"Green Cyber Demonstration": World Solidarity with the Iranian Protestors

INTERNATIONAL CYBER-DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF THE IRANIAN PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT



One aim: unite the world’s citizens of all origins, nationalities and horizons who believe in democracy and Human Rights, and who wish to express their support for the pro-democracy movement in Iran.



This initiative is completely independent, non-political and non-religious.



How to participate

- Join our group on facebook, flickr, add us on twitter & myspace

- make our logo your profile image on these social websites

- write a message of support as your headline & on our page(s)

- inform & send links to your friends & contacts

- write about this event in your blogs & websites, feature our image & add a link to us

- contribute to our webpage with comments, slogans, photos/videos/songs etc.


Facebook group: WWIran Facebook group
On twitter: WWIran Twitter
Myspace page: WWIran Myspace
Downloadable images on flickr: WWIran Flickr profile
Flickr group: WWIran Flickr group
YouTube Channel: WWIran YouTube

How you can make a difference

The pro-democracy protestors in Iran are isolated and vulnerable. A strong turn-out here is a means for us to support them in their battle & remind governments & official international bodies around the world to act in the best interest of these freedom-fighters.Iran has ratified both the Declaration of Human Rights (signed 1948) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (signed 1968). Let us show the world that human dignity and Human Rights are values that transcend frontiers, and that our leaders should use as much energy in defending Human Rights as they do the nuclear issue.



“A dictatorship is more dangerous than a nuclear weapon.”



Context

As a result of the fraudulent Iranian presidential elections of the 12th of June 2009, millions of people took to the streets of Iran to protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; demanding a new and democratic election. These brave protestors, comprising all generations, demonstrated pacifically but faced harsh repression from government forces resulting in beatings, deaths, arrests, torture, forced confessions and mock show-trials. Despite this repression, the protest movement has continued to grow and is known as the ‘Green Movement’ (read below: ‘Why Green?’). In spite of this repression, the pro-democracy protestors in Iran have continued their mobilisation; taking to the streets, infiltrating official marches and finding new means to express themselves such as via the internet - despite the huge risks, including for their lives (two young men arrested before the elections, Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, were executed on the 28th January 2010, with more feared).



Why Green?

Green is the symbolic colour under which the pro-democracy protestors march in Iran - it is traditionally the colour of hope. Although the colour of the presidential candidate Mussavi in June’s fraudulent elections, the protestors have since made this colour their own and are commonly called the ‘Green Movement’, which has grown to become a spontaneous independent citizen’s movement demanding democracy for Iran. Green is now the colour of all those who march for democracy in Iran.

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Nokia Siemens condemned by MEP's for supplying surveillance technology to Iran




Nokia Siemens "instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents", says EU

A European Parliament resolution has criticsed Nokia Siemens involvement in Iran

By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor, 11 Feb 2010,


A European Parliament Resolution has criticised Nokia Siemens

A European Parliament Resolution has criticised Nokia Siemens

Nokia Siemens has been condemned in a European Parliament resolution for its links with Iran. The company was criticised for “providing the Iranian authorities with censorship and surveillance technology [and] being instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”.
Nokia Siemens has vigorously denied that it has provided anything to Iran that is not completely standard in other countries around the world.


The resolution further called on EU institutions to "ban the export of surveillance technology by European companies to governments and countries such as Iran". Nokia Siemens, however, said it had provided only “limited monitoring capabilities, similar to those used by law enforcement in many countries, for predefined phone numbers only”. It added that their system, supplied to Iran in 2008, “does not allow the scanning of network traffic in order to discover or identify users based on the content of their transmissions”.
In a lengthy Q&A released on Nokia Siemens’s website, the company went on to deny providing any continued support for the technology, which it no longer sells, and adds that it offers no facility for the detailed inspection of the small amount of email traffic which is carried on Iran’s mobile networks. In Iran, mobile networks have “clearly have played a pivotal role in their ability to communicate, organize, and share their story with the outside world”, the company said.

Nokia burned by EU for assisting Iran with monitoring technology

Posted by Doug Hanchard @ February 11, 2010
Nokia has been helping the Iran government with surveillance technology to track mobile phone users since this issue became known by the media in June of 2009. A European Parliament resolution on Wednesday hits Nokia Siemens point blank:
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the MEPs said the hardware was instrumental in the “persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”.
Surveillance in Iran is especially worrisome because surveillance techniques, applications and devices could be used to violate human rights that the EU requires its signatory nations  — and corporations - to abide to.
Some Members of the European Parliament are considering harsher penalties against the company. In a BBC article posted today:
Nokia Siemens said the technology that it had installed was similar to that used “in all EU member states and the US”.
“When you set up a modern network - as an operator - if you want a licence to operate you have to have a standard surveillance capability in the network,” Christina Dinne, also of the firm, said.
Nokia Siemens told BBC News that it had provided “very basic surveillance” capabilities to Iran Telecom in 2008. The product is called Monitoring Centre and can be used to monitor local telephone calls.
“You can’t track keywords,” said Mrs Dinne.
The U.N. and EU have several issues to address, like sanctions that are already in place against Iran with technology being one of them. It’s not clear how or if Nokia has violated existing export of its surveillance products. According to Nokia it is in full compliance of the law. The European Parliament is set to bring a resolution forward banning the export of the technology.
The resolution “strongly criticizes international companies, and notably Nokia/Siemens, for providing the Iranian authorities with the necessary censorship and surveillance technology, thus being instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”. Parliament called on the EU institutions immediately to “ban the export of surveillance technology by European companies to governments and countries such as Iran”.
Nokia responded back in June of 2009 in a press release;
Recent media reports have speculated about Nokia Siemens Networks’ role in providing monitoring capability to Iran. Nokia Siemens Networks has provided Lawful Intercept capability solely for the monitoring of local voice calls in Iran. Nokia Siemens Networks has not provided any deep packet inspection, web censorship or Internet filtering capability to Iran.
But DPI technology is not where the focus of surveillance resides, it’s the mobile phone users that the Iranian State Security is focusing on. Videos and text messages are leaking out real-time information and student demonstrations.  How Nokia Siemens deals with this issue has considerable impacts. The company  potentially faces a public backlash that could harm retail sales and further EU and U.S. government scrutiny. It also brings into question how surveillance products are sold in China and Venezuela, where Nokia has a significant presence and manufacturing facility. RIM, Motorola, Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, and Google will need to pay close attention as this could blow up in their faces too.
Credits: D.Hanchard/ZDNet Govt.: http://government.zdnet.com/?p=7080&tag=nl.e620



Iran Nobel winner seeks Nokia Siemens sanctions

By Gwladys Fouche, Reuters, Feb 15, 2010

OSLO (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called on the West to impose sanctions on mobile systems maker Nokia Siemens Networks for providing technology that she says helped Tehran repress political opponents.
Western powers are discussing a fourth round of United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Tehran maintains is peaceful but the West fears is aimed at building atomic weapons.
The Iranian human rights lawyer, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, is against economic sanctions on Iran that she says would hurt the Iranian people.
"Last month the U.S. government imposed a heavy fine on a Swiss bank that was trading with Iran and thereby breaking the sanctions," Ebadi said, referring to a $536 million fine on Credit Suisse Group AG.
"My question to America is this: why don't you impose the same kind of heavy punishment on corporations that provide Iran with equipment that can be used to suppress the people?
"I am talking about Siemens and Nokia because they provided Iran with equipment with which it can monitor the Iranian nation," Ebadi told Reuters in an interview in Oslo, where she is attending a conference on human rights.
"That would be a lesson to other corporations not to dare sell to the Iranian government such equipment that can be used to suppress the people," said Ebadi, who won the Peace Prize for her work for women's and children's rights in Iran.
Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Germany's Siemens and Finland's Nokia, said it provided to Iran mobile networks with an in-built capability for law enforcement agencies to listen in on conversations, in line with international standards. [...]

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