Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide (75 page)

83
. Ladan Boroumand,
Journal of Democracy
, October 2007,
http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/gratis/Boroumand-18-4.pdf
.

84
. Ibid.

85
. Nir Boms and Shayan Arya, “On Annan, Robinson, Religion and Hypocrisy,”
The Jerusalem Post
, November 10, 2008,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910085758&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
.

86
. Ron Synovitz, “Clashes Highlight ‘Demonization’ of Sufi Muslims,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 16, 2007,
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/DEB2FA43–077F-4B8D-9079–97A1EC610C67.html
.

87
.
International Religious Freedom Report 2006
.

88
. The Nematollahi Gonabadi is a Sufi order with traditions similar in several respects to those of Shia.

89
. Golnaz Esfandiari, “Local Authorities Try to Evict Sufi Leader,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 12, 2006,
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/10/81C671EA-C25A-46DB-AB07–328838F1AD99.html
; “Security Forces Attack Again Prayer Areas of the Nematollahi Gonabadi Sufis,”
Iran Now Network
, November 10, 2006,
http://iran-now.net/$202612
.

90
. “Dozens Injured in Clash Between Sufi Mystics, Iran Paramilitary,”
The Jerusalem Post
, November 11, 2007,
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=81619
; Synovitz, “Clashes Highlight ‘Demonization’ of Sufi Muslims.” See also “The New Round of Harrasments (sic) Against Gonabadi Daravish,”
Iran Human Rights Voice
, September 17, 2008,
http://www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=944#more-944
.

91
. “Iranian Authorities Destroy Sufi Holy Site in Isfehan,”
Payvand News
, February 19, 2009,
http://www.payvand.com/news/09/feb/1220.html
.

92
. Iran Human Rights Voice, “Scuffle with Gonabadi Dervishes in Isfehan Resulted in Forty Arrests,” February 22, 2009,
http://www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=1904
.

93
. “A Dervish’s Dream for Iran,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, February 22, 2010,
http://www.rferl.org/content/A_Dervishs_Dream_For_Iran/1964987.html
; Stephen Schwartz, “Iran: ‘Thugs in Clerical Dress’ vs. the Sufis,” Hudson Institute New York, March 15, 2010,
http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/03/iran-thugs-in-clerical-dress-vs-the-sufis.php
.

94
. Laura Secor, “The Democrat: Iran’s Leading Reformist Intellectual Tries to Reconcile Religious Duties and Human Rights,”
Boston Globe
, March 14, 2004,
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/03/14/the_democrat/
. A good introduction to Akbar Ganji’s work is
Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writings of Abdolkarim Soroush
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). On Akbar Ganji, see “Iranian Journalist, in Court, Says Security Forces Tortured Him,”
New York Times
, November 10, 2000,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E5DB1438F933A25752C1A9669C8B63&scp=6&sq=akbar+ganji&st=nyt
; Shirin Ebadi,
Iran Awakening
(New York: Random House, 2006), 193; Nazila Fathi, “Iranian Writer Released After Serving 6-Year Prison Term,”
New York Times
, March 19, 2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/international/middleeast/19iran.html?scp=18&sq=akbar+ganji&st=nyt
; “Journalist Tortured to Renounce Writings,” Human Rights Watch, November 2, 2005,
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/02/iran11958.htm
; Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61688.htm
; Akbar Ganji, “Money Can’t Buy Us Democracy,”
New York Times
, August 1, 2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/opinion/01ganji.html?scp=9&sq=akbar+ganji&st=nyt
.

95
. Official Web site of Abdolkarim Soroush,
http://www.drsoroush.com/English/News_Archive/E-NWS-19960531–1.html
; “Let the Occasional Chalice Break: Abdolkarim Souroush and Islamic Liberation Theology,”
The Iranian
, October 26, 1998,
http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/Oct98/Soroush/index.html
.

96
. “Islam, Catholicism, and the Secular: A Conversation with Jose Casanova and Abdolkarim Soroush,” Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy,
http://ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=15280&SectionID=83
; official Web site of the Erasmus Prize,
http://www.erasmus-prijs.org/eng/index.cfm?paginaID=34&item_ID=12
; Scott Macleod, “Abdokarim Souroush, Iran’s Democratic Voice,”
Time
, April 18, 2005,
http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2005/time100/scientists/100soroush.html
;
http://www.drsoroush.com/English/News_Archive/E-NWS-20040702-Dr.Soroush_is_Back_in_Tehran.html
; Laura Secor, “The Democrat: Iran’s Leading Reformist Intellectual.”

97
. Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, “Who Wrote the Koran?”
New York Times Magazine
, December 5, 2008,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/magazine/07wwln-essay-t.html
.

98
. “At Least 40 Followers of Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi Arrested,” Amnesty International report, posted by
Payvand News
, October 3, 2006,
http://www.payvand.com/news/06/oct/1016.html
.

99
. Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation,
http://www.abfiran.org/english/document-298–699.php?searchtext=Ym9yb3VqZXJkaQ%3D%3D
; “News/Imprisoned Cleric’s Life in Danger/Ayatollah Boroujerdi in Need of Urgent Medical Care,” June 1, 2008.
http://mardaninews.de/Deutsch/?p=178
.

100
. “A Brief Report on the Latest Condition of Ayatullah Borojerdi in Zazd Prison,”
Iran Human Rights Voice
,
www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=1420
.

101
. “Unexpected Transfer of Ayatullah Borojerdi to Evin Prison,” Iran Human Rights Voice, August 26, 2009.

102
. Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation.

103
. Yasuyuki Matsunaga, “Mohsen Kadivar, an Advocate of Postrevivalist Islam in Iran,”
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
, December 2007,
http://www.kadivar.com/Data/Remote/0/Data/Resources/Medias/Kadivar,%20an%20Advocate%20(matsunaga).pdf
; Human Rights Watch,
World Report 2001
, Appendix,
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k1/appendix/index.html
.

104
. Scott Macleod and Nahid Siamdoust, “The Critical Cleric,”
Time
, May 5, 2004,
http://www.time.com/time/2004/innovators/200405/kadivar.html
; Bret Stephens, “Religion of Peace in Iran, a Theological State Is Challenged on Theological Grounds,”
Wall Street Journal
, June 23, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124571492981739137.html#mod=djemEditorialPage
.

105
. Mohsen Kadivar, “The Principles of Compatibility of Islam and Modernity,” October 7, 2004,
http://www.kadivar.com/Index.asp?DocId=831&AC=1&AF=1&ASB=1&AGM=1&AL=1&DT=dtv
. See also Mohsen Kadivar, “Freedom of Religion and Belief in Islam,” in
The New Voices of Islam: Rethinking Politics and Modernity
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 119–42.

106
. Macleod and Siamdoust, “The Critical Cleric”

107
. “This Iranian Form of Theocracy Has Failed,” interview with Mohsen Kadivar by Erich Follath and Gabor Steingart,
Spiegel Online
, July 1, 2009,
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,633517,00.html
.

108
. “Reformists in Iran, Despite Pressure, Speak Out More Boldly,”
New York Times
, August 4, 2000,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E5D8173CF937A3575BC0A9669C8B63&scp=5&sq=MOhsen+Kadivar&st=nyt
.

109
. “Amnesty Highlights the Case of Hashem Aghajari,” Iran Mania, November 08, 2002,
http://www.iranmania.com/news/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=12888&NewsKind=CurrentAffairs
.

110
. Sadeq Saba, “Profile of Abdollah Nouri,”
BBC News
, November 27, 1999,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/539470.stm
; “Abdollah Nouri, Prisoner of Conscience,” Amnesty International, June 27, 2002,
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130102002?open&of=ENG-IRN
.

111
. John Burns, “With Iran’s Reforms at Stake, a Moderate Digs In,”
New York Times
, October 24, 1999,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEEDB1F39F937A15753C1A96F958260
; John Burns, “Cleric’s Trial Becomes Flash Point of Iran’s Political Fate,”
New York Times
, October 31, 1999,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E4DA173BF932A05753C1A96F958260
.

112
. “Iran Annual Report 2002,” Reporters Without Borders,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=1438
; Said Amir Arjomand, “Civil Society and the Rule of Law in the Constitutional Politics of Iran Under Khatami,”
Social Research
, June 22, 2000, at Encyclopedia.com,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-63787333.html
.

113
. Reporters Without Borders,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28929
.

114
. Jomhouri Elsami’s official Web site,
http://www.jomhourieslami.com
; Reporters Without Borders, as listed on International Freedom Exchange Network (IFEX),
http://www.ifex.org/en/layout/set/print/content/view/full/60511/
.

115
. Reporters Without Borders,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28929
.

116
. “Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri: ‘Not Every Conversion is Apostasy,’” (in Persian),
BBC Persian
,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2005/02/050202_mj-montzarirenegade.shtml
.

117
. Robin Wright, “Iran’s Opposition Loses a Mentor but Gains a Martyr,”
Time
, December 21, 2009,
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1949048,00.html
; Abbas Milani, “Mourning Montazeri,”
The New Republic
, December 21, 2009,
http://www.tnr.com/article/mourning-montazeri
; Richard Spencer, “Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Death Sparks Protests,”
Telegraph
, December 20, 2009,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6851224/Grand-Ayatollah-Montazeri-death-sparks-protests.html
.

118
. Reporters Without Borders/Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR),
http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:7wDc3CXLXJgJ:www.nearinternational.org/alerts/iran2420050830en+Mojtaba+Lotfi&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&ie=UTF-8
.

119
. “The Office of Ayatullah Montazeri Condemns Imprisonment of Mojtaba Lotfi, Calling It Illegal and Unfair,”
Iran Human Rights Voice
, December 9, 2008,
http://www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=1397
.

120
. See
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/09/iran-grand-ayatollah-calls-government-a-military-regime.html
.

121
. Wright, “Iran’s Opposition Loses a Mentor but Gains a Martyr”; Spencer, “Montazeri Death Sparks Protests”; Milani, “Mourning Montazeri,”
The New Republic
, December 21, 2009,
http://www.tnr.com/article/mourning-montazeri
;
Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran
, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2010, 35–36,
http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/pdfs/Reports/Violent%20Aftermath.pdf
.

122
. Iason Athanasiadis, “Iran Move to Defrock Dissident Ayatollah Opens Rifts in Theocracy,”
Christian Science Monitor
, January 6, 2010,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0106/Iran-move-to-defrock-dissident-ayatollah-opens-rifts-in-theocracy
; “Website Says Iran Militia Attack Pro-Reform Cleric’s Home,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, December 22, 2009,
http://www.rferl.org/content/Website_Says_Iran_Militia_Attack_Clerics_Home/1911071.html?page=1&x=1#relatedInfoContainer
; Mustafa El-Labbad, “The Iranian Triangle,”
Al-Ahram
, January 14–20, 2010,
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/981/re10.htm
. For the cases of Mojtaba Saminejad, Ehsan Mansouri, Majid Tavakoli, Ahmad Ghassaban, and Hadi Ghabel, see Source: Reporters Without Borders, as listed on International Freedom Exchange (IFEX) Web site,
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/66707
; International Freedom of Expression eXchange, “Blogger Mojtaba Saminejad Gets Two-year Prison Sentence,” June 8, 2005,
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/67227
; “Jailed Students Abused to Obtain Forced Confessions,”
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85193/
. The government also blocks over five million Web sites deemed to contain immoral or antisocial material: “Iran Blocks Access to over Five Million Websites,”
AFP
, November 19, 2008,
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081119173359.0m09kn48&show_article=1
. See also Gozaar: A Forum on Human Rights and Democracy in Iran,
http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=782&language=english
.