- 10 February 2010
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- 4 Comments
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- Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009
Bearing Witness
10 February 2010 Posted By David Elliott
By all accounts, tomorrow should be another crucial day for Iran’s Green movement. 22 Bahman marks the anniversary of the fall of the Shah in 1979, and the three main opposition leaders – Mousavi, Karroubi, and Khatami – are all calling on their supporters to come out en mass.
The Iranian government has been stepping up its crackdown against dissidents in an effort to deter anti-government demonstrations, and the Guardian is reporting that Iranian security forces are “deploying in strength in Tehran.”
NIAC will be live-blogging tomorrow’s events. The world must continue bearing witness to what’s happening in Iran. As NIAC’s Trita Parsi wrote for tomorrow’s Financial Times, Iran cares about its international image because it aspires to be a regional leader. Iran appreciates the value of “soft power,” and it understands it loses prestige every time another protester is beaten on the streets for demanding democratic rights. That is why the government of Iran must never be allowed to carry out crimes against its own people under the cover of international indifference.
Both Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari and WINEP’s Mehdi Khalaji have made this point. Bahari and Khalaji’s father were imprisoned in Iran, only to be released some time later. Both credit international attention and pressure for helping to secure their freedom.
With up to 1,500 Iranians imprisoned since the election unrest began, some prisoners now being executed, and countless more brave Iranians prepared to demand their human rights tomorrow, the world must continue to bear witness.
4 Responses to “Bearing Witness”
WINEP? David, surely you’re aware of WINEP’s pro-Zionist connections.
We who enjoy freedom must stand with those that long for freedom. Every blow against a freedom loving Iranian should be felt by those that are free. Their pain should be felt and amplified by those that enjoy freedom of speach so the ones inflicting the pain know that they aren’t silencing but are making the voices of the abused even lieder.
What can American citizens do to pressure UNHCR to hold a special session on the political executions taking place in Iran (as discussed in the Financial Times article linked above)? What would the likely outcome of such a session be?
What can one “do to pressure UNHCR to hold a special session on the political executions taking place in Iran?
What would the likely outcome of such a session be?”
Two very good questions I have been asking myself as well.
One theoretical answer might be at least the fact, that offences and crimes against international law obligations and norms are within the jurisdiction of national courts:
»Universal jurisdiction or universality principle is a principle in international law whereby states claim criminal jurisdiction over persons whose alleged crimes were committed outside the boundaries of the prosecuting state, regardless of nationality, country of residence, or any other relation with the prosecuting country. The state backs its claim on the grounds that the crime committed is considered a crime against all, which any state is authorized to punish, as it is too serious to tolerate jurisdictional arbitrage. The concept of universal jurisdiction is therefore closely linked to the idea that certain international norms are ‘erga omnes’, or owed to the entire world community, as well as the concept of ‘jus cogens’ – that certain international law obligations are binding on all states«
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_jurisdiction