Iran#: Sister of a 1988# massacre victim denied leaving the country

Mansoureh Behkish and 6 members of her family who were executed during 1988 massacre

Mrs. M. Behkish was prevented leaving the country by the notorious intelligence ministry of Iran.
Six members of Mrs. Behkish’s family were executed during 1988 massacre of the MEK/PMOI political prisoner in Iran.
Mrs Behkish was leaving the country to visit her children. She held a valid passport with an exit permission, she even was controlled and passed through passport control, but nonetheless she was stopped on the 'gate to Fly' and officers confiscated her passport and barred her from leaving Iran.
The agents showed her a document titled 'General Directorate of Passports' and summoned her to the Evan’s Revolutionary Court.
It should be noted that Mrs M. Behkish is a human rights activist. She was arrested in 2011 for collecting facts about 1988 massacre, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

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Suppression# and Poverty in Iran# has Resulted in the Doubling of the Rate of Drug Addictions among Women

Increase in Drug addiction in Iran

Iran’s chief justice for drug enforcement agency in an interview with Mehr News agency on September 7, 2016 has pointed out the increasing rate of drug addiction among women.
Ali Moyedi said, “Overall from one million three hundred and fifty thousand drug addicts, 10 percent of them are women. This number has been doubled in comparison to our previous estimation”.
This official without pointing out to the real causes of this societal disaster also said “What we are facing today in area of drug use is the change in rate in which women are gravitating toward addiction. The change of this rate is the reason that we are facing this problem today.”

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3.7 million school-aged refugee children have no school to go to: UN

The UN estimates nearly 900000 Syrian refugee children are not in school

GENEVA (AFP) - 15 Sep. 2016- Fewer than half of the world's some six million refugee children are in school, making them five times less likely to get an education than the global average, the UN warned Thursday.
A full 3.7 million school-aged refugee children have no school to go to, the UN refugee agency said in a report.
'This represents a crisis for millions of refugee children,' UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement, urging international action to get the children back to school.
His comments came ahead of the first-ever UN summit on refugees and migrants, to be held in New York on September 19, and which will be followed the next day by a pledging conference for new offers of aid to refugees hosted by President Barack Obama.
'As the international community considers how best to deal with the refugee crisis, it is essential that we think beyond basic survival,' Grandi said, pointing out that refugees on average are displaced for about 20 years.
That, he said in the UN report, 'is more than an entire childhood.'
'Education enables refugees to positively shape the future of both their countries of asylum and their home countries when they one day return,' he stressed.

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Recording on 1988 Prison Massacre Exposes Early Fissure in the Islamic Republic of Iran + photos #1988Massacre#Iran#FreeIran

Recording on 1988 Prison Massacre Exposes Early Fissure in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The recently released audio recording of Ayatollah Montazeri sharply denouncing the mass execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 has highlighted disagreements among prominent figures of the Islamic Republic that arose from the decision by Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s 1979 revolution, to put thousands of political dissidents to death.
Iranians who were born after the revolution’s turbulent first decade have also taken to social media to call for accountability even though they have no actual memory of the period.
In the audio file posted on Montazeri’s official website by his son on August 9, 2016 (Montazeri died in 2009), he described the executions, which were ordered by a special tribunal set up by Khomeini, and which took the lives of an estimated 4,000-5,000 people, as “the greatest crime in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

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Bezan, Kent Celebrate Final Transfer of Refugees from #Camp Liberty#

James Bezan, Official Opposition Critic to National Defense and Peter Kent, Official Opposition Critic to foreign affairs

OTTAWA, The Asian Connections, September 13, 2016 – James Bezan, Official Opposition Critic to National Defense and Peter Kent, Official Opposition Critic to foreign affairs issued the following statement regarding the transfer of the remaining refugees from Camp Liberty:
“We are pleased to hear about the final transfer of refugees from Camp Liberty to Albania. Camp Liberty is located in Iraq and its residents were previously transferred from Camp Ashraf were they continually came under attack from both Iraqi and Iranian forces.
“This week’s news brings an end to a long journey and campaign to ensure that the members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran or MEK were treated with dignity, respect, and had their basic human rights protected. It is our hope that these individuals will be able to live long and fulfilling lives without the fear of reprisal by the dictatorial regime of Iran.
“Members of the Iranian opposition played a central role in producing a positive solution for the residents of ‎Camp Liberty. Those struggling to bring change, democracy, and human rights to Iran were able to draw international attention to the persecution faced by the residents of Camp Liberty and were able to build a coalition of nations, including Canada, who supported their efforts. 

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US# lawmaker wants answers on #Iran payment and Tehran's funding of terrorism

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said he’s “gravely concerned with the nefarious possibilities” of what Iran could do with $1.7 billion in cash from the United States

The Hill, 13 Sep. 2016- A Republican congressman is asking the Treasury Department whether a recent cash payment to Iran could be used to fund terrorism, and how the department plans to keep that from happening.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said he’s “gravely concerned with the nefarious possibilities” of what Iran could do with $1.7 billion in cash from the United States. He sent a letter sent Tuesday the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, outlining his fears.
At issue is a payment made to Iran by the U.S. earlier this year to settle part of a 1970s lawsuit between the countries. The payment, converted into European cash and airlifted to Iran, preceded a prisoner swap between Iran and the United States.

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Final Group of #Camp Liberty# residents left Iraq to Europe

Victory for the PMOI with final Group of Camp Liberty residents leaving Iraq to Europe

BAGHDAD, The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2016 - A camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq was officially closed after the last 280 residents were flown to Albania on Friday, the group said.
The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) has been based in Iraq since the 1980s. U.S.-led forces disarmed the group after the 2003 invasion and settled them at a base north of Baghdad.
The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001. The U.S. military in Iraq signed an agreement with the group in 2004, promising that members would be treated as 'protected persons' under the Fourth Geneva Convention. 

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