Iran Special: Thoughts on Protest, Stoning, and Human Rights (Shahryar)

EA correspondent Josh Shahryar writes

Last Saturday, I went to a protest in Washington DC against the Iranian regime’s continued use of stoning as punishment. I have been to many protests in the past, but this time I chose to speak. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I simply felt like it was the right thing to do.

Almost all of my speech was video-taped, posted on YouTube, and soon shared on Facebook and Twitter. It managed to raise some important questions. Two of the first were “1) Since when is Sakineh Ashtiani [a 43-year-old Iranian woman condemned to death for adultery] being stoned for 'standing up for her rights'?" and "2) Where do you get this about Obama wanting to be friends with Ahmadinejad?"

Other friends raised similar questions as asked if some in attendance have ties to “communist” organizations. Others went a bit further and questioned why I hadn't spoken up for human rights activists such as Majid Tavakoli, detained since last December. The noise got so loud that I thought the best way forward would be to give a collective answer.

Was last Saturday's rally in Washington about Sakineh Ashtiani alone? No, it was primarily against all stoning. Because Sakineh’s case is currently the most public, given the international reaction to the sentence, that case was the main example in my speech.

What am I doing at a rally that was also attended by communists? The simple answer is: I was at the rally because I support human rights for everyone. I honestly don’t care to which group you belong if you are gathering to support human rights and democracy.

The protest was organized by members of the International Committee Against Stoning, Iran Solidarity, the International Committee Against Execution, and Mission Free Iran (MFI), an organization dedicated to furthering human rights, especially women’s rights, in Iran. Since I first attended a protest organized by MFI, I have seen members from monarchist, Kurdish nationalist, communist, and other organisations. I have joined those with no political affiliation, chanting with one voice.

My philosophy professor Dr. Rick Schubert would always remind us that he needed warm bodies in class, not zombies. Protests, just like early morning philosophy lectures, need warm bodies.

And I have seldom seen protesters more passionate and committed as these. They have been at every protest I’ve been to. They have endured rainstorms, snow blizzards, and scorching to protest for human rights. They are so committed, they don’t come alone; they bring their spouses and children with them.

On Saturday, one of the Workers Party of Iran supporters –-- a lady in her 50s who was about as big in stature as a 13 year-old boy –-- was carrying 10 signs back to her car. I insisted she let me help her. She adamantly refused. I felt honoured to have stood with her on that hot sunny day.

I want to make sure that no one feels like this is me passing judgment. If you are Iranian and you have not protested, it’s your choice. I know how busy life can get and how dangerous it is to come out to demonstrate in the face of real threats. Many people who do not come out to protest in public are fully engaged in the movement through blogging, Facebook and Twitter and have spent thousands of hours raising awareness about human rights in Iran.

Why am I at a rally supporting Sakineh, whom some claim isn’t even fighting for her human rights, instead of raising awareness about others like Shiva Nazar Ahari and Majid Tavakoli?

The last major article I wrote about Iran was about Majid Tavakoli and the hunger strikers at Evin, published a few weeks ago on Huffington Post. I have publicised the cases of political prisoners for quite a while. I have publicly protested for the freedom of those political prisoners, even if there is no video evidence of those occasions. Being vocal at a protest against stoning just got a little more coverage.

Living in the West, we come to take many things for granted, from the paved roads to reliable electricity and and water supplies. But mostly, we take for granted the most fundamental of human rights: the right to be free.

There exists a human right called the right to receive a fair trial. Beyond the denial of that right, Sakineh Ashtiani has already been punished for having sex with a man. She received 99 lashes. For sex.

She has endured this situation for five years. Her children have come out time and again to beg for mercy and have repeatedly claimed that their mother is innocent of complicity in their father’s murder, a charge later added by the regime to that of adultery.

And Sakineh Ashtiani's case is not the only one. The Iran regime has a fixation on punishing women for the smallest of crimes. It imposes lengthy prison sentences just for the demand of rights. [Editor: see Monday's testimony by women's right activist Mahboubeh Karami about her six months in detention.]

Sakineh did not make an example out of herself; Iranian authorities did. They have branded her lawyer a criminal and forced him out of the country. They have abused her to force her to "confess". When she renounces that confession, she is tortured and forced to confess again, this time on national television. appear on TV and confess again.

Why didn’t we talk about Shiva Nazar Ahari or Majid Tavakoli at this protest? We put up pictures of political prisoners during the demonstration. But --- and this may be stating a hard truth --- neither Shiva nor Majid had the name recognition or the story to captivate an audience that is woefully unaware of what is happening in Iran.

A public protest is not a place where you can explain the complicated political and human rights situation in Iran by using Shiva or Majid as examples, even though their cases are equally important. Sakineh has become someone towhom everyone, especially women, can quickly relate because of the nature of her case.

As for my dislike of Obama’s policy regarding Iran, I assure you I have no personal animosity towards him. The issue here is that I’m a human rights activist. And the fact is that Obama has failed the cause of human rights in Iran repeatedly. It does not help human rights in Iran to mention the Green Movement a few times during the President's televised speeches, especially when the US takes actions such as approving Iran as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Yes, the US Government has passed sanctions. But what were those sanctions for? To stop Iran’s nuclear program, not to pressure it to ease up on arrests, torture, and killings of human rights activists, lawyers and political activists. Obama needs to use sanctions for the express purpose of helping human rights in Iran. He needs to stop Iranian political and military leaders from travelling abroad, prevent companies like Nokia from helping the Iranian regime. and help secure the lives of Iranian activists who are running away from the country.

As for the President extending his hand to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, well, it’s still out there. I haven’t heard Obama saying, “We are no longer going to attempt to engage through dialogue a regime that only seeks to brutalize its populace into submission and continues to threaten the international community with retaliation.”

If Obama knew Iran, he would have known that the Islamic Republic has no intention of ever seeking warm relations with the West. A regime like this constantly need an enemy to bash to divert their citizens’ attention from the brutality inside the country. Who are the clerics going to denounce in their Friday sermons if the West and Iran got along? Who is Khamenei going to blame for the poverty of the Iranian nation if the West improved relations with his regime?

Obama needs to be strict and unforgiving. And for the love of everything he holds dear, he needs to speak out more often about these atrocities.

Comments

[Ange-Paris]

Dear Josh
When I saw your video concerning your rally, immediately, I sent a comment on EA to say thank you ; it was :
Josh
I am very proud of you ! thank you ! for being so brave ; thank you for showing the anger of our people to Obama and his administration; As soon as , AN, after having oppressed people of Iran, will go to NY walking on the red carpet, in order to state his crazy words as usual; I hope, with what you do and generally what all iranians abroad do, he will be welcomed as he deserves ; Hugs
Ange
Now, for your article, I agree with you 100%, especially regarding Obama's administration ! I live in France and our president has protested several times against this regime and unfortunately he has always been alone in this domain ! why don't you send your article to other media; if it's published, and I am sure that it will be , all the media love to create sensation and especially now, Obama is criticised in USA; my god, I find him so motionless as if his batteries were empty or as if he will be president for 50 years; he lacks to take decisions wisely and quickly and his behavor is not recommended for a president of a state !
So , send your article to all the media, (we have to put a little pression on him,) send it also to all the HR associations like Boroumand Fondation and others in USA so that they publish it in their magazines ;
Thank you again and good luck
Ange

[Chris Crowstaff]

Scott
Excellent article and real good points made.
This morning we watched a PBS Frontline documentary from 2003 - Forbidden Iran. Made 7 years ago.
The link to the film came in an email talking about Arzhang Davoodi, who is currently on the 48th day of a hunger strike in Iran.
Arzhang was in the 2003 film talking about the human-rights situation in Iran 7 long years ago.
It brought home the reality of that country, that here we are today and people are till being tortured, stoned, lashed, falsely imprisoned and denied basic freedoms.

When Martin Fletcher in the UK Times published Sakineh Ashtiani's case, earlier this year, we watched as it spread around the world.
We did our tiny bit, as did thousands of others, using social media to raise awareness.
When in the space of hours suddenly another UK newspaper, the Guardian, reported that the sentence of stoning had been lifted, it felt like a kind of victory.
Moreover it felt like we had been conjoined in a sense of solidarity with thousands of other people throughout the world who believe in human rights.

Yesterday I started writing an article about Shiva Nazar Ahari. I had this title in my head something along the lines of Shiva Nazar Ahari - The New Neda?
It was going to talk about the death, last year, of Neda Agha-Soltan. How her death suddenly shon a light on Iran and its human-rights atrocities.
It was going to talk about how the publicity around Shiva seemed to be beginning to do the same thing.
Then I stopped. A voice in my head said stop.
It was like imposing martyrdom on yet another person in Iran, prepared to endure horrific treatment and even death for their belief in freedom.
I stopped because do we really need more martyrs to bring about change in countries run by despotic regimes?
Do we need more monks setting themselves alight in the streets of Burma?

What always comes home to me when I feel this impassioned rage, is a fury at the weakness of the body we are lead to beleive is the one that represents what is right in the world - the so-called United Nations.
In your article you mention Obama - but what in reality can one country, even as powerful as the USA, do to impose itself on places lke Iran, Burma and numerous other countries?
Surely this is what the United Nations is for?

But there we have the biggest dichotomy of all. Every country in the UN seems to be there to protect and further its own interests.

In a few weeks time President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be again visiting the UN in the USA.
He will be going there at a time when stoning of women is still not outlawed in his country.
He will be going there while somewhere in his country a women will be getting lashed for having sex. He will be going there while his country still holds US citizen Sarah Shourd in solitary confinment.
And will we hear any speeches in the UN about this?
Highly unlikely.

So as we all quite rightly continue in our own way to highlight the issues of abuse around the world. Maybe it is time we look at where to focus our efforts.
The UN needs reforming so it pays more than lip-service to its own declaration on Human Rights.
It needs to become the guardian for people like Shiva Nazar Ahari, Sakineh Ashtiani and indeed for Sarah Shourd and her 2 fellow prisoners.
It needs to be a true voice of freedom and justice.

Chris Crowstaff is the founder of Safe World for Women, an international Women's rights and advocacy organisation
www.asafeworldforwomen.org

It felt like a kind of victory.
We felt a sense of solidarity with people throughout the world who believe in human rights.

[Don Cox]

"The UN needs reforming so it pays more than lip-service to its own declaration on Human Rights."

Unfortunately the UN Human Rights organisation was long ago taken over by the dictators, to prevent any criticism, and to push the idea that the worst country in the world for Human Rights is Israel, closely followed by the USA.

Amnesty International seems to be going the same way.

[Thekamangeer]

Obama needs to be strict and unforgiving? Are you are serious?

These sanctions will break the people's backs. What else do you want Obama to do? He can "hold out his hand" another 20 years, he is still punishing the people of Iran.

[Walton K. Martin III]

Hi Josh,

Great Article and if you don't mind I would like to add to it. First I will say that I and other have sent thousands of unanswered letters to the White House and Obama about the Iranian refugee crisis. I know of no one that has received an answer including myself. Obama has made several speeches about his outstretched hand to the regime and negotiating about nuclear proliferation. It took him over 5 months to make a half hearted statement in support of GREENS in Iran. That was his first failure. Not adding human rights to the P5+1 talks was his second. Only after thousands of letters poured in to the P5+1 members initiated by myself and followed up by many on the #Iranelection tag was it addressed at a side meeting, not the main talks.

After all the television camera lip service about helping Iranian's not a thing has been done. For over a year the UNHCR in Ankara processed 7 refugee applications per day. It will take 23 years at that pace to complete and process all the refugees there. Most of these people are the Iranian's that protested in Iran from June 2009 until Ashura at which time after being identified, arrested, beat, tortured and many raped ( over 800 in Turkey alone ), had to flee Iran.

Now more than 20,000 of Iran's most educated people and promising democrats and human rights activist are left abandoned in squalid conditions in Turkey, Greece, Iraq, Afghanistan and India. Where is Obama's outstretched hand to Iranians? It sure isn't in those 5 countries. If Obama had half a brain these people, the ones we do have access to would be given sanctuary. These are the disheartened Iranians that held banners with Obama's name on them while they were beat down and shot on the streets of Iran by the murderous regime.

There are a few people who come around with big mouths that try to disrupt anything positive we post or write. You have to wonder if they themselves are not regime rats. They seem to never have anything nice to say. It is not worth my time or effort in most cases to rebut them but on this one I will. Instead of running at the mouth they should consider collecting much needed donations for the refugees.

Obama is a failure at human rights and does not back up his speeches and/or promises to the Iranian people. His illegal aunt in NYC got a green card real fast when it was made public but the poor Iranian who came into Texas after being tortured in Evin was immediately incarcerated and placed on $10,000 cash bail. Tell me where the justice is. All these refugees could be housed on one unused military base and it can be done. It was done for the Kurds, 10,000 of them not many years ago. Another group of people, allies's, we abandon and now sit idly by as IRGC artillery and Turkish jets bombard them, another Obama and Clinton failure.

These Iranians have just a little bit of hope that Obama will come through for them but it is fading fast. When they ask me, and they do every day from Turkey and Iran, I tell them the truth, don't hold your breath waiting as he has done nothing for a year but give lip service. If you need documented proof, drop me a line. If the truth hurts then we are doing our jobs. If Obama wants respect then he will have to earn it and it wont happen while Iranian refugees are left tired, hungry, depressed and in limbo waiting over a year for him to help them.

One more thing, the US Government helped bring this trash to power in Iran and it is time they righted Carter's big mistake. Keep em coming Josh.

Sincerely,

Walton K. Martin III
Director, The Iran Information Project

[Ange-Paris]

Thekamangeer
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs; we have to choose between "dictatorial regime" and " paying costs in order to reach freedom"; I have taken my decision, and to cheer you up, there is no sanctions in France, but I have no longer appetite , because of my anger against this ruthless regime and my sadness for my people; it's a kind of "fast" on the path, leading to freedom; perhaps my body will be very weak in the end, but I feel honour bound to do so for my country !
VIVA Iran, VIVA people of Iran VVVVVVVVV

[xgufvu xgufvu]

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