The Reverence of Silence

Sometimes one is amazed at people who do not learn from the past. Especially people who, as soon as they ascend to power, act as if they are inventing the rules of governance; as if they would get to live in the safe confines of power forever. I am pointing this directly at Mr. Karimirad, Minister of Justice and the judiciary’s spokesperson.

My motivation for writing this is what Mr. Karimirad’s said about the incarcerated student leader Mousavi Khoini.

Everyone knows that, ever since Mr. Mousavi Khoini became a representative for the students’ demands, his behavior did not conform to the wishes of ruling elite. He could have exploited the opportunity given to him by the people of Tehran when they elected him to the Majlis (“Parliament”), serve for four years, do nothing and someday become a minister – maybe a minister with real functions, like the minister of finance, not like the minister of justice, a post whose relevance and function is a mystery even to those familiar with legal affairs. Mr. Asghari Zamani once characterized the function of the justice minister as the chief letter-writer for the judiciary, turning down an offer to become the justice minister.

Many, not just Mr. Karimirad, know how to keep their positions by not doing anything. But this is not a suitable option for someone like Amir Reza Khadem (former wrestling world champion and head of Iran’s Wrestling Federation) or Mousavi Khoini. People like Khadem and Khoini who want to change something do not usually end up with a good fate. For in some societies happy endings are only for those who keep silent and stay inactive. This is not something unknown to the young Mousavi Khoini. He and Fatemeh Haghighatjou (student activist and former member of parliament), staying loyal to their votes, were the real representatives of the students in the Sixth Majlis Haghigahtjou now wanders from university to university, but Khoini’s fault was perhaps larger. He was arrested at a protest that involved hundreds of people, in the middle of the street. They showed their power too. The pictures show.

And now it has been a hundred days since they have put the students’ representative in prison. They have kept his old father behind closed Evin doors in his clerical garb, not letting him visit his son. When the father was dying, they did not let the son leave the solitary to say goodbye to his father. When all of the administrative hassles were taken care of, everything was already over. Even then, he was let out for only an hour, with security officers escorting him, not even letting him meet his wife.

Mr. Khoini is the latest victim of the disposition that some have in ruling, especially towards the youth and students. Last week, when he was brought out of solitary for an hour to attend his father’s funeral, with all the chains and escorts – he shouted out to reporters and students, revealing that he was being kept in solitary and chained at nights there too. Videos show that even in Guantanamo – which the United States has created to intimidate the terrorists and for this reason is not adamant about keeping it secretive – such treatment is uncommon.

In response to the statement made by a prisoner who has not yet been charged or undergone any normal legal proceedings, who has no access to anyone, the judiciary’s spokesperson says, “If Mr. Khoini announces his claims at Tehran’s prosecutor office, they will be examined.” Speaking to parliamentary reporters in reference to Khoini’s accusations, Karimirad said, “This man has claims and must announce his claims at the prosecutor’s office so they get examined.”

It is said that a jurist once sat at his son’s lecture and was disturbed by his son’s irrelevant digressions. Calling on his son, he said, “son, you don’t know when to talk, do you not know when not to talk either?”

The Reverence of Silence

Sometimes one is amazed at people who do not learn from the past. Especially people who, as soon as they ascend to power, act as if they are inventing the rules of governance; as if they would get to live in the safe confines of power forever. I am pointing this directly at Mr. Karimirad, Minister of Justice and the judiciary’s spokesperson.

My motivation for writing this is what Mr. Karimirad’s said about the incarcerated student leader Mousavi Khoini.

Everyone knows that, ever since Mr. Mousavi Khoini became a representative for the students’ demands, his behavior did not conform to the wishes of ruling elite. He could have exploited the opportunity given to him by the people of Tehran when they elected him to the Majlis (“Parliament”), serve for four years, do nothing and someday become a minister – maybe a minister with real functions, like the minister of finance, not like the minister of justice, a post whose relevance and function is a mystery even to those familiar with legal affairs. Mr. Asghari Zamani once characterized the function of the justice minister as the chief letter-writer for the judiciary, turning down an offer to become the justice minister.

Many, not just Mr. Karimirad, know how to keep their positions by not doing anything. But this is not a suitable option for someone like Amir Reza Khadem (former wrestling world champion and head of Iran’s Wrestling Federation) or Mousavi Khoini. People like Khadem and Khoini who want to change something do not usually end up with a good fate. For in some societies happy endings are only for those who keep silent and stay inactive. This is not something unknown to the young Mousavi Khoini. He and Fatemeh Haghighatjou (student activist and former member of parliament), staying loyal to their votes, were the real representatives of the students in the Sixth Majlis Haghigahtjou now wanders from university to university, but Khoini’s fault was perhaps larger. He was arrested at a protest that involved hundreds of people, in the middle of the street. They showed their power too. The pictures show.

And now it has been a hundred days since they have put the students’ representative in prison. They have kept his old father behind closed Evin doors in his clerical garb, not letting him visit his son. When the father was dying, they did not let the son leave the solitary to say goodbye to his father. When all of the administrative hassles were taken care of, everything was already over. Even then, he was let out for only an hour, with security officers escorting him, not even letting him meet his wife.

Mr. Khoini is the latest victim of the disposition that some have in ruling, especially towards the youth and students. Last week, when he was brought out of solitary for an hour to attend his father’s funeral, with all the chains and escorts – he shouted out to reporters and students, revealing that he was being kept in solitary and chained at nights there too. Videos show that even in Guantanamo – which the United States has created to intimidate the terrorists and for this reason is not adamant about keeping it secretive – such treatment is uncommon.

In response to the statement made by a prisoner who has not yet been charged or undergone any normal legal proceedings, who has no access to anyone, the judiciary’s spokesperson says, “If Mr. Khoini announces his claims at Tehran’s prosecutor office, they will be examined.” Speaking to parliamentary reporters in reference to Khoini’s accusations, Karimirad said, “This man has claims and must announce his claims at the prosecutor’s office so they get examined.”

It is said that a jurist once sat at his son’s lecture and was disturbed by his son’s irrelevant digressions. Calling on his son, he said, “son, you don’t know when to talk, do you not know when not to talk either?”

Saddam: Thanks

In the recent developments in the trial of Saddam Hussein, the leading judge of the tribunal told Saddam that he was not a dictator, but that those surrounding you had turned you into one. These remarks by judge Amiri, someone who has been accused of being sympathetic to the former president, deserve attention.

Until recently, it was believed that only Iranians believed that their leaders were usually ordinary people and that it was those that surrounded them who were corrupt and evil. Now it looks like others too see things similarly.

But Judge Amiri and those who point the finger of blame on ‘surrounding’ individuals have a problem. It appears that they expect a dictator to call a spade by its name and confirm that he is a dictator! The reality is that dictators are like everybody else in many ways. They love their children and are kind to their own family, just as is everyone else. Saddam, who has the blood of thousands on his hands, is no exception in this regard. We recall the images when he would visit charity houses and be kind to people during the war with Iran. Have we not heard of Hitler’s kind heart as well? Or of Gering’s love for painting and classical music? And has Saddam Hussein not written two romantic novels thousands of which still sit on many shelves in Iraqi houses? Eastern versions of Daniel Steele’s novels. Don’t we know of Saddam Hussein’s kind family relations from Jordanian King Hussein’s descriptions of the Kebabs that Hussein used to personally make on the banks of the Dijlah River (the Tigris) during the 8-year war with Iran?

Many dictators have such a side. We should not forget the slaughter that Iran’s Nader shah committed during 2 days in India’s Delhi but turning into the kindest person after falling in love with an Indian girl, in whose arms he eventually faced death.

In one sense the judge is right when he says that people surrounding a dictator see him as such, but not himself. A dictator is someone without whose opinion people will not do anything, and who do not let others do anything. A dictator is someone whose views cannot be challenged and not without cost.

But what is the Iraqi judge searching for to show that Saddam was a dictator? The 100% votes that he received in his last elections just before American soldiers marched into Baghdad is perhaps the best proof. Until he secretly left his palace to hide, everyone around him including Tariq Aziz denied that that Americans were on Iraqi soil. And no one dared to challenge that, even though they had heard their guns and footsteps, or even seen them in their battle gear.

A dictator does not mean someone who is necessarily a strong person and a murderer. Most of the dictators did not have the will to kill even a bird but they protected a system that easily found justification for violence. Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was like a chicken hanging from a string.

Those individuals that the Iraqi judge mentions are responsible for creating a dictator. But they are not different from the dictator himself. They are intertwined. They all believe in the same thing and surround the dictator so he can breathe freely. These very individuals that the judge mentions are those who dropped chemical bombs on thousands without any hesitation. They did not have to wait for his approval to do this. They knew very well how he thought what he wished for. They believed that doing what he wished was being patriotic. And after their murderous deed, the dictator would pat them on their back in praising them.

Another feature of dictators is that they are always creating epics. None of their decisions and acts is small deeds. They constantly create pride among their followers by announcing and claiming to be superior in race (look at the Slavs, Germans, Arabs, French, British, Serbs, Samurai, etc).

So find and see a dictator one should not search for some cosmic beings such as those described in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We find them in our own very houses where they bring the bread but do take away all rights from their children and spouse. In their relations with their superiors they appear timid and obedient, while in their dealings with their followers they are violent, hard and harsh.

A French writer once wrote that the Egyptians were creating and destroying a dictator at the same time, which he said was their most pleasurable activity.

But the good news is that this circle of violence has not power to continue. It has lost its most important requirement, which is darkness and ignorance. The world today is clearer and more transparent than ever before. It is the world of news and awakening. Even though Milosevic may wear the most expensive suits in his court, or Saddam may wear a beard to disguise his true face.

Let’s not forget that with every kiss that the loyal individuals around a dictator bestow on the superman, they are in fact pushing him closer to the precipice.

Another Big Mistake

We must tell Iranians that you should prepare your declarations, memorandums, petitions and praises since Issa Saharkhiz is on his way to prison! We must add another name to the list of those who have been arrested by the regime and have gained fame.

The recent court verdict against the well known reform journalist and political activist Issa Saharkhiz, who became famed in press circles for his opposition and defiance to the closing down of “Zan” (woman) newspaper, was forced to step down as Khatami’s director general of the public press in the Ministry of Culture. This was also the fate of others like Ahmad Bourghani, the deputy the same ministry who was a staunch defender of free press. Later, Ataollah Mohajerani, the minister who had appointed both Saharkhiz and Bourghani, resigned under pressure from the conservatives. All three respected journalists were later admired for their courage once they were no longer part of the government.

Saharkhiz, after leaving the Ministry of Culture, never lost touch with the press. He always took initiative and responsibility at every newspaper he wrote for. When the journals were shut down, it was a personal loss for him as well. Throughout this time, he was an honest critic of the reformists’ partial give and take vis-a -vis the conservatives; he remained a defender of honesty, integrity, and openness in both print and freedom of speech.

The Islamic Courts have now handed down a verdict which sentences him to four years imprisonment. This unjust verdict is illogical, uncivil and unethical. It is yet another sad display that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has no respect for free speech even if it is an integral component of the constitution. In fact, a sad reality is that today, the verdicts of the courts are based upon political motivations rather than the law.

Those who worry that the Iranian regime creates false heroes should instead focus on this issue rather than criticizing the “heroes”. These same critics should defend the victims of the very courts which sentence them to unjust prison terms. A clear consequence of such arrests and prison terms are that yet again, a people’s servant like Saharkhiz gains stature in the eyes of world public opinion. This is what happened to others like Ganji, Zarafshan and many more.

Every society recognizes its servants in one way or another. Today the fate of our nation is to wait until a person is arrested in order to recognize and see their worth!