Evolution and changes in Iran: 1979 – 2016
Amnesty International Report 2016
This week, the annual report of Amnesty International was published. A shameful state of the World in our times.
The Report attracted due attention in the Western media….. and Hurray! even in Iran, the media had something to say.
The European commentators focussed on the points pertaining to their countries.
In Iran things were different.
The Iranian outlets were by far too busy highlighting human rights abuses by their enemies (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, USA, Tajikistan, UK, Turkey… among many) and reflecting on Europe’s inhuman behaviour toward refugees (Austria, Hungary,…), a topic cherished by the ministry of foreign affairs, M.-J. Zarif.
When necessary, their own sentences and adjectives were added to the reporting. A perfect example of the journalism thriving in Iran: dishonest and propagandist to the core.
What about Iran, then? White as a lily? No! nothing of the sort. Silence! The best to do was to sweep the ayatollahs dung and wrong doings under the rug.
From Iran, access to the Amnesty International web site was filtered and denied.
For the records, Amnesty’s full report on Iran is to be found on p. 190-ss. Here are three quotes that puts Iran on a broader picture and on the same stand of what Iran considers as its “enemy”.
The Iraqi government sought to recapture Ramadi and other IS-controlled areas of the north and east, initially augmenting its security forces with mainly Shi’a militias previously responsible for sectarian killings and other serious human rights abuses, and by calling in air strikes by a US-led international coalition and assistance from Iran. (p. 51)
Elsewhere, such as in Iran, state repression also fuelled a continuing flow of refugees seeking protection abroad. (p. 53)
Throughout 2015, courts in countries including Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE, as well as those in Egypt, continued to hand down sentences of imprisonment and death after convicting defendants in unfair trials; rather than being fearless upholders of justice, such courts operated as mere instruments of state repression. (p. 55)
A brief of how Amnesty sees Iran:
“The authorities severely curtailed the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, arresting and imprisoning journalists, human rights defenders, trade unionists and others who voiced dissent, on vague and overly broad charges. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remained common and was committed with impunity; prison conditions were harsh. Unfair trials continued, in some cases resulting in death sentences. Women and members of ethnic and religious minorities faced pervasive discrimination in law and in practice. The authorities carried out cruel punishments, including blinding, amputation and floggings. Courts imposed death sentences for a range of crimes; many prisoners, including at least four juvenile offenders, were executed.”
