Archive for March 2014

Ashton in Iran: warming relations must not be at the expense of Human rights, warns FIDH

Dr. Karim Lahiji

8 March 2014 – The nuclear deal brokered by EU Diplomacy Chief Catherine Ashton in November 2013, who chaired the “P5+1” group (the UN Security Council five permanent members plus Germany), ended years of diplomatic stagnation between the international community and Iran. Fraught relations under the Ahmadinejad presidency left little to no space for EU diplomacy, and the international community’s primary attention on the nuclear issue led de facto to the overshadowing of the human rights agenda.

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IRAN: Harassment and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders continues

Paris-Geneva, March 10, 2014. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH-OMCT joint programme, deplores the continued harassment and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders in Iran.
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My dad, Iran’s hostage

Robert Levinson

Los Angeles Times – By Dan Levinson – March 10, 2014 – Seven years ago Sunday, my father, Robert Levinson, was taken hostage while visiting Kish Island, Iran. He is currently the longest-held hostage in U.S. history, and will likely be marking his 66th birthday Monday in captivity, thousands of miles from his wife, seven children and four grandchildren — three of whom have been born since he was kidnapped. We have not been able to communicate with him at all in those seven years.

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