Blog Archives

An Open Letter to the President of the United States Written on March 18, 2013 by Editor in Kurdistan, Turkey, USA By Kani Xulam: “We are the ones we have been waiting for”, Barack Hussein Obama Dear President Obama, Like the sudden fall of Berlin Wall you showed up unannounced in my life. Like most Americans, I was not prepared for your spectacular entrance— exploding upon the national scene as the star-studded keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.  I watched in amazement at the mesmerizing power of your stunning rhetoric, catapulting convention delegates to their feet,...

Read more »

Here are our top 10 developments in Nonviolent Action in 2012. 1)India’s Anti-Corruption Campaigns and Movement. 2)Russia pro-democracy protests 3)Successful Quebec and Hungarian Student-led Campaigns against Tuition Fees 4)The fizzling of Chile Student Campaigns and Occupy Movement in 2012 5)European Day of Action and Solidarity: Nov 14. Massive anti-austerity demonstrations coordinated on same day with millions participating. 6)Dreamers Win. Undocumented residents in the USA who came as children were granted a major victory in getting opportunity for legal status. Their courageous actions were inspiring. 7)Pussy Riot & FEMEN-Had a strong impact on women’s use of transgressive methods to promote...

Read more »

Here is a report from Burma by a long time exile leader who has returned for a visit.  She will make a great president someday.  By Khin Ohmar After feeling outraged by the government’s violent crackdown on Latpandaung Taung protest, I just want to quickly share with you briefly the assessment/findings from my trip to Burma for now, even briefly. During my trip, I was able to meet with about 200 people from various sectors of the society: NGOs, CSOs, CBOs, grassroots communities, human rights defenders, s tudent activists, labor activists, former political prisoners, political parties and media. Geographic-wide,...

Read more »

Report for Public Hearing at Nungba Town Community Hall Tamenglong District, 17th August 2012 by Leitanthem Umakanta Meitei, The majority of developmental projects have been designed with the ideas to have comfortable lives of the mainland people without considering the ideas of the real suffering people. It has been become a global phenomenon. In the process of development, centuries old traditional values of periphery people have been ignored and are becoming endangered. The GOI (Government of India) signed an agreement with Jubilant Oil and Gas Private Limited (JOGPL), a Netherland based energy company in 2010 for drilling and oil...

Read more »

Nonviolence International  is using the symmetry of the conflicts in Bahrain and Syria to pressure the various allies and opponents of the  regimes to work for change.  Here is the simple text (in 4 languages). We are disheartened with the political, economic, and military support that the United States and Saudi Arabia are giving to Bahrain and similarly Russia and Iran are giving to Syria. We call upon the US, Saudi, Russian, and Iranian governments to use their influence with the Syrian and Bahrain authorities to immediately protect all civilians, negotiate in good faith with their political opponents, and...

Read more »

Published on Monday, March 5, 2012 by Common Dreams FEMEN Activists Try to ‘Steal’ Russian Election in Putin Protest “We Came, We Undressed, We Conquered” - Common Dreams staff Activists from the Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN were arrested while protesting at a Moscow polling place just minutes after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cast his ballot Sunday afternoon. Polling station officials clash with topless members of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN members at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Written on the bodies of the anti-Putin women is the slogan “I steal for Putin”, referring to...

Read more »

It’s great to see Belarus activists continue to struggle despite endless repression. Humor helps keep spirits high and can be demoralizing for dictators. Here is the link to the fuller story

Read more »

By Bikhoshoonat.comWriting letters to the (Iranian) Leader and holding him responsible for the shortcomings and problems in the country is a new campaign being waged in Iran. According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, more than 80% of power is held by the Leader as the Guardian of the Jurist. The structure of the constitutional law, however, is so that the Leader is not directly accountable for his actions and the responsibility is laid on other institutions. The gate keeper of the Constitution is the Guardian Council and the Guardian Council is controlled by the Leader. The Guardian...

Read more »

Another wonderful weekly report on nonviolent action in Iran coming from http://cssnd.com/WeeklyReports/2011/12.3.2011Englis.pdf Here is the first news item…. Campaign 99 has set up a Facebook page, aiming to introduce 99 imprisoned Green Movement activists to99 activists involved in the Occupy Wall Streetmovement. The campaign’s website states, “The idea is simple. We want to talk with 99 Wall Street Movement activists from around the world. We will hear their stories about why they have participated in the movement. Then we will tell each participant about one imprisoned Iranian activist. In the end, we will ask everyone to send a message...

Read more »

Center for the Study of Strategic Nonviolent Defense The Iran Weekly Report Monday, November 21, 2011Music of a Subversive Generation “The Present Continuous” is a music album recently released by 127, an Iranian underground music band. The music reflects on the status of protest music in Iran. The band was formed by a group of the University of Art students ten years ago. Their lyrics are mostly about the philosophical solitude and the disbelief prevalent in the younger generation of Iranians. The band members state that they do not fight with anyone over ideologies or beliefs. The group members...

Read more »