The Iranian Elections and the Struggle for Democratic Change

MEI is proud to host Iranian civil society activists Mariam Memarsadeghi and Akbar Atri to discuss the current human rights situation in Iran and the wide scale crackdown following the June 12 elections. Atri, who was a key leader in Iran’s student movement until leaving Tehran in 2005, and Memarsadeghi, who has spent years advising on democracy issues in the Middle East, are directly in touch with activists in Iran. They will discuss the civic movements for democracy and human rights and also address recent human rights violations, including violent beatings, forced confessions and torture.

Memarsadeghi and Atri, who married last year, will also discuss the role of cyber-activism in helping foment the recent protests, as well as the role of women, students and the ‘green movement’ in pushing for greater civil liberties. They will also discuss the fissures emerging within the regime and explore how international solidarity can help shape a democratic future for Iran.

BIO:

Mariam Memarsadeghi is an adviser to human rights and democracy organizations internationally.  She works with activists and citizen groups to promote civil society and to promote transparent, accountable governments.  Ms. Memarsadeghi has worked on the ground throughout the Middle East, as well as in the Balkans. She is an advocate for women's rights and civil liberties in Islamic contexts, and is currently developing an online learning and training program for women civic leaders in the Middle East.  While serving as Senior Program Manager at Freedom House, Ms. Memarsadeghi founded the bi-lingual web magazine Gozaar: A Journal on Democracy and Human Rights in Iran.  A frequent speaker, Ms. Memarsadeghi has appeared as an analyst on PBS’s the  NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR, BBC, Persian and Arabic language radio and television channels, and at several prominent think tanks.

Akbar Atri is an Iranian human rights and democracy activist.  He served in the leadership of the Iranian student organization Tahkim Vahdat from 1997 to 2005 and is one of the founders of Iranian Students for Democracy and Human Rights.  For his civic organizing activities in Iran, Mr. Atri has faced imprisonment, fines and physical abuse at the hands of the regime's militias.  When he left Iran for the United States in 2005, Mr. Atri was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison for defiling the Supreme Leader and other crimes against the Iranian regime.  Since the mid-1990s, Mr. Atri has appeared on media outlets such as CNN and the BBC.  He has written for several Iranian reformist papers, as well as American publications such as American Spectator and The Wall Street Journal.  He serves on the board of the Committee on the Present Danger, an American organization devoted to countering terrorism and the spread of radical Islam.