Washington Post: Iran's human rights test

Most of the attention - in Iran and here - has understandably been on the domestic politics of the Iranian election and its potential effect on international relations. But the outcome will also have fundamental implications for human rights in Iran.

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer who was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, described the current human rights situation in Iran in the above link. Although it is difficult to know where to begin with Iran's recent human rights record, she focused on the treatment of women - in particular the young women who launched the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grass-roots movement to reform the legal system and educate the public about discrimination against women.

They have been arrested in the hundreds, and many remain in jail simply for exercising their rights of free speech. Shirin Ebadi herself has been arrested in the past, and her office was recently attacked and ransacked by police and their non-uniformed goons. But the women are not backing down.

Roxana Saberi, the American journalist who was arrested and spent months in prison reminds us of just how arbitrary, paranoid and unjust the Iranian "justice" system can be. She recounts some of her experiences in a column in the Washington Post.

Iran has had a deplorable human rights record over a very long period of time, actually extending back even before the 1979 revolution. But repression has clearly become worse over the past four years of Ahmadinejad's presidency. A partial catalogue of this venomous history was published several days ago by Hossein Bastani & Fariba Amini.

Would a change of presidents make a difference? It would be naïve to expect Iran to suddenly become Sweden, but it is neither naïve nor unrealistic to expect improvement. Mr Mousavi, whose "green wave" campaign has inspired such enthusiasm, has issued a formal platform which, for the first time in Iran, includes a civil rights charter and a declaration on the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. In addition, there is every reason to believe that the influence of Mousavi's wife, if nothing else, would have an effect on the handling of womens' rights in his presidency.

Implementing a human rights agenda is more difficult than setting forth a set of principles, but that is at least a useful place to begin. Iran needs to be held accountable, but Mr Ahmadinejad has shown himself to be impervious to such criticism. He simply denies it in the face of all evidence.

A different president, especially one who is formally committed to greater tolerance, would be a significant and positive change.