Police Firing on Basij? – Basij Tageting Women – Enghelab Square

There are unconfirmed reports that in areas of Tehran police began firing on Basij militia. Currently these claims cannot be confirmed.

There are also reports that women have become the main target of the Basij. Women have taken a large part in the protests following the June 12th election, which opposition figures and protesters are calling illegitimate.

There are also reports of increased violence around Enghelab Square, as well as many other places.

Michael Jackson Memorial to ‘flood internet’

Many people are speculating that Michael Jackson’s memorial at the Staples Center will ‘flood’ the internet with the heaviest traffic ever seen in the history of the internet. The day Jackson died many sites, including Google and Jackson’s official site, became slow and sometimes unresponsive. Other sites had to be taken offline because of the overwhelming amount of traffic. It remains to be seen whether this will occur today as millions tune in both on TV and online to see Michael Jackson one last time.

The link for CNN Live, where the memorial will be aired live, is here: http://www.cnn.com/video/fb/facebook.html?stream=stream1

Riots in Urumqi, 156 Dead, Hundreds More Injured, and Thousands Arrested

Yesterday’s riots in the city of Urumqi, located in China’s western Xinjiang province, have left at least 156 people dead and over 800 people injured. Xinhua (Chinese State Media) claims there have been over 1434 arrests.

Xinhua further reports the government said: “An initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer.” Kadeer is considered the Uigher leader and lives in exile in the United States.

Many in Xinjiang have long campaigned to gain independence from China, which is made up of prominently Han Chinese, while  Xinjiang is primarily Uigher Muslims.

The CNN article on the topic is here:http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/06/china.uyghur.protest/index.html

Prisoners Beat, Tortured, and Raped in Iran – At Least 11 Killed Tuesday

There are reports from Iran that people  in Iranian prisons, such as the notorious Evin prison, were beat, tortured, and even raped. Medical examinations of people released have proven all three of these claims. This report comes as the government cracks down on dissidents throughout all of Iran.

The Guardian article on this is here: http://bit.ly/15pnac

There are also reports that at least 11 people were killed Tuesday 30 June 2009.

It may well be that in the future the officials of the current regime will be tried at the hague for crimes against humanity.

British Embassy Staff Kidnapped – CONFIRMED

It has been confirmed that 8 British Embassy staffers were arrested in Iran fortheir “role in the unrest” (CNN). This comes amid reports that Iran has arrested many foreign nationals, though at this time it is unknown which countries said people were from.

Dramatic Interview with Woman who saw ‘a massacre’

This is one of the most dramatic portrayals of ‘massacres’ in Tehran. This is from 24 June 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEtVRgZ3Szw&feature=player_embedded

CNN aired this today 24 June 2009

Color Coded MAP of Embassies in Iran Helping Injured

This is a link  to a map that provides the location of every embassy in Tehran:http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=116894734857323306892.00046ccb858387ddf2a3d

This is a link to a text file of the embassies and whether or not they take injured: http://bit.ly/2rYIbt

The map and text file are  color coded. Below is the description:

Best info we have – please update if you know more. GREEN: OPEN (embassy statement open)

YELLOW: no statement, indication yes RED: NO HELP (embassy can’t help injured)

BLUE: UNKNOWN

Assume Basij are blocking all embassies and use CAUTION. Also many Embassies deny that they are helping injured or even are able to do so. Hard to get straight facts. Furthermore most embassies won’t have sophisticated medical equipment on site. In case of life threathening injury please go to the nearest hospital. In addition latest info suggests embassy staffs are being expelled from country soon. check too with http://eldercato.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/list-and-status-of-injured-accepting-embassies-in-tehran/ Please help in further enhancing this map by checking the information and by providing additional information (other Embassies, capacity of Embassies …)

Again the link is:http://bit.ly/AXKb0

Please pass this on. Spread it on your blog or website. Claim it as your own, we really don’t care. It just needs to be out there. Tweet this until you can’t Tweet anymore. JUST GET IT OUT THERE!

Mousavi Under House Arrest

There are reports that Mousavi is under house arrest, though some sources don’t use the phrase ‘house arrest’, but rather say he is ‘under 24 hour guard.’ Either way he is cut off from all his supporters. The government likely thinks that this will result in the protesters becoming less organized and that they will lose heart without their ‘leader.’

The Pakistani Spectator Interview

I did an interview with the Pakistani Spectator. The interview link is below:

http://www.pakspectator.com/interview-with-blogger-eldercato/

I appreciate all the support I got from thousands of people around the world. I feel like we can all say that we changed the world and even though history will not know us by name they will know what we did. Though I thought all my sources were reliable the informatin on the embassies taking Iranian injured that I got was not all reliable after all, but something good came out of it. Thousands of people called their government to demand that they take Iranian injured if they weren’t on the list. Those governments then released statements about it. I don’t think it would have become a big deal without that list and so I thank all of you for passing it around and calling your representives, and those of other countries to verify that they were correctly on this list, or to demand that they get on that list. Politicians of the world now know that their constituents will not let them stand idly by in times of humanitarian crisis and tyranny around the world. Keep up the good work and the world will be better for it.

Netherlands Response to Taking Injured

I emailed the Netherlands and got an email back from the Ambassador. While it seems as if it was a generic email sent to many people it still answers their status on accepting wounded Iranians:

Dear sir/ madam,

Thank you for your message of concern about persons wounded in the
ongoing unrest in Teheran.
We share your concern and the Netherlands calls on all parties to
refrain from further violence and address the current situation in a
peaceful manner.
The embassy is not equipped to deal with wounded persons and neither do
we have the staff to do so.
It is obviously the duty of licensed doctors and hospitals in Tehran to
help wounded persons in need of medical care.
The embassy is therefore only in a position to refer to the relevant
medical institutions.

Sincerely,

Radinck Jan van Vollenhoven
Ambassador of the Netherlands
Tehran, 22 June 2009