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* Repressive Penal Code adopted
* More police, new courts, seen as solution to unrest
* Rafsanjani approves violence
* Two condemned to death
* "Many Were Executed"
* Rafsanjan deputy saga takes new turn
* Iran threatens Kuwait over transmitter
* Closer Tehran-Baghdad Relations
* Mostazafan sells off villas, land
* Three killed in clashes
* 7000 Iranian Physicians in U.S.
* War vets to replace "un-Islamic" Professors
* Tehran invaded by snakes, lizards
* Mujahidin to launch US radio
Repressive Penal Code adopted
The Islamic Republic has officially adopted an Islamic Punishment Law (Penal Code), after fifteen years of applying many of its provisions informally. The law criminalizes behavior which is protected under international law, confirming the recent trend by the Tehran government to renege on its commitments to internationally-recognized standards of human rights.
The adoption of the law was announced by Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi in a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran on June 28, after prolonged debate in Parliament. A draft "Islamic" penal code was first promulgated by the Revolutionary Council in the early days of the Revolution, and was initially supposed to be in force for five years. This "testing" period was then extended for another ten years. During this time, the law was refined and revised, and its penalties stiffened, apparently in an effort to intimidate domestic opponents to the regime.
In his prayer sermon, Ayatollah Yazdi crossed another "T," noting that Iran's adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did not mean the Islamic Republic has accepted all of its provisions.
"International conventions and charters can not limit God's rule. We can't show any flexibility in this matter. For example, what human rights organizations say about mixed male and female relations in society, drinking alcohol, and penal codes and their applications is not acceptable to us, because these things are against God's rule," Yazdi said.
He claimed that the views of the Islamic Republic on these issues were now being heard. "Our view on the necessity of respecting religious beliefs and the cultural differences of nations has generated a lively discussion on an international level."
Yazdi was not alone in condemning international human rights standards. For Ms. Maryam Behrouzi, who heads the Women's Affairs group within the government's "Islamic" Human Rights Committee, "the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may be enough for peoples and countries who do not believe in Islam and holy rules. But these texts are not valid when they oppose Islamic Human Rights, which refer to God. So we are not bound to respect or apply U.N. rules." She also criticized Western countries for using human rights "as a cover to impose their political will."
Iranian officials periodically make statements condemning international human rights groups and standards, especially when a major group, such as the United Nations Human Rights Commission, issues what Tehran views as a "weak" condemnation of its human rights record. (The March 1996 report by Maurice Copithorne was viewed as "weak" by Tehran). Such reports have been followed by new waves of repression inside Iran. [Iran daily, 6/25]
More police, new courts, seen as solution to unrest
Amid growing social unrest over rising prices and unemployment, the authorities are requesting more police, an increased budget for the Law Enforcement Force, and sweeping new judicial powers.
Ayatollah Yazdi told a national gathering of judges that he was seeking to reconstitute the Judiciary Force, which was dissolved years ago when the regime decided the unite the different police forces into one. The Judiciary Force, created just after the revolution, allowed each court to have its own armed agents. "We hope Majlis will vote a bill to reinstate this force," Yazdi said. [Resalat, 6/25].
Yazdi's appeal for the new force was supported by Hojjat-ol eslam Ali Younesi , the head of Armed Forces Judiciary Organization, who lamented the poor quality and insufficient quantity of LEF equipment. Poor equipment has led to "serious problems" in enforcing the law, Younesi said.
In addition to the Rev. Guards, the Basij force, and the Ministry of Intelligence, numerous other semi-official paramilitary organization still exist, including Hezbollah (and its "helpers," Ansar-e Hezbollah), Islamic resistance units based in the mosques, and the Islamic associations attached to governmental offices, high schools and universities.
In a parallel move that would appear to indicate mounting concerns over the possibility of domestic dissent, Interior Minister Ali Mohammad Besharati called for new efforts "to deal with any attempt to disrupt the security of the society," following a meeting of the National Security Council, which he chairs. According to Kayhan , the statement was made public after a "close examination" of the domestic security situation. [Kayhan, 6/29; Resalat 6/25]
Those concerns were reiterated at a recent conference of Islamic judges in Tehran. Hojjat-ol eslam Ebrahim Raisi, who chaired a panel on security issues, indicated that the regime was seeking to revive a 40-year old emergency law that would replace the courts with special local committees.
The law was enacted in 1956 to enable the government to fight more effectively against communist subversion and foreign-backed terrorism, and was abandoned later on. But for Raisi, "this law is not contrary to Islam, and still holds."
According to this law, Raisi said, every province should set up a local security council to replace the courts in cases involving security offenses. The council's members will include the Governor General, the local representative of the Ministry of Intelligence, the Basij commander and local head of the Judiciary. [Salam, 6/25; Jomhouri-e Eslami, 7/1]
Rafsanjani approves violence
Two times in as many days, President Hashemi Rafsanjani has come out in support of violence as "a necessary means for dealing with opponents" - and this from a man touted by many Western leaders for his "moderate" views.
At a National Conference on Youth on June 30, Rafsanjani called for "strengthening the intellectual foundations" of young people, to enable them to "make the right decisions." But he also called for "physical action and surveillance... to handle the unreasonable and destructive cultural outbursts" of young people. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 7/1]
These comments were heard only one day after the President made a visit to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, known internally under its Iranian acronym VAJA. (Exiles and most Western writers still refer to it as VEVAK). He called on VAJA agents to defend the interests and the rights of Iranians, but added: "That doesn't mean you should soften your methods in dealing with the wicked and people trying to harm security and tranquillity. You should always use the harshest methods when dealing with those who want to harm security and order." [Salam, 6/30]
Brothers condemned to death
Two brothers, identified as Shamel Nasiri and Amel Nasiri, were condemned to death for homicide and will be hanged soon, Iran daily reported. Their trial reportedly came nine months after their alleged crimes. [Iran, 7/1]
Under the Islamic Republic's judicial system, there is no right to appeal in criminal cases. However, the Supreme Court of Justice must approve or dismiss the verdict. Dismissed verdicts lead to a retrial. [Iran, 7/1]
"Many" Executed
The Islamic Republic's execution announcements are known to be terse, but last month they became even shorter.
In what may be a new style, Hojjat-ol eslam Hosseini, head of Tehran's anti-drug court, casually announced that "many members of three drug smuggling bands were condemned to death and executed." He had been commenting reports in the Iranian media on the dramatic rise in heroin addiction in Iran when he let drop his execution announcement.
Hosseini, who is also deputy head of the Islamic revolutionary courts, gave no other information besides his terse, almost parenthetical statement on the executions - no names, dates, places, or even the numbers of those executed.
Less than three weeks ago, the authorities had announced the arrest of three international drug gangs, but Hosseini made no direct reference to them in his announcement. In the same vague manner, he announced that another man he accused of belonging to a cocaine smuggling ring had also been executed, "and the rest of them were condemned to long prison terms."
The special court which hears drugs cases generally spends just one day per case, Hosseini said.
Heroin use had increased dramatically in Iran in recent months, as has overall drug consumption. According to Iranian press reports, the new heroin addicts are either young people who find heroin easier to use than opium, or old opium users who find heroin more readily available than opium.
A law criminalizing drug addiction was voted by the Majlis a few years ago as an anti-drug measure; instead, it has resulted in sharp increases in the number of drug addicts in Iran, since few will risk jail by seeking medical care. The law has also created a vast recruitment pool for drug smugglers in search of local dealers in the hundreds of thousands of new "criminals."
"Drug addiction is still a crime, but we have plans to make it possible for drug addicts to enter medical center through the anti-drug courts," Hosseini said.
Recent government successes against opium smugglers has forced up the price of opium, Hosseini said, "which is why many addicts have turned to heroin." [Resalat, 6/26]
Rafsanjan deputy saga takes new turn
The fate of Rafsanjan's elected member of Parliament, Hamid Bahrami Ahmadi, has see-sawed once again. After a special investigative committee refused to seat him, and the full Majlis decided to reconsider his credentials, the investigative committee held a closed session on June 26, "definitively" rejecting Ahmadi's credentials and refusing to allow him to enter the Majlis.
According to one deputy, Dorri Najafabadi, the procedure used to oust Ahmadi violated the Majlis rules. "According to Majlis rules, the reasons for his rejection should have been announced, but apparently the Speaker (Nateq-Nouri) decided otherwise."
Following the announcement, Ahmadi asked permission to address deputies from the tribune, but Nateq-Nouri refused. "You are no longer a deputy, so you have no right to speak here," he reportedly said. [Hamshahri , 6/27]
Salam claimed to have obtained a copy of the Investigative committee's report on Ahmadi, which they said accused him of working for SAVAK at the same time he was a political prisoner. The report also accused him having opposed the creation of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and for having taken bribes while working as a lawyer for the Islamic Republic at the International Claims Tribunal at the Hague.
Jomhouri-e Eslami, which is owned by Ayatollah Khamene'i, put on a good face. "Following the rejection of the credentials of their ex-deputy, the residents of Rafsanjan now say they voted him out of ignorance. The people say there should be more time to investigate the background of candidates, so the Council of Guardians can make precise decisions." Under the Islamic Republic's electoral procedures, the Council must put its stamp of approval on all candidates for public office. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 6/30]
Iran threatens Kuwait over transmitter
An adviser to Foreign Minister Velayati has told Resalat that Kuwait has promised to close the recently-inaugurated Voice of America transmitter in Kuwait, following diplomatic pressure from the Islamic Republic.
The advisor, Ali Khorram, told the paper that the Foreign Ministry "alarmed the Kuwaitis about the dangers they might run if they continue to allow the transmitter to operate, and they promised to shut it down. The Kuwaiti authorities told us they were not expecting the radio to broadcast programs against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now we are waiting for the Kuwaitis to take action" and close the transmitter.
When the powerful new transmitter, which beams VOA Farsi Service programs all over Iran, was inaugurated in May, Parliament speaker Nateq- Nouri and others criticized Kuwait. [Resalat 6/29]
Closer Tehran-Baghdad Relations
Rumors of secret talks between Baghdad and Tehran have been circulating for months, but now they have been confirmed by Velayati advisor, Ali Khorram.
Speaking to Kayhan on June 26, Khorram confirmed there were bilateral talks on reopening the border and on allowing Iranian pilgrims to visit Shiite shrines in Iraq. No Iranian pilgrim has been allowed into Iraq since the start of the Iran- Iraq war in September 1980. [Kayhan, 6/26]
Four days later, Jomhouri-e Eslami reported that "pilgrimage visits to Iraq will soon resume." Pilgrims were to cross the border using the Ilam-Mehran road.
Iraqi invited a group of Iranian journalists to observe Iraq's presidential elections last October, the first officially-sanctioned visit to Iraq by Iranians other than diplomats since the war. The People's Mujahidin (PMOI) have been allowed to operate inside Iraq since the organization openly sided with Baghdad against Iran in 1983.
Recently Iraq turned over the remains of 144 Iranians killed during the eight year war, in exchange for the remains of 200 Iraqi soldiers [Hamshahri, 6/26]. Another clear sign that something is afoot is the sudden, unexplained withdrawal of Iran's previous claim that Iraq was holding 15,000 Iranian POWs - a hot button issue if there ever was one. Now Iran says that only 700 POWs are in Iraq. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 6/30]
Mostazafan sells off villas, land
And it's business as usual at the Bonyad-e Mostazafan, which seems to have embarked on a splurge of profit-taking, before the Majlis starts taking a closer look at its books.
In another ad carried in most Tehran dailies, a "public establishment" has put up property valued at $110 million for public sale. Called "The Biggest Property Bid - No. 9," the ad lists 240 lots, including dozens of luxurious villas, town houses, apartments, private gardens, shops, and land, most of it in Tehran and the immediate suburbs. While the ad does not refer to the Foundation by name, there is no other "establishment" in today's Iran with such real estate holdings - most of which were confiscated from Iranian exiles.
A few examples of the new offerings: a house in northwest Tehran, $310.000. Another house in north Tehran, $850.000. Land in a Tehran suburb, $1.5 million. And land in north Teheran, $2 million.
The most expensive item we could find on the list was a $2,171,000 lot located at No. 240 Zafar Avenue in Tehran. (Previous owners have not been advised of the sale). [Ettelaat, 6/30]
Three killed in clashes
Two men identified as "armed bandits" and "smugglers" were killed in Taybad, in the northern Khorassan province, while they were trying to escape from the Law Enforcement Forces, Hamshahri announced. They were carrying weapons and drugs which "fell into the hands of LEF agents." No date or names were given for the clash. [Hamshahri, 6/30]
In another report an unnamed man was killed and two others arrested in a clash with the LEF near Isfahan. According to a spokesman for Anti Drug Coordination Council , the men were members of an international drug smuggling ring who were carrying 1,320 Kg of morphine, which was seized. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 6/27]
7000 Iranian Physicians in U.S.
A new survey, conducted by an Iranian medical professor, has found that nearly 7000 Iranian medical doctors are now living in the US. Six thousand of them are actively practicing medicine, while the rest are retired or working at other jobs. The majority of the doctors fled the revolution and have no plans to return because of the "lack of political freedoms, the lack of proper housing, the technological backwardness of the country, and their unwillingness to do their military service," the survey found.
The survey was conducted by Dr. Hussein Ali Ronaqi, and results were published in Hamshahri.
The survey found that only three years after the revolution, 70% percent of the faculty at the Shiraz University medical college, reputedly the best in Iran, had left their jobs or been kicked out by the revolutionaries. Most wound up leaving the country, with 7,000 going to the U.S. Ronaqi says there are no accurate statistics on the thousands of other Iranian doctors in Canada and European countries.
At the time of the revolution, there were approximately 20,000 medical doctors in Iran.
In 1989, Dr. Ronaqi wrote the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Higher Education, seeking information on émigré doctors. He was told that "not one Iranian doctor has left the country after the revolution." But in the same breath, the Ministry asserted there was an "increasing trend in the return of Iranian doctors who had been living abroad before the revolution." [Hamshahri, 6/30]
War vets to replace "un-Islamic" Professors
The Islamic Republic has come up with a new way of getting around the shortfall in qualified professors that will result once "un-Islamic" teachers are given the sack over the summer holidays. They plan to award special doctorate degrees to disabled war veterans.
Hojjat-ol eslam Hashemian, who heads the Bureau of University Student Veterans in the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, has announced that special Ph.D. courses are being established for disabled veterans and the families of war martyrs, as a means of "fulfilling the order of the Supreme Leader on educating faithful and responsible university teachers inside the country."
"Anyone who voluntarily fought at the warfront for at least six month and is 25% disabled or more, or has spent at least 6 month as POW, can register for the courses," Hashemian said. Also eligible were the wives and children of war martyrs and MIAs, and the wives and children of POWs still held in Iraq.
If you meet any of the above criteria, there is no need to obtain a masters degree, Hashemian said. Applicants may simultaneously take Ph.D. courses and master degree courses under the new ruling. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 7/1]
Meanwhile, university teachers still on staff are to be sent to "ideological reeducation" courses, said Hojjat-ol eslam Mesbahi, the Supreme Leader's representative at Rafsanjani's Free Islamic University. The sessions, called "Okhovvat" (brotherhood), are intended to reeducate university chancellors and professors.
"We will also create political-Islamic student groups and parties," Mesbahi said. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 7/1]
Tehran invaded by snakes, lizards
A huge snake was found in a leather shop in the Tehran Bazaar, causing panic among shoppers and merchants. The shop owner called the Fire Department after fleeing his shop, screaming. Firemen captured the snake, called it "very dangerous," and sent it to the zoo. [Iran, 7/1]
Tehran seems to have been taken over by all kinds of strange snakes, lizards, and other reptiles in recent weeks. There have been reports of lizards being captured in different parts of capital, causing panic in homes and in the streets.
This is the first time such a phenomena has been seen in Tehran, and it has provoked all kinds of rumors
Firemen have asked for a scientific explanation to explain the emergence of the reptiles, while ordinary citizens have ascribed the invasion to everything from recent military maneuvers in the Qom desert, to the results of Chernobyl. [Iran daily, 7/1].
Mujahidin to launch US radio
A Los Angeles exile paper has reported that the People's Mujahidin Organization of Iran (PMOI) are seeking to set up a 24-hour radio and television station in San Francisco, and have allocated a $20 million budget for the project. The paper alleges that Iraq has recently increased its budget for the PMOI, and that the organization will use part of the money for a subtle lobbying campaign in Washington aimed at painting Saddam Hussein as the best bulwark against the expansionist fundamentalism of the Islamic Republic.
According to the paper, the Mujahidin intend to buy into an existing station, thus avoiding complicated negotiations with the FCC to obtain a broadcasting license. [Asre Emrooz, 7/5]