A letter from signed by seventy members of Congress against VOA Persian to President Barak Obama
Posted by Amir Abbas Fakhravar at Friday, March 26, 2010
source: http://voapnnwatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/03/70-congress-members-sign-letter-to.html
Since March 8, 2007, after Senator Coburn's letter to president Bush, stating his objections to VOA Persian's policies as set by its management at the time, was published in Washington Times, VOA boycotted me, my friends and all the members of the Confederation of Iranian Students. The Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) is a pro-western, independent student movement of over 4000 members with student Federations in Iran, the United States, England, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey. It is the largest International Iranian student movement active both inside and outside of Iran. CIS was officially launched in November 2002. Its principal objective is to empower the will and confidence of the Iranian people in their quest for freedom. It reaches out to students through social, cultural, artistic, literary, and sports activities.
CIS works tirelessly to promote freedom, human rights and democracy in Iran. The Confederation educates publics, and organizes and mobilizes grass-roots support in the United States, Europe and Iran to promote freedom of expression, freedom of press, and freedom of religion – the constitutional foundations of a future free, secular and democratic Iran. The U.S. Congressional Report dated January 2010, stated the following regarding CIS: “Opposition/”Green Path Hope.” All of the blocs and personalities below can be considered part of the Green Path of Hope opposition/revolutionary movement. However, overall leadership of the opposition is unclear, with several components competing for preeminence and the ability to determine the direction of the protest movement.
Student Opposition Leaders/Confederation of Iranian Students/Office of Consolidation of Unity (Daftar Tahkim-e- Vahdat). Staunch oppositionists and revolutionaries, many now favor replacement of the regime with secular democracy. One key bloc in this group is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), led by Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was jailed for five years for participating in July 1999 student riots. CIS, committed to non-violent resistance, is successor of Office of Consolidation Unity, which led those riots. CIS supports international efforts to sanction the regime. At the time of those riots, the students had been strong Khatemi supporters, but turned against him for failing to challenge hardliners, particularly after July 1999 violent crackdown on student riots, in which four students were killed. Student leaders attempting—and increasingly succeeding—in gaining support of older generation, labor, clerics, and other segments to topple regime.” (Page 4-5 report on IRAN)
CIS chapters regularly brief national political leaders, policy-makers, and prominent scholars about the current political, economic and social issues that Iranians confront in their daily lives under the oppression of the current regime. CIS members work closely with Amnesty International and other human rights organizations.
Our fight with the corrupt management of VOA, however, continued until last September when the Inspector General of the United States got involved with the case and Sheila Ganji was removed from her position, thus raising our hopes for resolving these issues. But the level of corruption exceeded our expectations.
After months of silence and waiting for VOA Persian to be placed in order, I broke my silence on February 23 of this year and the final phase of the campaign against the policies of this media was unlocked with my speech at the U.S. Congress. This speech was attended by key members of Congress and their aides and focused on "Iranian Green Revolution, Oil Sanctions and the analysis of the policies of VOA Persian".
Trent Frank, a representative from Arizona, who was present during my speech, stood up at the end and announced that he would instigate a new campaign against the misuses of this media. Two days ago, a letter from this representative, signed by seventy other members of Congress, was sent to the president. The original letter and its Persian translation may be viewed here.
United States Congress/Washington DC./March 17, 2010
Dear Mr. President Obama,
We are encouraged by your powerful statement during your first State of the Union Address: “As Iran’s leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: they, too, will face growing consequences.” However, while economic sanctions and international isolation may be necessary, we believe the greatest threat to the Iranian regime will come from the liberation of its own people. We ask you to support Iranian dissidents fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran.
The United States must stand by the thousands of Iranians who have stood defiantly against the regime. We must call for the release of all political activists and demand the cessation of torture, rape and other human rights violations. As the leader of the free world, the United States has a moral obligation to support the courageous men and women in Iran who are demanding freedom and democracy at risk of arrest, imprisonment, and execution. Iran's dissidents will not stop fighting. We should not stop fighting for them.
In addition, the freedom movement has relied heavily on the internet to inform the Iranian people, organize protests, and update the international community about the regime's violence against its own people. We should assist Iranian dissidents by helping them to circumvent state censorship through access to relevant internet technologies.
Finally, we implore you to investigate the anti-American rhetoric reported to be coming from Voice of America -- Persian. The apparent lack of oversight regarding the context of VOA-Persian broadcasting -- an American-taxpayer-funded program -- has ironically harmed the plight of the dissidents by propagating anti-American sentiment throughout the region.
The United States, through principled public and material support, can help the Iranian people to achieve self-determination.
We appreciate your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
TrentFranks Member of Congress
Signed by:
1. Trent Franks (AZ)
2. Robert Aderholt (AL)
3. W. Todd Akin (MO)
4. Rodney Alexander (LA)
5. Michele Bachmann (MN)
6. Roscoe Bartlett (MD)
7. Joe Barton (TX)
8. Gus Bilirakis (FL)
9. Rob Bishop (UT)
10. Marsha Blackburn (TN)
11. Roy Blunt (MO)
12. John Boehner (OH)
13. Jo Bonner (AL)
14. Dan Burton (IN)
15. Ken Calvert (CA)
16. John Campbell (CA)
17. Jason Chaffetz (UT)
18. Howard Coble (NC)
19. Mike Coffman (CO)
20. Mike Conaway (TX)
21. Tom Cole (OK)
22. John Culberson (TX)
23. Jeff Fortenberry (NE)
24. Virginia Foxx (NC)
25. Phil Gingrey (GA)
26. Louie Gohmert (TX)
27. Bob Goodlatte (VA)
28. Scott Garrett (NJ)
29. Sam Graves (MO)
30. Parker Griffith (AL)
31. Wally Herger (CA)
32. Peter Hoekstra (MI)
33. Bob Inglis (SC)
34. Lynn Jenkins (KS)
35. Jim Jordan (OH)
36. Steve King (IA)
37. Mark Kirk (IL)
38. Jack Kingston (GA)
39. Doug Lamborn (CO)
40. Robert Latta (OH)
41. Cynthia Lummis (WY)
42. Connie Mack (FL)
43. Mary Fallin (OK)
44. Michael T. McCaul (TX)
45. Tom McClintock (CA)
46. Thaddeus McCotter (MI)
47. "Buck" McKeon (CA)
48. Jerry Moran (KS)
49. Sue Myrick (NC)
50. Randy Neugebauer (TX)
51. Pete Olson (TX)
52. Joe Pitts (PA)
53. Bill Posey (FL)
54. Tom Price (GA)
55. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
56. Dave Reichert (WA)
57. Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
58. McMorris Rodgers (WA)
59. Edward Royce (CA)
60. Paul Ryan (WI)
61. Steve Scalise (LA)
62. Jean Schmidt (OH)
63. Aaron Schock (IL)
64. John Shadegg (AZ)
65. John Shimkus (IL)
66. Lamar Smith (TX)
67. Todd Tiahrt (KS)
68. Lynn A. Westmoreland (GA)
69. Joe Wilson (SC)
70. Ted Poe (TX)
Congress of the United States
Washington DC.
March 17, 2010
