Dear friends,
The brutal crackdown on Iran’s streets is succeeding. Lethal shooting,
beatings and mass arrests have driven millions off the streets, and a
communications blackout is preventing them from communicating with each
other and the world.(1)
Ruling clerics are in crisis talks -- many are criticizing the crackdown and calling for reform.(2)
We urgently need to help Iranians get back on the internet to have
their voices heard in Iran and the world. Secure and anonymous "proxy
services" are helping people to bypass regime controls and get online
-- but they're overloaded and running out of funds.(3) A small donation
of just $10 can provide bandwidth for hundreds of secure emails - if
10,000 of us donate in the next 72 hours, we can help break the
blackout:
http://lnk.ms/0ldVK
Proxy services provide people with a single link at which they can
freely access the internet. The link is changed every time the regime
blocks access to it. With 10,000 donors, we can scale up the proxy
services massively -- providing more servers, bandwidth and advanced
technical support.
The next two weeks are crucial. As Iran’s secret policemen cast their
net far and wide, secure channels of communication are also critical to
avoiding the crackdown. Scores have been killed and hundreds of human
rights advocates, journalists, bloggers and peaceful protesters
imprisoned. Although many more remain free, without safe ways to
communicate they will face terrible risks.
After the crackdowns in Tibet and Burma, Avaaz members donated in our
thousands to preserve the people’s basic human right to free
communication and information. Overcoming censorship to make contact
with each other and the world is crucial at these moments. Sharing
information about the protests still flaring up around the provinces of
Iran from Kurdish areas to the holy city of Qom, or uploading YouTube
videos and first-hand reports of bravery and brutality to Iran’s
million-plus weblogs and networks like Twitter, could make a huge
difference.(4) If the regime believe they can silence such reports, the
crackdown will only worsen.
Legitimacy matters in Iran. From inspirational videos of million-strong
marches to shocking evidence of militia violence, the truth will come
out only if Iranians can communicate freely with each other.(5) The
clerical councils engaged in closed-door crisis talks are paying great
attention to the voices being raised in their society. Let’s make sure
Iran’s voices are not silenced – help break the blackout before it’s
too late:
http://lnk.ms/0ldVK
With hope and determination,
the Avaaz team
Sources:
1. Updates on the crackdown:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm../20090625/ts_nm/us_iran_el..ection_210
http://www.guardian.co.uk/..news/blog/2009/jun/25/iran..-crisis
2. On the debate in the regime, Majlis Speaker Larijani criticises Guardian Council, IRIB, calls for open debate:
http://www.presstv.com/det..ail/98645.htm?sectionid=35..1020101
Conservative Tehran mayor Qalibaf calls for legalization of rallies:
http://www.presstv.ir/deta..il.aspx?id=98941§ionid..=351020101
Assembly of Experts considers forcing a run-off election:
http://www.thedailybeast.c..om/blogs-and-stories/2009-..06-25/a-deal-to-save-iran/
3. Many of our contacts in Iran are reporting that they have been
using these services but that they are running out of bandwidth fast.
Also see:
http://edition.cnn.com/200..9/TECH/06/18/iran.dodging...crackdown/
http://www.internetfreedom...org/Use_of_Censorship_Cir..cumvention_Services_Soars_..in_Iran
4. See for example:
http://www.qlineorientalis..t.com/IranRises/general-st..rike-in-kurdistan/
http://www.youtube.com/use..r/citizentube
https://twitter.com/#search?q=%23iranelection
5. Regardless of the actual result of the election, the importance
of basic rights to assembly and open debate, which could also help
shine a light on what occurred, has been emphasized in an open letter
of support to the demonstrators. Its signatories include the
anti-imperialist writer Noam Chomsky:
http://www.ireport.com/doc..s/DOC-277500