Praktike reminds us that Mojtaba Saminejad and Arash Sigarchi are bloggers who have been jailed by the Iranian government, just for speaking freely. Today, thanks to the media savvy of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, is "Free Mojtaba and Arash" day around the world.

As praktike notes, other arrested Iranian bloggers have described being beaten and coerced into revealing or inventing embarrassing personal information before being released.

Iran does not have an embassy in the the United States, but if you live here you can contact their representatives via their UN mission or the Pakistani embassy.

Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 687-2020 / Fax: (212) 867-7086
E-mail: Email the ambassador

- OR -

Iranian Representative
Embassy of Pakistan
Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran
2209 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20007
Email the Interests Section

The Committee asks that you be polite, and make reference to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

As a member of the United Nations, Iran is a party to the UDHR, which is non-binding. For bonus points, you can reference the Tehran Declaration of 1968.

For more on human rights in Iran, see also Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

---

{update Feb-22-05 3:30PM} by nadezhda
Prak notes that our brooding friend offers some further observations on the illuminating magic of language and "captivating names."