Human Rights - Research Paper Example

Introduction This paper examines some practical aspects of human rights and the dominant trends in a given country. The research focuses on the human rights records and structures of Iran, a country in the Persian-Gulf region of the Middle East with a dominant Islamic population. Iran has been cited for maintaining a poor human rights record over the past three decades. This paper examines the nature and degree of human rights violations in Iran. To this end, the writer of the paper conducted independent research on the reports of the human rights records of the Islamic Republic under study. The paper documents some popular events in human rights violations that outline trends in its national development of Iran over the past decade. The final part of the paper will focus on the legal and ethical basis for the human rights violations in Iran. It will outline the main reasons why the human rights violations continue to thrive in Iran. In attaining this objective, the research will examine the role of the Islamic elite that are ruling the country and how they maintain the systems that allow human rights violations to continue. Secondly, the study will examine the reasons why the international community cannot do much about the human rights situation in Iran. This will discuss several issues including the nuclear enrichment situation and its effects on the quest to demand better trends in Irans human rights situation. Irans Human Rights Reports The 2009 Amnesty International Report of Iran shows a bleak picture of an Islamic State that has extremely serious human rights records. There are signs of very serious and destructive violations that affect individuals and minority groups in so many ways. The report showed that there is severe unrest amongst Irans minority groups: Azerbaijani, Baluchi & Kurdish communities. Individuals from these groups are restricted in a very severe manner and they are prevented from practising their religion and observing their traditions. Amnesty International also reported that the Iranian government proposed changes to the Iranian penal code that will erode the fundamental human rights of people. Thus for instance, people are liable to certain penalties like blasphemy and insults against the state. The problem with the strict blasphemy law is that anyone indicted for saying anything bad about the founder of Islam is liable to the death penalty without recourse to a proper trial (Afshari, 2011). This is because it is forbidden for the facts of the incident to be repeated by anyone, since the repeat of the blasphemous statements can also make the one who repeats them liable to the death penalty. Due to this, there are no investigations for such offences. These legal codes are applied to offences like sodomy and the like which all go with a summary death penalty. This has been abused on several occasions in Iran. The Iranians have also been indicted for their role in a nuclear enrichment programme which threatens the lives of civilians in nations bordering Iran. This include Israel. The Prime Minister of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has stated that Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth (Hancock, 2010). This is an act of mental and physical aggression which affects Israelis and other Sunni Muslim states in the region like Saudi Arabia. Also, Iran is accused of funding the Islamic militant group, Hezbollah which fights a proxy war against Israel and American interests in the Middle East. This is an inherent and blatant violation of the rights of the people affected physically or psychologically by the aggression and threats of the Iranian regime. This include the Israelis and Saudis who live in the fear of an Iranian strike. Irans regime is reported to be involved in repressive laws and actions against women in the state. The regime has harsh laws that denies women of the right to education. The laws prevent women from taking up certain roles in the society and suppresses their desires and expectations in life. Iran has a questionable legal system which lacks transparency. The legal system has in the past conducted several forms of sentencing without proper care in the investigations. Things are concluded without an appropriate hearing. Sentences are passed with very little regards for peoples rights to natural justice and a fair trial. Also, the Amnesty International Report of 2009 indicates that there is torture and ill-treatment of people taken into custody. These people are given very dehumanizing punishments like detention in isolation and torture. These things come together to render the abuse and denial of peoples basic and fundamental rights. Human Rights Watch (HRW), another oversight humanitarian organisation and watchdog identified the actual figures of the human rights abuses meted out in Iran (2012). They identify that a total of 65 swooping arrests were conducted in 2011. The victims of these swoops were Arabs. The HRW identified that in 2011, no foreign reporters were allowed into Iran. This means that the media remained in the firm control of the state. Thus, the freewill of citizens and the right to clear uncensored information was restricted. The selective nature of the Iranian media meant that only positive things would be said about the government in power without any attempts to address the large scale violations going on. HRW reported that there is a large stream of political prisoners in Iranian jails. This is because Iran restricts the freedom of association. The detention of prisoners in Iran in 2011 was fairly a common practice. This followed the trend of arresting journalists who spoke up against the ruling government. Politicisation of the Law in Iran & The Islamic Elite According to Human Rights Watch and several other NGOs, Iran has serious human rights issues. The problem with is traced to some inherent situations in the states legal and ethical structures (Afshari, 2011). The experts identify that the main root of the problem is that the Law in Iran is politicised. In other words, the law is hijacked by the ruling elite. The ruling elite is supported by the majority of the population who are ethnically Persian and religiously Shiite. Due to this, laws have been made to ensure that only those who are part of the majority population are allowed to have a normal life. The firm control of Irans legal system by the majority Shiites ensure that the law supports human right abuses against minorities without questions. Thus, the enforcement of the laws in Iran is political in nature (Afshari, 2011). The security authorities only act on information that will keep the oppressive regime in power. This at the expense of less dominant groups in the nation. Also, there is massive bloc voting which ensures that stereotypes are protected at all times in Iran. The British Parliament reported that “senior figures within the Iranian regime used their religious and ideological beliefs to justify several abuses of human rights in the country” (Great Britain Parliament: House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee 2009). This means that the ruling elites use their religious ideas to influence the entire nation to tilt towards a certain direction. However, this direction is one that keeps the majority and weaker groups in the society oppressed. On the other hand, the Iranian government insists that Iran is being given a bad name because of Western propaganda. They attribute this propaganda to Americas hatred after the overthrow of the Western-backed government of the Shah in 1979 (Great Britain Parliament: House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (2009). The position of Irans bad human rights records is confirmed by the fact that independent watchdog bodies like the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International continue to report more violations each year. One of these statistics indicate that Iran has the highest per capita executions around the world with 320 executions in 2008. US President George W Bush announced in 2005 after the elections in Iran that there is a politicisation of the law in Iran in support of a complete disregard for human rights (Hancock, 2010). The US Presidents comment came after Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had won a landslide victory with over 17 million votes in the 2005 election. He stated that the Islamic elite had full grip of Iran and could run affairs to its advantage and to the detriment of its citizens. The Position of Minorities The maltreatment of minorities in Iran can be traced to the Shahs regime which failed to institute laws that protects minorities (Ghanea-Hercock, 2002). It was as late as 1975 that the Shahs regime attempted to enact a draft resolution to prevent discrimination and enhance the protection of minorities. However, the proposals were unfair and non-Muslims were treated as non-apprehended criminals (Ghanea-Hercock, 2002). The International Business Press (2009) identified that there is a number of situations that are meted out to minorities in Iran. From the statistics, the Persian Iranians make up over 51% of the total population. Azeris ( a Turkic people) make up 24%. Kurds are 7% whilst Arabs are 3%. In terms of religious denominations, 90% of Iranians are Shiite Muslims. Sunnis make up about 8% of the population whilst the others including Christians, Zoroastrians and the Jews. The position of minorities is put in jeopardy in several ways in Iran. First of all, there is a strong control and censorship of the media. Due to that, people are arrested and punished severely if they seek to practice activities that are contrary to the Iranian States expectations. Also, reformist newspapers are not allowed to operate in Iran. This is because such papers are seen to challenge the rights that the state has preserved for several generations. Reformation is viewed as a direct challenge and confrontation of the ruling elite who represents the majority and this comes with severe punishments. Activists like pressure groups and bloggers who lobby for equal rights in Iran are often illegal under Irans laws. This is because the ruling elite have passed laws that makes it inherently wrong to speak for the minority and down trodden. This is a severe human rights violation that needs to be checked to prevent the abuse of minorities. Leaders of labour unions and student activist groups are arrested and put to jail for a long time. These unionists are required to be part of the mainstream pro-government movements. Any attempts to go contrary to the government face various levels of human rights abuses like detention and torture. There is a limitation on the freedom of association by minorities (Great Britain & Commonwealth Office 2008). They cannot conduct meetings or go about their normal lives. There are beatings in custody and forced confessions (Great Britain & Commonwealth Office, 2008). The death penalty is carried out against innocent people who are not properly tried. Another element of the maltreatment of minorities in Iran is the disproportional punishment of people alleged to be homosexuals. Although the Iranian Prime Minister stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran, people are convicted for being homosexuals. Homosexuality remains a crime punishable by death (Ghanea-Hercock, 2002). This indicates that there is a chance that people are killed on trumped up charges. The Limitation of the International Community. Irans human rights abuses have escaped the efforts of the international community to resolve it because of several reasons. First of all, Iran is an almost self-sufficient economy (Ottolenghi, 2010). Due to this, the European Union and International community cannot attain much through the sanctioning of the the Islamic Republic. In other instances, Iranian diplomacy enables the regime to go around the sanctions before they are imposed. In 2002, the UN proposed a resolution for the sanctioning of Iran on the grounds of human rights abuses. Iran escaped the sanctions by a 20:19 vote with 14 abstentions (Human Rights Watch, 2003). At other points in time, Irans nuclear ambitions take centre-stage. This is because the nuclear enrichment programme provides a more serious situation. Thus, the nations of the international community occupy themselves with a stronger effort to stop the nuclear enrichment rather than the plight of the ordinary Iranian citizens who suffer from human rights abuses. Conclusion Iran has a problematic human rights record. The state has a censored media and effectively maintains a one-party state led by an elite group of people who control all the arms of government. The negative attitude of the ruling elite ensures that minorities are suppressed and their fundamental human rights are disregarded. The law enforcement system tilts towards anti-minority activities and the curbing of activities of people who are against the government. The legal system also includes penal codes that deny the fundamental human rights of people. This leads to the passing of harsh laws and penalties. Attempts by the international community to curb these human right violations is strongly restricted. This is because Iran gets around sanctions through diplomacy or reliance on the self sufficient economy for survival. Also, the international community tend to focus more attention on nuclear disarmament of Iran rather than the plight of its helpless citizens. Bibliography Abaid Nisrine (2008) Sharia, Missile States & International Human Rights Treaty Obligations BIICL Publishing. Behad Sohrab & Nomani Farhad (2011) Islam & The Everyday World: Public Policy Dilemas London: Routledge. Mayer Ann Elizabeth (2007) Islam & Human Rights: Tradition & Politics Westmeier Press Ottolenghi Emanuele (2010) Iran: The Iranian Crisis: Can the West Iv with Irans Nuclear Threat? London: Profile Books. Shcwartz Milton (2006) Iran: Political Issues, Nuclear Capabilities & Missile Range. NOVA Science Publishers. US Congress (2005) Congressional Records (Bond Volumes: Volume 150, Part 19) Government Printing Office. References Afshari Reza (2011) Human Rights in Iran: The Abuse of Cultural Relativism University of Pennsylvania Press. Amnesty International (2010) Iran Human Rights Records, 2009. Available online at Accessed: 19th February, 2012 Ghanea-Hercock Nazila (2002) Human Rights: The UN & The Bahais in Iran. The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff. Great Britain Foreign & Commonwealth Office (2008) Human Rights: Annual Report, 2007 The Stationary Office. Great Britain Parliament: House of Commons Foreign Affairs Common (2009) Human Rights Annual Report: 2008: Sevent Report of Session 2008 – 2009. The Stationary Office. Hancock Jan (2010) Human Rights & US Foreign Policy London: Routledge Human Rights Watch (2003) Human Rights Watch World Report Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch (2012) Analysis of the Iranian Human Rights Situation 2011. Available online at: Accessed: 19th February, 2012. International Business Press (2009) Iran Foreign Policy & Government Gguide. New York: IBP Mousavian Sayyed Houssein (2008) Iran-Europe Relations: Challenges & Opportunities London: Taylor & Francis. Read More