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Dutch Parliament provides 1 million euro’s for Internet accessiblity in Iran
The Hague, July 10th 2009 – In part thanks to the initiative “Break Up the Silence” (Doorbreek de stilte) of iProxyIran in the Netherlands, various political parties of the Dutch parliament presented resolutions requesting the Dutch government, as member state of the European Union, to initiate actions against the regime in Teheran. The project of iProxyIran is in the parliamentary debates repeatedly discussed as a ‘positive solution’ regarding the widespread blockade of network traffic in Iran. The Dutch parliament decided, among others, to allocate financial aid in order to facilitate the spread of news and information. Furthermore, it agreed to support a supply stop of telecommunications filtering technology by Western companies to the Iranian regime. Additionally, it appealed to Siemens and Nokia to donate the earnings from technology sales to Iran, to organizations that are striving for safe and free usage of new media in Iran.
iProxyIran Petition
During a special session of the Dutch parliament regarding developments in Iran on the 2nd of July last, the members of parliament accepted a number of resolutions in order to ease the access to information for the people in Iran. In the petition which was offered by iProxyIran to the secretary of foreign affairs, Mr. Maxime Verhagen, one week ago, the authors proposed several possibilities, such as using proxy servers, aiming to open the internet communication channels in Iran. This petition was submitted after the Iranian riot police attempted to quench the continuing protests of the Iranian people against the fraudulent elections by harsh force and blocking different means of communication such as mobile phone, satellite and internet networks in all of the country. This information blockade allowed the regime the opportunity to intensify its oppression to an even greater degree, as they managed to track down and arrest the organisers of the protests.
Consequences of the approved initiatives
A considerable number of the wishes and requests mentioned in the iProxyIran petition were accepted, such as appealing to universities, schools and companies to make their proxy servers available to internet users in Iran. One of the members of People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) even suggested to share the parliament’s own proxy network, especially now that the summer recession starts and internal usage of the network is reduced.
In the parliamentary debate various far-reaching initiatives against the Iranian authorities were presented. All parties unanimously condemn the terrors of the Iranian regime against its citizens. In the end, a total of 6 different resolutions were approved, in essence supporting the calls of iProxyIran.
One of the initiatives presented by The Christen Democratic Appeal (CDA) requesting the Dutch government to stimulate actions against the regime in Teheran due to the violent oppression of protesters disagreeing with the declared results of the recent poll, was unequivocally accepted. Another approved upon resolution instructs the Dutch Government to utilize its embassy’s position in Teheran to promote the release of political prisoners and offer aid to the injured and oppressed.
In addition, a proposal to free 1 million Euros from the human rights fund addressed to facilitate the spread of information and news in Iran was accepted. Furthermore the majority of the parliament decided in favour of a resolution to prohibit the export of Western technology suited to the filtering of telecommunication traffic and proposed to put this subject on the agenda of the EU parliament. Also, a general condemnation of technology sales to the Iranian regime by Western businesses was discussed. Moreover the parliament appealed to Nokia and Siemens to dispense the profits made by technology sales to the Iranian regime, requesting these sums to be donated to organizations that promote safe and free circulation of new media in Iran.
In the end the secretary of foreign affairs, Maxime Verhagen, warranted to discuss the Dutch initiative to promote free use of telecommunication channels in Iran on an international level, especially the European Union, and to collaborate with the U.S. on this issue. In accordance with the VVD’s proposal, the Verhagen declared to request EU representatives at the general assembly of the European Parliament next September to univocally condemn the Iranian regime’s violent repercussions towards its citizens, and to exhibit solidarity and single-mindedness among EU member states when dealing with the regime.
iProxyIran is a collaboration between a number of students who wish to resonate the voice of freedom-loving Iranians. Their petition was supported broadly and signed by thirty politicians from various parties, scientists, intellectuals and artists. Their demand of Western companies to take responsibility for the act of selling technology to the Iranian regime, was published in the Volkskrant (literally the people’s paper) on the 27th of June 2009.
iProxyIran spreads its outcry past national borders. The technical and practical success of this initiative will grow in size, as more and more organizations from different countries decide to join this movement. iProxyIran is therefore contacting other European countries, the U.S. and the civil society in Iran to start similar initiatives. Hence, the request to help improving telecommunication traffic in Iran is more than a symbolic or idealistic action, but has substantial impact and results.
In the meanwhile, the necessity to help Iranians to get access to (digital) media freely remains unchallenged. To give just one example, the head of Iranian judicature, Ayatollah Shahroudi, last week called for harsh actions against television stations and web pages criticizing the current regime.
For more information please contact: David Suurland davidsuurland@gmail.com;
Geef internet vrij in Iran 