Why should we care?

Since the June 2009 elections, human rights abuses have taken a different turn

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Why should we care?
by Fariba Amini
11-Jul-2010
 

Article five of the UN Human Rights Declaration states:No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Yet, sixty- two years after the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, many countries around the world still abuse their population, whether in full daylight or in dark prison cells.

From China and Iran to Somalia, human rights continue to be violated. Christiane Amanpour, the former international correspondent for CNN, highlighted some of the worst abuses in a recent CNN special called: “Scream Bloody Murder.” From the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea to the Janjawid in Sudan, from Bosnia and Rwanda to Congo to other parts of the globe, we have seen the escalation of such violations in different forms and degrees. Irene Khan of Amnesty International said in an article recently, that “it’s not just the economy, it’s a human rights crisis-the world is sitting on social, political and economic time bomb.”

The story of Neda Aqa Soltan, the young Iranian woman shot to death in front of the cameras in the aftermath of Iran’s elections, made the headlines of major newspapers and was watched around the world on YouTube. Her bloodied face proved that oppressive regimes will do anything to stay in power, reminding us of another killing that took place 30 years ago in El Salvador, where Bishop Oscar Romero was shot to death for voicing his opposition to the rule of the junta. Neda became the symbol of the struggle of the Iranian people for democracy and human rights, just as Father Romero has in El Salvador.

In Iran, long before and since the Revolution of 1979, human rights have never been fully observed. After the fall of the Shah and the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), people hoped to see major shift in the observance of human rights but to the contrary, the IRI has been categorized as one of the worst offenders of human rights by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Throughout the 1980’s, in order to solidify its base, the IRI, rounded up hundreds of people and imprisoned them. The mass killings in Evin in 1988 represent one of the most heinous crimes committed by the IRI during its 32-year history. Between 4,000 and 5,000 prisoners, many of them teenage girls and boys, were taken to the gallows and executed. Most of them had been tortured and brutalized severely. Khomeini put his stamp of approval on these atrocities: “This class must be eradicated,” as he said. The kangaroo courts of the IRI became infamous all over Iran, especially in the Kurdish area, where the local mullah became the judge, the jury and the executioner.

Iran’s solitary prisons and general wards have seen the coming and going of hundreds of men and women, some famous, many faceless. Their accounts have been documented by various human rights organizations, in Iran and abroad. These have included students, women activists, lawyers, men of the cloth, ethnic and religious minorities such as the Kurds and the Bahais. Abuse and torture have occurred in various degrees under different IRI administrations. Only under President Khatami was the infamous Towhid prison (formerly called the Komite Mosthtarak under the Shah) closed down following horrific accounts of torture. Nevertheless, such abuse never stopped at any time, before, during and after the Khatami administration. To be sure, some of the torture that took place in Iran’s prisons was similar to the methods adopted by SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police.

In fact, according to some prisoners who spent time in jail during the years 1981-1988, many of the torturers were former prison guards of the previous regime who had suddenly become “devout!” Soudabeh Ardavan, a young woman student of architecture in Tabriz University, who spent some six years in Qezel Hesar and Evin prisons, wrote: “From time to time, the head guards would come in. They were two women who were extremely rude. They were pros. I was told they were there from the Shah’s era. They would kick us real hard. One of the women wore a soldier’s outfit and she would constantly curse us and beat us. Most of the time, in our cell, we did not have to wear our scarves or the chador, only when the male guards would come in. I remember the prison warden, a man called Haji Rahmani. He was huge, quite a character, and very vicious. We would be ordered to put on our hejab. Then he would come in and beat us. I believe he now holds a post in the Ministry of Intelligence.”

In his book, “Tortured Confessions,” Dr. Ervand Abrahamian writes of the early days of the Iranian Revolution, recounting some of the prisoners’ accounts. Some were placed in small cubicles, blindfolded and in absolute silence, for seventeen hour stretches with two fifteen-minute breaks for eating and going to the toilet… Others were forced to join firing squads and removed dead bodies. When they returned to their cells with blood dripping from their hands, their roommates surmised what had transpired. In the summer, newcomers to Evin-including women-had to pass the main courtyard and view rows of hanged prisoners.”

I remember an incident which took place some 20 years ago during a visit to Iran. In north Tehran, near Tajrish square, I saw a young woman in hejab talking in a telephone booth. A revolutionary guard, in his early twenties, approached her, demanding that she finish her conversation. She refused and was defiant. In a matter of a few minutes, he fired at her. She fell to the ground. Rushed to the hospital, she was declared dead a few hours later. This was just one incident in the many cruel acts that have taken place in Iran.

Ten years later, on December 8, 1998, Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh who had translated the text of the Declaration into Persian, was found dead in Tehran. His death was part of what came to be known as the serial murders of fall 1998 by rogue agents of the Ministry of Intelligence.

Since the June 2009 elections, human rights abuses have taken a different turn. Masses of ordinary citizens who were hoping to see their votes counted, marched peacefully in the streets of the capital, but were met with harsh and bloody reprisal by the Bassij militia and plainclothes men. They beat, shot, and used overwhelming force against the young and the old, against men and women, without discrepancy.

Mass arrest and imprisonment of students, University professors, women activists, and journalists took place. Over a hundred reformists were put on show trials, each receiving short and long sentences. As one woman human rights activist and member of the Million Signature Campaign put it. “I believe that lashing sentences are a source of shame and constitute disparagement for all Iranians who believe in justice and equality. Further, these types of sentences are a sign of the violence which is perpetuated against women in our society.”

The IRI is a signatory to the UN human rights declaration, and continues to pay lip service to human rights. Nevertheless it has often been in violation. Its leaders have denied that torture or abuse takes place. The most brazen instance of such denial occurred when Saeid Mortazavi, Tehran’s former prosecutor who was allegedly involved in the torture and murder of photo journalist Zahra Kazemi, headed the Iranian human rights delegation to Geneva. As recently as February 2010, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the newly appointed Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights, had the audacity to declare that “torture is against Iran’s policy.” Eyewitness reports from Kahrizak prison (now closed) in the aftermath of the Presidential election gave ample evidence to the contrary. In 2009, according to Amnesty International, in Iran, “at least 346 people [many on political grounds] were known to have been executed, but the actual number was probably higher.”

When we visited the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C. on June 23, 2006, as part of a delegation with spokespersons from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to protest the arrest and illegal imprisonment of the Iranian- Canadian scholar Ramin Jahanbegloo, one of the Iranian officials -- a Khatami supporter -- thanked us for taking on the noble cause of defending political prisoners. As I left the premises, I told him, “God forbid, if you end up in jail one day, we will defend you as well.”

He smiled. I smiled too. But I meant it. In order to bring sanity to any society, the civil and legal rights of everyone including those who violated those rights must be safeguarded. Iran, while boasting about Cyrus the Great’s mark on history as the first monarch who believed and implemented Universal Human Rights, has done very little in this respect. If ever a democratic regime is in place in Iran, it will be imperative to protect the rights of every citizen, regardless of gender, creed or ethnicity. Only a society based on the principles of the Declaration of Human Rights will guarantee a free, just and democratic Iran.

First published in Harry's Place wwww.hurryupharry.org

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Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Thug Replacement

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

Yes Fooladi the process has begun. But we don't need to have a total moran put in. We have a lot of say. We get to influence what happens in this process. The USA puts in motion the big currents. But we get to guide it. We get to pick who runs our nation. 

Not just me or you. But all of us toghether. And the Diaspora will have a *huge* vocie.

VPK


fooladi

"these tugs were put in place by your dear Amrika."

by fooladi on

You nailed it there brother/sister/whatever! Amerika's Department of "tug"/Thug placement has a successful track records of "tugs"/thugs placement in islamic nations. Starting with Bin Laden/ Khomeini due. But now, the process of "tug" replacement has started. Just watch and enjoy............. 


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

MayBokhor

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

What is your point? Both Saddam and IRI were put in by the USA. Khomeini got orders from Regan and UK. Now they want IRI gone. I like to have the Iranian people get a free choice one day. Not the fake ones we get now.

US is in economic trouble. However IRI is in even worse. Here is the ever question: if the USA and West are so bad why are Islamist groupies here? Why not pack and go to the Islamist paradise of rape and murder? Or is that just good for others and not you?

Why are you defending the IRI? What do you think you accomplish by helping keep murderers and rapists in power? Just because USA screwed up does not make others better. That is the same crap I keep hearing from IRI supporters like you.


AMIR1973

@ MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan

by AMIR1973 on


You are omitting the simple fact that these tugs were put in place by your dear Amrika.

That's a gross oversimplification. The Baath Party was anti-American in many ways. Saddam had a relationship with the CIA, but Iraq had a much stronger relationship with the USSR. Will you blame the USSR too or just the Great Satan? The Taleban were primarily backed by Pakistan, and the U.S. had not yet established diplomatic relations with them (though it's been suggested that might have occurred if not for 9/11). In any event, I don't defend every policy of the U.S. government. But, the current alternatives on the world stage are much worse. 

So thought all empires. The US is now an economic fiasco trying to ease its debt burden by invading and rubbing other nations of their wealth. But for how long? 

Despite the economic problems of the U.S., it is still by far the world's leading economic, technological, and scientific power. The IRI is not even remotely in the same league as Asian and smaller European countries, let alone the U.S. But I think it's funny how Islamist and/or leftist propagandists like to brag about the "achievements" of the biggest killer of Iranian men, women, and children (the IRI), and yet have been looking forward happily to the death of America since Khrushchev. Cheers  :-)



MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan

@Amir 1973:

by MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan on

"Just imagine how developed Iraq would be today if it were still under the enlightened leadership of Saddam and his sons, Uday and Qusay, or where Afghanistan would be if Mullah Omar"

You are omitting the simple fact that these tugs were put in place by your dear Amrika.

"The U.S. has been around a lot longer than the IRI, and it will remain the most powerful country in the world for a very, very long time."

So thought all empires. The US is now an economic fiasco trying to ease its debt burden by invading and rubbing other nations of their wealth. But for how long?


Niloufar Parsi

moosh

by Niloufar Parsi on

are you schizo or just on some drugs that make you seem two-faced?

Peace


AMIR1973

Khaleh-yeh aziz

by AMIR1973 on

Who doesn't love Khaleh Mosheh? You have come up with some of the funniest "one liners" on IC--keep up your comedy  :-)  Well, maybe some of the IRI boys and girls on IC don't love you, but they were not hugged enough as children (one of them even bragged on this website that many mothers of troops killed in the Iran-Iraq war didn't cry for their kids--which is a disturbing thing to brag about, though I've seen families crying for their sons at Behesht-e Zahra, both on TV and in person).

Yeah, the IRI's Amen Corner is two-faced in many ways--pretending to be peaceful is just one of them. If there's any kind of war again, the IRI will hardly be innocent (just as they weren't innocent with their first war). Cheers, Khaleh joon  :-)


khaleh mosheh

Amir Khan

by khaleh mosheh on

Thanks for pointing out that Iran greatest enemy is the the one within- the cancer of IRI. Sadly the remedy for cancer itself is poisonous and looks like Iranians will pay a heavy price before they are rid of this disease.

PS -Whats up with some of the IRI agents pretending to be so 'peace'ful. It so two faced its nauseating.

 

 


Niloufar Parsi

vpk

by Niloufar Parsi on

i think i said it to you before. i thought khomeini was a charlatan. i was strongly opposed to him. but hallf the nation if not more claimed they saw his face on the moon. they didn't realise it's a 'lunatic' warning.

Peace


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

NP

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

You normally sign your posts "peace". I find that nice and very good. However how do you reconcile it with a person like Khomeini. He said peace was to him like drinking poison. When a person feels that way how do you view him?

Please tell me.


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Galloway

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

Motivation for Galloway is not mainly money. It is his hatred of anything Western. He will take the money for sure. However he will side with the most rotten Islamist no matter.

The man gives new meaning to shame and foulness.


fooladi

"IRI's Press TV have a Saddam-supporter as a host"

by fooladi on

Because these criminals know only one ideology: Ideology of the money. they go for highets bidder.

The same morons who bark incesently for the  khalifa khamenei and his regime on this forum, would have done exactly the same for Savak if shah was in power today. These sad creatures have or know no country of their own, that's why they keep howling about arabs and jews instead of Iran. lowest of low in my opinion.


AMIR1973

Why does IRI's Press TV have a Saddam-supporter as a host?

by AMIR1973 on

You would think the fact that former Saddam Groupie/current IRI Groupie George Galloway supported a man who was responsible (along with Khomeini) for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians (and Iraqis) would make Galloway persona non grata to the IRI. But, you would be wrong, because Galloway the Commie has his own show on IRI's Press TV. Support Saddam and get a show on Press TV. Patriotism, indeed  :-)


Niloufar Parsi

foreign attacks

by Niloufar Parsi on

is exactly what we were discussing earlier with rd before you turned up.

vpk: what's up with you today?

onlyviran: is that better?


Onlyiran

Well said VPK

by Onlyiran on

The most unpatriotic pig in recent history was Khomeini.

Well said... 


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

NP

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

Iran is not the same as Khemenei or AN. I know you work for them. But that does not make them "Iran". They are the parasites. 

When a person gets worms they take medicine to de-worm. The attack is on the worm. Not the body. Do you see the difference of the body : Iran and the worms: IRI & Islamism.

VPK


AMIR1973

foreign attacks against

by AMIR1973 on

foreign attacks against iran is partiotic?

Are you accusing me? Where have I done that?

And why do you support the leading killer of Iranians, i.e. the IRI?


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Patriotism

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

Is very simple to understand it means:

  • Supporting your nation.
  • Opposing its  foes

The greatest Iranian foes of Iran are the IRI leaders and the MKO. The most unpatriotic pig in recent history was Khomeini. Along with other pigs like Bazargan; Khemenei; Soroush; Ahmadinejad and the whole gang of Akhoond and Mollah. This was understood by Reza Shah.

The other foes are Rajavi and his gang. 

Is this clear or do I need to go over it one more time. 

We need to first deal with internal foes who are the gateway for foreign ones.


Onlyiran

"foreign attack", "foreign attack" "foreign attack"...be scared

by Onlyiran on

be very scared...keep the dictatorship in power..., parroted PressTv's London news editor to keep HIS regime in power...  

YAWN....31 years of same old fear mongering.... 


Niloufar Parsi

supporting

by Niloufar Parsi on

foreign attacks against iran is partiotic?


vildemose

PRESS TV

by vildemose on

UK staff

Roshan Muhammed Salih is Press TV's London news editor and chief correspondent.[28] Other London correspondents include Fareena Alam and Hassan Ghani. Matthew Richardson, Press TV's Legal Adviser in London,[28] has attracted attention for his appearances on other television outlets to defend Press TV's coverage of contentious matters such as the 2009 Iranian election protests.[29]


AMIR1973

Supporting the leading killers of Iranians is not patriotism

by AMIR1973 on

You would think it would be easy to understand that supporting the lousy IRI is anti-Iranian for the above-stated reason, but as long as it yells "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", that's enough to satisfy some folks whose sense of morality and intellect is less than "elementary".


Niloufar Parsi

why is patriotism

by Niloufar Parsi on

so hard for some to understand? one would assume it to be elementary knowledge.


AMIR1973

CASMII supporter spreads more falsehood

by AMIR1973 on


but at the end of the day, if iran is actually faced with a foreign enemy in combat, i bet you the great great majority will stand with their own troops.

What false rubbish. It didn't happen in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most Iraqis did NOT "stand" with Saddam's military against the U.S. military in 2003 nor did most Afghans "stand" with Mollah Omar and the Taleban in 2001. A good rule of thumb with this CASMII supporter is that the truth is the opposite of what she says. 


Farah Rusta

I had no editor to proof read me IA !!

by Farah Rusta on

Typing error is my weak point, but unlike your friend FA I have no one to proof read me and frankly for a mere comment I couldn't care less. Nor do I worry so much for my grammar but on that point your English would benefit from some proofing too.The correct form for a speculative statement is WOULD take and not WILL take.

 

Now go back to your Asylum and calm down. 

 

FR


IranianAsylum

Re: Stating the obvious is easy but ...

by IranianAsylum on

"First I should compliment our resident human rights activist on the improved quality of her English articles - editorial proofing is makes a difference."

Editorial proofing is makes a difference.

Indeed it does. Here are some examples:

But as for the contents - ContentS would be as in a bag of chips. When refering to an article, the correct term would be content.

....convict them to death - One is convicted of a crime, and sentenced to death.

I don't know how long it takes for the Islamic regime to change but I am sure it takes many more decades - WILL take

 

As the saying goes: put your money where your mouth is.

Indeed.

 

 

 


Niloufar Parsi

rd

by Niloufar Parsi on

i know what you are trying to say (about people you talked to in iran), but you know that is not a strong argument. frustrations are boiling over, people are angry and they make very strong statements.

but at the end of the day, if iran is actually faced with a foreign enemy in combat, i bet you the great great majority will stand with their own troops.

you know this is exactly why most iranian can't stand the mujahedin. those traitors sided with saddam. so your 'tactic' is nothing new.

all this aside rd, we wish for the same end. our strategy differs.

but you know, it is not the end that is the only important thing. the way we get there determines how we will behave once we are there...

peace


shushtari

r2

by shushtari on

right on brother.....

you have stated the facts perfectly

 

the akhoonds have the their bags packed, this is for certain.....all they need is a little push over the cliff, so they can join their beloved father- none other than the grand illiterate butcher himself, khomeini 


fooladi

Thanks Amir for link, and understood your point first time

by fooladi on

The comment was targeted not to you, although reading it now, it sounds as if it did.

I believe in democracy and in open/direct debate and exchange of ideas, no matter what. Where I draw the line is characters who openly defend murder of the Iranians by the islamist regime. I think these are as guilty, even more guilty than the bassiji murderers. Once Islamic regime is gone, these scum bags should stay in the west, minus their income, as if they return to Iran, I personally think death sentence would be too light for them.


Farah Rusta

Stating the obvious is easy but ...

by Farah Rusta on

it is one's opinion that makes the difference.

First I should compliment our resident human rights activist on the  improved quality of her English articles - editorial proofing is makes a difference.

But as for the contents, I cannot see anything here that has not been already well documented, many times over. Except for a little flirt with Jahanbegloo, there is nothing original here that we didn't know. What differentiates a preacher from a practitioner is what is in their mind. It puzzles me when those who claim support and advocation for human rights so easily repeat the same charges that the Islamic regime hurls at its opponents; the same charges that the hanging judges of the regime without proof or evidence bring against the accused and convict them to death.

I don't know how long it takes for the Islamic regime to change but I am sure it takes many more decades before our human rights activits practise that which they preach.

Here are some of the gems from our resident human rights activist currently on show on her latest blog:

"And the Pahlavi government's literacy campaign created 75% illiteracy!"


"The royal family and their close associates plundered
the wealth of the country. Changes in Iranian society during the reign
of the Pahlavi dynasty was cosmetic and unsubstantial."


"Now if Reza Pahlavi is sincere in his hopes for Iran and the
majority of Iranians, he must first come to terms with the past before
we can believe him. He must practice what he preaches."

 

As the saying goes: put your money where your mouth is.


 

FR