Global ‘Day of Action’ Sees Protests Around World to Support Iran Opposition
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Related subjects: Asia / Pacific, Diplomacy & Politics, Global, Iran, Middle East, Open Government, Rights & Freedoms, Security & Surveillance, The Vote Comments Off
The Iranian opposition has grown resurgent as top clerics decried the government’s crackdown on civilian demonstrators and called for the release of political prisoners and accountability and legitimacy among the leadership. Now, a global day of action has been organized by Iranian opposition groups in exile, with demonstrations in Manila, Seoul, Brussels, Berlin, London, New York and elsewhere.
A candlelight vigil in Japan sought to honor those killed in government attacks on demonstrators and demanded an end to oppression. Demonstrators across Europe called for accountability for post-election violence against civilians and a legitimate election process. New York’s Times Square saw a gathering of green-clad supporters of the Iranian opposition calling for justice and for the release of political prisoners.
Last Friday, Grand Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a cleric some say is more powerful than the supreme leader and a former president himself, denounced the government’s violent crackdown against dissidents and defended the right of Iranians to free assembly and to protest the results of the disputed election. He and other top opposition supporters have called for a law-based solution to the disputed election.
Former president Mohammad Khatami, a top reformer, has called for a national referendum to adjudicate the legitimacy of the sitting government and possibly stage new elections. The worldwide day of protest is aimed at bolstering support for the opposition among Iranian exiles and at pressuring clerics inside Iran to demand the release of all political detainees.
Some of the biggest rallies took place in Amsterdam, London and Stockholm, with more than 4,000 alone taking to the streets of the Swedish capital.
Among the 1,000 people in Amsterdam was Iran’s Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi who led the crowd in chanting: “We want to live in peace. Long live peace”.
The leaders of Iran’s opposition have sent an open letter to the top clerics in the nation, charging that the government had used “illegal, immoral and irreligious methods” to crush dissent and impose a corrupt outcome to the 12 June elections. The letter is part of an effort by the opposition to pressure Iran’s leadership to release all opposition supporters detained for political reasons or involvement in protests against the election outcome.
Over 70 opposition leaders, including reformist candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, and former president Mohammad Khatami, signed the letter. The last week has seen a growing, and now global, call for Iran’s leadership to make known the whereabouts and the state of health of all those detained in the government’s crackdown on dissent leading up to and since the 12 June election.
One high-profile detainee and opposition supporter, Mohsen Ruholamini, the son of Abdolhossein Ruholamini —a top aide to defeated candidate Mohsen Rezai—, has reportedly been killed while in custody at Evin Prison. He was detained on 9 July for participating in an opposition rally. He was to be released soon, according to official statements to his family, but now an opposition website reports that on Thursday night, his family was informed he had lost his life while at the prison.
The circumstances of Ruholamini’s death remain unclear, but as the state’s violent attack on demonstrators hits closer and closer to the opposition leadership, resistance to the security crackdown is spreading among top clerics. Thousands are reported to have been detained since the night of the disputed election, with hundreds still in prison. Rights groups say families of those detained have been having difficulties finding out where their loved ones are held, if they have been charged with any crimes or what their health status might be.
Mir Hossein Mousavi has said he will not his slain supporters “blood to be trampled” by a campaign of oppression. He plans to organize a broader base of resistance to the governing power bloc led by Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i. With increasing numbers of top opposition leaders speaking out, and powerful clerics denouncing the government’s use of violence against civilians, the opposition is now openly calling Ahmedinejad’s government “illegitimate”.
Of the nine top clerics in the holy city of Qom known as the marja’ taqlid, the spiritual leaders to be emulated, only one has so far endorsed the re-election of Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Traditionally, the nine keep apart from politics and matters of state, and so normally all nine congratulate the winner of the presidential elections. The holding out of eight of the marja’ taqlid suggests their displeasure with the handling of the crisis.
Three of the marja’ taqlid in Qom have denounced the violence used against demonstrators. Turning up the rhetoric against the regime, opposition candidate Mehdi Karoubi, himself reportedly assaulted outside Friday prayers one week ago, has written to the nation’s intelligence establishment denouncing the government’s use of force against unarmed civilians, saying “Everyone has seen how women have been beaten with batons and thrown to the ground” and suggesting it is worse than Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
That point is an extremely sharp barb in Iranian politics, as the Islamic Republic treats as a matter of foundational principle its opposition to Israeli security policies, both in Palestine and in the region. Pres. Ahmedinejad’s own appointee to the post of First Vice President, his replacement should he be unable to serve, was forced to resign when the supreme leader issued a direct order that he be fired, due to his statement last year that Iran is friends with all peoples, including the people of Israel.
The letter took up the link between democratic and religious language customary of the revolutionary period, urging the clerics to stand up for Iranians’ constitutional rights and to denounce and oppose “oppression”. Protesters massed in various sections of Tehran today, demanding the release of prisoners and chanting “death to the dictator” and “we want our vote back”. Police and pro-government militia are reported to have attacked demonstrators in order to disperse the crowds.
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