Den iranska regimen har återigen slagit ner mot politiska aktivister. Hana Abdi, från Kurdistan, har gripits och dömts till fem års fängelse. Hennes brott var “olaglig sammankomst i syfte att begå brott mot den nationella säkerheten”. Abdi är en av tusentals kvinnor som arbetar för att samla en miljon namnunderskrifter till stöd för kvinnors ökade rättigheter.
Samtidigt uttalar sig nobelpristagaren Shirin Ebadi i tidningen the Nation. Hon har sedan 1999 undersökt omständigheterna bakom de politiska mord som följde studentprotesterna samma år. En tredje del av fallen är avklarade när det kommer till bevisföring. Men om fallen någonsin tas upp i domstol är osäkert. Ebadi som drivit en hård kamp mot regimens juridiska institutioner förklarar sin syn på den amerikanska administrationens demokratispridningen i Mellanöstern,
“When the United States says that it has allocated $70 million for democracy in Iran, whoever speaks about democracy in Iran will be accused of having accepted part of that money, and of being on the US side,” she says. “It gives Iran an excuse for what it does.” All credible Iranian activists have refused to accept American funding, and most of the money has been funneled into radio broadcasts and other US propaganda.
Så förlamar alltså stormakter ett folks rätt att forma sin egen framtid. Hon intar även en klar ståndpunkt gällande sanktioner mot Iran,
“Sanctions damage the interests of the people, and they’re not going to topple the government of Iran, because the government has a lot of income from the price of oil because the price is so high.” The only sort of sanctions she is willing to support are direct, political sanctions that target Iran’s leaders, from those involved in the Iranian nuclear program to the country’s highest officials. Such sanctions, she suggests, could restrict these officials’ travel abroad and could order the seizure of privately held assets. In addition, Ebadi believes, the world’s countries could collectively shun the Iranian state. “What I mean is that all the countries of the world should reduce or lower the level of their political relations with Iran, so that they convince Iran to improve the situation of human rights. This was you can isolate the government of Iran without really damaging the people,” she says.
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