When the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988, Iran sought a new beginning under a new president. But violations of citizens’ rights continued.
This video series on citizens’ rights in Iran explores through interviews with experts and witnesses the ways in which Iran has protected or breached those rights since it signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1968.
This episode looks at how Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – who is widely seen as one of the architects of Iran’s post-revolutionary Islamic Republic – addressed citizens’ rights during his presidency from 1989 to 1997. It also looks at social movements in post-war Iran, and the means by which Iranian authorities continued to terrorize dissidents.
Shirin Ebadi, human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, says that in the Rafsanjani era, the Iranian government sought to boost post-war morale. To this end, it somewhat relaxed its restrictions on women’s rights. Daughters of the clergy and other conservative officials started demanding greater rights. Among them were Rafsanjani’s own daughter Faezeh, who campaigned for women to be allowed to ride bicycles, and the revolutionary judge Sadegh Khalkhali’s daughter Fatemeh, who said women shouldn’t be forced to wear headscarves. Islamic fundamentalists feared the trend could lead to massive change.
Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari, a member of Iran’s first parliament following the revolution, says that when Rafsanjani dominated Iran’s political scene, he was a fierce opponent. While Eshkevari now sees Rafsanjani more positively in view of his support for the post-election “Green Movement” in 2009, he also says much of Iran’s disregard for its citizens' rights can be traced back to the era when Rafsanjani held political power. Eshkevari describes the infamous “serial murders” of dissidents and the escalation of political repression during Rafsanjani’s second term as president.
Faraj Sarkohi, an Iranian literary critic, journalist and former political prisoner, talks about publishing and self-censorship in Iran during Rafsanjani’s presidency. He describes the arrest of author Ali-Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani, the open letter 60 authors signed in his defense, and how Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence reacted to the letter and its signatories. He also talks about his abduction from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport as he attempted to leave for Germany. He was taken to a secret location, tortured, threatened with execution, and made to confess that he was a spy helping to implement a project of western cultural invasion.
More episodes in this series:
Part 1: Iran and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Part 2: The First Judiciary Bylaws
Part 3: The First Constitution of the Islamic Republic
Part 4: Khomeini’s Eight-Point Memo