This just in from Labour Start: Some of you will remember the jailed Iranian trade unionist Farzad Kamangar. He was the subject of a LabourStart campaign more than a year ago. Kamangar was accused by the regime of “endangering national security” and “enmity against God”. He was convicted in a sham trial that lasted less [...]

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I cringe when I hear folks like Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon use the word “solidarity” in the same breath as “Haiti.” I’m all for solidarity with the Haitian people, but when it is expressed by the likes of Cannon, I gag. The Haitian disaster relief program is a thinly disguised military operation to secure [...]

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Four global union organisations representing over 170 million workers have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers. Demonstrations will take place outside Iranian embassies and consulates to protest the ongoing denial of rights and arrests of trade unionists within the country. The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), EI [...]

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Canadians are a death-denying lot. Perhaps because we are hardwired to avoid death for as long as possible, we spare no expense to make sure our corpses appear ready to leap out of the casket and we have no shortage of euphemisms to avoid saying someone is dead. So what are we to make of [...]

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In response to the reported slaughter of 25,000 Tamil civilians last week, members of Winnipeg’s Tamil community held a candle light vigil at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on May 17, 2009. At the vigil, they prayed for peace and called upon the Canadian government to do more to prevent further bloodshed in Sri [...]

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About 50 Winnipeggers braved -20 C temperatures and a biting wind to rally for Freedom for Gaza in front of the Canadian Grain Commission building on Main Street in Winnipeg Jan. 24. The rally, organized by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Canadian Muslims for Palestine and the Canada Palestine Support Network, was one of several held in [...]

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No, he still hasn’t met them, but it’s not for want of trying by the Majority Agenda Coalition, which on Nov. 15 demonstrated outside of the Conservative Party of Canada Convention in Winnipeg. The coalition drew eloquent and boisterous attention to the vast range of issues deemed important by Canadians across the country. If you [...]

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I don’t know how Farzad Kamangar has survived his imprisonment and torture at the hands of Iranian authorities. However he has managed it, it’s clear to me that he has more than earned the admiration and support of people of conscience everywhere. Will you get involved? Kamangar, 33, is s school teacher and a member [...]

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According to Education International Teachers, trade unionists and human rights defenders around the world are mobilising in defence of Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian Kurdish teacher and trade unionist who is at risk of execution. Education International received information from reliable sources that on 26 November Kamangar was taken from his cell 121 in ward 209 [...]

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Education International has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, the Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker sentenced to death on “absolutely zero evidence” according to his lawyer, could be hanged on Wednesday 26 November 2008. According to several reliable sources, he has been taken from his cell 121 in ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison in [...]

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