Arrests Escalate and the Free Press Is Shuttered in Iran

Roxana Saberi

The first U.S. news conference with journalist Roxana Saberi was sponsored by The Overseas Press Club of America, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International-USA and held on June 30.

Saberi was imprisoned for five months in Iran after being arrested in January for reporting without press credentials, charged with espionage and held in Evin Prison. Through a series of negotiations with news agencies and a coalition of international government pressure, an appeals court reduced her eight-year jail sentence to a two-year suspended term and Saberi was released on May 11.

But the story in Iran does not end with Saberi's welcomed release. At least 200 human rights activists, intellectuals, civil society leaders, opposition political activists, students, and journalists have been arbitrarily detained in Iran since the disputed June 12 presidential elections. Many ordinary citizens have also been detained, injured and even killed in the course of protests. Many fear that more violent confrontations, and more grave human rights violations may lie ahead.

Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and point person for the OPC press conference, said the press conference was called to highlight the escalating number of arrests and the grave situation of human rights in Iran.

“When Roxana was in prison there were already dozens of Iranian citizens in jail,” Ghaemi said. “There are now thousands of people in Iranian jails who we know nothing about. People have simply disappeared.”

Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch director of Middle East and North Africa Division said information has been the primary victim of the violent crackdown.

“The Iranian government has shut down the Internet, disrupted mobile phones and disconnected satellites from homes. People cannot get information out or information in,” Whitson said. “There are thankfully limits on the government's success.”

Wilkinson went down a procedural list of arrest and crowd control laws that Iran has violated like arresting people without a warrant, using live ammunition in crowds, no access to counsel, etc.

“The reason why I emphasize these points is because there is now a debate about the role of the international community,” Wilkinson said. “But the questions we're facing...transcend national boundaries.”

Elise Auerbach, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International USA, said one of the most disturbing trends in Iran is the torture and coercion of detainees who then make forced confessions on national Iranian television.

Saberi spoke about the coerced confessions of so-called “security detainees.” Because of the the relentless regimen of questioning, threats and fear for prolonged detainment, Saberi said “the credibility of these confessions should questioned.”

The press conference also aimed to bring attention the case of Silva Harotonian, who shared a cell with Saberi. Harotonian, an Iranian citizen of Armenian descent, was arrested on June 25, 2008, and charged with participating in an effort to overthrow the Iranian government through a “soft revolution.” In January, she was sentenced to three years in jail. Harotonian worked for an American non-governmental organization to improve child and maternal health in Iran.

Harotonian's cousin, Klara Moradkhan, gave a moving speech about her cousin and the effort the family has undergone to try and free her from prison.

“We pursued quiet approaches, diplomatic channels, launched freesilva.org and respectfully requested mercy. And still one year later, she remains in prison,” Moradkhan said. “We are finally speaking out. And with your help, we're getting louder and louder.”

Saberi was asked about her direct experience with imprisonment and interrogation tactics used on her but declined to comment on her case specifically.When asked about the inner workings of Evin prison, she replied that she knew the prison's reputation from when the Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was detained and died there in custody in 2003.

Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch director of Middle East and North Africa Division

Elise Auerbach, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International USA

“Many people remember this story,” Saberi said. “I did not face physical torture but...I think the situation of recent detainees is more difficult.”

In terms of press freedom in Iran, Ghaemi said that for the past nine years, Saeed Mortazavi, the prosecutor general of Tehran has acted as a general editor for all Iranian newspapers. He orders headlines changed and stories to be removed.

The newspaper “...Etemad Melli is coming out with sections of it all white,” Ghaemi said. “They're sending the explicit message that they're being censored by authorities.”

Mohammad Ghoochani, editor-in-chief of Etemad Melli, which is considered a reformist newspaper and is owned by defeated presidential candidate Karroubi, was arrested in June. On July 12, Reporters Without Borders reported the total of journalists currently in prison is 41.

The Iranian government does see the press as a tool to control, the panelists maintained, otherwise, they would not be so interested in clamping down the free press and orchestrating the government party-line.

“The government, particularly under Ahemadijad, is extremely media savvy,” Ghaemi said.

But the Iranian government could do nothing to stop the shot that was seen around the world. Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26-year-old Iranian woman was shot to death on June 20 on a Tehran street during a protest in which she was only a witness, not a participant. She became an instant symbol of the anti-government movement when the 40-second video of her death was shared on social networking sites.

Twitter.com, a micro-blogging portal, was one of the disseminators of the Agha-Soltan video and Saberi was asked what she thought of the “Twitter Revolution.”

“What we've seen from citizen journalists is amazing,” Saberi said. “While it might not be all verifiable, they're playing a very important role and taking great risks to report what's going on inside the country.”

While the election results are still in question to the international community, Saberi was quick to add that a change in leadership would not indicate a revolution for the country.

“If Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi would have been elected, the Iranian government would still be a minimalist democracy because he still wants to work within the framework of the Islamic Republic,” Saberi said. “But he has been standing up as much as he can with his supporters and colleagues in jail.”

“Mousavi is not the opposition candidate,” Ghaemi added. “He's the ultimate insider and the people around him who are in jail are also insiders.”

Ghaemi and Saberi both contend that the protests were wide spread and involved a broad cross section of the population that in its height involved more than a million people. Ghaemi said that it's no surprise if rural did not protest because these areas get most of their information by government-owned media.

“Iran cannot return to the way it was before the election on June 12,” Saberi said. “There's more distrust among the people of the ruling system. Perhaps many Iranians have been scared into silence, but that doesn't mean they're in agreement [with the government].”

Saberi said that she's in contact with some of her friends and colleagues who are in Iran but limits contact to avoid putting them in danger. She was working on a book before her arrest and said imprisonment changed the book's angle.

The Iranian court said she can return to Iran but she does not have immediate plans to do so.

Watch more videos of the press conference on Youtube.com