MEK anti-Iranian propaganda exposed

by Observant Sun Jun 29, 2008 19:37

But the Iranian government wasnt democratically elected. Most of the opposition parties were prevented from standing. The iranian elections were as democratic as those in Zimbabwe.

You quote HRW, this what HRW say about Irans election:

Iran: Reformist Candidates Barred From Election

Irans exclusionary process of vetting candidates for the March 14 parliamentary elections violates the principles of a free and fair election, Human Rights Watch said today. The widespread disqualifications of candidates, most from reformist factions, show that authorities are rejecting candidates on politically motivated grounds.

"The Iranian authorities are effectively rigging the elections by stacking the candidate lists. Its clear Iranian voters wont have a free say in choosing their representatives. "

Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa division

The slate of candidates approved for the election shows that reformists have been permitted to stand for only a minority of the seats and therefore factions close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei will win a majority. While there will be much competition among hardliners, reformist candidates are on the ballot in only about 106 out of the 290 districts.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/13/iran18282.htm

by Bazooka Joe Mon Jun 30, 2008 00:36

Some anti-Iranian propaganda concerning the recent free and fair elections in iran claims, "Reformist Candidates Barred From Election". This is a lie.

The head of a reformist coalition headquarters, Hossein Mar'ashi, said of the March elections, "We are sure that the election was free and fair. He added, "We also reject US and British news agencies' claim that the reformists have plan to withdraw. It's a mere lie."

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=47507§ionid=35...20101

Iran is an Islamic Republic not a dictatorship. It has a complicated political structure which is supported by the will of the electorate expressed in regular free and fair elections.

by Observant Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:32

HRW say the elections were unfair. You quoted HRW on the MEK. What are you saying? You only believe HRW when it suits you?

Iran is a dictatorship. The elections were a farce and were as fair as those in Zimbabwe.

1. Nearly 90 percent of "independent and reformist candidates", including 19 sitting MP's and Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson, Ali Eshraghi, were disqualified by the the Supervisory and Executive Election Boards. AFP. 14 Mar 08.

2. The Guardian Council disqualified some 1,700 candidates for insufficient loyalty to Islam and Iranian Revolution of 1979. ISN 14 Feb 08.

3. "The Iranian authorities are effectively rigging the elections by stacking the candidate lists. It’s clear Iranian voters won’t have a free say in choosing their representatives. "
Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division

The granddaughter of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini comments on Iran and the elections.
_______________________________

No recreation is available to us. Arrests are the order of the day. Students are secretly arrested and imprisoned in droves," the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Zahra Eshraghi, told IPS in a telephone interview from Tehran. "The whole country is under pressured silence, begging to ask questions, but, unfortunately, no one in the regime is protesting," she said. "It may take many years for a person to destroy a country, but [hardliners] have managed to accomplish this in a just a few."

Since coming into office in 2005, Ahmadinejad has used the prospect of foreign threats --including the so-called "regime change" policy which has been pursued by the George W. Bush administration -- as a pretext to suppress his opponents and critics. This has been done through arrests of journalists, activists, and students. In addition, Iran's Guardian Council has halted Ahmadinejad's potential rivals from running for office by hand-picking the candidates

Her husband has been disqualified from running a reelection campaign; her brother-in law is out of power; and she has been asked by her family, who she says fear her forthright opinions, to refrain from speaking to the media.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41624

by But Pat Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:51

The US has upped the propaganda stakes in Iran. Everyone knows the usual rhetoric is being trotted out and it is telling that your propaganda pieces do not attract the attention of worried anti war activists as they once did. This is largely to do with the fact that your posts are now ignored and entirely predictable. No-one is listening to you anymore and no-one cares.
The truth about these attacks on Iran is fairly self evident.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/29/us.iran/i...yview

"The Bush administration has launched a "significant escalation" of covert operations in Iran, sending U.S. commandos to spy on the country's nuclear facilities and undermine the Islamic republic's government"

by Observant Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:07

The truth is known and accepted by everyone apart from a couple of cult like pro Iranian govt characters on Indymedia. No rational honest person believes that Iran is anything other than a dictatorship. That doesnt mean that you should support any US attack on Iran but you shouldnt lie about Human Rights abuses either.

I suppose you think that Amnesty, HRW (except when they criticise MEK), Reporters Without Borders, Women Against War, United States, Forum for the Empowerment of Women, South Africa, MADRE, WOREC, Nepal, are all telling lies when they criticise Irans human rights record?

You wont build support for an anti war campaign by supporting the repression of women, students and workers in Iran.

by Obsevant Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:37

The MEK should not be supported, they are in favour of sanctions and certainly have some involvement with the US military plans for Iran. But that doesnt change the fact that Iran is a dictatorship.

by tomeile Mon Jun 30, 2008 13:27

I've just checked the Irish Anti War Movement's website. The front page doesn't contain a single reference to Iran . The IAWM should surely be warning the Irish people about the dangers of a catastrophe taking place in the near future in the Middle East and mobilising now to prevent an attack on Iran .
Regarding the above post from Observant :all anti- war activists should condemn the continuing smear campaign against supporters of Iran’s national rights. To say Hands Off Iran does not make you a “ cult like pro Iranian govt characters “ .

by Observant Mon Jun 30, 2008 13:48

Amnesty have taken up the case of Arzhang Davoodi who has been tortured by the Iranian authorities. Not a smear; just the truth.

Political activist Arzhang Davoodi has been prevented from appealing to the Supreme Court against a 15-year sentence handed down as punishment for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression. He has been tortured.

Arzhang Davoodi, a writer and the Director of the Parto-e Hekmat Cultural Education Center in Tehran, was arrested in October 2003 for being involved in the production of a TV documentary called Forbidden Iran in which he spoke out about human rights violations in Iran. He was held in a detention facility run by the Revolutionary Guards until March 2004, spending over three months in solitary confinement. He was then moved to Evin Prison in Tehran, where he was severely beaten and tortured: his jaw and shoulder were broken.

by Observant Mon Jun 30, 2008 14:00

Iran is a country that bans trade unions imprisons and trortures strikers, imprisons and tortures,political dissidents, imprisons and tortures womens rights activists,executes gays.You might not think that makes it a dictatorship but I am confident rational honest people see Iran as a dictatorship.

Nowhere in the comments above did I write that HRW/Amnesty say Iran is a dictatorship, they may have used that word somewhere but I'm not going to track it down for a troll like you, no need for men of straw. But Amnesty/HRW do say that Iran torturesdissidents. No problem in giving you dozens of quotes on that.

The fact remains that you have not dealt with any of the HRW/Amnesty postings about the elections or mistreatment of prisoners. You are a troll.

by Observant Mon Jun 30, 2008 14:14

These are excerpts from the Amnesty 2008 Report on Iran which covers 2007.

The authorities continued to suppress dissent. Journalists, writers, scholars, and women’s rights and community activists were subject to arbitrary arrest, travel bans, closure of their NGOs and harassment.

Discrimination against women remained entrenched in law and practice. Torture and other ill-treatment were widespread in prisons and detention centres.

A security clampdown announced in April was marked by a sharp rise in executions; at least 335 people were executed, among them seven child offenders. Sentences of stoning to death, amputation and flogging continued to be passed and carried out.