The
Obama administration's work in fighting for human rights across the globe has
been largely behind
the scenes, a strategy that has elicited criticism from those who believe
public admonishment is the best way to shame brutal regimes into better
treatment of their citizens.
When
it comes to Iran, the administration's calculation is more complicated. Their
ongoing pursuit of engagement with the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which coexists
alongside a policy of increasing sanctions, requires a delicate balancing act.
The State Department has been very
vocal in its call for the release of the American hikers that have been
detained in Iran since July 2009, but more reticent in supporting indigenous
groups facing persecution by Iran's government, such as the pro-democracy Green
Movement.
But there are signs that may be changing and that the State Department is poised
to become more vocal in its public criticisms of Iranian human rights offenses.
Members
of the Baha'i faith, one long-persecuted
group in Iran, were greatly reassured Thursday when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement criticizing
the Iranian government's persecution of the group. Seven Baha'i leaders were each sentenced
to 20 years in prison
this week.
"The United States strongly condemns this sentencing as a
violation of Iran's obligations under the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights," Clinton said. "Freedom
of religion is the birthright of people of all faiths and beliefs in all
places. The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around
the world, and we have not forgotten the Baha'i community in Iran."
Persecution of the estimated 300,000 Baha'is in Iran
has existed since the religion's inception in the 19th century, but
increased dramatically following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the
eradication of the Baha'i faith became official government
policy. Since the revolution, over 200 Baha'is have been
killed by the regime, while hundreds have been imprisoned and thousands have
been denied access to basic human rights, including the right to education and
to work.
Shastri
Purushotma, Human Rights Representative for the U.S. Baha'i community,
told The Cable that they greatly
appreciated Clinton's statement, whichmarked the first time she had spoken out
on behalf of the Baha'is.
"The Obama administration and the State Department have
spoken up at every major stage of their trial," he said. "It would be wonderful
if President Obama could speak out about this too, in the right opportunity and
right setting."
Clinton's statement on the Baha'i prosecutions came just
two days after she sharply criticized Iran for its treatment of several other
citizens who had been denied due process or basic freedoms.
She mentioned the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was sentenced
to death by stoning for alleged adultery, the case of Ebrahim Hamidi, who is being executed
for sodomy, and the cases of Jafar Kazemi,
Mohammad Haj Aghaei, and Javad Lari, three protesters arrested
after the flawed June 2009 elections.
"The United States is deeply concerned that Iran
continues to deny its citizens their civil rights and intimidate and detain
those Iranians who seek to hold their government accountable and stand up for
the rights of their fellow citizens," Clinton said.
For the Bahai, public awareness of their plight is crucial.
"If
someone is trying to commit a crime, if they can do it in the dark, they
have a better chance of getting away with it," said Purushotma. "All of these things are intertwined, you can't
separate out human rights and the nuclear issue, because the way a country treats his own
people is an indication of how they will treat their neighbors."
How about stepping up on human rights at home? As far as I know, your Gulag at Guantanamo is still operational, holding hundreds of "terror-suspects" without trial for nearly a decade now. The US is in no position to tell other countries how should they behave.
Iran stones homosexuals and executes journalists. Iran practices some of the worst forms of torture - slicing off genitals, lashings, forced-prison rape - women must be raped by soldiers before they are executed - crap like this.
Nothing compared to gitmo, the worst torture is water-boarding - not life threatening and purely psychological.
But of course the loony left will point the figure at the US when anyone dares challenge Iran.
Talk shit about Israel and then they'll go off...but any Muslim state, silence.
Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.
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