Current Events

Special Rapporteurs:

In case of Iran, the UN needs to send a rapporteur who is not easily intimidated or even bribed. Twenty years ago and now are two different stories. Since two years ago when millions of Iranians took to the streets of major cities in Iran to protest against the regime, and the world watched the brutalities of the regim in horror, there is more sympathy towards Iranians than ever. Things are not the same.

Some years ago I was telling an Iranian about another country and its human rights abuses. Perhaps not noticing such abuses himself, or as I would like to say in such cases, not wanting to notice them, he tried to argue with me. I showed him a copy of a report prepared by the UN's Special Rappoteur, Doudou Diene, and he still tried to argue against the existence of such abuses.

Until two years ago, many people in the world would have seen such efforts as tactics by the opposition to discredit the regime. Now that they have seen regime's brutalities live, it is easier to convince them of the human rights abuses committed by the ruthless mullahs and their goons.

Let's hope for better years!

rafshari: Maybe you should

rafshari: Maybe you should send a copy of your book to the UN and those in charge of establishing UN rapporteur.

مردم ایران را چه شده است؟

دو سال پیش میلیونها ایرانی بطور خودجوش بر ضد استبداد دینی قیام کردند و حماسه آفریدند. اما امروز که تمامی کشورهای منطقه بپا خواسته اند و دارند از شر حاکمان دیکتاتور خود خلاص می شوند مردم ایران با این آگاهی که بر خلاف گذشته دولتمردان کشورهای غربی بخصوص آمریکا در کنار مردم ایران هستند و اگر مردم حرکتی معنی دار  برای پایین کشیدن ضحاک ایرانزمین انجام دهند بی شک از آنها حمایت خواهند کرد به یک نوع خواب خرگوشی فرو رفته اند.  شاید گفته شود که رژیم ایران خیلی بی رحم است و حتما هم همینطور است اما آیا جان ما ایرانیان با ارزشتر از جان آن مصری است که 18 روز بدون وقفه مورد تعارض ساندیسخورهای آقای مبارک قرار گرفتند ویا از مردم لیبی که با دست خالی به مبارزه با توپ و تانکهای قزافی میروند؟ ما ایرانیان واقعا مردمان عجیبی هستیم و شاید هم آن کلیشه قدیمی که هر جنبشی به رهبر نیاز دارد در مورد ما ایرانیان واقعا صدق میکند و رژیم هم با آگاهی به این نکته آقایان کروبی و موسوی را زندانی کرد تا نیمچه رهبریتی هم که این آقایان داشتند را از جنبش بگیرد.

طبیعی است که در نبود این آقایان در صحنه اشخاص سرشناسی مانند خاتمی باید اعلامیه بدهد و فراخوان راهپیمایی برای آزادی تمامی زندانیان سیاسی بدهد ولی از شانس بد ما ایرانیان این آقای خاتمی از روز اول آدم ترسو و بی استخوانی بود که با در دست داشتن رای 23 میلیون کمترین استفاده ای از آن به عمل نیاورد. واقعا چه باید کرد؟ آیا وقت آن نرسیده که یک شورای رهبری در خارج از ایران با همکاری تمام گروهای مخالف اعم از جمهوریخواه و سلطنت طلبان و مجاهدین و چپ ها و گروهای دیگر درست شود وبا دادن رهنمود و اعلامیه در یک جبهه متحد این رژیم سلطانی زر و زور و تزویر را به زباله دان تاریخ بفرستند؟ 

خداوند هز رژیمی را که مردم لایق آن هستند بر آنها روا میدارد. امیدوارم که ما ایرانیان لیاقت بهتر از این رژیم را داشته باشیم و این ممکن نخواهد شد تا اینکه مردم این رژیم را به زیر بکشند. به امید انروز

Human Rights in Iran

It is a constructive decision, but we should be prepared that the regime would do its outmost to frustrate the work of the appointed Rapporteur.

I have published an extensive book: Human Rights in Iran: The Abuse of Cultural Relativism. Its paperback edition with a very long Afterword was just released:

www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/13515.html

This is not an advertisement for the book. I have given it to the Pennpress free and it agreed to price it just a little less than what is its norm. But, I always felt that many political Iranians in the US, those who have always something to say about human rights, were not even aware of its existence – not to speak of reading it. Well it is now 400 pages.

Here is a part of the first two paragraphs and the last two paragraphs of Chapter 12, one of the places in the book where I discuss the monitoring works of the three Special Representatives (Rapporteurs) appointed for Iran in the 1980s and 1990s. The second Rapporteur was Galindo Pohl of El Salvador.

            Reynaldo Galindo Pohl visited Tehran three times between 1990 and 1992 and met with clerical jurists and the security officials in charge of the Intelligence Ministry and Evin prison. They failed to convince him to recommend to the UN Commission on Human Rights the removal of Iran from its special procedures of public scrutiny.     

…. Evin prison has carved a place for itself in the world’s prison literature. Galindo Pohl’s visit to Iran would have been incomplete without a tour of the prison, where he met the infamous Assadollah Lajvardi, by then promoted to director general of all prisons in Iran. At the gate, Galindo Pohl received a taste of Lajvardi’s theatrics, one of the most grotesque moments in his visit to the land of the Ayatollahs. A docile choir of repentant prisoners, accompanied by a small band playing an odd assortment of musical instruments, sang an Islamic revolutionary song welcoming the UN delegate….Perhaps the seasoned Galindo Pohl saw it as pleasant chicanery. In front of a prison well known for its bloody past, it must have been a disquieting spectacle for the well-informed international observers, some of whom may have recalled the agonies of all the tortured men and women who had passed through that gate ….It looked as if the entire young radical population of Evin had vanished. Lajvardi did not allow Galindo Pohl to see the young prisoners remaining from the first period. The repression of the first period had made the leftist opponents of the regime invisible in the larger society. Raha wrote in her memoirs that in the winter of 1990 she and other prisoners became aware that Galindo Pohl had visited their prison. Prison authorities moved them to a different ward, which they then concealed from the main corridors by building a wall, which explained the sounds of construction they heard. Raha’s testimony points out an interesting dynamic: a state that commits human rights violations, though capable of stonewalling, is hardly able to conceal forever all information and evidence of those actions….In the prison, cleaned as much as possible of the most obviously incriminating prisoners and all traces of their previous existence, Galindo Pohl managed to collect evidence of torture (chapter 4). During his second visit to Iran, Galindo Pohl went to Evin prison again, without the welcoming fanfare of the singing inmates at the gates. Better prepared, he had collected information on twenty-six prisoners whose names he submitted to authorities a few days before the scheduled visit. “The Special Representative was told upon arrival at Evin prison on 13 October 1990 that, for various reasons, it was impossible to see all twenty-six persons. The Special Representative, therefore, handed to the authorities an additional list of six persons.” Prison authorities told him that two of the prisoners had been released, four were on “leave,” two were kept in other prisons, and six could not be seen, “since their cases were still under investigation.” The last reason in particular appeared incredible to Galindo Pohl, and he expressed his view to the officials. He was allowed to see only two of the six prisoners whose names he had submitted in the second list. Galindo Pohl was particularly interested in two groups of prisoners: the signatories to the critical letter drafted by the ex-premier Mahdi Bazargan and the individuals arrested in connection with Jamshid Amiri Bigvand. The prison officials presented only six of the first group. In his report, Galindo Pohl expressed his deep regrets for being unable to see everyone he wanted to interview. ******* Galindo Pohl’s third journey to Iran in 1992 seemed to have added to his aggravation. He commented “that in most of the areas of concern to the Special Representative there had been no substantial progress since the last visit.” He went on to offer a negative evaluation of the lack of progress with regard to his list of fifteen recommendations. In certain key passages his language became less diplomatic. In his postvisit report, he reiterated the criteria for his evaluation. He would “go through each of the aforementioned recommendations that the Commission decided to use as a benchmark against which to judge the progress in Iran in applying international human rights standards. The considerations and observations deriving from the reports gathered over the year . . . are inserted after each recommendation.”On January 20, 1993, Galindo Pohl met with Syrous Nasseri, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations office at Geneva. The diplomat complained, rightfully observing that Galindo Pohl had changed his “tone and position” in the 1992 report. Therefore, the government gradually decreased its “cooperation” with Galindo Pohl, and when he requested a fourth visit that July, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran declared he was no longer acceptable. For a few more years, Galindo Pohl continued from Geneva and New York to monitor and report new violations. After nine years of admirable service to international human rights law, in March 1995 Reynaldo Galindo Pohl resigned as the Special Representative and retired to El Salvador. **************Maurice Copithorne of Canada replaced Galindo Pohl in 1995. He, more cautious than his predecessor and totally frustrated by the regime’s diplomats, could accomplish almost nothing of significance.   

well done

One of the steps ro run the Islamic Rapist Cultists out of Iran.

VPK Aziz:

It's not what IR wants or does not want, anymore. Iranians don't want the regime and it has to go. More Iranians took to the streets of major cities of Iran than the whole population of Libya. Also, the number of Iranians in exile surpass Libya's population.

IR mercenaries in foreign countries are more worried about their own fate after the fall of the regime than anything else. More countries in the region will follow Libya's suit. Iranians will not sit quiet. Things are happening more rapidly than anyone could have imagined several months. Iranians are more hopeful than ever!

LONG LIVE IRAN! DOWN WITH THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC!

G. Rahmanian Jan

The IRR groupies are afraid of the message it sends to the people of Iran and the regime. It generates a climate of hope against the regime. People may now come out knowing they will get support if necessary.

• It gives people hope and encourages them to protest against IRR.
• Tells IRR the US may take action if they kill the protesters.

This is far batter than what Bush did by invading Iraq. Most of us do not want to see USA invade Iran or attack it. However we do want to see people of Iran resume their protest. The IRR managed to scare people into not fighting back. Now the fear is much reduced. I do not support an invasion. But if the IRR goons start killing Iranian people I would support strikes against the Basiji and other goons. This is just want IRR does not want. Now their groupies are in action because they know IRR days are numbered.

Rami G. Khouri!

As a very intelligent Arab, Rami Khouri, a Palestinian-Jordanian and director of Assam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut said recently, the world cannot stand by while Qaddafi is killing Libyans. Although he has argued against foreign military intervention before, he sees the situation in Libya as a whole different ball game. Qaddafi is already using foreign mercenaries to kill Libyans.

It is amusing to see IR mercenaries on this site shedding crocodile tears for the Libyan.

I do

not really give a *** why they remove Gaddafi. Just as long as they do. This will put fear in the heart of Mollahs in the Islamist regime. Next time people go protest the Mollahs will think twice before mass murdering them.

oh those great humanitarians

 //www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwMr6mzfTU

Hadi Ghaemi is indeed the right person for this !

Good News !

هديه نوروزي سازمان ملل

بهترين هديه نوروزي از جانب سازمان ملل متحد به مردم ايران!

Kudos to Hadi Ghaemi

... and to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

//www.iranhumanrights.org/