Daily Show Goes to Iran from sahar sarshar on Vimeo.

(h/t The Daily Dish)

Mousavi then outlines what the hardliners can do to get the country out of the present crisis. The minimum, in his view, includes the following:

• Forming a truth commission, one whose findings and verdicts are likely to be accepted by all sides, to investigate the violations of law, fraud during and after the election, and punishing those who were responsible.
• Revising the election law in such a way that free and fair elections can be held.
• Identifying and punishing those who were responsible for the crimes committed by all organs of the government, including military, police, and the media.
• Helping those who have been hurt and injured after the elections, especially those who have lost loved ones; releasing from prison all the campaign workers and political activists; dismissing the bogus charges against them; restoring their credibility, and ending all the threats against them.
• Putting into practice Article 168 of the Constitution by defining precisely what constitutes a political offense, and using a jury when the offenders are put on trial.
• Guaranteeing freedom of the press, and changing the biased behavior of the Voice and Visage in order to eliminate all the limitations on its programs so that the political parties can use the Voice and Visage to express their positions regarding various issues, and revising the law that governs the Voice and Visage to make it responsive to people’s demands.
• Putting to practice Article 44 of the Constitution regarding privatization so that private radio and television stations can also be created.
• Guaranteeing the right of the people to gather and demonstrate by putting into effect Article 27 of the Constitution.
• Passing legislation forbidding the military from intervening in political as well as economic affairs.

via Mousavi on the “Green Path of Hope” – Tehran Bureau.

Juan Cole summarizes:

The political opposition in Iran held commemorations in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Ahvaz and Rasht for the deaths of protesters at the hands of security forces on June 20, especially for Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman whose last moments on videotape became a heartbreaking sensation throughout the world. In Shiite Islam, mourning sessions are conducted for the deceased after 40 days as well as at other times. The technique of building larger and larger crowds locally helps the movement expand and avoid losing momentum.

Reports say that hundreds (some even say thousands) showed up at Tehran’s main seminary to mourn Neda and the others. Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard attempted to visit the grave, but were turned away by security forces.

Hundreds also gathered at the Musalla Mosque in downtown Tehran, but were dispersed by security forces with tear gas and life ammunition. Clashes continued into the night.

via Informed Comment: Regime Cracks down Again in Tehran;
But Hard Liners Question Brutal Tactics.

If we do not have the votes of the people behind us, we will have nothing. The guardian council, the expediency council, EVERYONE gets their legitimacy from the vote of the people.

CNN coverage here.

Another awful story from what I hope is a long awakening under an oppressive regime: (h/t The Daily Dish)

He came to my shop around 10.30am. You could tell straight away that he had just been released. His face was bruised all over. His teeth were broken and he could hardly open his eyes. He was not even into politics. He was just an ordinary 18-year-old in the last year of school. Before the election he came to me and asked how he should vote. He looks up to me. His father is an Ahmadinejad supporter.

He had gone home directly after his release, but his father did not let him in. He didn’t mention he had been raped. At first, he didn’t tell me either. It was the doctor who first noticed it and told me. When he came to my shop he collapsed in a chair. He said he had nowhere to go and asked if he could stay with me. I called a friend of mine who is a doctor to come home and see him. Then I brought him home.

His shoulder blades and arms were wounded. There were some slashes on the face. No bone fractures, but he was bruised all over the body. I wanted to take some photos but he did not let me. The doctor said only four of his teeth were intact, the rest were broken. You could hardly understand what he said. Then the doctor told me what had happened.

He had suffered rupture of the rectum and the doctor feared colonic bleeding. He suggested we take him to the hospital immediately. They registered him under a false name and with somebody else’s insurance. The nurses were crying. Two of them asked what sort of beast had beaten him up like that. He was a broken man. He told us not to waste our money on him, and that he would kill himself.

The rest of this story is here

Here’s to hoping their pain is for freedom.

Good luck to those in Iran who have and will struggle for their human rights..

The were afraid of going to the hospitals.

h/t Andrew Sullivan

Kerman, Iran. H/T The Daily Dish