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November 6, 2024

The desire for human rights should never be weakened in the ears of rulers!/ Reza Alijani

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This is a captionReza-Alijani
Reza Alijani

“Human rights” during the Cold War, was the weapon of the Western bloc against the Eastern bloc, just as “justice” or in other words “class exploitation and oppression” and “imperialism and imperialism” were the weapons of the Eastern bloc against the West.

But apart from these political and power struggles, “human rights” and “justice” and their violation through “oppression” and “exploitation” are everyday realities in the lives of people around the world. The systematic violation of justice and human rights by certain political systems and power structures is also a bitter and naked reality of our current world.

I remember in the 1990s, we had an article in a hidden publication about the three governments of South Africa (which was under apartheid regime at the time), Iran, and Israel as three countries that openly commit injustice and have no regard for public opinion and United Nations resolutions against themselves.

Regarding Iran (aside from political conflicts in the world and instrumental confrontations accompanied by double standards of some countries regarding human rights), we have witnessed systematic violations of human rights due to the existence of a special political system and a religious-legal apparatus governing it in recent decades. This has been the case both during the monarchy and the subsequent theocratic government.

International sensitivity towards the existence of torture in the Shah’s government and the violation of human rights by the Savak of Iran, which had become a terrifying organization in the eyes of the world, is one aspect of this issue. The visits of international observers to Iranian prisons in the 1950s are also a clear example. Reza Kavian, one of the prisoners of the two regimes (who himself was born in the city of Siahkal), told us interesting stories about Savak’s deceitful tactics during the visits of international human rights observers in the 1960s, to hide the physical injuries of some prisoners.

The story of monitoring human rights violations in Iran after the revolution is also a clear example. In both systems, the relationship between the ruling power and human rights has been described as a tale of demons and God. The harsh treatment accompanied by insults and humiliation of the Shah towards the issue of human rights, as well as the actions of the rulers after the revolution, which claim that Iran’s condemnation for human rights violations is a political and “enemy conspiracy”, does not require any further explanation or description.

Despite the conspiracies and attacks on human rights, and despite the apparent indifference of both systems towards their human rights violations, both were gradually forced to pay attention to this issue and try to reduce or silence it. This is because, in addition to the role of governments in regulating this issue at the international level, the root of the problem lies in the public opinions of intellectuals and human rights activists in the world and in Iran. Even when the Western bloc used human rights as a tool against the Eastern bloc, and for their own front, it was not a serious or significant issue. But for the people of their own country and the global public opinion, who were not involved in these political games, the issue of human rights was a matter of belief, humanity, seriousness, and authenticity, and it acted as a real and great ideal. As a result, these countries were constantly caught in their own trap, and their anti-human rights actions inside or outside their borders, and even more so, the

Despite their political power, authoritarian governments eventually lose their confidence in violating human rights. Prisoners in the Islamic Republic have various memories of fear from oppressive rulers, using this weapon of global public opinion and some human rights organizations. Especially when revolutionary governments reach their Thermidor period and gradually step into the arena of global equations, they are forced to comply with some minimum international sensitivities.

In a personal experience, I remember when I found out during a phone call with my family that I had been chosen as the journalist of the year by the organization Reporters Without Borders, while I was in detention at Sepah Detention Center in Evin Prison (Evin Prison of Ashrafabad). Upon returning to the room where the phone call was being monitored by an interrogator, when I mentioned this to my few cellmates, one of the older and more experienced men in the group said that I would be released soon! And that’s exactly what happened. This was on an individual level. On a collective level, in the summer of 1980, when the uproar of arrests and pressures on nationalist-religious and freedom movement detainees inside and outside the country intensified and the families of prisoners caused problems for the judicial and security apparatus every day, and international pressures on the government increased, and the costs rose, one of the judicial authorities had promised during a trip to Europe in his

Furthermore, when in our next case (82-84), the representative of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Mr. Ligebo, came to Iran, I personally witnessed another experience of the impact of international sensitivities and transparency on the situation of prisoners under oppression in Iran. At that time, when we were in solitary confinement in Evin’s two separate cells, with interrogations taking place every 30-40 days, mostly in a coercive manner to see how much pressure the accused had succumbed to, suddenly we were witness to our release from solitary confinement after four and a half months (while we were expecting at least six months) and being sent to a shared room with four people, with a courtyard and a full daily bathroom. We didn’t understand the reason for this sudden change. But after a while, we realized that Mr. Ligebo was coming to Iran! Despite the deceit and lies of the judicial and security system, claiming that I had been released and was

Prisoners from different decades can have varying roles, but with increasing sensitivity and reports on human rights violations in relation to the violation of prisoners’ rights in Iran, and its impact on reducing pressures, mitigating sentences, and changing laws, etc., they can have various memories. The collection of these emotional memories indicates that:

Security-military rulers, political and ideological cases (in the judicial system under the command of dictatorial and authoritarian governments) must always be aware of the sensitivities of human rights, global public opinion and related institutions and be concerned and worried.

In other words, no excuse or even a real but secondary reason should violate this important principle. Any weakening of the voice of human rights against the violation of human rights in authoritarian countries, whether intentional or unintentional, serves the purpose of oppression, torture, and violation of the rights of vulnerable and oppressed people in their unequal struggle. The intelligence and security agencies of these types of governments will also try to destroy and weaken this voice and human rights activists (who, of course, may have personal weaknesses such as ambition or sometimes political mistakes in some of their political actions). Everyone should be careful not to unintentionally play into their hands or be drawn into such tainted and dangerous games by individuals connected to intelligence and security institutions…

The current situation in Iran is such that it can be emphasized that the appointed branches of power are still resisting against the will of the majority and the elected branches (relatively) and do not want to fulfill the desires of the majority and the promises of the president that emerged from the 1992 elections, including the important promise of “dominating the political space over the security space”. They have even increased the number of executions, mostly related to drug offenses (and sometimes political and ideological), in a reactionary and provocative manner during this time, in order to show the domestic government, public opinion, and also international powers and public opinion that they have the upper hand in power and are not willing to step back. The extension of Ahmad Shahid’s mission is of great importance. Although the judicial security apparatus has not yet granted permission for this special representative to travel to Iran, it does not seem likely that such permission will be granted during the remaining year of Mr. Shahid’s mission.

If Ahmad Shahid went to Iran and witnessed the affairs closely, he could even improve the accuracy and precision of his reports, which are mainly prepared remotely and based on indirect reports. It may also be in favor of the Iranian authorities in some cases (of course, in a few and rare cases). But Your Excellencies know that the number of violations of human rights by them is so high that this small improvement will not solve their problems.

In any case, we see that in this situation, the pressures of human rights and the activities of various civil individuals and institutions, both inside and outside the country, have brought the judicial-security apparatus to the point where it is forced to address the human rights concerns against itself by amending the law related to the execution of drug-related suspects. This amendment can save the lives of hundreds of victims of this devastating harm and help those involved in this great and deep social harm to think of more scientific and successful solutions instead of repeating the experiences of thousands of failed attempts. It is also these sensitivities and human rights activities that have led to the amendment of the Islamic Penal Code and its relative improvement in relation to the consolidation of multiple sentences for suspects (especially political suspects) or the removal of some cases related to heavy sentences for political suspects associated with certain groups in the 1990s, and the reduction of their sentences and sometimes the salvation of the lives of some of these suspects.

This collection of factors shows that the path to human rights in Iran is a long and long-term path (accompanied by small and large obstacles, legal and administrative to political structures) and there are still thousands of miles ahead. The whispers and voices of human rights protests must always be heard by the oppressors. These voices and their associated activists can have various political strategies. Strategies that can be approved or criticized by any political observer, but there is no obligation for these activities to follow a specific type or strategy (from within or outside of power, or a combination of both). Here, based on various political analyses, like all over the world and the diverse experiences of human rights activists, there are different strategies that can recognize and respect each other and criticize each other in a safe, fair, and respectful manner without confrontational behavior. These criticisms can be corrective and progressive. But they should never categorize and divide the main political strategy in Iran (around national democracy/authoritarianism) under the

Created By: Reza Alizadeh
April 4, 2016

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