it doesn't hurt to fire off an email 'tut-tuting'.

but there are problems closer to home. like picking ozzies off the street and putting them in a box on the untested say so of a copper.

Dear Antonios,

I agree with Leigh on this one. Realistically, I don't think our protests will have much influence in Iran. After all we are 'infidels,' from their point of view. However, my conscience doesn't allow me to do nothing, so I have gone into the website that you gave here "humanrightsfirst," and sent a letter through their organisation to Iran. We can only hope that it will have some effect.

It is a shame that the only magazine for women ("Zanan" means "woman" in Persian) that has been published for 16 years (monthly - 152 issues) should suddenly lose its licence on 8th Febrary 2008.

It was a decision made by the Press Supervisory Board backed by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to revoke the magazine's licence. The magazine stood for equal rights and gender justice -
so I suppose it is surprising that it lasted as long as it did.

What Steel and Leigh do not recognise is the work of Amnesty International, where it is because interest has been shown from overseas that some despot is persuaded to release a political prisoner or bring them to trial.
The counter for my own argument, though, is that, in Iran, a flood of A.I. letters often resulted in the political prisoner being immediately killed.
However, I have already sent my very polite protest using the language recommended by A.I.

Foxy,

Feminist Majority Foundation on-line also have a couple of interesting resources for protest if you are at all interested. I expect you have been updating on Ms's report on the situation too?

As you say, it is not likely that individual "infidel" voices carry any weight, but once in a while public groundswell does result in policy amendments.

Yeah, its a dichotomy we face daily really, isn't it? Other countries domestic policies are none of our business...yet human beings world-wide are. And unless we ourselves live in a utopia it is rather like people in glass houses throwing stones to to call for changes elsewhere. Yet we do have a duty of care to those who share life on this planet; or so I believe.

Do you remember the movie "Rwanda Hotel" and how those poor people were sure that if the rest of the world knew what was happening they would intervene? Sometimes we really can help; other times we do more harm than good. Maybe we just have to make sure that our moral guidelines really are lines in the sand and not set in concrete .

That would be interesting to investigate. Whether the influence and sexism of feminists actually gets women killed where they normally would not be. I think they may even suppress that information to obtain a greater political reaction back in their own country.

Also, why do I call feminist groups sexist? Because men are also mistreated and killed for political purposes. Human rights are NOT A GENDER ISSUE. Whether you are male or female, you are a victim first. Your gender is irrelevant.

Dear Steel,

Human rights are not exclusive to any particular society or group of individuals, and they are as relevant to people living in Australia as they are to those who live elsewhere. Human rights are for everyone, everywhere and at all times.

The reason for the magazine, "Zanan" having its licence revoked however was because it was a prominent feminist magazine that dealt with equal rights and gender issues in general. And in an Islamic country like Iran that was a big "No, No!"

And those of us who support human rights - have sent emails to the
"humanrightsfirst" organisation.

Were you one of the posters who actually did something, or do you just like talking about the subject?