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In tonight’s program of Behind the Headlines we will discuss with our guests Mrs. Sepideh Pouraghaie and Dr. Nayeb Hashem the continued violation of human rights in Iran and how the number of political prisoners in the country is on the rise.
Sepideh Pouraghaie:
Sadly as you may have seen a recent video clip, it shows how the rights of children in Iran are being continuously abused by both their parents and at schools, and no one gets persecuted or punished for these acts.
The case of child labors are even worse as most of them come from poor families who do not even get to go to school and have to do unbearable jobs to sustain their families. In one word the condition of these children is tragic and the current regime in Iran, which spends millions of dollars on its mercenaries to wagewars and destruction in he region, does not allocate a penny for the wellbeing of these children.
Jamshid Chalangi:
Do organizations like the UN agencies have any responsibilities towards these conditions for the Iranian people?
Nayeb Hashem:
They certainly do but the UN, unlike its image, does not have much of budget forthese issues and apart from its budget for peacekeeping missions, its otheragencies and humanitarian works are limited to the small funds that it has in its pocket.
For example, the entire budget of the UN for promotion and protection of human rights is only 3 percent of its total budget and even this small budget is being reduced as we speak.
Iran is a signatory to the conventions that protect the rights of children and the regime must observe its responsibilities. Iran must also implement the policies set by the UN’s 2030 Program for sustainable development and progress, part of which relates to the rights of children and women. However, the Iranian regime pays no attention to these obligations and the mafia of the ruling clergy and the Revolutionary Guards has no intention of respecting the rights of children in Iran.
Jamshid Chalangi:
The Iranian regime has filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice against the US while at the same time it is arresting and imprisoning people like Nasrin Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi who are fighting for justice in Iran.
Sepideh Pouraghaie:
Unfortunately the conditions of Iranian political prisoners have gone from bad to worse in recent months.
One of the main reasons for the increase in their number is the increase in thenumber of social uprisings that Iran has seen in recent months.
The regime’s judiciary has taken an iron fist approach by cracking down on the protestors without any respect for the rights of dissent by the population. So much so that in his latest open letter about the problems that the nation is facing the cleric Mehdi Karoubi has condemned the injustices that are carried out by the regime’s justice departments.
Iran’s judiciary is based on seeking bloody purges and administration of injustice and in doing so does not know any boundaries.
Its victims are human and civil rights activists, environmental activist, forest rangers, political prisoners, independent lawyers, students, Sufi dervishes, religious and ethnic minorities, women right activists and simply any one person or group that opposes the regime’s despotic rule.
