Tag Archives: Middle East

Residencies for Palestinian Artists

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The programme aims to support Palestinian artists residing in Jerusalem or the West Bank or originally from Gaza and living abroad, of various disciplines, generations, and origins, helping them develop  research and creation projects in contemporary arts.  A second call for applications is now open for 3 to 6-month residencies in France to be carried out at French cultural institutions venues and will take place between January 2025 and December 2025.  

Submission of applications until August 20th, 2024. The selection process will be coordinated by the French Institute of Jerusalem, in collaboration with the program partners. 

More information and application via this link.  

2023 Annual Report on Humans Rights in Iran

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The Annual Report, issued by the Human Rights Activists in Iran network (HRAI), counts in the field of cultural rights violations a 114% increase in citizen arrests compared to the previous year.  17 reports have been recorded. They included the arrest of 15 individuals and 10 cases of employment prohibition. 4 individuals were sentenced to 24 months of suspended imprisonment, with 12 months of these sentences issued by appellate courts. The highest number of violations in this category occurred in August and September.

In the category of freedom of thought and expression, reports of citizen arrests increased by 86%, and the issuance of prison sentences by the judiciary increased by 68% compared to the previous year.

The report has grown to 20 chapters on different fields of human rights, such as ethnic and religious rights, education, work and trade unions, children, women, gender, and sexual minorities. Additionally, the cases are arranged by months and regions.

Source: HRANA

Iran: Mohammad Sadeghi and Mehdi Etemad – Further Arrests of Theatre Artists

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After several moments of absence, the Morality Police is back on the streets in Iran. Sunday, July 16 security forces attacked the home of the actor and woman rights defender Mohammad Sadeghi and arrested him because he posted a video expressing his anger over the detention of yet another woman in morality police hands due to her inappropriate hijab. Sadeghi shared his arresting live on Instagram.

The actor Mehdi Etemad Saeed was arrested by security forces on June 9, 2023, in Tehran and is still detained in legal ambiguity. He was reportedly denied access to legal representation and has been charged with “promoting impurity and indecency.” Etemad Saeed’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Sources: HRANA.org, Iran International, Twitter

Iran: Hossein Mohammadi sentenced to 10 Years

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Mohammadi was arrested on Nov. 5, 2022, and has been sentenced to execution by the court of the city of Karaj. The death sentence was lifted in January 2023. A new trial in Karaj has now been held to decide on the sentences of 14 accused in connection with the death of a Bassij militiaman. Mohammadi, who has been in custody since November, has now been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The detention of the accused had initially been justified by their participation in a memorial service for Hadis Najafi, who was killed by Basijis during a demonstration in Karaj at the end of September. Two demonstrators were executed earlier this year as part of the major trial that eventually heard charges of “corruption on earth” and “conspiracy against internal and external security”: Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini.

Sources: Enthekab.ir, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, ANF news, 

Iran: Death Sentence for Hossein Mohammadi Revoked

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The Iranian Supreme Court announced via Twitter the death sentences for 3 persons, among them the actor Hossein Mohammadi, were being revoked due to a flaw in the investigation.

Three more people are beeing added to our list of – now 40 –  arrested Iranian theatre artists:

Nazi Habibi, actress
Arash Shahbazi, theater actor
Farhan Azizi, theater actor

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Stop Executions in Iran!

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ACAR shares and supports today’s address of solidarity from the Duesseldorfer Schauspielhaus:  “Actor and artist Hossein Mohammadi was arrested during protests in Iran and sentenced to death in a summary trial. We declare our solidarity with our colleague Hossein Mohammadi and all protesters in Iran. We strongly condemn all human rights violations! We condemn the death penalty!”