The life and [troubled] times of the Islamic Republic...
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Maurice Copithorne, the special representative for Iran of the UnitedNations Subcommission on Human Rights, has issued a new report which concludesthat "in Iran human rights....require urgent and sustained attention."The report, Copithorne's third, presented last Tuesday to the 53-membercommission in Geneva but dated February 11, will form the basis for thecommission's actions on Iran over the next few months. Written in a diplomatictone, Copithorne expresses a desire to engage Iran's Islamic leaders ina dialogue and, therefore, deliberately shies away from harsh criticismof the regime for its unfulfilled promises to protect basic human rightsof its citizens.
The report cites the rising number of executions, the use of tortureand discrimination against religious minorities as the most flagrant humanrights violations current in today's Iran. It also notes the disappearanceof several Iranian writers, the detention of dissident clerics, and therepression against women for "improper veiling." In general,however, Copithorne was upbeat about the status of women in Iran, sayingthat "progress is being made" and that there were signs that"further and substantive improvements may be on the way." Tenwomen were recently elected to parliament, a woman now serves as a districtmayor in Tehran, and the legal status of women is under review. "InIran today, public debate on the status of women seems to be growing morevigorous, particularly as more women speak out," the report states.
The one area where no progress was noted was in political freedoms,expecially, freedom of expression."The concept of a loyal opposition...has yet to be embraced to a meaningful degree."[UN Report - Clickhere for the full text of the Copithorne report.].
The report was immediately attacked by Islamic Republic Foreign ministryspokesman, Mahmoud Mohammadi who called it an example of "the West'scritical conception of Islamic values."
"The special U.N. human rights investigator should not exploitthe good will of Iran as an opportunity to contrast the outlooks of westernsocieties with Islamic values," Mohammadi said .
He said the human rights issue was being used as a political tool bycertain big powers against other countries, and added that Tehran's cooperationwith the human rights commission was indicative of the Islamic Republic'sfocus on improvement of the human rights situation in the world. [IRNA,April 4]
A 20-25% hike in the price of vehicle fuels (benzine and gasoline) hasgot Tehran residents angry, according to reports appearing in the governmentcontrolled press. The price rises went into effect on April 5, and alsoincluded heating oil and gas.
The price rise was set to rise 20% in accordance with the second FiveYear plan, as part in a reduction of massive government subsidies, butfor unknown reasons the government increased that to 22%. One houswifetold a reporter from Iran daily in Tehran that "the rise in the priceof fuels has increased taxi costs and consequently shopkeepers will increasethe price of daily needs of the people." [Iran, 4/8]
The ripple effect of the price rise was confirmed by Keyhan, which reportedthat prices of foodstuffs had also increased. For instance, one kg of beefrose following the increases by 300 rials. [Kayhan 4/7]
Meanwhile, the Iran Nation's Party reported in its weekly bulletin thatas of Friday, April 4, the security forces have taken up positions in frontof gas stations in anticipation of spontaneous protests by the public.[INP weekly statement, 4/6] The unusual move shows that the price risehas generated real concern within the regime.
A 38-year old woman refugee, who is now seeking political asylum inGermany, has provided details of the recent crackdown on internal dissentby the Islamic Republic authorities. Dissidents "are summoned, questioned,forced to spy on others," the woman, whose name is given as Eljana,said. "Those who do not agree to do so disappear."
Eljana told the correspondent of the Frankfurter Rundschau that shehad been in prison for 10 years, was released in 1993, fled to Germanyin a few weeks ago, and was surprised to see that Germany is almost totallyignoring the upsurge in human rights abuses in Iran. She says that in February,12 persons were executed, without a public protest in the West. Six ofthem were political prisoners, who were arrested and sentenced to deathfor having participated in demonstrations. Also in February seven girls,aged between 6 and 12, were sentenced to 10 lashes with a whip for havingviolated the Islamic dress code, Eljana explained. One woman was stoned.
The 38-year-old woman said she was astonished that everyone in Germanywas worried about the fate of imprisoned writer Faraj Sarkuhi but thatno one knew anything about the fate of Hashem Kameli and Golam Barzegar.The two workers were arrested during a strike of oil workers in Februaryand died under torture. Said Eljana: "Here they seem to believe thatthe situation in Iran is okay if they just manage to get Sarkuhi released.However, Sarkuhi is only one of thousands of political prisoners."She said she found it difficult to understand why Germany maintained itsso-called "critical dialogue" with the government in Tehran,which she called "just a different term for extremely lucrative trade"with the ruling clerics in Tehran.
She also complained of the increasing difficulties for opponents ofthe regime to obtain asylum in Germany. Eljana said she was outraged whenshe was told by the German authorities that the neglect of elementary women'srights is "not relevant for asylum" but was instead just an "internal"Iranian affair.
During her 10 years in prison, Eljana says she was hit with cables onthe soles of her feet until she fainted, "again and again, for days."Pregnant women were kicked, executions -- sometimes faked ones -- wereeveryday occurrences. Eljana now fears that the Germans will reject herasylum request. [Frankfurt/Main Frankfurter Rundschau 4/1]
According to reports from the opposition Kurdish Democratic Party ofIran (KDPI), some 60 Iranian Kurdish refugees in the Bazian camp in Iraq'sSuleymania province, which is run and operated by the KDPI, have been poisonedwith rat poison. The victims were rushed to local hospitals and some weretransferred to Baghdad because of a lack of medecine. Several are saidto remain in critical condition more than one week after the attack Itwas the second attack against KDPI sympathizers using thallium in the pastfew months.
Although thallium poisoning has normally been a method of the Iraqiintelligence services, the KDPI accused agents of the Islamic Republic,and called the attack a retaliation for the KDPI's firm stand in the Mykonostrial in Germany. Several thousand Iranian Kurdish refugees live throughoutIraqi Kurdistan. Over the past two years, there have been hundreds of terroristattacks against them which have claimed the lives of "hundreds"of innocent persons, the KDPI claims. [KDPI statement, 4/6]
President Hashemi Rafsanjani's Freudian slip in his interview with CBS'sMike Wallace in which he implied that the Islamic Republic was responsiblefor some of the assassinations of dissidents abroad has been rectifiedby Iran's U.N. mission.
Hussein Nosrat, the Islamic Republic's press officer at the U.N. accusedCBS of distorting President Rafsanjani's remarks on American television.When Wallace presented Rafsanjani with a list of 300 people who had beenwounded or murdered by Islamic Republic hitmen, Rafsanjani retorted that"many of them are not true," leaving the impression that someof those listed had indeed been murdered by Iranian goverment hit squads.Now we are told by Nosrat that Rafsanjani meant to say that "manynames on the list are not real names and are made up." He blamed themisunderstanding on the translator. [IRNA, April 4]
During the Mike Wallace interview, President Hashemi-Rafsanjani protestedclaims that ordinary people needed to have two or more jobs to cover theirexpenses. On April 6, Salam daily published the comment of "an Iraniancitizen."
"Our respected President stated on the contrary that... peopleare able to pay their bills by having only one job. May I say that presentlythe average salary of the people is 350,000 rials per month and the averageexpenses for a family is 850,000 rials. How is it possible for people tolive with such an income?" the reader wondered. [Radio Israel, 4/6,quoting Salam]
The Voice of America's weekly television broadcasts in Farsi have beenwinning praise from ordinary Iranians. One traveller who had just arrivedin Holland from Tehran told an FDI correspondent in Europe that the programshave been arousing "growing interest among middle and upper classIranians, especially in cities like Tehran."
The government crackdown on satellite dishes has deterred some viewers,but not all, he said. In recent weeks, "there has been an explosionof video tapes of VOA television programs, distributed on the black market."
People were watching the VOA programs primarily because of their entertainmentvalue, the traveller said, especially because of the presence of Iraniansingers and dancers who have not been seen in Iran for years.
But statements by Iranian exiles portending their "imminent return"to Iran, and with them, a solution to all of Iran's problems, made peoplenervous, the traveller said. 'People are tired of messages like this fromexiled Iranians who send cries of hope, without anything real to back themup."
The traveller also said that the lack of entertainment has pushed manyordinary Iranians to gambling," which has become increasingly commonat family gatherings, especially among the middle class. It is now verycommon for middle class people to smoke opium and then play card gamesfor money at family dinners. Rich and upper middle class people gamblehuge amounts when compared to their monthly incomes," the travellersaid.
Salam newspaper in Tehran recently published this comment from one ofits readers, who complained that rising prices and stagnant wages was causing"waves of pain" among ordinary Iranians. "In the rich northerndistricts of Tehran, billions are being spent to build skyscrapers, andrich people can marry more than one wife. But poor Iranians are not ableto marry at all because of inflation and economic misery. In Iran, capitalismhas got a dirty face. We ask [presidential candidate] Hojj. Khatami todeclare what kind of programs he has to establish a better system for distributingwealth among the people." [Salam 4/5]
Farideh Sarkuhi, wife of the dissident writer, Faraj Sarkui, made anemotional plea for her husband's release while attending a meeting of theInternational Federation of Human Rights Leagues (IFHRL) in Paris.
At a press conference held a the IFHRL offices, she said she last spokewith her husband March 19, when he was allowed to telephone from prison.She said: "I ask you to raise public opinion by any means possibleso that pressure can be applied on governments that have contact with Iranto gain the release of Faraj so he can travel overseas."
A glitch that temporarily blocked a crude oil swap between Iran andKazakhstan has now apparently been resolved, with the first Khazakh oilexpected to arrive in Iran by April 15. Under the 1996 deal signed by betweenAlmaty and Tehran, Kazakhstan will ship between 2 million and 6 milliontons of oil per year over a period of 10 years to northern Iran in returnfor an identical quantity of Iranian crude in the Persian Gulf. This wouldallow land-locked Kazakhstan, whose Tenghiz oil fields are being developedby Chevron, to get "early oil" to market without waiting forRussian approval to build an expensive and lengthy pipeline. The U.S. governmenthas approved the deal as an exception to the Iran Libya Sanctions Act.
The shipments of oil -- 70,000 tons of crude -- were stopped after itbecame clear that the Tabriz and Tehran refineries were not able to handleKazakh oil due to its high level of salt and nickel. Anatoly Lobayev, KazakhiDeputy Oil Minister, blamed the lack of up-to-date technology in the tworefineries for the disruption [Moscow Interfax, April 3].
As part of the campaign to present Majlis speaker Nateq-Nouri as an"international statesman," he is being sent to Russia this weekfor four days of highly visible talks with Russian leaders.
During the visit, Nateq Nouri is expected to meet President Yeltsin,Prime Minister Chernomyrdin, and Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, andwill deliver a speech to the Russian parliament. Speaking in advance ofthe visit, Alexei Mitrofanev, head of the Geopolitical Affairs Committeeof the Duma, told an iranian daily that "the current situationin theworld made imperative an improvement in the relations between Iran andRussia. Inattention to this necessity will be dangerous to both countries."[Etelaat, 4/7]
On Wednesday, Tehran radio reported that the trip was intended "toimprove bilateral ties between the two countries." [4/9]
In a commentary aired on Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic, HillaryRodham Clinton is accused of doing the bidding of corporate American forencouraging cultural and political openness during her two-week tour ofAfrican countries. The real aim, according to the commentary, is for theUnited States to dominate the African markets. "Unlike in the pastthat political influence was the major concern of American officials, nowWashington pursues to disregard the former guideline and concentrates itsactivities in Africa on economic and investing schemes. This time too,Ms. Hillary Clinton's African tour, apparently bears cultural goals, butin fact behind the deceiving mask of the visit, political intentions arevisible," concludes the commentary [Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic,March 30].
As a security court in Bahrain sentenced 36 Shi'ite militants to prisonterms ranging from three to 15 years for conspiring with Iran in installinga fundamentalist form of government in Bahrain, an exiled leader of Bahrain'sShiite community has proposed to end more than two years of political unrestinvolving the Shiites in the small gulf country
Shaykh 'Isa Ahmad Qasim, now residing in the holy city of Qom and describedby the opposition as the highest ranking Shiite dignitary in exile, saidthat to "achieve genuine national security," the government should"free all (political) prisoners" and "reinstate" parliamentdissolved in 1975. "There is no way the opposition campaign will endwhile a single prisoner of conscience remains in prison," Shaykh Qasimsaid in a statement faxed from Qom in Iran and received by the French PressAgency.
The Bahraini opposition leader said the appeal was "an initiativeaimed at establishing national security". Shaykh Qasim said recenttrials of Bahraini Shiites accused of being members of Hizballah-Bahrainwere "too unfair". Shaykh Qasim had threatened to call a "holywar" if the court sentenced the defendants to death. [AFP, April 2]
Iraq said last week that Saddam Hussain's eldest son Uday, hospitalizedsince a December assassination attempt, received a visit from the leaderof an Iraqi-backed Iranian opposition group. The Iraqi daily Babil, runby Uday, published a photo showing him seated in a wheelchair and cladin a long traditional robe while Massoud Rajavi, leader of the People'sMujahedin, sat next to him.
Udayy, 33, was struck by 14 bullets during a December 12 assassinationattempt in Baghdad which partially paralyzed him. He has been hospitalizedsince then. French doctors recently arrived in Baghdad to operate on Uday.Iraq has accused Iran of involvement in the attempt on Uday's life. [AFP,April 1].
Head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV),Peter Frisch, has told a German daily newspaper that Germans should preparefor the worst if a Berlin court finds an Iranian and his four Lebaneseaccomplices guilty of murdering Kurdish dissidents in a Berlin restaurantsin 1992. "We must prepare ourselves for demonstrations, riots in Iranand considerable disturbance in foreign relations," Frisch said.
Meanwhile, in Strasbourg attending the International Writers' Parliament,Salman Rushdie cautioned the German government against interfering withthe verdict at the trial. Calling for an end to "critical dialogue,"Rushdie said: "I think it's not just a question of the Khomeini Fatvaagainst me, it's a question about the existence inside Europe of the terroristforces of another power...Nothing else will do...(but to) impose sanctionsagainst Iran.
Presidential candidate Mohammad Khatami has now published his campaignplatform. The following principles would guide his policies if he wereelected, a statement issued by his office said.
1. Preparing grounds for elevation of Islamic thoughts and morals amongpeople and endeavoring to eradicate bad morals and corruption. Revivaland domination of religion and Islamic perspectives and basing action andpolicies on Islamic teachings and codes.
2. Create equal opportunities and guaranteeing equal access to all resourcesand means in the community, creating grounds for blossoming of talents,fighting discrimination and elimination of poverty.
3. Encouraging pious struggles.
Appreciating the services of mobilized forces and martyrs, enhancingBasiji culture and appreciating the sacrifice of the martyrs and disabledwar veterans during the Revolution and the imposed war.
4. Respecting human rights and dignity.
Familiarize people with their inherent rights and prepare grounds forfreedom of expression, writing, formation of societies; respecting differentperspectives, encouraging criticism, propagating debate and speculation,avoiding despotism and preventing violation of individual and legal rights.
5. Nation's independence and power.
To encourage a spirit of glory and dignity among people, safeguardingthe independence and sovereign integrity of the nation and strengtheningthe defense armed forces, elevating public awareness and Iranian identitybased on Islamic and human teachings and upholding the memory of prominentscientific and social figures and propagating Islamic and national culture.
6. Prevalence of law and order and social security.
Preparing grounds for peace and security by enhancing spiritual andmaterial security in the community, endeavoring to enforce law and order,stabilizing the community and fighting law violators.
7. Islamic and national solidarity.
Respecting different perspectives and defending the rights of minoritiesby emphasizing on Islamic and national unity and squarely combating degradingand illegal actions.
8. Construction and sustained overall growth.
Continuation of economic, cultural and political growth in keeping withpeople's abilities and by thrifty exploitation of national resources. Relyingon manpower as the main foundation for growth and allowing all masses toprofit from national resources.
9. Public participation and competition.
Eliminating obstacles for widespread public participation in all economic,social, cultural, scientific and political fields and profiting from theopinion of scientists, experts and specialists in planning and implementationof government programs.
Encouraging wholehearted participation of masses particularly womenand the youth and creating an atmosphere of healthy competition and collectivecooperation.
10. Knowledge and wisdom.
To profit from the immense achievements made during the reconstructionera and commending the endeavors of former governments particularly Mousaviand Rafsanjani and other officials and employees in the country, reviewingthe performance of former governments to find strong and weak points andcontinually amend methods on the basis of a comprehensive program.
11. International relations and global dignity.
To consolidate equitable relations in international level particularlywith neighboring and Muslim and non-committed nations, defending nationalinterests, enhancing the dignity of the Islamic Republic, defending therights of Muslims and the oppressed particularly the Palestinian citizens,active participation in international forums and squarely dealing withenemy arrogance and aggressive attitudes in cultural, political and militaryfields.
12. A strong, responsible and serving government.
The legibility of the government in the Islamic Republic emanates frompublic votes. A strong government chosen by the nation is an efficientbody which makes comprehensive and realistic decisions by taking into considerationall latent and evident resources and capabilities.
A public appointed government is a servant of the nation and not themaster and is responsible to all citizens for all its actions and sucha government should profit from international opportunities to serve theelevated goals of the System [Iran News, April 5].