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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran rebukes EU on rights abuses |
| 2004-06-22 |
| Iran has lashed out at the EU, saying the 25-member bloc should solve its own human rights issues before criticising those of the Islamic Republic. The comments come after the EU warned it was gravely concerned with human rights violations in Iran. In a report, the EU said that little progress had been made in Iran, in spite of efforts to engage the country in dialogue. In return, Iran condemned the EU for politicising the issue of human rights. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told state news agency Irna that the EU’s criticism was unrealistic and "indicates the Union’s inability to accept transparent dialogue". "The European Union should learn from the chance of talks with an Islamic state with a rich cultural history and civilization," he is quoted as telling Irna. An EU delegation in the Iranian capital for talks on human rights had urged Iran to release immediately 40 prisoners of conscience held in detention. The delegation said it was worried by numerous and continued human rights violations. These include: The use of torture in prisons and other detention centresThe EU’s report was the result of a fourth round of talks, which began in December 2002, between the EU and Tehran. Iran said the European Union had its own human rights problems, which include ignoring minorities’ rights, discrimination against Muslims, Islamophobia and a lack of rights for refugees. It also said that during talks, the EU had failed to pay attention to repeated human rights violations in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Despite the EU’s stinging comments, the BBC’s Jim Muir in Tehran says that since the victory of the conservatives in Iran’s controversial general elections in February, there have been signs of progress on human rights, at least superficially. A law banning the use of torture has been approved and the judiciary chief has circulated instructions that proper procedures must be followed during arrests and detentions. Progress on such issues, as well as terrorism and nuclear proliferation, are among the conditions for the possible signing of a trade and co-operation agreement between the EU and Iran. A lack of progress in talks has been highlighted by international monitoring group Human Rights Watch, which also criticised Iran’s judiciary. In a recent report, the group said the situation in Iran was worse now than at any time since reformist Mohammad Khatami became president in 1997. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #5 On death penalty: Sure, some democracies like the USA also have it -- but most countries having it are tyrannies, and there's hardly any tyranny which doesn't possess it. Death penalty is needed by them, as they're held together by the fear of death, and the idea that individual human life can be sacrificed at the will of state. On the whole a good analogy may be that insisting on the abolition of the Death penalty in Iran is for the EU what insisting on free market in China is for the USA. Frenchfregoli> Are you talking about something that actually happened, or something you imagined of happening? |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-10-30 12:32:56 PM |
| #4 You're wrong-no you're wrong! LOL. EU should pick their battles and take what Iran says with a grain of salt-"abuse" is a word Iran has no concept of. Forget the death penalty--that's your hardest battle and negates any support you might get from the US on the rest of the legitimate accusations. Iran will always point a finger outward because, as we know, in Islam self-examination and critique of the religion are rare occurences indeed. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-06-22 11:52:16 AM |
| #3 Can someone reminds me of the last declarations by the 3 european foreign stooges(Straw, fisher, de villepin) who were so self congratulating about how different they are from those brutal US bullies in getting results by softpower? Hello dominque?joshka? jack? still waiting.... |
| Posted by: frenchfregoli 2004-06-22 3:27:59 AM |
| #2 Is it just me or are the mullahs a whole lot more bellicose than usual? |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-06-22 2:57:43 AM |
| #1 "You ignorant infidels. You know nothing about human-rights abuse. Yop must come to Iran and we shall teach you how to abuse human rights more effectively." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-22 2:27:49 AM |