Placing Human Rights Violations in Iran on Top of the Foreign Policy Agenda

Series: Iran Advisory Group

A New Imperative for U.S. and European Governments

As more time passes since the disputed June 2009 election in Iran that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, the Iranian regime’s campaign of repression against its own citizens deepens. Now more than ever, the segment of the Iranian population seeking positive change feels depleted and disillusioned. This report focuses on the desires of Iranians who are directly involved in the opposition movement or who support the movement regarding the steps governments should take to pressure Iran on its human rights violations.

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Executive Summary

On July 2, 2010, the insideIRAN project at The Century Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America, and the National Security Network convened in Brussels the second meeting of the Iran–U.S. advisory group, comprised of Iranian academics, former officials in the regime who have now joined the opposition, Iranian activists with ties to the opposition, European and American experts, and officials and diplomats. The focus of the meeting was upon the human rights situation in Iran and appropriate action from the United States and European Union.

Participants stressed the urgent need for the world community to draw attention to the Iranian regime’s human rights violations—and highlighted ways in which the regime is vulnerable to international criticism. They also emphasized how activists and civil society can benefit from international attention. It was agreed that the United States and the European Union must arrive at a coordinated effort to highlight violations and support civil society without allowing Iran to argue to its citizens that international support for human rights is only a closet effort by the West to topple the regime. To this end, the group identified three key areas of recommendations:

1.Monitor and Highlight Iran’s Human Rights Violations

• The Iranian government is sensitive to international criticism of its human rights record and pays attention when human rights issues—particularly specific cases—are raised at the highest levels with the same urgency as the nuclear portfolio. Therefore, Iran should be challenged to demonstrate its human rights record, in accordance with the international human rights standards that it claims to adhere to, by allowing UN human rights monitors into Iran for both monitoring and highlighting purposes. The European Union, the United States, and other relevant international actors should develop a coordinated approach to apply pressure on Iran to allow monitors into Iran.

• A comprehensive EU and U.S. policy on human rights in Iran should also be developed to support these efforts.

2. Support the Rights and Needs of Iranian Refugees

• Substantial numbers of Iranian political refugees already are in Turkey; their numbers can be expected to increase, both in Turkey and elsewhere. The United States, the European Union, and Turkey should therefore increase the numbers of persons granted refugee resettlement status and also increase funding to the UNHCR as well as to NGOs dealing with the refugee crisis unfolding in Turkey. The Turkish government, in particular, should grant full refugee status to those Iranians within its territory.

3. Increase Assistance to NGOs that Support Iranian Civil Society

• NGOs located outside of Iran need increased assistance in order to help those—both NGOs and individuals—living inside Iran. Specifically, private foundations and governments should increase their funding in order to help NGOs organize conferences outside of Iran that human rights activists from Iran can attend for training.

• NGOs also should conduct training online, if it proves impossible for Iranian human rights activists to traveloutside of Iran to participate in conferences or workshops.