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July 26, 2009

Protesters Turn Out in New York to Show Solidarity With Iranian Opposition Activists
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Several thousand protesters marched from Times Square to the United
Nations headquarters demanding the release of hundreds of people rounded
up during demonstrations in Iran over the country's disputed election
last month 
Demonstrators in New York City's Times Square protest Iran's post
election crackdown on opposition activists, 25 Jul 2009Protesters in
about 80 cities around the world have called on Iran to end its
crackdown on opposition activists, demanding the release of hundreds of
Iranians rounded up during demonstrations over the country's disputed
election last month. A crowd, estimated at several thousand by
organizers, marched from Times Square to the United Nations
headquarters. Saturday's global protests stretched from Tokyo to Seattle
to Caracas. The massive, coordinated rallies were organized by United
for Iran, a coalition of individuals and human rights groups, including
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Nobel Women's
Initiative. The protest in New York brought together former political
prisoners and other Iranians in exile with residents from around New
York and the rest of the United States. Despite their diverse
backgrounds, protesters - many dressed in green to show solidarity with
Iran's opposition movement - voiced a common theme of solidarity with
the people of Iran. Protesters also condemned Iran's crackdown on
political demonstrations and the country's restrictions on civil
liberties. Padini Hajarin moved to the United States from Iran three
years ago. She says she thinks such public demonstration will help turn
international attention to the situation in her home country. "I think
all of Iranians should be together and this way they can show the other
people that we are together and support the people that are in prison in
Iran and all the people that are killed. This way we can show the
Americans and especially the United Nations to do some for Iran,"
Hajarin said. Human rights groups believe hundreds of people have been
arrested for taking to streets following Iran's presidential election on
June 12, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed a landslide
re-election victory. One reformist Web site on Saturday said one!
  of the protesters in custody in Iran has died. He was said to be th
e son of an advisor to another defeated presidential candidate, Mohsen
Rezaie. The organizers of Saturday's rallies want the United Nations to
investigate allegations of torture and abuse in Iran's prisons."We need
people throughout the world to, one, recognize their struggle, know what
they are doing and to support them. And , I think just that, for the
Iranian people, is huge. Because just the knowledge that what you are
doing isn't in vain, because its being noticed," said one protester.


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