Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSaturday, November 22, 2003
<b>UN General Assembly Committee Condemns Islamic Government's Human Rights Violations</b>
• The Human Rights Committee of the UN General Assembly by a vote of 73-49 with 50 abstentions adopted a Canada-sponsored draft resolution condemning the Islamic government's human rights violations. It now goes to the full General Assembly where a similar vote is expected. The US and European countries supported the resolution, while China, India and Islamic nations opposed it. The resolution expressed serious concern at torture, cruel and inhuman punishments, and the suppression of press freedom, rights of religious minorities, women and children. Iran's representatives said the resolution shows the cooling of Canada-Iran relations over the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi, which he said has been properly handled by the judiciary. (Jean Khakzad)
• In interviews with state-owned “students” news agency ISNA, MPs and political activists commented on the UN committee's vote against Iran on human rights. Iran must avoid doing things that pits world's public opinion against it, head of the conservative central council of the university teachers' Islamic association Najafqoli Habibi said. International bodies should resist the influence of the US, head of the Majles legal committee Naser Qavai, a reformist, said. Since the Islamic Republic would not give up on the freedom of the Palestinian people, it is being accused of human rights violations, conservative MP Musa Qorbani, a member of the Majles legal committee, said. We have to follow certain domestic policies that world bodies cannot take issue with, lawyer Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah said. (Ali Sajjadi)
• The resolution may have come from Canada's resentment over Zahra Kazemi's case, but it is rooted in all of our government's domestic actions, Tehran teacher's college professor Mohammad-Jafar Habibzadeh said in an interview with the official news agency IRNA. This resolution may result in a UN Security Council resolution, he added, hoping that by organizational reforms and reforms in the policies and actions of the authorities, the basis for adaptation of such resolutions would be eliminated. (Ali Sajjadi)
<b>US Backs Down from Demanding UN Sanctions against Iran</b>
• The US appears to have backed down from its demand to impose UN sanctions on Iran for violating NPT safeguards. The meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors on Iran ended without an agreement between the US and the European countries on a resolution. US had the support of Canada, Japan, Australia and the New Zealand, and unofficial talks continued between the US and its European allies, which support a milder resolution on Iran, citing Iran's cooperation with the IAEA. (Maryam Ahmadi)
<b>Firebomb Attack at the British Embassy in Tehran</b>
• The British Embassy in Tehran came under attack yesterday afternoon, for the third time in the past month. An attacker launched a fire bomb at the embassy's gate. No one took responsibility for the attack no one was hurt. Observers linked the attack to the vote in the UN General Assembly's human rights committee on Iran's violations, which was expected to be supported by European countries, including Britain. British Embassy was due to open today for normal operation, after having been closed since the attacks last month. (Alireza Taheri)
• An unnamed security official in Tehran denied the news of firebombing incident in an interview with the state-owned Kar news agency. He hoped that the British officials deny the news too. He said we are now in touch with the British embassy officials to re-establish security measures. (Leyli Arman)
• British embassy officials confirmed the news that the embassy had come under firebomb attack, and said reporters can come and see the results inside the embassy's gate. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
<b>Fifth Anniversary of the Serial Murders</b>
• On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the 1998 murders of dissidents by intelligence ministry agents, victims' families, lawyers, political activists and human rights organizations called for re-opening investigation into the murders, with the goal of identifying and prosecuting those who ordered the killings. The ceremony to commemorate the murders, which had been planned for yesterday, was postponed for tomorrow, after police said security could not be provided.” (Nazi Azima)
• The case of the murders is still open in the court of public opinion, Tehran-based lawyer and human rights activist <b>Ahmad Bashiri</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The jailing of Naser Zarafshan, lawyer of the victims' kin, is an important legal and judicial problem, Zarafshan's lawyer, <b>Mohammad-Ali Jedari-Foroughi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
<b>US Arrests Maryland Family for Money-Laundering</b>
• The FBI arrested five members of an Iranian immigrant family who operated two foreign exchange businesses in Greenbelt, MD, for transferring $18 million overseas without license. The defendants are Abdolrahman Talebnejad, 65; his wife, Fatameh, 59; son Farhad, 38, and another son, Foad, 34. The charges were filed after a two-year investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Federal agents seized nearly $1 million in cash and property, including the family's home and the contents of 11 bank accounts. Each family member is charged with conspiracy and two counts of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000, AP reported. (Farin Asemi)
<b>Austria's AI Chapter Condemns Stoning in Iran</b>
• In a statement, the Austria chapter of the Amnesty International condemned the reported stoning of four young man in the city of Mashhad. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
<b> Weightlifting Contender Quits World Competition</b>
• Gold medal contender <b>Hossein Tavakoli</b> refused to compete in the 73rd Weightlifting Championship contests in Vancouver, Canada, because he was placed in the group B of his weight category. <b>Ali Mirzai</b>, 1952 Helsinki Olympics weightlifting champion, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Mr. Tavakoli's group placement had no effect on Tavakoli's ability to gain a gold medal, and his departure would hurt the Iranian team. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
<b>Islamic Court Summons Jailed Writer, Again</b>
• The Tehran Islamic Revolutionary court summoned pro-reform writer Ahmad Zeydabadi, to stand trial for subversion. Zeydabadi was released from jail last month, after serving a 13-month sentence for publishing lies. Multiple trials and recurring prosecution appears to have become a judicial pattern. Zeydabadi will now be tried, along with eight others, for participation in a 2001 meeting at the house of nationalist-religious activist Mohammad Basteh-negar, Ahmad Zeydabadi's wife <b>Mahdieh Mohammadi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Fifteen members of the nationalist-religious coalition, who were arrested at that meeting, were tried last year for subversion, after spending more than one year in jail. In addition to the 23 people who were at the house, other friends of Zeydabadi had not been there on the night of the police raid, are also being summoned one by one, she adds. (Bahman Bastani)
<b>Temporary Marriages Increase</b>
• Head of social pathologies at Iran's national welfare organization Hadi Motamedi said the number of temporary marriages is on the rise. He called the phenomenon a social problem and linked it to the increased number of women in universities, which he said had disturbed equilibrium in the society. Paris-based sociologist and women's rights activist <b>Azadeh Kian</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the rise in the temporary marriages is a direct result of increased poverty and need. Temporary marriages are used by married men for sexual exploitation of poor women, she added. Their increase has nothing to do with the university education of women, since young, educated Iranians are against temporary marriages, and seek real marriages and want to have children, she adds. (Shireen Famili)
<b>Ayatollah Montazeri's Daughter-in-Law Blasts IRGC over Take-over of Her House</b>
• In her second letter to the Qum commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, Zahra Amlashi, daughter-in-law of dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri, said the takeover of her house, which is next to Ayatollah Montazeri's house was an illegal act. She mocked the IRGC commander's concept of what is legal, by listing arrests, detentions and torture of political activists. (Amir Armin)
<b>Archaeological Discovery in Iran</b>
• Residents of a village in Joroft, Kerman province, found relics of an as-yet-unknown 4000-year old civilization, reported the US monthly <i>Science</i>. (Fatemeh Aman)
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ژان خاكزاد (راديو فردا): كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد، پيش نويس قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا درباره نقض گسترده حقوق بشر در جمهوري اسلامي ايران را مورد تصويب قرار داد. در اين قطعنامه ايران متهم شده است حقوق بشر را زير پا مي گذارد، شكنجه در ايران به طور گسترده براي گرفتن اعتراف از متهمين به كار گرفته مي شود، افزون بر اين در جمهوري اسلامي ايران اثري از هرگونه آزادي بيان ديده نمي شود و حقوق زنان و اقليتها آشكارا ناديده گرفته مي شود. در كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد كه رعايت حقوق بشر در كشورها را زير نظر دارد، قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا درباره نقض گسترده حقوق بشر در جمهوري اسلامي ايران با 73 راي موافق، 49 راي مخالف و 50 راي ممتنع به تصويب رسيد.
كشورهاي بسياري از قاره اروپا و آمريكاي لاتين از پيش نويس قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا حمايت كردند و كشورهاي اسلامي همراه با روسيه، چين و هند به مخالفت با آن برخواستند. در ژنو، كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد از سال 1984 ميلادي تا سال 2001 ميلادي در گزارشهاي سالانه جمهوري اسلامي ايران را به خاطر نقض حقوق بشر پي در پي محكوم كرده است، اما سال گذشته جمهوري اسلامي ايران موفق شد با ترتيب اعضاي حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد از محكوميت نجات يابد، اما در پيش نويس قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا كه ايران به عنوان يك كشور شيعي مذهب محكوم به نقض حقوق بشر و ناديده گرفتن حقوق اقليتهاي مذهبي مانند، بهايي ها، يهوديان، مسيحيان، يهوديان و حتي مسلمانان سني مذهب شده است، جاي خالي ايران در ميان كشورهاي ناقض حقوق بشر در سال 2002 ميلادي در كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد پر شده است.
در اين پيش نويس قطعنامه كه مورد تصويب قرار گرفت، اعدام در ملا عام، اعمال شكنجه، قطع اعضاي بدن، صدور احكام ناعادلانه درباره مخالفان سياسي، از ميان بردن آزادي مطبوعات و زير پا گذاشته شدن حقوق زنان و دختران، چه در قوانين جمهوري اسلامي ايران و چه در عمل به دقت توضيح داده شده است. در پيش نويس قطعنامه كانادا، سركوب روزنامه نگاران از سوي قوه قضاييه جمهوري اسلامي و ماموران اطلاعاتي اين كشور نيز به شدت محكوم شده است. سركوب روزنامه نگاران، دانشجويان، روشنفكران و حتي روحانيون مخالف زياده روي رژيم جمهوري اسلامي توسط نيروهاي شبه نظامي بسيج، نيروهاي اطلاعاتي و قوه قضاييه نيز محكوم شده است. سركوب تظاهرات دانشجويي نيز در جمهوري اسلامي ايران در پيش نويس قطعنامه كانادا فراموش نشده است.
با اين حال به گزارش خبرگزاري رويتر، فرستاده ويژه جمهوري اسلامي به كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان متحد در واكنش به تصويب قطعنامه پيشنهادي به خبرنگاران گفت: اين قطعنامه به خاطر سرد شدن روابط سياسي ميان ايران و كانادا صادر شده است و به اين خاطر كانادا توجهي به پيگيري پرونده قتل زهرا كاظمي در ايران نكرده است. كميته حقوق بشر مجمع عمومي سازمان ملل متحد، پيش نويس قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا درباره نقض گسترده حقوق بشر در ايران را مورد تصويب قرار داد. در اين قطعنامه جمهوري اسلامي به شكنجه، سركوب آزادي بيان، نقض حقوق كودكان، زنان و اقليت ها متهم شده است. 73 كشور، از جمله كشورهاي اروپا و آمريكاي لاتين از قطعنامه پيشنهادي كانادا حمايت كردند و كشورهاي اسلامي همراه با روسيه، چين و هند به مخالفت با آن برخواستند. در اين قطعنامه اعدام در ملا عام، قطع اعضاي بدن، صدور احكام ناعادلانه درباره مخالفان سياسي محكوم شده است و نقض آزادي مطبوعات و حقوق زنان و دختران، چه در قوانين جمهوري اسلامي و چه در عمل به دقت توضيح داده شده است. نماينده ايران در سازمان ملل گفت: اين قطعنامه به خاطر سرد شدن روابط سياسي ميان ايران و كانادا صادر شده است.
