Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSaturday, May 08, 2004
<b>British Parliament's Report on Human Rights Abuses in Iran</b>
• In a report issued today, the British Parliament's foreign affairs committee said Iran's human rights record has worsened over the years, and the two sets of EU dialogues with the Islamic Republic on human rights have failed to gain the release of students and political activists from jail.
<b> Official Suggests Producing Enriched Uranium in Partnership with Europe and Russia</b>
• Secretary of foreign relations committee of the supreme council on national security Hossein Mousavian suggested that a partnership with the EU and Russia to produce enriched uranium in Iran would end international concerns about the purpose of Iran's nuclear program. “Iran and Europe should jointly build trustful relations, including joint uranium enrichment programs”, Mousavian said, adding that he planned to raise the idea with Britain, Germany and France in the next two to three weeks. “We could, for example, start talking about setting up a consortium, which would include European countries and Russia, to work together on this program,” he said. “All these countries could take part in helping Iran to achieve its plans on uranium enrichment and at the same time be sure that such plans are entirely peaceful.”
<b>Veteran Journalist Pourzand Returns to Hospital ICU</b>
• A few days after going home from Tehran's Modares hospital on medical furlough, jailed veteran journalist Siamak Pourzand, 74, returned to the same hospital's ICU following worsening of his heart condition, his Toronto-based daughter <b>Leyli Pourzand</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. My father was visited at home by authorities, who asked him to publicly thank them for his treatment in jail and deny that he has been tortured, she says. “Apparently, the interview was printed in the prison organization's magazine,” she adds. In an audio message posted on several Persian internet sites, Pourzand thanked young Iranians for their support and said the voice they hear comes from a tired patriot.
<b>RSF Calls for Release of Nationalist-Religious Prisoners</b>
• The Paris-based press freedom advocacy group Reporters San Frontiers called for the immediate release of three nationalist-religious coalition activists Reza Alijani, Hoda Saber and Taqi Rahmani. The three have been sentenced to long jail terms without a trial, RSF said in a statement issued yesterday.
<b> Ebadi Receives Honorary PhD from Toronto University</b>
* The fight against terrorism has dealt an unfortunate blow to human rights, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi said on Friday in convocation address at the Toronto University, where she received an honorary PhD. Violence breeds violence, and a country which is after peace, should not attack another country, she added.
<b>Wife of Arrested Kurdish Activist Writes to Labor Unions' International Confederation</b>
• Wife of Mahmoud Salehi, a Kurdish activist, who was arrested along with five others in the Kurdistan city of Saqqez during Labor Day demonstrations on May 1, asked Anna Biondi, assistant director of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), to intervene on her husband's behalf. She said after arresting her husband, the intelligence ministry agents ransacked their house and assaulted her after she asked to see a search warrant.
<b>Iran Blocked Adoption of Agenda for UN's NPT Conference</b>
• Iran almost single-handedly managed to block the adoption of an agenda” of a 2005 UN conference on Non-Proliferation Treaty, “in the hope of avoiding the conference devoting too much attention to the behavior of those of its members suspected of being proliferators,” a diplomat told Agence France Press in New York. A preparatory meeting, held this week at UN headquarters, ended Friday with an agreement on some minimal procedures but without an agenda for the conference.
<b>Judiciary Chief's Ban on Torture: An Expert's Opinion</b>
• Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi banned torture and maltreatment of prisoners and defendants in a circular sent to judges last week. He also asked provincial judiciary chiefs to personally supervise important cases. In another move, he authorized furloughs for 74 political prisoners. The judiciary chief's circular maybe useful as an ideal theory, but if followed, it would actually reduce the quality of judicial work, because no judiciary chief or chief prosecutor has the time to attend to the details of all the caseload under his supervision,” Tehran-based lawyer <b>Ahmad Bashiri</b>, himself a retired judge, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The judiciary chief's circular banning torture was a welcome move, and fortunately, the Majles adopted it as a bill and it was approved by the Guardians Council, Bashiri says. However, he adds, none of the points in that circular was new. We have to see whether this new law will be ignored like those before it or will be implemented, in which case, a new chapter would start in the treatment of prisoners. (Jamshid Zand)
<b>Army Shuts Down Airport A Day after Opening</b>
• A day after the new Tehran international airport opened for business, the army shut it down for security reasons. The Iran Air took over handling of passengers and airplanes, after an Austrian contractor was accused of not paying enough attention to the airport security. A plane coming from Dubai was diverted to the old Mehrabad airport.
<b>Iran to Approve OPEC Production Rise</b>
• Iran's OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said on Saturday that he expected oil prices to remain high for the next three to four months but Iran would not oppose a production increase when the oil group meets next month. A move to increase production would be “pandering” to the US, which has complained that high oil prices were hampering the world economy, he said.
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مريم احمدي (راديوفردا): جرج بوش، رئيس جمهوري آمريكا، در پيام هفتگي راديوئي خود گفت بدرفتاري چند سرباز زندانبان آمريكائي با زندانيان عراقي «لكهاي است بر عزت و اعتبار كشور ما اما از آمريكا را از رسالت بردن دمكراسي به عراق باز نخواهد داشت.» رئيس جمهوري آمريكا گفت آزار و اذيت و تحقير زندانيان در زندان ابوغريب عراق، خلافكاري تعدادي محدود بود و نبايد هزاران پرسنل نظامي آمريكا كه در عراق خدمت ميكنند و از خود ايثار نشان ميدهند مقصر قلمداد شوند. آقاي بوش افزود: ماموريت ما در عراق ادامه پيدا خواهد كرد و ما قصد نداريم اين كشور را به دست جانيان و تبهكاران بسپاريم.
وي گفت ما مصمم هستيم به ايجاد يك عراق آزاد و باثبات كمك كنيم -- كشوري كه با همسايگان خود و با جهان در آشتي باشد. رئيس جمهوري آمريكا كه به خاطر بدرفتاري چند سرباز آمريكائي با زندانيان عراقي اوائل هفته رسما عذرخواهي كرد، يادآور شد كه مجازات مسئولان به هفت عضو ارتش ذخيره و شركت خصوصي پليس نظامي كه عليه آنها پرونده تشكيل شده، محدود نخواهد بود.
رئيس جمهوري آمريكا در پيام راديوئي خود گفت ما به همه حقايق پي خواهيم برد و دامنه كامل اين بدرفتاريها را تعيين خواهيم كرد و همه دست اندركاران را شناسائي خواهيم كرد و آنها بايد پاسخگوي اعمال خود باشند.
رئيس جمهوري آمريكا افزود فعاليتهاي همه زندانهاي عراق مورد بررسي قرار خواهد گرفت تا اطمينان حاصل شود كه اين قبيل رويدادهاي زشت در آينده هرگز تكرار نخواهد شد.
اما در پيام هفتگي دمكراتها، كه توسط ژنرال وسلي كلارك، فرمانده سابق ناتو و داوطلب سابق نامزدي حزب دمكرات در انتخابات رياست جمهوري آمريكا، ايراد شد، گفته شد كه اينها كافي نيست.
ژنرال بازنشتسه وسلي كلارك گفت رسوائي زندان ابوغريب، يكي ديگر از نمونههاي رهبري ضعيف آقاي بوش است. ژنرال كلارك گفت رئيس جمهوري به عنوان فرمانده كل قوا مكرر اشتباه كرده است و ما را به جنگي كشانده كه مجبور نبوديم به تنهائي و به بهانههاي واهي وارد آن شويم و حالا هم اين جنگ با مديريتي ضعيف اداره ميشود. وسلي كلارك از جرج بوش خواست مسير خود را تغيير دهد، متحدان آمريكا را دخالت دهد و يك نهاد بين المللي براي كمك اقتصادي و سياسي به عراقيها ايجاد كند.
ژنرال كلارك گفت ما نبايد به تنهائي چنين باري را تحمل كنيم. وي گفت به عنوان يك حركت نمادين، زندان بدآوازه ابوغريب با مساحت 280 جريبي بايد منهدم شود. وي گفت اين زندان بارز ترين نماد رژيم ظالم صدام حسين در عراق است، جائي كه عمال صدام مخالفان رژيم او را شكنجه ميدادند و ميكشتند. جرج بوش، رئيس جمهوري آمريكا، در پيام هفتگي راديوئي خود گفت بدرفتاري چند سرباز زندانبان آمريكائي با زندانيان عراقي «لكهاي است بر عزت و اعتبار كشور ما، اما آمريكا را از رسالت بردن دمكراسي به عراق باز نخواهد داشت.» رئيس جمهوري آمريكا گفت آزار و اذيت و تحقير زندانيان در زندان ابوغريب عراق، خلافكاري تعدادي محدود بود و نبايد هزاران پرسنل نظامي آمريكا كه در عراق خدمت ميكنند و از خود ايثار نشان ميدهند مقصر قلمداد شوند. وي تاكيد كه عوامل اين بدرفتاري ها شناسائي و مجازات خواهند شد. ژنرال بازنشتسه وسلي كلارك، در پيام هفتگي دمكراتها گفت رسوائي زندان ابوغريب، يكي ديگر از نمونههاي رهبري ضعيف آقاي بوش است.
