IRAN: Year in Review 2005

[Henk Elegeert]

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51085&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN

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IRAN: Year in Review 2005

TEHRAN, 13 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - During 2005, Iran was on a rollercoaster
ride of earthquakes, disasters, major political reshuffles and
high-profile human rights cases. And all of this overshadowed by an
escalating nuclear crisis and a new Islamic fundamentalist president.

Winning 62 percent of the vote in a second round presidential run-off
poll, the victory of ultra-conservative former Tehran mayor Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad in the June presidential elections marked the resurgence of
the conservatives and was the end of an era of reformists in power. With
a return to revolutionary values, and promising economic reform and an
end to corruption, Ahmadinejad's shock win highlighted the stark class
divides in Iran.

Human rights were again a major issue of concern for international human
rights organisations. Iran's most famous political prisoner, journalist
Akbar Ganji, was under the spotlight for much of the year.

Jailed in 2001 on a variety of charges, some relating to an article he
wrote that linked some of the country's top officials to the 1998 murder
of dissident intellectuals, he was temporarily released from prison in
May for medical care when he came to the end of a 43-day hunger strike.
However, he resumed his hunger strike and there were periodic reports
that he was near death.

His struggle earned him cult status in Iran and he has become a symbol
of resistance for Iran's embattled reformists. His case drew
international condemnation, with US President George W Bush calling for
his release.

The Nobel laureate and human rights lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, who represents
Ganji and the family of Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian photojournalist who
was killed while in custody in 2002, complained that Ganji has been
banned from meeting his family.

A report from Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Centre based in Tehran,
protested at human rights violations in Iran, including arbitrary
arrests and detention of activists and journalists. The report also
named activists arrested in Iran's western Kurdish province, which was
blighted by a number of ethnic clashes in 2005.

"Prosecution of activists and journalists in incompetent courts has not
stopped but increased, leading to very long jail sentences in Tehran and
Kurdistan," stated the report.

In December, the European Union (EU) condemned Iran for continued human
rights abuses and for banning political and women's rights Internet
sites. Iran reacted by calling the EU rights resolutions “politically
motivated” and said it would stop its human rights dialogue with the EU.

However, in 2005 Iran's judiciary released an unprecedented report
admitting human rights abuses in the country's prisons were widespread,
saying that prisoners faced torture, solitary confinement, unwarranted
arrest and possibly sexual harassment when detained by Iran's judiciary,
military and police.

Other high-profile human rights cases included the arrest of Abdolfattah
Soltani - a human rights lawyer and part of Ganji's counsel - and the
arrest of students Mojtaba Saminejad and Afshin Zareh after making
political statements on their Internet blog sites. A number of death
sentences were passed and two teenagers were executed for the alleged
rape of a 13-year-old boy.

During the course of the year, the country was rocked by two
earthquakes. More than 600 people perishing in the city of Zarand in
February when a quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale injured over
1,400 people. Some 24,000 families were affected by the quake, which
razed at least two villages and, according to some reports, destroyed
some 8,000 homes. The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said that
12,500 people were left homeless.

At least 10 people died and over 90 were injured when an earthquake
measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck the Persian Gulf island of
Qeshm in southern Iran in mid-December. Between 50 to 90 percent of some
12 villages were destroyed in the quake, which affected 2,000 people.
Iranian authorities acted swiftly, deploying the military and the IRCS.

Another disaster struck in December when over 100 people - 68 of them
journalists - were killed when a military plane smashed into a 10-storey
apartment block in a densely populated residential district in southwest
Tehran. The C-130 plane was reported to have had technical problems.
Civil and military aircraft in Iran have a poor safety record and many
officials blamed the crash on a lack of aviation spare parts due to US
sanctions.

Last year, 67,000 Afghans were repatriated from Iran to Afghanistan
assisted by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), which was a lower figure than had been predicted.
Crackdowns on Afghans continued, with the director-general of the
Iranian interior ministry's Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrants
Affairs (BAFIA) announcing stricter limitations on Afghans living in Iran.

Ahmad Hosseini said Afghans would no longer be allowed to settle in
parts of several provinces and that police would also be permitted to
arrest and hold any Afghan attempting to settle in these provinces,
stating regional security issues for these latest restrictions. More
benefits to Afghans were also cut in 2005 and UNHCR cut education
assistance to Afghans in Iran and reduced assistance towards healthcare
as part of a strategy to induce increased repatriation. School fees are
now compulsory for all Afghan children who must pay the same rate as
Iranians.

The government took a giant leap forward in tackling HIV/AIDS in the
country, which has been a taboo subject for many years, by launching a
massive campaign alongside the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
and UNAIDS. Aimed at focusing attention on the impact of HIV/AIDS on
children and young people, Iran's national broadcaster, IRIB, televised
public announcements on its popular sports channel.

During the past year, Iran has been under international scrutiny over
its nuclear programme, which the West says is a smokescreen for
developing an atomic bomb. Tehran denies this, saying it needs nuclear
energy for peaceful fuel purposes, stating that it has one of the
highest electricity growth rates in the world. Playing a cat-and-mouse
game with the EU with their negotiating tactics, at several points
during the year Iran looked close to being hauled before the UN Security
Council and facing possible sanctions over resuming parts of its nuclear
programme that it had agreed to suspend.

The Year Ahead

With holocaust denials and calls to wipe Israel off the map, all at a
time when the country's nuclear programme is causing international
concern, Ahmadinejad appears to be edging Iran towards further
international isolation. The country's human rights abuses have also
provoked international condemnation and the EU has warned that Iran must
address its human rights record if relations between the two are to improve.

Ahamdinejad has so far failed to deliver on his pledges of economic
reform. He has already withdrawn his plans for a 'love-fund' that
attracted young voters with promises of a lump sum and interest-free
loans for newly married couples. He has still not unveiled any long-term
economic reform plans.

Some analysts say that his victory, which gave conservatives control of
Iran's two highest elected offices - the presidency and parliament -
means that such a strong concentration of conservative strength at the
top could ultimately bring Iran closer to a dictatorship.

High unemployment - unofficially between 15 and 25 percent - looks set
to continue in 2006 and the country's increasing drug problems will
remain a serious issue, with heroin abuse on the rise.

Riddled with fault lines, Iran is one of the world's most
earthquake-prone countries and experts say on average there's a small
earthquake every day. But Iran has developed an effective emergency
response programme headed by the IRCS.

Some analysts say that the biggest threat to Iran's security, and even
regional stability, in 2006 will be Iran's nuclear programme. So far the
35-strong board of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) is
split between countries that are against punitive measures against Iran
and countries led by the US who are demanding action. If Iran continues
to ignore international pressure the balance of the factions may change.

Iran escalated its nuclear standoff with the West on 10 January when it
began removing UN seals on equipment used to enrich uranium, a process
of purifying it for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or, when very
highly enriched, in bombs.

Despite lack of infrastructure and jobs in Afghanistan, Tehran’s new
policies designed to encourage Afghans to return will result in a
continued stream of returnees leaving Iran in 2006.

[ENDS]
"

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