talks about the literature of the Iranian diaspora and the creative restrictions on writers within Iran.
“When people tell you that nothing will ever really change, just remember that however clever and intelligent they sound, they have kind of been proved wrong on many occasions in the past,” Steve Crawshaw, co-author of Small Acts of Resistance, tells us.
Children of the Jacaranda Tree, by Sahar Delijani, is a stunning debut novel set in post-Revolutionary Iran. Told in interconnected, alternating perspectives, the book follows three generations of men and women, some linked by family, others brought together by the tide of history that forces its way into their lives.
Our guest today is Dr. Nayareh Tohidi, Professor of Gender & Women Studies at California State University, Northridge, talking about Iranian government restrictions on women in higher education.
“In late February of 2012, Iran announced that ‘We reformed the penal code, and there is a ban on death penalty by stoning and execution of minors.’ But . . . during the course of [the] last three decades, stoning has been claimed to be banned and then practiced,” gender, peace, and social justice activist Elahe Amani told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Referencing “key opposition leaders in detention” and “quite serious webs of arrests of journalists,” Dr. Ahmed Shaheed says, “In an election year, these kinds of activities can negate any sense of a legitimate free and fair election.” The UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of Special Rapporteur
Nikahang Kowsar is a blogger, journalist, and political cartoonist who doesn’t shy away from controversy. In his cartoons, he frequently criticizes the Iranian leadership and draws attention to very sensitive issues, including human rights abuses. In today’s podcast, he talks to us about one cartoon in particular that drew in death threats, and even arrest and imprisonment.
“Discrimination is . . . quite widespread, whether it’s based on gender, religion, or ethnicity,” Dr. Ahmad Shaheed tells us in this latest podcast. In March of 2011, increased international concern about Iran’s human rights crisis led to the appointment of a United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the country. Dr. Ahmad Shaheed was appointed to monitor and report on the situation.
Today we speak with award-winning journalist Tara Kangarlou about her new film, “Beyond the Electronic Curtain,” and the issue of Internet censorship in Iran. “Beyond the Electronic Curtain” documents the effects of unrelenting censorship on Iranian society. Through the stories of the many journalists in Iran who have been imprisoned for doing their job, the film provides a glimpse into a country where people from all walks of life are deprived of their right to freedom of speech.