Iranian Nobel laureate pans Rouhani’s rights record

 

Dr. Shirin Ebadi participate in the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, in Chicago. in an interview Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013 with The Associated Press, Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi strongly criticized the human rights record of President Hassan Rouhani, citing a dramatic increase in executions since he took office this year and accusing the government of lying about the release of political prisoners.

AP ─ Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi strongly criticized the human rights record of President Hassan Rouhani, citing a dramatic increase in executions since he took office this year and accusing the government of lying about the release of political prisoners.

She also pointed to spreading support for a hunger strike by human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani and three others in a Tehran prison to protest inadequate medical care, which was joined Monday by about 80 prisoners at another prison west of the capital.

Ebadi, a US-based human rights lawyer who since 2009 has lived outside Iran in self-exile, said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that Rouhani may have the reputation of a moderate reformer, but so far “we get bad signals” from the new government when it comes to human rights. Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy, becoming the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the prize.

The comments by Ebadi were mostly directed at Rouhani. They also underscore Iran’s internal tensions between Rouhani’s government and hard-liners opposing diplomatic initiatives that include groundbreaking overtures to Washington. After Rouhani and President Barack Obama held an historic phone call during the Iranian leader’s September trip to the United Nations in New York, Iran’s top leader hinted that he disapproved, though he reiterated his crucial support for Rouhani’s general policy of outreach to the West.

Ebadi’s criticism further points out the limitations of Iran’s presidency, which has little control of security or judiciary affairs that are under the sway of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the ruling clerics, as well as the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Ebadi pointed to Tehran’s largest anti-US rally in years on Monday — the anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy in 1979 following the Iranian revolution — where tens of thousands of demonstrators chanted “death to America” and burned an American flag.

“How do they want to have a rapprochement with America when they do that?” she asked. “Therefore, I think it’s too early to judge whether the relations between Iran and America will improve or not.”

Ebadi also expressed outrage at the retaliation that followed the death of 14 border guards in a clash with government opponents on Oct. 25 near the town of Saravan near the frontier with Pakistan.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that 16 “rebels” were hanged hours later in revenge for the attack. But Ebadi said the prosecutor for the province went on television soon after the attack and announced that 16 prisoners arrested previously — who had nothing to do with the attack — had been executed in retaliation.

She said the government cracks down on human rights because of “fear, but they use religion or abuse religion in order to justify it.”

And those executions weren’t the only ones, she said.

In the last 10 days, 40 people have been executed, including some political prisoners, Ebadi said, and since Rouhani was inaugurated in August, the number of executions has doubled compared with a year ago.

Ebadi said government propaganda claims that dozens of political prisoners have been released.

“This is a big lie,” she said. “Twelve or thirteen people have been released but these are people who had served their time.” Top opposition figures, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, remain under house arrest.

Ebadi said the only political prisoner released early was prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, winner of the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. She is still barred from leaving Iran, Ebadi said.

In another rights crackdown, she said, the editor of the reformist newspaper Bahar was jailed last week for publishing an article on Shiite Islam deemed offensive by authorities in the Islamic Republic, a predominantly Shiite nation. He was released on “hefty” bail after two days but the paper remains closed, she said

Ebadi, 66, left Iran just before the disputed 2009 election which gave Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a second term.

She said she will return when she can carry out human rights activities and her colleagues are released from prison.

Ebadi expressed hope that nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers, which are set to resume Thursday, will lead to the end of US-led sanctions and a settlement of the stalemate with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“But I have doubts,” she quickly added, “and I think it’s too early to be optimistic.”

Instead of economic sanctions that impoverish Iranians, Ebadi urged the United States and Europe to block satellite access for Iranian “propaganda” broadcasts in 16 non-Persian languages, including English, Arabic and Spanish.

Iranian Nobel laureate pans Rouhani’s rights record

Iran sentences activist actress to 18 months in prison

CBC ─ An Iranian actress known for her political activism in support of the country’s reformists has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after facing security charges, newspapers reported Tuesday, in another sign of the underlying tensions between Iran’s hard-line judiciary and calls for greater openness by new President Hassan Rouhani.

The reports came a day after authorities ordered the closure of the pro-reform Bahar daily for publishing a commentary considered offensive to Islam by raising questions about the successors of the Prophet Muhammad.

But Iranian officials have shown signs of easing some clampdowns since the moderate-leaning Rouhani took office in August — such as freeing dozens of prisoners held on political charges and reopening a prominent artistic centre known as the House of Cinema.

The case over the 24-year-old actress, Pegah Ahangarani, also points to the internal — and sometimes conflicting — centers of power in Iran.

Iranian actress and activist Pegah Ahagarani, seen speaking in Germany in 2009, has been arrested and is being detained in a Tehran prison, according to media reports citing her family. ( Per Henriksen/Deutsche Welle/Associated Press)

The judiciary is controlled by the country’s ruling clerics, headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has given the green light so far to some of Rouhani’s main international initiatives, such as outreach to Washington despite opposition from some hard-line groups. But Khamenei and his inner circle appear cautious on fast-paced domestic reforms that could further anger Rouhani’s opponents.

Ahangarani, who has appeared in about 20 films, has been detained twice since the protests in 2009 over the disputed re-election of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but she was released without charges. Recently, she has been banned from travelling abroad.

The Chicago Film Festival is currently showing Ahangarani’s latest film, Darband, about a female university student who becomes the roommate of a young woman wrestling with financial problems.

Charges include “links to foreign media”

Tuesday’s report by the pro-reform Shargh daily quoted Ahangarani’s mother, Manijeh Hekmat, as saying the actress has been sentenced to 18 months. She said it is unclear who filed the complaint against Ahangarani, but noted the charges including “action against national security and links to foreign media.” Ahangarani can appeal the ruling.

In reaction to the verdict, many movie-lovers quickly joined a cyber-campaign urging authorities to reconsider.

Shortly after Rouhani’s election victory, Ahangarani asked him at a public meeting to appoint a culture minister who would be able to deliver promises on “freedom of thought and expression.” She also said “incompetent” officials were the country’s “biggest enemy.”

In 2011, an Iranian court sentenced filmmaker Jafar Panahi to a six-year house arrest and a 20-year ban on filmmaking after he was convicted of “making propaganda” against Iran’s ruling system. Panahi, however, has been seen at recent cultural events in Tehran.

Rouhani’s administration in September reopened the House of Cinema, an independent film group that was ordered closed in early 2012.

Iran sentences activist actress to 18 months in prison

Inflation and weak rial push Iran’s middle class towards poverty

RT ─ As she points to the empty shelves of her freezer, Nahaal sighs, remembering how they used to be stuffed with meat and delicacies.

Now she can barely make ends meet. “I have never felt under such financial pressure in 15 years of married life,” the 43-year-old retired secretary says in her rented apartment in Motahhari, a central Tehran neighbourhood.

“My husband and I have forgotten about our own needs – sometimes we even forgo medical treatment – and we only focus on education, food and the health of our daughter.”

Iranians count and exchang United States dollars and Iranian rial banknotes. The value of the rial has plunged in recent weeks. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

Maintaining a decent lifestyle is increasingly challenging for middle-class Iranians like Nahaal and her husband Ali, a computer engineer whose earnings have lagged behind Iran’s annual inflation of 40 per cent (unofficial estimates say the real figure is double this) and have been affected by the plunge of the rial by around 50 per cent over the past year.

The country’s economy has deteriorated rapidly thanks to oil and banking sanctions imposed by US and European Union over Tehran’s nuclear programme, and because of the populist policies of former president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who doled out monthly cash payments and gave cheap housing loans to the poor.

Consumer prices have risen consistently as domestic industry has stagnated, GDP has shrunk by 5.4 per cent over the past year and youth unemployment is officially estimated at 28.30 per cent.

During Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s eight-year tenure, the percentage of Iranian families living under the poverty line increased from 22 per cent to more than 40 per cent, according to Hossein Raghfar, a prominent economist who warned that middle class families like Nahaal and Ali’s are feeling increasingly insecure as they see their living standards deteriorate.

Until two years ago, Nahaal and Ali spent most weekends enjoying dinner parties and lunches with relatives and friends. Over rich Persian dishes, talk would revolve around the latest mobile phones and laptops, the best schools and buying apartments.

Then the economic crisis started to bite.

Now Nahaal says her family is invited to a party “maybe” every other month, and the food on offer is much simpler. “While I’m eating I think how much it will cost us when we reciprocate that lunch or dinner,” she says. “And worse than that, everyone just talks about how difficult life has become and how it may even get worse, which stresses me out more.”

About half of Ali’s salary goes toward paying rent – around $500 per month – leaving him unable to save any money. He also has to repay a loan he took out in the summer to treat the family to a four-day holiday to the southern Island of Kish, which cost about $1,500. “I earn a weak rial and spend expensive dollars,” he says.

The election of Hassan Rouhani, the new centrist president, has given Ali and Nahaal a glimmer of hope. Mr Rouhani came to office promising to alleviate hardship through a combination of economic reforms and easing sanctions through nuclear talks negotiations with the major powers.

The couple say they voted for Mr Rouhani and hope his moderation will at least prevent the economy from getting worse. “Rouhani has so far done a good job on nuclear policy and in dealing with the US, like speaking with [President Barack] Obama by telephone,” Ali says.

“His victory has not improved our economic situation yet, but we have no choice but to hope that he can get the sanctions lifted gradually and honourably without sacrificing the nuclear programme or submitting to the US’s bullying.”

But Ali is realistic about the challenges ahead. His salary has been paid late for several months in a row, even though he works for one of Iran’s richest entities, the quasi-state-owned Social Security Organisation.

The organisation lent IR540tn ($21.7bn) to the previous government, which is now part of the IR1,800tn ($72.5bn) debt Mr Rouhani last week said his government has inherited.

The massive debt plus a budget deficit that is unofficially estimated to be as high as $28bn prompted the parliament on Wednesday to revise the budget to accommodate a projected 30 per cent decrease in revenue this fiscal year, which ends in late march. The government warned that it would not be able to pay public-sector salaries without the budget revision.

To further narrow the deficit, the government is to exclude millions of better off Iranians from a monthly cash payment of about $18 designed to compensate the slash in subsidies on energy and basic commodities.

“If this applies to us, we will be under even more pressure,” Ali says.

The couple say they have given up on their dream of owning the apartment they rent. “I have little doubt now that I have to take that dream to the grave,” Nahaal says. “We will be very lucky if we are not forced to sell our carpets or move to a poor neighbourhood in southern Tehran.”

Inflation and weak rial push Iran’s middle class towards poverty