Street Protests As The Aftermath Of 2009 Presidential Election And Human Rights Violation - Essay Example

Torture involved rape, mutilation, and stoning of the activists. Execution of political prisoners spread widely in the country, capital punishment, and oppression of juveniles was a usual act in the news (Brohmer 67). The government was accused of stopping the publication of opposition newspapers, books, and websites. In addition, there was extreme censorship, and rapid quelling of peaceful demonstrations. The Guardian council, which is composed of six Islamic judges came up to exercise significant power over Iranian politics, economic and social issues, the candidacy of aspiring politicians, and cultural life hindered legislation that endorsed human rights, and promoted leaders and policies that would strengthen the imbalanced power organized at the cost of the citizens of Iran.

The street protests According to Leimbach, during the 2009 presidential elections, the comparatively reform-based Mir-Hussein Mousavi contested against the serving Ahmadinejad. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the elections, though suspicions of fraud spread widely in the country. For instance, voter turnout in two provinces accounted for over 100% of the total ballots to be lawful. Simply, there were more casted votes than voters. Given the little local migration and lower historical turnout, it was highly improbable that the ballots were fairly cast.

After citizens went to the streets to protest against the voter results, the Guardian Council arranged for a partial recount of the casted votes, but there was no difference in who emerged the winner. Following this, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme leader announced that the reformist leaders were to be blamed for any aggression brought about by clashes in the government forces and the protesters (Leimbach 50). More than 100,000 Iranians took to the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Rasht cities to protest against the ruling government.

The protest materialized from 14TH February, 2011. To curb the protests, forces were sent to raid homes at night in an effort to scare the citizens. The solidarity protests became nearly like an anti-regime demonstration where the police used paintballs and fired tear gas at the protesters. On the other hand, protesters set fire in garbage bins to protect themselves. Many famous human rights and democracy activists, lawyers, demonstrators, and opposition leaders were arrested and killed by the regime.

Most protesters flew away, as the government threatened to kill them; they were not even allowed to contact lawyers or their families. According to the authorities in Iran, there were 20 causalities, more than 1000 detainees, and 500 injured individuals. However, this may not be the exact numbers, due to the suppression of data and internet blocking in the nation. Unofficial sources claim that the number of people who died from the street protests were approximately 300. As forces attacked protesters who had no arms, the ruling government was perceived to go to extremes in dealing with the issue.

Even those who did not take part in the protests were brutally killed so long as they appeared in the streets (Human Rights Watch 414). Iranian Students Association of America argues that Iran violates human rights, simply because some of the provisions are guaranteed in the Islamic law, and for the regime in power to continue enjoying the privileges of ruling. Some of the human rights violated by Iran include: Failure to adhere to the law processes of the country; use of torture and other hostile inhuman treatment and the use of false confessions.

Executions performed both publicly and in secret