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Behind the Bluster
30-Dec-2011
The clerical regime that misrules Iran is imploding in slow-motion while intensifying its repression at home and threatening behavior abroad. But is the international community doing all it can to support the Iranian people and hold the regime to account?
It's clear that the leadership in Tehran is wracked by internal strife, with divisions deepening between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies. Iran's economy is in tatters, with inflation and unemployment soaring thanks to decades of mismanagement. While popular discontent is not at a high pitch as it was after the June 2009 presidential election, the fundamental conflict between citizens and dictators continues to smolder. Externally, the regime's defiance of international norms—such as this week threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz—have left Iran more isolated than ever.
In response, the regime has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, renewing its crackdown against students, civil society leaders and human-rights defenders like my friend and colleague Nasrin Sotoudeh. Nasrin earned the enmity of Iran's rulers by accepting the cases of dissidents and challenging laws that deprive women and children of their fundamental rights. She was also involved in the "One Million Signatures Campaign" to abolish discriminatory laws against women in Iran.
On Sept. 4, 2010, Iranian authorities arrested Nasrin on charges of spreading propaganda against the state, acting against national security, donning improper hijab in a filmed speech, and membership in the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, the nongovernmental organization that I cofounded. She was denied bail, access to a lawyer and other procedural rights. Then, in January 2010, the regime sentenced her to 11 years in prison and barred her from practicing law for another 20.
Nasrin has spent the subsequent days in prison, most of them in solitary confinement. She has rarely been granted permission to receive visits from her family.
Her two young children have been traumatized by their mother's ordeal. On the few occasions when they have been allowed to see her, relatives report, the children have wailed inconsolably. Nasrin's husband was denied the right to see his wife several times. Nasrin has gone on two hunger strikes to protest her ill-treatment at the hands of the regime. Her health is of grave concern.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded its investigation of Nasrin's case in May and has recently released its opinion. It found the Islamic Republic in violation of its obligations under both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "The detention of Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh follows from the exercise of [her] rights and freedoms and her work as a human rights defender," the Working Group found. "There are no grounds to justify restriction of those rights."
Perhaps anticipating an unfavorable outcome in an international legal forum, the Iranian judiciary recently reduced Nasrin's prison term to six years. But every single day in prison is one too many. Her unconditional release—and that of thousands of other political prisoners languishing in the Islamic Republic's jails—is long past due.
The Iranian regime will not observe the basic principles of human rights for its own citizens without outside pressure. Thus the international community must engage Iranian rights defenders and support them with concerted action. The U.N. Security Council should urgently take up the grave status of human rights in Iran. While the appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights in Iran earlier this year was a welcome first step, Tehran's intransigence and refusal to cooperate with him left the rapporteur unable to fulfill his mandate. Only the Security Council, with coercive levers at its disposal, can meaningfully pressure Iran's rulers to stop their violations of citizens' fundamental rights.
International sanctions against Iran's human-rights abusers should also be expanded and deepened. Policy makers in the U.S. and Europe deserve praise for sanctioning leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, agents of the intelligence ministry, and other top officials responsible for the violent crackdown that followed the 2009 uprising. But there is a second tier of less visible officials—including mid-ranking officers in the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij paramilitary, and the regular police force—who bear similar responsibility and deserve punishment. The U.S. and EU should freeze their assets and impose visa bans on these officials and their families. The International Criminal Court would also have ample evidence to prosecute these offenders if empowered by the Security Council to do so.
Finally, the international community must more vigorously highlight the suffering of the Iranian people. To bring about the day when Nasrin and other Iranian dissidents can walk freely in the streets of Iran, we need a plan guided by moral vision. This requires the international community to act boldly in line with its highest ideals.
First published in Wall Street Journal.
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|---|---|---|
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| احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
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| Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
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| Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
Mammah Jan part II
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Sat Dec 31, 2011 07:56 AM PSTI heard you on NPR at least I think it was you. If so you are also in a position to get heard. Why don't you propose some realistic ideas? Reach out to RP and form a "Government In Exile" together.
With you two it will have credibility among many more people. It appeals to practicing Muslims and seculars and gain power. A group like that will be able to provide hope and put a damper on war drums.
Remember you are in a position I am not: use it! I will join but am not in a position to form it. Nobody will listen to me because I am not a well known professor. As Mehrdad says: 'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory
Mammad Jan
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Sat Dec 31, 2011 07:42 AM PSTI try to be unbiased and it puts me on the *** list of everyone. Because I never go 100% on a side. People get rewarded by taking extreme positions not moderates. I tell you my positions; you tell me what you think.
We are getting near a crossroad: war or not. The regime got to go. If you want to avoid war you need to find another way. If IRI closes the Hormuz there will be war which I don't want. I gather neither do you.
I sugested a "Government In Exile". What do you have in mind? The thing I do not support is legal stuff because it will not work. Sanctions will go into effect no matter what you; I or NIAC says. Please make some realistic suggestions. BTW:
good guys,bad guys
by maziar 58 on Sat Dec 31, 2011 06:18 AM PSTMammad khan
the last shahrvand magazine had an article on saeed emami still alive and lives among us;
and listed few names from oklahoma u.,berkley u.,texas u., and all the other ordinary students who become MONSTERS in the IRR.
Maziar
Right said Fred!
by anglophile on Sat Dec 31, 2011 05:48 AM PSTsalman farsi
by Fred on Sat Dec 31, 2011 05:38 AM PSTIf you think what I actually said:
“I have no problem with your desire to have an “Islamic Democracy”
Is the same as what you quoted me as saying :"I have no problem with living under your Islamic democracy."
Then one of us needs a remedial reading comprehension.
Back off brother Fred?
by salman farsi on Sat Dec 31, 2011 05:18 AM PSTThis is whta you said:
" I have no problem with your desire to have an “Islamic Democracy” inIran or anywhere, what I would suggest is to base it on actual history."
//iranian.com/main/blog/fred-439
And for basing it on factual history, I DID provide you with factual examples in the same blog but you did not come up with any counter evidence - because there was none!
Brother Fred, the undeniable fact is that in Iran Islam (and its Shi'a sect) is an institution - with or without Shirin Ebadi's endorsement.
For an Islamic democracy
Consumerism?
by BeeTaraf on Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:44 PM PSTIt appears that you have missed my drift...
I am trying to explain how we as "Iranians" have to acknowledge our shared responsibility in the current situation. Our religious dogma, lack of education in the general public (mostly poor city dwellers) and years of biased mumbo jumbo has created a majority that votes for people such as our current president. Yes, I do believe that the majority of voters selected him and even though there might have been a lot of cheating going on! He received the majority vote... Once we acknowledge the root cause of our ills then maybe we can conjure up a cure.Ebadi is a IRI apologist, who's more unpopular with Iranians
by amirparvizforsecularmonarchy on Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:18 PM PSTThan even Ahmaghinejad.
Maybe its time Ebadi publicly spoke the truth regarding the late Shah and openly admitted that the late Shah was no dictator. That this system that was installed by the USA/UK/France as a result of the US backed betrayal of the late Shah, included plenty of manipulation of iranians for example by misuse of the word dictator in reference to the late shah, which after Iranians allowed the manipulation in lead to creating a real dictatorship with more mass graves than the hairs on your moustache Mrs Ebadi, mostly of innocent people that had been victims of manipulation in the first place who never wanted to see Iran harmed and thought they were doing something for the good of their fellow citizens!!!!!!!!!
Poor Iranians, we "phocked up" big time and were very ungrateful.
Typical behavior
by Fred on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:25 PM PSTThere is a vast difference between working for the government as “teachers,…” than working at the highest level with the actual decision makers whose decisions have resulted in criminal acts such as the ones by the Islamist Rapists. The Nuremberg trial of the Nazi criminals and their enablers made that clear, something which will become clear to the enablers of the Islamist Rapists as well.
It is a fact when Islamists are confronted with indisputable facts, such as Ebadi tape in which she clearly says her brother was working for Khatami and not someone else as stated by the NIOC compensated, instead of making the correction, a whole lot of nonsense is spewed. Typical Islamist behavior.
Yeah, right
by Mammad on Fri Dec 30, 2011 09:41 PM PSTAs usual, only you, due to your vast knowledge, understands things!
So, if, for example, your relatives in Iran work for the government as teachers, professors, football coaches, simple soldier, anyone who works in the vast bureacracy, they must all be prosecuted, because they have "enabled" the VF regime to function! Even theVF regime, after it toppled the Shah, did not have such an expansive definition!
Before impulsively typing, check what is prosecutable by the ICC. It must be crimes against humanity, which has strict definition, not a wishy washy one propagated here. By that standard, the only crime against humanity committed over the past 33 years that rises to that level is the executions of 1981-1988. I am all for prosecuting the perpetrators, no matter who they are, but unfortunately the ICC was formed in 2002, and does not have retroactive jurisdiction over matters happened before 2002.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Crimina...
And, by the way, Israel and the United States, as well as the VF regime, do not recognize the jurisdiction of ICC. Good company they keep!
Mammad
Ebadi dances for the wsj
by bahmani on Fri Dec 30, 2011 09:15 PM PSTAnyone that plays the mullahs game and expects to win is crazy. This is why I think ebadi or anyone that tries to argue the point of law in an Iranian court today is wasting their time. Wasting your time is stupid, especially when you know it is a waste of time. Still doing something that you know is stupid is concerning to us watching you and waiting for greatness, especially when the Nobel committee thinks you are smart enough to win their prize. As with the example of nasrin. You simply cannot win a rigged game. When the Islamic court is stacked against you genetically and chromosomally, do you seriously think you will ever feel anything but the sharp end of the stick? Wake up! Its not on us to make westerners aware of our situation, to them the only response is "so what!", it is up to us, or actually you madam, to start the ball rolling. Anything the diaspora on the outside, or the downtrodden or apathetic on the inside, could do, is far less than what you can do. Take your Nobel prize pick a date and start marching for women's rights. Forget about the economy, you know nothing about that. But what crimes are being systematically committed against women, you know well. Stick to that, fight for that, and the rest (of us) will follow. If you still don't get it, go read what Martin Luther King did, and do the same. That should kick it into gear for you. But asking us to get involved is pointless, you have to start it first. We're waiting.
To read more bahmani posts visit: //brucebahmani.blogspot.com/
Islamist Rapists and their enablers
by Fred on Fri Dec 30, 2011 02:18 PM PSTWhat the apparatchiks and enablers of the Islamist Rapist Republic (IRR) fail to comprehend is, accessory after the fact is also a prosecutable crime.
Islamist Rapists have committed mass murder during the Prime Ministership of Mir-Hussein Mosavi.
Islamist Rapist Republic has committed gross violation of human rights all during its 33 year rule.
No matter what grades they got at school in the US, enabling the continuation of this Iranian murdering, raping criminal enterprise needs to be investigated by ICC.
Fact check, in her "there is more political freedom now than the Shah's time" interview, at min. 14:00 Lady Ebadi clearly says during Khatami's presidency, her brother Ja'far "was one of Mr. Khatami's advisors"
VPK
by Mammad on Fri Dec 30, 2011 01:38 PM PSTI thought you are better than that. But, then again....
For people's information:
Jafar Ebadi, Shirin's brother, is an economist. He was involved only in economic matters. He was vice Chancellor of Tehran U for years during which he got rid of many of the fundamentalists who were totally unqualified to have high posts or even be part of the faculty. I suggested to him one of his sackings in 1995, when a totally unqualified man who had been given a doctorate simply because he had demonstrated in Britan and had been kicked out [like Kamran Daneshjoo, the current minister of Oloom], had been made Dean of the engineering school. He was gone quickly.
Jafar is currently a professor at Tehran U and under tremendous pressure, receiving a constant stream of threats, and being summoned to the ministry of intelligence on a steady base, just like her other sister Noushin, a dentist and a totally apolitical lady, who was thrown in jail simply because she is Shirin's sister, where she had a heart attack due to stress. Jafar was not an adviser to Khatami. He was an adviser to Mohammad Reza Aref, Khatami's vice president, long time friend, and currently a professor at Sharif University, a good man, a first-ranked student at Stanford, and a graduate of Tehran U in electrical eng.
Jafar, a friend of 34 years, was never involved in anything that can be prosecuted for. He could have stayed in the U.S. after he received his Ph.D. in economics, had several job offers, but returned to Iran in 1983 at the height of Iran-Iraq war to help the nation. He is a pious man, totally uncorrupted [his simple life is the best evidence], and a true patriot.
Mammad
Nobel Peace Prize
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:35 PM PSTIs a worthless POS and the more I see of it the dumber it is.
How does she
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:30 PM PSTfight for human rights in Iran? Her idea is to give them a stern lecture. Maybe send write Khamenei a hash note and that is it. Her position is to protect the Islamic Republic.
By her own words she buys into the whole Islamic ***. Her job is making sure no real action is taken by promoting meaningless gestures.
Amir: Ebadi basically
by alimostofi on Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:48 AM PSTAmir: Ebadi basically accepts them as Iranian that they have an obligation to Iranian people. It is a bit like thinking that the Taliban have an obligation to Afghans.
Ali Mostofi
//twitter.com/alimostofi
Can we get real, even if only for one second?
by AMIR1973 on Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:31 AM PSTWhat's most troubling about Ebadi is precisely the fact that she is a high-profile person and potentially could have some impact (like Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Walesa, Havel, etc), but yet chooses to use her platform to oppose meaningful actions against the Islamist terrorist regime and instead advocates for totally meaningless ones unlikely to have any real impact on the IRI.
1) The Iranian regime will not observe the basic principles of human rights for its own citizens without outside pressure.
Correction: The Iranian regime will not observe the basic principles of human rights for its own citizens EITHER WITH or without outside pressure. The Iranian regime will not observe the basic principles of human rights for its own citizens. Period. Full stop.
2) While the appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights in Iran earlier this year was a welcome first step, Tehran's intransigence and refusal to cooperate with him left the rapporteur unable to fulfill his mandate.
A "special rapporteur on human rights" was appointed. The IRI refused him entry, and that was the end of that. Done. End of story. Next?
3) Only the Security Council, with coercive levers at its disposal, can meaningfully pressure Iran's rulers to stop their violations of citizens' fundamental rights.
Refer to Points 1 and 2 above.
4) But there is a second tier of less visible officials—including mid-ranking officers in the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij paramilitary, and the regular police force—who bear similar responsibility and deserve punishment. The U.S. and EU should freeze their assets and impose visa bans on these officials and their families. The International Criminal Court would also have ample evidence to prosecute these offenders if empowered by the Security Council to do so.
So mid-ranking IRGC, Basijis, and regular police are vacationing in the South of France and have bank account at B of A, where they know they are vulnerable to sanctions? Really? And what good is an arrest warrant from the ICC when there is no enforcement behind it? Do you know when an ICC warrant becomes meaningful? In the case of Milosevic, who was overthrown by Serbians, helped by outside forces. Or in the case of Qaddafi's son -- same thing. Without outside intervention and regime change, the ICC arrest warrants would have been meaningless dead letters.
Advocacy and fighting for human rights in Iran…
by Bavafa on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:52 AM PSTAre some of the reason which has earned this lady much respect not just by the Iranians but the world together. It is the act of doing something as oppose to empty rhetoric we see here twice a day in a form of blog and other messages.
My hats off to this lady and all the defender of human rights not only in Iran but everywhere in the world.
'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory
Mehrdad
BeeTaraf: You have become
by alimostofi on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:42 AM PSTBeeTaraf: You have become seduced by Consumption. USA has forced you to deprecate Iran. Sorry to see that.
Ali Mostofi
//twitter.com/alimostofi
What is wrong with the Iranian culture?
by BeeTaraf on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:39 AM PSTWhat is wrong with the Iranian culture?
After so many years of living in US, I am becoming less & less proud of my Iranian culture. What is wrong with this culture? Why are we in this dire situation; killing our youth, imprisoning our intellectuals and allowing power hungry fanatic zealots to rule over our destiny? My sense is that after living for hundreds of years under the corrupt dynasty of "kings" and now religious dictators we have lost the critical mass of intellectual knowledge to resolve our cultural, economical and social challenges! The solution is not within sight if we keep following this trend… We need much more…salman farsi
by Fred on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:23 AM PSTKnowing an Islamic Democracy is an oxymoron, like a baldy with curly hair, I would never say such thing. You’ve mistaken me with someone else.
However, if you believe an “Islamic Democracy” is in the realm of possibilities, so be it. It is the beauty of freedom which allows people to believe --as long as it does not inhibit the rights of others-- in anything they wish including the existence of tooth fairy.
Does Unqualified Ms. Ebadi Represent Iranians?
by bfarzin on Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:02 AM PSTI cannot imagine how it worked out that this woman received Nobel Peace Prize-- are we Iranians so illiterate and stupid that Ms. Ebadi was found the top "intellectual" among us to receive the Nobel Prize? I do not think so, and I believe even the Prize judges must, by now, have figured out how big an error they have made.
Because of such an error by Nobel organization, for a while I had lost my confidence in all Nobel Prize winners; even those who won the prize in Physics, medicine, etc. I have now partially recovered. Ms. Ebadi, to my knowledge, must be the only uninformed and unqualified person who has received this prize-- let's hope so.
I do not forget her talk in L.A., after she had received her prize, when she was kind of supporting the Khamenei and Co. I believe she went to opposition only after Ahmadinejad started asking her to pay taxes on the money that Nobel organization had given to her. Unfortunately, this process is repeated on most of the "late switchers," such as Sazegara, and the rest of them. My message to all of these characters: Iranians do not forget your roles in IRI. You will not scape people's courts when these mobsters calling themselves "government" are put on trial.
One should ask these late "freedom supporters:" where were you when your comrades, who have now run you out of town, were busy killing hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and you were cheering them on? I suspect they were collecting cash while it was being made available to them-- and they changed only after their share of cash was reduced or eliminated.
Ms. Ebadi, and people similar to her, are less than worthless. Mullahs at least are not changing their color every day. These late comers do not even have the decency to acknowledge their participation in massacres, and then apologize for them, and seek people's forgiveness.
And what is wrong with Islamic Democracy brother Fred?
by salman farsi on Fri Dec 30, 2011 09:56 AM PSTI remember not so long ago you in one of your replies to my comments you said something along this line: "I have no problem with living under your Islamic demcoracy."
So how is it that now Islamic Democracy is nonsensical brother? Or is it that you change color when it suits you brorher?
For an Islamic democracy
Yawn!
by alimostofi on Fri Dec 30, 2011 09:31 AM PSTThanks for telling us what we know. We need action Khanoom. People listen to you. Declare a transitional committee.
btw doesn't she mean wreaked instead of wracked?
Ali Mostofi
//twitter.com/alimostofi
"Islamic Democracy"
by Fred on Fri Dec 30, 2011 08:14 AM PST"The International Criminal Court would also have ample evidence to prosecute these offenders if empowered by the Security Council to do so."
Regardless of whomever they might be, even if her brother who was an advisor to the “President”, it is Lady Ebadi’s duty as a lawyer to actively work to take the Islamist Rapists to ICC.
What Reza Pahlavi is doing, Lady Ebadi should be doing.
She needs to spend more time on facilitating the prosecution of the Islamist Rapists “reformers’ and all, than selling her books and the nonsensical “Islamic Democracy.”