|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
| REFORMERS AT RISK | |
 February 25, 2005  |
|
|
Elizabeth Farnsworth reports from Iran on the reaction of democratic reformers to the U.S. government's pressure on the ruling regime.
|
|
JIM LEHRER: Now, the second of Elizabeth Farnsworth's reports from Iran. This covers the reaction of democratic reformers to the U.S. Government's pressures on the ruling regime.
DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI, Vice Presidential Candidate: They thought that if we get the power we have this ability to push them away totally from the government.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: You will defend the right of people? DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: The right of people. Of having the freedom of speech, the free election, and many other things. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President Khatami's apology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: How do you explain the fact that your brother didn't push harder? DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: I think President Khatami was worried about the situation in the country-- some riots, some chaos, something like this. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: He was worried about chaos?
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Uh-huh. DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: I think we are not agree with him. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: You didn't agree? DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: No. We thought that if President Khatami resist more, many things could be changed positively, not negatively, and when the conservatives saw that President Khatami is not so serious in his plan, they come forward and put more pressure on the reformists. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: They took advantage of that weakness. DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: Yes. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reporters jailed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: As parliament passed into the hands of conservatives,
hard-liners launched an effort to "crush all dissent," as
a Human Rights Watch report put it. Independent newspapers were closed,
and there were "systematic arrests of journalists, writers and
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: I asked Shirin Ebadi if it was dangerous for her to hold an event like this. SHIRIN EBADI, Nobel Laureate (Translated): This was our second conference, and obviously the conservatives do not like conferences like this. It's only for these reasons that I am constantly receiving death threats and being summoned to court. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And are you frightened?
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The impact of changes in Iraq | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Leaders of Dr. Khatami's Reformist Party have also paid a high price for their work. Saaed Hajjarian was shot and badly wounded in 2000 for exposing political murders by agents of the intelligence ministry. In spite of the dangers, Dr. Khatami believes the time is ripe now in Iran for reform. For one thing, he said, U.S. policy in the region has changed in some ways helpful to his movement.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Also, he said, events in Iraq and especially the recent elections could help. DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: There are some negative and positive signs in Iraq. Removing the Saddam regime is a very positive thing for Iranian people. Election is very positive, and again, if a really democratic government is established in Iraq, again it's very interesting and a good sign for Iranian people.
DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: One thing that is very clear - that the plan of the U.S. Government is change of regime in Iran. And I think people here in Iran also are against many activities of behavior of the government; they do not want a change of regime, because we have an example here that one revolution is enough for us. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: This was a theme we heard over and over: That Iranians had suffered enough in the past quarter century. They've been through a revolution and an eight-year war with Iraq that filled this country's graveyards. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed in that war. Many people at the historic Tehran Bazaar and elsewhere told us they don't want more strife, but just to be left alone to work out their own problems. This man asked that we not give his name.
DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: The only way for changing the situation is reform, not changing the regime. We have many experiences in democracy and reform. Changing the regime is another form of revolution. It means that we should start again from zero. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The impact of the U.S. on reform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Attorney Shirin Ebadi has also been outspoken in opposing American intervention in Iran. In a Feb. 8 op-ed article, she and Hadi Ghaemi of Human Rights Watch insisted that what they call "civil society activists" are the best hope for change in Iran. They warned that: "The threat of foreign military intervention will provide a powerful excuse for authoritarian elements to uproot these groups and put an end to their growth." ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Why would an invasion hurt human rights?
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And what about the comments of President Bush: "We stand with you as you stand for your own rights" -- or the comments of Secretary of State Rice? Does this help your cause or hurt your cause? SHIRIN EBADI (Translated): In matters of human rights, we care very much about public opinion in Iran and worldwide. What politicians say is not very important to us. We pay more attention to public opinion. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And meanwhile you've reported-- we've seen the news reports-- that you've had people trying to get in and people are threatening you. Is it worse right now than it has been in the past? SHIRIN EBADI (Translated): For almost ten years, I've been constantly threatened and humiliated by individuals in Iran who oppose my views. It appears that the purpose of these activities is to terrify me so I will stop my human rights activities. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Have you heard from President Khatami? I know that he guaranteed your safety.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Meanwhile Dr. Khatami is working with other members of his party to draw up a platform, though there's no assurance he'll be allowed to finish the campaign. DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: I think they may disqualify, but the chance for us is higher than last year. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Still, the doctor insists the Iranian opposition is viable and is making headway. DR. MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: We have a party. We sit down here, me as the legal opposition and you as an American journalist, to talk about the government and criticize the government.
JIM LEHRER: High government and clerical officials in Tehran declined the NewsHour's request for interviews. Elizabeth will have another report from Iran next week. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
   
|
|
| Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station. | ||
| ||
| PBS Online Privacy Policy Copyright ©1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved. | ||
| ||
ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: Dr. Mohammed Reza Khatami is a man of many talents. He's
a physician, a kidney specialist, at a hospital in Tehran, and a key
leader of what's left of Iran's reformist political movement. He founded
the political party that brought his brother, also named Mohammed Khatami,
to the presidency for two terms, promising reforms which would open
Iran up to political debate and more democracy. Then, in 2000, Dr. Khatami
received the most votes of anyone in parliamentary elections. With other
reformists, he passed laws limiting key powers of the hard-line conservative
clerics who oversee and often overrule elected officials here. But those
clerics struck back. They vetoed the reformist laws and then, last year,
banned Dr. Khatami and almost all the reformists from standing for election
again. 
ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: After days of sit-ins, Dr. Khatami and most of his colleagues
resigned from office in protest. Conservatives took control of parliament,
and networks of militia and various intelligence services launched a
crackdown on journalists and democracy activists. Now the doctor/politician
is trying again. At a rally last month he launched his campaign for
the vice presidency alongside presidential candidate Mostafa Moin. If
they win in June, which is a long shot, they believe they can succeed
in making reforms beyond what President Khatami dared. 
DR.
MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: The president's power is much higher than the
President Khatami. You know, the bureaucracy of the country is run by
the president and his cabinet. The president has this right to protest
all activities against the constitution. This is the right of presidents
and President Khatami do not use that. And when he used one or times,
it had -- it had a very deep influence over the other parts of government.
We will defend the right of people. 
ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: At a rally in Tehran earlier this month, President Khatami
apologized for his failures and, specifically, for not "enhancing
democracy." He said: "At this moment, which is the last time
I am addressing the nation as president on the anniversary of the revolution,
I would like to first ask God and second ask you for your forgiveness
for my failures." In spite of the apparent enthusiasm at the rally,
polls show that many people in Iran are deeply disillusioned with President
Khatami and the reformists. Outside a cafe, the evening of the president's
speech, we spoke to some young people who had said they hadn't even
considered attending the rally. This woman said, "We believed in
the revolution, but we don't believe in it anymore because they promised
things which did not happen." "The president always apologizes,"
she said, "but it doesn't change anything for the youth, like unemployment
and poverty."
DR.
MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: Yes. 
intellectuals,"
and "abuse and torture increased." Attorney Shirin Ebadi,
recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago and Iran's most high-
profile human rights activist, represented some of those detained. At
an unusual Tehran press conference last week, she brought together former
political prisoners and human rights lawyers to publicize the fact that
defendants in political cases are often denied an attorney. Ruzbeh Mir
Ebrahimi is one of about 20 Internet journalists arrested and tortured
for criticisms of the government. He was released last month. 
RUZBEH
MIR EBRAHIMI, Internet Journalist (Translated): I'm one of those people
who was arrested in the blogger case, and one of the issues we faced
was that we were denied our right to an attorney. I was told, "You're
facing a sentence of ten to fifteen years, but if you want to hire these
two attorneys to represent you, your fifteen-year sentence will be increased
to twenty-five years." 
SHIRIN
EBADI (Translated): For many years, I have been terrorized and have
received death threats. I was jailed once. I have to say that fear and
being afraid is a human instinct just like hunger. So I would say, yes,
I am frightened, but years of doing this kind of work has taught me
not to allow fear to get in the way and disrupt my work.
DR.
MOHAMMAD REZA KHATAMI: After the 9/11 in the United States, I think
that the United States Government and the western countries realized
that the dictatorship governments, especially in the region, are the
main enemy of the democracy in the world, are the main enemy of the
free world. Before the 9/11, the main supporter of the dictatorship
governments in the region and in the world were the United States Government
and the western countries. 
ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: How do comments from President Bush and Secretary of State
Rice affect the reformist movement? Let me read you what President Bush
said in his state of the union address. "To the Iranian people,
I say tonight, as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with
you." What's your response to that? 
UNIDENTIFIED
MAN: Maybe the level of freedom of elections maybe to some extent can
be criticized, but I can.-- I say they can be solved during the years.
Iranians can solve these problems by themselves. They don't need other
powers, especially the United States. 
SHIRIN
EBADI (Translated): It's very natural for them to use the excuse of
national security to crush all of those who are fighting for freedom.
SHIRIN
EBADI (Translated): Since Mr. Khatami told me he would guarantee my
safety, I wrote him a letter. I said, "If a person like me, who
won the Nobel Peace Prize and is in the international spotlight and
who knows the law because she is an attorney, if this person cannot
work with peace of mind, then what must be happening with ordinary people?"
ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: And Dr. Khatami, like Shirin Ebadi, insists change in Iran
must come from within and not from abroad. 