Congressional Report Details Iran’S Illiberal Treatment Of Minorities

George W. Bush and Congress can’t claim to be surprised by the Iranian government’s hatred of liberty.Congressional Report Details Iran’s Illiberal Treatment Of MinoritiesBy Cliff Montgomery – June 25th, 2007The July 24th edition of the New York Times ran a story which detailed the Iranian government’s current ferocious crackdown on every group in the country which fights for greater freedoms, including the press, labor leaders, universities, and women’s rights advocates.While Iran’s strained economy may be the immediate reason for this crackdown, we should not be too surprised. A May Congressional Research Service (CRS) report detailing Iran’s anti-liberal treatment of its ethnic and religious minorities makes that clear.We quote from the CRS report below:“Iran is home to approximately 69 million people who are ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse. The central authority is dominated by Persians who constitute 51% of Iran’s population. Iranians speak diverse Indo-Iranian, Semitic, Armenian, and Turkic languages. The state religion is Shia, Islam.”Iran’s official language is Persian (the Persian term for which is Farsi), in which all government business and public instruction is conducted. However, millions of individuals from various ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority backgrounds also reside in Iran. These groups include Azeris, Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’is, Sunni Muslims, and others.”After installation by Ayatollah Khomeini of an Islamic regime in February 1979, treatment of ethnic and religious minorities grew worse. By summer of 1979, initial violent conflicts erupted between the central authority and members of several tribal, regional, and ethnic minority groups. This initial conflict dashed the hope and expectation of these minorities who were hoping for greater cultural autonomy under the newly created Islamic State.”According to the State Department’s Human Rights Report 2006, released on March 6, 2007, Iran’s already poor human rights record ‘worsened’ during the past year. The State Department’s Religious Freedom Report 2006, released on September 15, 2006, also cited Iran for widespread human rights abuses (especially against the Baha’i faith), including summary executions, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest, detention, and discrimination against women.”To varying degrees these minorities face discrimination, particularly in employment, education, and housing, and they tend to live in underdeveloped regions. Over the years they have held protests demanding greater rights.”Even though the constitution guarantees the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, in reality, the central government emphasizes the Persian and Shiite nature of the state.”Persians, who constitute 51% of Iran’s population, dominate the central government of Iran. Persians are from the Indo-European tribes who settled the Iranian plateau and established the ancient Persian empire around 1000 BC.”Experts argue that Persians, with only a slim majority, possess a distinct sense of superiority over other Iranians and regard themselves as true heirs of Iran’s history and tradition and the guardians and perpetrators of its legacies.  “Under both the monarchy and the Islamic Republic, Persians were, and remain, the beneficiaries of government economic and social policies. Geographically, the provinces principally settled by Persians continue to be the most developed provinces in the country, in spite of the affirmative policies adopted in favor of other regions of the country.”Furthermore, the state run radio and television broadcasts are predominantly in Persian, and only a limited amount of programs are run in minority languages.”The Constitution of the Islamic Republic was ratified in November 1979, which was a major setback for human rights generally, and for the rights of women and religious minorities in particular.”Under the new Constitution, certain religious minorities such as Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and Sunni Muslims are recognized. [But] followers of the Baha’i faith, who form a sizable group among religious minorities in Iran, are not recognized by the Constitution.”A country report on human rights practices for 2006, released on March 6, 2007, states that ‘thegovernment’s poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit numerous and serious abuses such as: severe restrictions on freedom of religion; lack of government transparency; violence and legal and societal discrimination against women, ethnic and religious minorities, incitement to anti-Semitism among others.’”[The following appeared as a footnote in the CRS report:]“Unlike the Constitutional Revolution, in which the clergy had lost most of their powers, the Islamic Revolution brought them back in full force with unparalleled power.”The first revolution (1906) had been fueled by western ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism, secularism, and socialism. In the revolution of 1979, a thoroughly clerical constitution with Islamic codes was created with conscious efforts to condemn such western concepts as nationalism and democracy.”In this new Constitution, article 4 proclaimed that all penal, financial, civil, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic Shari’a. This principle applied absolutely and generally to all articles of the constitution itself as well as to all other laws and regulations.”– Massoume Price, Iran’s Diverse Peoples; A Reference Source Book, ABC-CLIO’s Ethnic Diversity Within Nations Series, 2005.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!