Event Report: Washington DC Action for the International Day in Support of Political Prisoners in Iran

Activists in Washington DC held an inspiring demonstration and march in support of political prisoners in Iran on Sunday 19 June 2011, in conjunction with actions held in nearly 50 cities worldwide in recognition of the International Day of Support for Political Prisoners in Iran.

We started out shouting at the offices of the Islamic Republic. We demanded the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners in Iran, freedom, women’s equality, gay rights, and an immediate halt to execution in Iran. We demanded freedom of expression, demonstration, organization, strike, and the right to believe or not believe in faith and/or religion; we demanded that the international community and governments worldwide should break their long standing silences and condemn the serious violation of human rights by the Islamic Regime in Iran; we demanded that the Islamic Regime of Iran must be isolated politically and diplomatically on an international level, and their diplomats and delegates must be expelled from all international communities including the United Nations and all of its sub-organizations; we demanded the immediate closure of offices and embassies of the Islamic regime; and we demanded the arrest and public prosecution of those responsible for torturing, raping, and killing thousands of people in Iran during the last 32 years.

We then marched while shouting protest chants to Georgetown (a very busy shopping area in Washington DC); many people were interested in our demonstration and wanted to know what our action was about. We handed out flyers, which included a simple letter-writing action, to the public until they were gone.

We marched back to regime offices to confront the regime with their crimes:

We waited for regime staff to emerge. Eventually they came out and ripped down all of our posters. We shouted “Marg bar Jomhuriye Eslami! Marg bar Khamenei!” at the men.

Not to be defeated, once the regime staff went back into their offices, our dear friend took the last flyers that we had and taped them across the door to the offices of this killing, torturing, raping regime.

It was an impressive demonstration of support for political prisoners in Iran, and opposition to the Islamic Republic in its entirety.

The action was organized by the Washington DC Ad-Hoc Committee for the International Day of Support for Political Prisoners in Iran (Action for Democracy and Human Rights in the Middle East, Mission Free Iran, Unity for Justice & Democracy in Iran, and Women’s Alliance for Change in Iran).