Unity for a Democratic and Secular Republic in Iran (EJI) demands a permanent monitoring of Iran’s Human rights abuses by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The ruling conservatives of Islamic Republic of Iran have maintained their intention of imbuing the political climate of the country of all of their opponents. They are carrying out their plan through exerting heavier pressure on writers and journalists. The situation is characterized by increased violation of human rights. Repercussion of their actions has also affected the lives of political prisoners, their families as well as their lawyers. For instance it has become progressively more and more difficult for prisoners of conscience to seek medical treatment or obtain their prescription even in the cases of dire need for medical attention. Furthermore, the web bloggers and Internet service providers are persistently being pressured to quit their activities. The list of web sites being blocked by the government from public access grows day by day. Thus the number of web sites becoming inaccessible to Internet subscribers in Iran keeps rising. Assemblies of university students (example of which is the assembly of students who belong to “Office to Foster Unity”) have been obstructed.

A fresh round of violence directed at the speeches has permeated the country. A speech planned for Dr. Abdol Karim Soroush in the city of Ghom was violently broken up and this dissident philosopher and thinker was detestably assaulted. New judicial cases against journalists have been fabricated. Kayhan daily paper that is know as the mouthpiece of supreme leader of Islamic Republic has been involved in concocting scenarios against reporters and correspondents in recent weeks.  

Violation of human rights in Iran is omnipresent in the country and is not limited to the plight of political dissidents and intellectuals. Atrocities like serial killings of 22 children in paakdasht, execution of a sixteen year old girl in the town of Neka, capital punishment awaiting a large group of children, application of brute force against women especially in penal proceedings, a rise in the number of homeless children, intensification of a mafia style abuse of children are samples of fresh derelictions resurfacing in Iran’s civic life. They are either the direct result of an unfair and undeserved system of justice or due to infractions and non-compliance with the fundamentals of human rights by the Islamic state. The society seems to be plummeting into a state of mobocracy and discord.

Unfortunately, as expected, human rights issues in Iran have been overshadowed by Iran’s crisis of nuclear activities in international arena. Consequently, the misfortunate predicaments mentioned above have further deepened insomuch as the world is focused on Iran’s infractions of Universal nuclear guidelines. Oppressions have led to disintegration of the population and lost opportunities for fluent dissemination of news, information and cultural exchanges. The public has been kept in the dark with respect to Islamic Republic’s destructive and detrimental foreign policies. Under these circumstances, insomuch as international affairs are concerned, the country’s national interests are prone to be compromised.

Since the conservatives regained the control of the parliament in February of this year, they have reinstated their financial and political franchise and impunity (which was taken from them by the reformist parliament they replaced).  Serial impeachment of the members of the reformist cabinet, obliterating the economic accomplishments of the reformist parliament, forcing their views on the reformist government regarding international trade by coercion and intimidation, forcing the reformist members of the executive branch to leave their jobs are testimony to the fact.

We would like to raise awareness against the aforementioned trend. We believe that in order to confront the situation, collaborative efforts at the national and international levels are required. Unless the intellectual community inside the country is mobilized and the world is informed about each and every abominable incident, the crisis will not subside. We ought to convince the international community and foreign governments that promoting democracy in Iran is the best way to insure that Iran will comply with universal nuclear guidelines and will not be a threat to the world security in any way. Thus whereas we fully support all the efforts made by our compatriots inside the country to raise their voice against what goes on in Iran, we recommend the following:

Ø      Along with human rights activists around the world demand continuous inspection of the situation in Iran by Commission on Human Rights.

Ø      Seek all possible means in the world to improve the civic conditions in Iran.

Ø      We need to persuade all the responsible international organizations not to allow the issue of human rights violations being overshadowed by Iran’s nuclear activity crisis. 

In order to address the issue of obstructing assemblies and character assassination of intellectuals, writers and journalists by the state hooligans, we must play a proactive role in facilitating a stronger link between the Iranian Diaspora and the people inside the country.  Faster and more efficient dissemination of the information through satellite media, and Internet is an effective way for alarming the public. The academic bodies in the country, in particular, the university students, as an independent and perceptive group who can utilize their scientific vantage are able to play an instrumental role in achieving this endeavor. 

Contact us at:

Jomhouri- DC (EJI) 

P. O. Box 813 Herndon, VA 20172 USA

Fax: (1) 703- 991- 3059

Or in Europe: 

P.O. Box. 94638, 1090 GP Amsterdam, Holland 

Fax: (31)-20-774 66 03

Send mail to international@jomhouri.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Ettehad-e Jomhourikhahan-e Iran
Last modified: September 19, 2004