In ODU lecture, Iranian activist details dearth of women’s rights
Saturday 12 May 07
In 2000 , Kar was imprisoned after attending a conference in Germany to discuss political and social reform in Iran. She was released the next year and allowed to go to the United States to seek treatment for breast cancer. Meanwhile, her husband, a cultural writer, remains under house arrest in Iran – retribution, many activists believe, for Kar’s outspokenness. She has not returned for fear of her safety. Her speech at Webb Center was sponsored by the university’s Friends of Women’s Studies group. Kar focused not on her own story, but on the plight of Iranians. “Not only women’s rights are violated by this government,” she said. “Human rights are violated by this political system, and this is terrible.”...

Iranian human rights activist to talk about homeland at ODU
Saturday 12 May 07
Living in Boston now, Kar will be the keynote speaker at the 20th annual Friends of Women’s Studies Dinner at Old Dominion University on Feb. 21. She will discuss “The Prospects for Women in Iran.” Although Iran and its combative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have captured many headlines in The Virginian-Pilot, the Hampton Roads community has rarely experienced the other Iran. Kar strives to expose the legal bondage of Iranian women in the hope of making a better world for the younger generation, for women like her own daughters...

Violence Against Women is an Issue that Concerns the World
Saturday 12 May 07
Violence against women is in no way particular to underdeveloped societies or Muslim societies. In the most advanced countries of the world, women and children suffer from the effects of violence, and particularly violence in family life. Physical, sexual, and psychological harm not only jeopardize their health, peace of mind, and emotional and psychological balance, but also harm society. A price will be paid for this situation; governments are preoccupied with various economic, cultural, and social problems, and in many cases, the governments are not capable enough to resolve the issue. In the long run, this problem persists, and the phenomenon of violence becomes intensified and strengthened. If precise and insightful plans are implemented for controlling violence against women in the long-term, this cycle of wrongness will be broken...

Dr. Velayati and Democratic Values
Saturday 12 May 07
In his latest comments, Dr. Ali Velayati, member of Iran's Expediency Council and former Iranian minister of foreign affairs said that the wisdom of Iraq’s Ayatollah Sistani had brought about democratic institutions to Iraq, adding that every nation itself had to become mature to govern its country. Mr. Velayati’s concern and interest in democratic values is a rather new one, while there is no doubt in ayatollah Sistani’s wisdom in reducing tensions and facilitating the implementation of democratic instruments in Iraq. In Iran too, there is no shortage of wise men, and people are clearly aware that wise and effective personalities in this country have been forced to remain silent or forego political activism...

Human Rights, a Lesson for Iran
Saturday 12 May 07
The world’s human rights institutions were born and grew in the cultural and political settings of the West. These human rights institutions are secured and protected by democratic institutions in those socities. Civil society is the pedestal or structure of for the human rights institutions. The lively presence of these institutions and the human rights discussions that take place in Western universities are based on existing academic freedoms. These elements put together act as guardians of the global principles of the human rights...

Law and the Serial Murders
Saturday 12 May 07
The criminal policies of the Iranian government are kind to criminals who murder religious and secular intellectuals. The authorizations for the hideous acts of murdering intellectuals is in fact provided in the articles and provisions of Iran’s Constitution. Thanks to some openness in Iran's political atmosphere on 1998, the topic of official serial murders was once again in the spotlight. A number of Iranian judicial and military authorities involved in the serial murder of secular intellectuals have told reporters that based on Iran's criminal law a “good” Moslem will not be punished if he assumed that someone deserved to die...

Betrayed Over Human Rights
Saturday 12 May 07
For years, Iranian judiciary officials were kept engaged in human rights issues in the context of Europe’s “critical dialogue” negotiations and strategy with Iran. But the issue was pushed aside when the subject of Iran’s access to nuclear energy became the topic of the day and Europeans focused on it. Priorities have changed and nowadays we only occasionally hear of a resolution or declaration by the European Union addressing Iran’s human rights situation. Whatever is the case, we know that these days human rights have no place in the talks between Iran and Europe. Talks revolve around the nuclear issue...

My new teaching experience at Oberlin College
Saturday 12 May 07
The Full Story from The Oberlin College Website: Mehrangiz Kar, an attorney, writer, and one of Iran's leading activists, was a teacher-in-residence at Oberlin in January. The residency also offered her the opportunity to be with her daughter, Azadeh Pourzand, who is a student at Oberlin....