US College Students Single Out Iran on International Human Rights Day

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite identifying Iran as a leading violator of human rights, majorities of American college students are largely ignorant regarding the specifics of the regime's repression of its own people, including how normal daily activities in America are declared to be "crimes" in Iran punishable by prison or death.

The Survey of American College Students Attitudes Towards and Knowledge of Iran was conducted by the research firm, uSamp™ in conjunction with International Human Rights Day on December 10.

Among the survey's key findings:

• An overwhelming majority of respondents, 91 percent, think Iran either has problems with human rights or is one of the worst violators of human rights in the world.
• Over three-fourths of respondents, 76 percent, claimed to have some or much knowledge about Iran.
• When asked to rank several nations, including Somalia, Syria, and Uzbekistan, on the basis of their human rights violations, more than a third, 34 percent, selected Iran as the worst offender, far more than any other country.

The study results also discovered the following:

"While it's encouraging to know that today's students care deeply about human rights, and there's a high degree of opposition to the human rights policies of the Iranian regime-- there's also much ignorance regarding the nature and extent of these abuses," said Chris DeVito, Director of Outreach for Iran180, a coalition of NGOs demanding Iran reverse its human rights practices. "We certainly have our work cut out for us in educating college students, and Americans of all ages, about the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran."

Results of the study were released Friday during a panel discussion with experts on the human rights situation in Iran. Hosted by Iran180, panel members included: Alemash Asfaw, Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'I Community of New York City; Bret Caldwell, Director of Communications for International Brotherhood of Teamsters; David Keyes, Executive Director of Advancing Human Rights and co-founder of Cyber Dissidents; Gissou Nia, Executive Director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center; and Reverend Robert Stearns, Founder and Executive Director of Eagles Wings.

Research for the study was conducted during the second half of November 2011 with 509 students responding to questionnaires. The geographic distribution of respondents included 183 in the Northeast, 201 on the West Coast, and 125 in the Midwest and the South, as well as a sample that reflected the general population breakdown of state schools, community colleges, and private universities.

About Iran180

Iran180 is a movement of people and organizations who have come together as a unified voice to demand a "180" by the Iranian government and immediately stop their disregard for human rights and their pursuit of nuclear weapons. The coalition's events have drawn the support of key elected officials, including New York Senator Gillibrand and numerous Congressional representatives of both parties. Iran180's list of coalition members includes; 100 Hispanic Women, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League – NY Region, Chinese Community Relations Council, COMPAS, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Korean American Community Empowerment Council, NAACP New York, New York Coalition of 100 Black Women, Progressive American-Iranian Committee, and the Turkish American Community of New York,. A full list of Iran180 coalition member organizations is available at http://www.iran180.org/what-is-iran180/

For more information contact:  Christine Hauer, 212-362-1307 [email protected] , or Chris DeVito, [email protected]

SOURCE Iran180