HamsaWeb’s CRIME Report indicates Nokia, the cellular phone giant, has cooperated with Iranian security to enable the latter to arrest students, including bloggers.

Telecom giant Nokia has spiffy slogan: “Connecting People.” But a new report reveals that Nokia may be helping connect the wrong people: Iranian security agents and grassroots dissidents. It seems Nokia has helped Iran install electronic surveillance equipment to intercept text messages, emails, and more. Several activists appear to have been jailed thanks to Nokia’s technology.

Last year, Nokia provided the state-owned Irantelecom with a “monitoring center,” which enables the regime to tap phones, read e-mails, and watch over all kinds of electronic data transmission. Designed to help stop crime and terror, the new surveillance system appears to have enhanced the regime’s ability to crack down on dissent. Last month, twelve women’s rights activists were arrested at a private meeting that security forces likely learned about through intercepts. Another arrested dissident was recently confronted by interrogators with transcripts of his text messaging.

“This is an absolute threat to the privacy of all Iranian activists,” says Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “It puts them in danger of being constantly monitored by the intelligence services, something that we know is already happening.” Some international advocates are now calling for new laws to prevent Western companies from selling such “dual-use” technology to Iran.

Given Nokia’s membership in the Beijing Association of Online Media, this can hardly be considered a surprise. Here’s what the Far Eastern Economic Review says about that association.

(I)t is clear that BAOM has become an active agent of the Chinese government’s initiatives to stifle discussion of political issues. The group’s slide into censorship shows how easily Beijing can co-opt Western firms into this effort.

Nokia is in illustrious company in its collaboration with the security apparatuses of tyranical governments. That company includes Cisco, Microsoft, Google (including YouTube and Orkut), Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, Skype, Secure Computing, Nortel and many others. The actions of these companies have directly resulted in the deprivation of the freedom, both figurative and physical, of countless patriots from dozens of countries. It has resulted in deep physical and emotional harm done to these individuals and their families. And each officer from each of these companies is directly responsible for this harm. Nokia is a firm, committed member of the “Western” money-for-blood crew.

If you have a Nokia phone, you might want to consider tossing it into the urinal at a public rest room. After all, it would synchronize nicely with the what Nokia’s doing to its users.