While the government continues to arrest those who protest its policies, Iran has been faced with a novel form of protest by citizens who are shaving their heads in solidarity with prisoners being killed and brutalized in the nation’s prison complex. These include political detainees at the infamous Evin Prison who were shown on a recent video being beaten by Revolutionary Guards. At the center of the controversy is Gholam Hossein Esmaili, a true fanatic who went on television to deny all such allegations, say that his guards have been uniformly “polite” to detainees, and that the videotape is a conspiracy of the West to overthrow the government. While most countries would investigate him for possible criminal acts and certainly fire him for abuse, the Islamic Republic promoted him to head Tehran Province’s courts. That’s right, the mullahs felt that he was perfect to be put into the court system. In the meantime, the government shut down the Ebtekar Newspaper , which reported on aspects of the controversy. By the way, Evin Prison (left) under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held a reported 1,500 detainees. Under Iran’s Islamic government, it hold a reportedly 15,000. While it holds conventional prisoners, it holds so many dissident intellectuals and professors that it is now nicknamed “Evin University.”
The video showed an assault on Evin’s Ward 350 where political dissidents are held. It reportedly left 30 prisoners injured and 4 hospitalized. Esmaili has denied that there are any political prisoners in Iran. None.
The European Union has denounced Iran’s abuse of detainees, prisoners, and dissidents in a strongly worded resolution. That reportedly led to a truly signature response from one of Iran’s top leaders, Brig.-Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, head of Iran’s Basij militia force: “The European Union is a good example of the Koran verse that says they’re worse than quadrupeds . . .Homosexuals [in Europe] have intercourse like animals. They have a surge in drug production, which they sell to their young people at a cheap price. Then in their resolution they say: ‘You don’t have the right to execute drug dealers, and release the homosexuals.’”
Statements like that demonstrate why people like Gholam Hossein Esmaili are actually considered the smart ones in the Iranian government. So now he will be able to show that in the Iranian courts all rage is blind in the Sharia system.
Source: New York Times
The CIA coup was in 1953 . The president was Eisenhower – a pretty good president.
Is a suggestion being made that Carter should have sent troops to Iran when a popular uprising was occurring in Iran? Iranians hated the Shah.
Some important Iranian history…..
The CIA overthrew a democratically elected government (Mossadegh) and installed the Shah.
Very bad things ensued.
The suggestion that we should have Supported the Shah,, an evil torturing tyrant, is ridiculous.
Now we know. Iran is copying western morals. Tehran is becoming Washington D.C.
How will we tell the “good guys” from the “bad”?
Each “new” form of government, whether in the US, Iran, Israel, has demonstrated that corruption, bribery, suppression, and propaganda wind up in charge. Humans are not capable of ruling other humans with fairness and equity.
The raid on political prisoners in Evin Prison is part and parcel of escalating trend of abuse and arbitrary executions that has surpassed 700 since Rouhani assumed power. Executions, oppression and discrimination are the principal pillars of mullahs’ rule. These abuses are intended intimidate the public and particularly the youth and women not to participate in any protest that challenges the Mullahs rule.Ashton’s silence with regard to clear cases of rights abuse is shameful.
“You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.”
@ Paul Schulte: We should have never put the Shah in power in the first place. Possibly that’s the unintended consequence…
Suri_mike – and who do you suggest we should have put in power?
Now, what exactly to they do different than we do?
Or that could be the other way around.
This is the law of Unintended Consequences writ large. We did not back the Shah (Jimmy Carter’s fault) and these idiots got in power. Now our first worst President is having to deal with problems started by our second worst President.
We need to lead the world in a better direction.
Let’s reverse course and set an American example we can all support.
Then challenge those nations in the world, that are still setting the bad examples, to follow our lead.
I think most of us are on the same page.
ZOMG! Those prisons sound almost as bad as places like Abu Ghraib, CIA black prisons and Guantanamo.
The US should take the world lead in condemning Iranian jails.
Invade Iran and put such jailers on trial. That’s what any decent government would do.
Reserve especially severe penalites for those in the administarions that condone such things – especially the lawyers!
Ammirite?
They must have been taking lessons from the United States…….