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Iran's Strategy of Coercion

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Iran's Strategy of Coercion Prisoners as bargaining chips: Iran’s strategy of coercion 18 January 2018 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 - 4 Recent Iran Protests 5 - 8 Prisoners as Political Pawns 9 - 11 Incarcerated European Dual-Nationals 12 - 18 Incarcerated American Dual-Nationals 19 - 23 Freedom of Association and Expression 24 - 31 Journalists in Jail: “Western Infiltration Network” 31 - 34 2 Executive Summary: The regime in Tehran continues to show an utter disregard for the civil and political rights of its citizens. While the easing of sanctions from the west was believed to represent a pre-cursor for greater adherence by Tehran to international and domestic legal standards following the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, in reality the regime continues its indiscriminate campaign of repression. The case studies included in the report demonstrate that despite public pronouncements to the contrary, the regime possesses a blatant disregard for any citizens that seek to exercise their civil rights by daring to speak against their policies. The 30 dual-nationals currently detained in Iran marks a sharp increase in political detainees since 2015. Prior to this, the numbers of dual-citizens detained at any given time remained in single figures. In addition to 7 Iranian-American dual nationals, 19 out of the 30 detainees have European citizenships this represents a dangerous new trend since most of the previous detainees were of Iranian-American descent. The case of Nazanin-Zaghari Ratclie a British-Iranian citizen imprisoned on espionage charges, serves as potent reminder of the threat now posed by the Iranian regime to Europeans visiting the country. Boris Johnson, UK Foreign Secretary concluded a two-day visit to the Islamic Republic on the 10 December 2017 to advocate on her behalf, but so far has been unable to secure her release. IOHR conducted an interview with Dr Homa Hoodfar a Canadian-Iranian socio-cultural anthropolo- gist and a professor of anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal who was arrested in Febru- ary 2016 during a visit to her family in Iran. She spent 112 days imprisoned in Evin prison and briefly shared a prison cell with Nazanin. Dr Hoodfar argued that the true reasons behind Nazanin’s visit to Iran are irrelevant with regards to the accusations levelled against her by the judicial authorities: “They create a narrative that they repeat to themselves so much they believe it.” 3 In a recurring theme throughout all the cases included in this report, sources close to the detainees have repeatedly argued that none of the individuals arrested were involved in espionage activities of any kind and were arrested because of their second citizenship. Their dual nationality gives them value and the Iranian authorities have been using them as bargaining chips in Tehran’s on-going negotiations with the west. Furthermore, the Iranian regime has also been accused of clamping down on its citizens’ rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and religious belief. According to the Iran Prison Atlas compiled by United For Iran a non-profit group based in the US, in 2017 there are currently 138 bloggers, 101 pro-democracy activists, 50 Journalists, 75 civic activists and 49 Human rights defenders incarcerated in various prisons across the country.¹ Critics of the regime are often detained, sentenced to long stretches in prison after undergoing grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts. While in prison, many detainees are forced to endure physical torture, flogging and other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Ms. Asma Jehangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran noted in the Report for 2017, that 4,332 complaints alleging human rights violations had been submitted in the past 4 years which included torture and ill-treatment and that “only a small percentage” warranted action.² Despite an electoral campaign that saw Mr. Rouhani promise to ease up on the detainment of journalists and bloggers, Iran remains one the world’s worst jailers of journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 7 professional journalists are currently behind bars in the 2017 census.³ Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran as 169 out of 180 countries in its latest World Press Freedom Index.⁴ Iranian authorities frequently detain and prosecute journalists on vaguely defined national security charges while granting limited, or no access, to legal defence during the investigative phase of their detention. Among those unjustly detained are four Iranian journalists arrested in 2015: Isa Saharkhiz, Ehsan Manzandarani, Davoud Asadi and Saman Safarzaei all of whom were accused of being part of a “western infiltration network” ostensibly due to their collabo- ration with international media organisations. 4 https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2016 4 Recent Protests in Iran Anger amongst the wider population over economic stagnation and widespread corruption within the clerical and security hierarchies governing the Islamic Republic have become the most powerful challenge to the Iranian government's authority since mass demonstrations in 2009. The motive for the current protests appears to stem from frustration over the slow pace of economic reforms. Moreover, many slogans amongst the protestors are overtly political, some directly attacking the theocratic nature of Iran’s clerical regime and demanding greater social freedoms. Unlike previous movements, the current protests did not begin amongst the cosmopolitan elite in Iranian urban centres such as Tehran. Instead the current demonstrations were sparked by a rally against rising prices of food in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city and the site of its most holy shrine, a place traditionally seen as an electoral bastion for clerical hardliners before the protests spread to many cities and towns across the country. Despite President Rouhani’s campaign promises, youth employment remained at 28.8% last year. Similarly, while the nuclear accord was successful in reducing sanctions, these measures were unable to provide the economic benefits that many within the country had expected. Instead, a 50% increase in the price of fuel was announced, while the prices of basic food such as egg and poultry have risen recently by around 40%.⁵ 5 http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/03/asia/iran-protests-government-intl/index.html 5 The gravity of the challenge posed by these protests to the Iranian leadership is perhaps best summarised by Abbas Milani, the Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University who argues: “The regime is strategically weak because it faces daunting challenges- from oil price changes and water shortages to a disgruntled, Internet-savvy, youthful population, led by increasingly assertive women, hampered by chronic double-digit inflation and unemployment, and angered by corruption, cronyism and the squandering of massive sums in proxy wars, particularly in Syria.”⁶ Student protestors in Tehran University Source: Associated Press Another factor that distinguishes the current protestors is the heavy involvement of the Iranian youth in the demonstrations. The increased involvement of the youth was highlighted in a statement by Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Zolfaghari in which he confirmed that 90% of the individuals arrested by the government during the protests are under 25. This widespread disenchantment felt amongst Iranian youth is not a surprise. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) almost 26.7% of 15-24-year olds are unemployed. This sentiment is re-iterated by Amir Ahmadi Arian, a prominent Iranian novelist and government critic who wrote: 6 https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/01/03/575276110/dont-oversimplify-the-protests-in-iran 6 “Iran has lived through multiple convulsions. The government has mastered the art of survival through crises. They may well survive this round as well, but something has fundamentally changed: The unquestioning support of the rural people they relied on against the discontent of the metropolitan elite is no more. Now everyone is unhappy.”⁹ Student protestors in Tehran University Source: Associated Press According to Iran Wire, who have analysed various new reports and public pronouncements close to 21 people have been killed and more than 1000 people have been arrested during the nation-wide protests since the beginning of the protests on 28 December, 2017.¹⁰ Policing Cyber Space In today’s informational age, social media and messaging apps are increasingly playing a crucial role in anti-government demonstrations across the globe, particularly as a means of both organising and delivering messages to participants. Consequently, restricting access to such technology has become as important to repressive government crackdowns as the physical presence of security services. This trend is exemplified by the current demonstrations in Iran where social media applications have been utilised by protestors to galvanise and organise the tens of thousands participating in the protests. As a result, alongside mass arrests of protestors, authorities have responded by banning Telegram, a messaging app that is widely used in Iran with 40-46 million users in the country,Which has been blocked.¹¹ Holly Dagres, a Middle East analyst and curator of the The Iranist newsletter spoke on the significance of this move by the government saying: 7 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rallies/irans-leader-blames-enemies-for-deadly-unrest-u-s-calls-that-nonsense-idUSKBN1ER1NA
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