The Abdorrahman Boroumond Foundation is a non-profit committed to promoting non-violence and to documenting human rights abuses in Iran. The organization has just launched an online memorial called Omid - "hope" in Farsi - which is a database with the names and biographies of thousands of people murdered by the Iranian regime. You can browse the database at http://www.abfiran.org, as well as translations of pro-democracy writings by Iranian students. This letter comes from the foundation's directors.

Dear Friends,

You are here tonight to celebrate the universality of civil rights. You are attending a concert that can not be held in Tehran - so you have decided to organize it at Harvard for your fellow Iranian students.

You are here to send a message to Iranian students letting them know that they are not alone, that you, here, at Harvard University, are their fellow students, their brothers and sisters.

Their oppressors - the unelected clerics who rule Iran - want Iranian students to believe that they are isolated in this world and that no one cares about their rights and dignity. Your presence here is a spectacular refutation of this lie.

We regret that we cannot join you in Cambridge tonight, but we would like to thank you for your initiative. As victims of human rights abuse and human rights advocates, we have experienced both the bitterness of isolation and the hope that any expression of solidarity creates in the hearts of those who refuse to live within the lies of a totalitarian government and who ask for nothing but their dignity.

We regret that more Iranians are not with you this evening. But please understand: terror and intimidation are the main cause of the physical absence of many Iranians among you tonight. Even those who are studying in this city fear retaliation and those who would brave any danger to speak up, are in prison.

Let us together foil the Iranian regime's stratagem, let us invite Iranian student leaders to the podium tonight. Let us listen to the words of Ahmad Batebi and Abbas Fakhravar, two student activists arrested by the regime. This is how they describe their struggle:

"Violence has absolutely no place in our struggle, neither in our words nor in our deeds… Our demands are minute. Iranians are gentle people without greed. We wish to be embraced, once again, by the global human family. We want to enjoy life with the rest of humanity and share in their sorrows. We wish to openly and overtly express our dedication to all universal covenants. We want to show our respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Universal Peace, Nonviolence, Environmental Protection, Permanent Progress, and all the other noble covenants sanctioned by the mankind."

To the brave students of Harvard University, we say thank you for standing with the people of Iran and with the Iranian reform movement. You have taken a stand for justice and human dignity. To us, that means a world of difference.

Sincerely,
Ladan Boroumand and Roya Boroumand