Khatami on Gays and Religious Minorities in Iran

From Harry's Place: "Killer Khatami gets capped"

[...]The dry facts of the matter are that for the majority of Khatami's Presidency the country that he represented was condemned for human rights abuses by the UN General Assembly or the Commission on Human Rights or both. The Iranian regime under his tenure was brought to book for a whole range of human rights issues; death sentence, use of torture, arbitrary arrest etc.

I suggest that what is specifically relevant to this whole rumpus with St Andrew's is the Iranian record on religious tolerance from 1997 to 2005. Khatami is receiving an honorary degree for his contribution to interfaith relations, and his record on this needs to be scrutinised.

Iran has one of the worst records on freedom of religion or belief of any state on earth. 4 religions, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, are recognised in article 13 of the constitution. All other systems of belief are not, and this translates to inferior status or non-recognition in the eyes of the law - "unprotected infidel" - does what it says on the tin.

Iran is home to 350,000 members of the Baha'i religion. All of these people are denied legal equality by reason of their beliefs. In 1998 a 52 year old man, Ruh'ullah Rohani, a Baha'i, was executed for the crime of apostasy. He did not have access to lawyer and was given oral notice of his death sentence 24 hours before being hung. 6 other Baha'is were on death row that year, but an international outcry saved them from the same fate. A Christian pastor, Hamid Pourmand, was also sentenced to death for apostasy during Khatami's period of office, and only saved by similar pressure. That is the kind of interfaith tolerance that existed in Iran under Khatami, that is the reality.

The annual reports of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the FCO Annual Human Rights report, human rights NGO reports and UN resolutions throughout the years 1997 to 2005 all record serious problems of religious tolerance in Iran for Baha'is, and some problems for Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, as well as for Sufi and Sunni Muslims.

There is ample evidence that St Andrews University and Sir Menzies Campbell could locate with ease that prove conclusively that whatever honeyed words were coming from the Iranian Presidency on interfaith relations OUTSIDE of Iran, for religious minorities INSIDE Iran, there was a lack of equality, repression and frequent human rights abuses.

Khatami has been one of the most effective PR managers for the IRA (Islamic Republic of Ayatollahs)for over a decade now. This minister of propaganda has no shame to promote "dialogue among civilization" while his government only allows monologues inside the country. He is even more appalling than the egomaniacal Ahmadinejad.

http://amir.irani-tehrani.com/?m=200609&paged=8

http://samiramohyeddin.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_samiramohyeddin_archive.html

The IRI(Islamic Republic of Iran) spends $150 mil. per year on it's propagnda machinary from lobbying the academics in the most prestigious universities in the US to journalists in Wapo and NY Times to manufacturing 'fake dissidents' who are later unleashed (mostly reformists) to the West and become activists on behalf of the mullahs.

And

The dishonouring of St Andrews
By Dean Godsonhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2420043,00.html

At very last, someone who actually understands the dynamics of the Iranian regime. Dean Godson, has definitely got Khatami worked out. Indeed Khatami was nothing more than a figure head whose job was largely to lull the democratic opposition into a false sense of security.

His legacy, more than anything else will be his callous indifference to repression and his attempt to legitimise a wholly illegitimate regime. As Dean rightly says, he is part of the Islamic Republic, to which his loyalties lie. I think Sir Menzies’ Judgement shows disrespect not only to the Iranian democratic movement, but also to all those who strive for democracy and rule of law around the world. We need more articles like Dean's to name and shame people like Khatami and at the same time honour and solute dissidents like Batebi who unfortunately are largely unknown here in the West.

Please checkout amnesty internation library on Iran:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-irn/index