Iran Security Forces Ban Mourning for Deceased Ayatollah

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24 December 2009 :: Evelyn Winston Perez

The Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri died this past weekend, opening a period of seven days of mourning for one of the nation’s most influential clerics. The seventh day of mourning happens to coincide with the Shi’a holy day of atonement, Ashura. Ashura marks the killing of Hossein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed, by the Caliph Yazid, in the year 680. Yazid is often portrayed as a tyrannical ruler in Shi’a tradition, and the festival lends itself to an expression of the very anti-dictatorship language used by the reformist opposition.

Efforts to hold large-scale ceremonies to mourn Montazeri’s death have been blocked by security forces in Qom and Isfahan, both ancient holy cities with high strategic and political value. Qom is the holy seat of the Assembly of Experts, the panel of senior clerics responsible for installing or (potentially, under Iran’s constitution) removing the Supreme Leader.

Qom and Isfahan are also the cities next to which Iran has built its two most important centers of nuclear research and production. And, it is believed they share a common characteristic of entrenched political interests critical of the Khamene’i-Ahmedinejad power bloc. ‘Believed’, because Iran’s government so persistently suppresses dissent, it is hard to unearth organized centers of dissent.

But the effort to suppress dissent at public gatherings during the Ashura holy day celebrations is already aggressively underway. Security forces have warned against “illegal gatherings”, though specific mention of what tactics will be used to mobilize against dissident demonstrations has not been forthcoming.

The government has also been clamping down on its opponents in incremental ways, dismissing opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi from an arts post he held, though he still sits on the influential Expediency Council. And top opposition organizers have been jailed, put through show trials and accused of “treason”  and “espionage” for organizing demonstrations critical of the government.

According to Reuters and the New York Times:

It said Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, who backed opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the vote, was sentenced by a court on charges including acting against national security, propaganda against the Islamic system and possessing classified documents.

There are concerns that the government may once again over-play its hand, leading to more widespread and more violent unrest. If security forces are seen attacking demonstrators or worshippers on the feast day of Ashura, a day of spiritual sacrifice and atonement, and the holiest day of the Shi’a religious calendar, it could solidify public opposition to the ruling power bloc.

Raids on mosques have already led to a convergence of views among secular reformists and religious conservatives who accuse the Khamene’i-Ahmedinejad power-bloc of betraying the Islamic principles of the Iranian constitution. Further invasions of places of worship by security forces, or interventions to bloc communication between clerics and worshippers could provoke violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Amnesty International is now calling on Iranian authorities to permit peaceful demonstrations during Ashura, in keeping with the Iranian constitution, which guarantees the right to free assembly. A statement on Amnesty International’s website reads:

“Iran’s government must make ‘Ashoura the time to end the practice of preventing peaceful demonstrations – including by making pre-emptive, arbitrary arrests – and ensure that excessive force is not used in the event that those taking part in ‘Ashoura commemorations gather to voice their opposition to the government,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa programme.

“We call on the Supreme Leader to ensure that no one faces arrest or the batons of plain-clothed Basij for merely taking part in a peaceful demonstration on such a solemn occasion.”

Amnesty has specifically called for the Basij militia not to be used in any efforts to maintain order. The Basij are accused of widespread human-rights abuses, including kidnappings, torture and murder, and were implicated in the shooting death from close range of unarmed civilian bystander Neda Agha Soltan, during this summer’s post-election demonstrations.

There is also a competition for control of cyberspace lining up, as the US has lifted its ban on Iranians downloading US-produced computer-based communications software and Iran has pledged to target social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, in an effort to crack down on viral dissent and the spread of eyewitness testimony from rallies and security crackdowns.