Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiThursday, February 26, 2004
<b>US Criticizes Islamic Government's Human Rights Violations</b>
• In a 30-page chapter of its annual country report on human rights practices around the world, the US State Department criticized the Islamic government for abuses, including persecution of opponents and suppression of liberties, including freedom of expression. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>US Accuses of Iran of Hiding Info on Nuclear Program</b>
• Iran's actions, as well as information in an IAEA report made public on Tuesday, strengthen the U.S. assessment that Iran's nuclear program is not consistent with its stated purpose, but is clearly geared towards the development of nuclear weapons, US representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ambassador Kenneth Brill said, adding that the Islamic government was engaged in “a continuing pattern of deception and delayed admissions.” (Alireza Taheri)
• Iran must disclose fully the details of its nuclear programs to the IAEA, British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanded today, commenting after a report earlier this week by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei which said there remained a number of questions and discrepancies over Iran's nuclear program that were “a matter of serious concern.” (Leyli Sadr)
• The Islamic Republic does not find it necessary to report the outcome of its research on centrifuge P2, or its other nuclear research projects, to the IAEA, secretary of the supreme national security council Hasan Rowhani said on Wednesday, reacting to the IAEA report. He said the suspension of the uranium enrichment program was voluntary and Iran will not stop the project. Rowhani's statement does not agree with Iran's legal commitments to the IAEA, Stockholm University's political science professor <b>Said Mahmoudi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Iran has made a commitment to report all of its nuclear activities to the IAEA, he adds. However, the Islamic government may have taken this position because it had not received promised help to further its peaceful nuclear programs from the three European powers, he adds. (Bahman Bastani)
• It is time to turn over Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council, the <i>Washington Times</i> writes. (Amir Armin)
<b>Reformers Demand Recount, Summon Khatami to Explain “Unfair” Elections</b>
• Dozens of reformists MPs signed a petition summoning President Khatami to the Majles to explain why he let last week's elections go ahead even though 2,500 of reformists were barred from standing by the Guardians Council. (Keyvan Hosseini)
• “Many reformers and ordinary Iranians feel let down by Khatami, who promised freedom of speech and the rule of law, but failed to stand up to powerful hardliners once they blocked him, the Reuters reports in a dispatch from Tehran.
• Announcing the final count of the Tehran electoral district's votes, the interior ministry said 5 of 30 Tehran Majles seats will be decided in runoff elections. Majles speaker Karrubi and Tehran MP Montajebnia, both from the society of reformist clerics (Majma-ye Rowhanioun Mobarez), who had failed to receive the required minimum of 25 percent, withdrew from the runoff elections.
• Twenty were arrested in the Kermanshah province for damaging public property, following post-election riots in Paveh, Javanroud and Falat-Babajani, local resident <b>Koroush Nouri</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Demonstrators protested against the elections results, asking how 24,000 had voted in Falat-Babajani electoral district, which has only 14,000 eligible voters, he adds. (Nima Tamadon)
<b>Conservatives Win Majles Majority</b>
• After last Friday's elections, some conservative theoreticians talked of plans to adapt what they call the Chinese model –a combination of political repression and economic development. The economies of the countries with closed political systems always lag in development, Cambridge University's economic professor <b>Hashem Pesaran</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Furthermore, he adds, the conservatives, who will takeover the Majles next June, will further close doors to foreign capital and foreign participation, compounding the existing economic problems. Iran, as an oil exporting country, is in constant need of new technologies, and no regime, under present conditions, can afford to close the doors to foreign capital and more advanced technology. (Shahran Tabari, London)
• Some reformist observers warned that following the conservatives' victory in the Majles elections, more oppression against pro-reform activists and journalists could be expected. The conservatives do have a capacity for increased oppression, Tehran-based pro-reform columnist <b>Jafar Golabi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. However, in today's political atmosphere, any more repression would blemish the conservatives' election victory, which has given them a greater sense of power. The faction that no longer feels besieged by the opposition would in fact open the political atmosphere, he adds. The people received the conservatives' election victory with indifference, he says. (Jafar Golabi)
• Pro-reform party the Participation Front's central committee member Hadi Qabel said he hoped that the conservatives will let the party remain active in politics, but managing editor of the conservative daily <i>Kayhan</i>, who called the reformists traitors and foreign agents, said they do not deserve to occupy any key government positions. (Keyvan Hosseini)
• British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Baroness Symons criticized the mass disqualification of 2,500 candidates in the Friday's elections, calling the elections a setback after years of progress towards democracy. (Alireza Taheri)
• The conservatives have taken up and are running with many of the slogans and ideas championed by the reformists, such as prison reform, human rights and respect for traditional Iranian (non-Islamic) celebrations, such as the annual fire fest, or Charshanbeh Suri, Tehran-based journalist <b>Said Dehqani</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Nima Tamadon)
• It appears that the next Majles will be under the control of the Supreme Leader, but the differences among the traditional and pragmatic branches of the conservative faction may pull them apart, independent Amsterdam-based journalist <b>Sina Motalebbi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Malaysian and French Companies Form Joint Venture with Iran to Export Liquefied Gas</b>
• Iran national oil company (NIOC) signed a $2 billion deal with France's Total and Malaysia's Petronas to export liquefied natural gas. The joint venture, Pars NLG, will be half owned by NIOC, with Total holding a 30 percent share and Petronas 20 percent. Iran has the world's second largest reserves of natural gas, but has so far gained only a 2 percent share of the world's natural gas market. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris)
<b>Two Seminars Review State Subsidies for Food and Energy</b>
• In two seminars in Mashhad and Tehran, economic experts discussed the impact of the heavy subsidies on Iran's economy. The subsidies paid by government for essential goods such as bread and sugar has increased 395 times from 43 billion rials in 1979 to 17,000 billion rials in 2004, which is still much lower than the 114,000 billion rials being paid for fuel subsidies. (Fereydoun Khavand)
<b>RSF Criticizes the Islamic Government's Censorship of the Internet</b>
• In today's Iran, accessing pornographic websites is easier than reaching Persian Internet news sites, the Paris-based press freedom advocacy group Reporters San Frontiers said in a statement, criticizing the widespread filtering of Persian news sites by the state-owned Iran Telecom and its subsidiaries. The blocked sites include <i>Emrooz</i>, a site operated by the reformist faction, and <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Keyvan Hosseini)
• In competing official Internet sites, the interior ministry and the Guardians Council have mounted a campaign over the Majles elections. The Guardians Council accused the interior ministry of padding the number of eligible voters in order to shrink the voter turnout rate. The interior ministry published comparative statistics that showed a great drop in voter turnout in last Friday's elections as compared to the previous Majles elections four years ago. (Keyvan Hosseini)
بهمن باستاني (راديو فردا): با انتخابات مجلس شوراي اسلامي و رد گسترده صلاحيتها در آستانه آن انتخابات، در غرب موجي تازه درباره نقض حقوق بشر در ايران آغاز شد. راه افتادن اين موج تازه و ابراز نگرانيهاي تازه همزمان شده است با انتشار گزارش سالانه وزارت خارجه آمريكا درباره اوضاع حقوق بشر در كشورهاي گوناگون جهان. بخش مفصل از اين گزارش به نقض حقوق بشر در ايران پرداخته است.
امير مصدق كاتوزيان (راديو فردا): گزارش سي صفحه اي سالانه وزارت امور خارجه آمريكا از جمله در سرفصل بخش مربوط به موارد نقض اعلاميه جهاني حقوق بشر و آنچه اعدامهاي خودسرانه خوانده، اشاره دارد. در اين بخش مفصلا به پرونده قتل زهرا كاظمي، خبرنگار عكاس ايراني كانادايي در تابستان امسال در بازداشت جمهوري اسلامي پرداخته شده و همچنين به اعدام اعضاي احزاب كرد ايران در سال گذشته، از جمله به اعدام ساسان آل كنعان و محمد گلابي، اعضاي كنگره و جليل زوال و رامين شريفي، اعضاي حزب دموكرات كردستان ايران.
اين بخش از گزارش همچنين به ادامه بحث بر سر پرونده قتلهاي سياسي زنجيره پاييز 1377 دگر انديشان و نويسندگان اشاره دارد و نامعلوم بودن سرنوشت پيروز دواني، نويسنده پس از شش سال كه از ناپديد شدندش مي گذرد. و همچنين به زنداني شدن اكبر گنجي، روزنامه نگار كه از جمله در ارتباط با نوشته هايش درباره همه اين موارد همچنان زنداني است.
وزارت خارجه آمريكا در بخش بعدي متن گزارش به ناپديد شدن پانزده بهايي از انقلاب به اين سو، دوازده يهودي كه از دهه 1370 در پي تلاش براي ترك كردن ايران ناپديد شده اند و شش عضو ديگر حزب دموكرات كردستان ايران پرداخته است.
از جمله مواردي كه در بخش بعدي گزارش سالانه وزارت خارجه آمريكا درباره بازداشتهاي خودسرانه در ايران به آن پرداخته شده، عبارتست از بازداشت و حبس داريوش زاهدي، استاد ايراني تبار دانشگاه كاليفرنيا در پي سفر به ايران در تابستان امسال، بازداشت مجدد احمد باطبي، دانشجوي زنداني در پي خروج موقت از زندان در پي ملاقات با فرستاده ويژه سازمان ملل در امر حقوق بشر، محكوم و محبوس كردن بيش از سي عضو نهضت آزادي و حبسهاي چهارماه تا دوازده سال.
وزارت خارجه آمريكا در اين گزارش سالانه در بخش ديگر به عدم وجود دادگاههاي عادلانه اشاره دارد و در اين بخش از قوه قضاييه جمهوري اسلامي به عنوان نهادي ياد كرده است كه از آن به صورت وسيله اي براي محدود كردن آزادي و مقابله با اصلاحات در جامعه استفاده مي شود. در اين بخش همچنين به نقش دادگاههاي انقلاب و دادگاه ويژه روحانيت در اعلام اينگونه سياستها اشاره شده است و همچنين به حذف زنان از دايره قضاوت در پي انقلاب. در اين بخش به گزارش هيات اعزامي سازمان ملل براي بررسي بازداشتهاي خودسرانه اشاره شده كه در سال گذشته در گزارشي معايب قوه قضاييه، نتيجه عدم وجود يك فرهنگ قضايي معتبر در دادگاههاي ايران دانسته شده كه در آن همه چيز را به يك قاضي مي سپارد كه خود بازپرس، مامور تحقيق و صادر كننده حكم نيز است. همچنين اين بخش از گزارش به بازداشت وكلايي مانند ناصر افشان، وكيل بازماندگان قربانيان قتلهاي زنجيره اي و محمد علي دادخواه وكيل شماري از اعضاي نهضت آزادي و ائتلاف نيروهاي ملي مذهبي اشاره دارد كه به نوشته اين گزارش در جريان دفاع از حقوق موكلان خود، متهم و محكوم به حبس شدند. در ادامه همچنين به پرونده هاشم آغاجري، استاد زنداني دانشگاه و عضو سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي اشاره شده و حكم اوليه اعدام او به دليل انتقاد از روحانيت در يك سخنراني در همدان.
در بخش ديگري از گزارش سالانه وزارت خارجه آمريكا درباره نقض حقوق بشر در ايران، به مواردي از هتك حريم خصوصي و خانوادگي شهروندان ايران، تجسس غير قانوني منازل، شنود مكالمات تلفني و باز كردن نامه هاي شخصي اشاره دارد و همچنين به جمع آوري بشقابهاي ماهواره اي از بام خانه ها.
گزارش سالانه وزارت خارجه آمريكا همچنين مفصلا با ذكر مثالهاي متعدد به محدوديت آزاديهاي مدني، موارد نقض آزاديهاي بيان و مطبوعات، جلوگيري از تجمعات مسالمت آميز، ممانعت از آزاديهاي مذهبي براي اهل تسنن، يهوديان، بهاييان، آزادي سفر و مهاجرت پرداخته و به محدوديتهايي اشاره دارد كه اقليتهاي قومي در ايران از جمله اقليتهاي بلوچ، كرد، تركمن، كرد و عرب با آن روبرويند و صفحات پياپي ديگري به محدوديتهايي كه زنان با آن مواجه هستند و خشونتهايي كه كودكان و زنان را هدف قرار مي دهد، اختصاص دارد. وزارت امور خارجه آمريكا در بخش مربوط به ايران گزارش سالانه خود در باره چگونگي رعايت حقوق بشر در كشورهاي مختلف جهان، به موارد نقض حقوق بشر در ايران، پرداخت، از جمله اعدام ها و بازداشت خودسرانه نويسندگان و فعالان سياسي، عدم وجود دادگاههاي عادلانه، حذف زنان از دايره قضاوت، بازداشت وكلا مورد انتقاد قرار گرفته است. در اين فصل 30 صفحه اي همچنين موارد تحمل ناپذيري مذهبي، سركوبي آزادي هاي مدني، از جمله آزادي بيان و همچنين پايمال شدن حقوق زنان و كودكان برشمرده شده است.
