Rape, Torture and Murder Are Common For Any Group That Dissents in System Behind Iran Dictatorship Internal Violence

Democracy, elections and voting
The heroic charity organization Freedom House has a new article Iran’s abuse of its own people a humanitarian catastrophe that describes in stark detail the violent repression that is ongoing in Iran.  Horrific violence is a common tool of dictatorships across the world and Iran is a champion.  Particularly surprising is that the so called “Islamic Republic” commonly uses rape of both women and men as regular procedure.  The Arab Spring related Green Movement that called openly for democracy after the stolen Iranian elections of 2009 has been a major target of the dictatorship’s violence.  Take a look:

The report sent last week to the United Nations General Assembly by the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, reads like a horror story appropriate for the Halloween season: mock executions, beatings, stonings, rape and threats to rape detainees’ families, among other tortures and abuses, are among the acts attributed to Iran’s government. The report will be followed in December with a Canada-led resolution condemning these abuses.

What started with the decapitation of the Green Movement through intimidation, beating, and imprisonment of activists and leadership alike has since extended to other vital elements of Iranian civil society, including professors, lawyers, artists and journalists.

A particularly dangerous aspect of the violence in Iran is the targeting of minorities who make up as much as one-third of the population of 75 million:

Ethnic minorities, frequent victims of discrimination and persecution despite rights guaranteed in Iran’s constitution, are often targeted for execution

If you are not familiar with Freedom House please take a look at their website.  They are arguably the most important democracy charity that exists being in every country in the world and monitoring democracy and civil rights violations everywhere.  In the modern world there is no cause that is more important than theirs.  Wikipedia describes Freedom House as follows:

Freedom House is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt served as its first honorary chairpersons. It describes itself as a “clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world”.

As of 2010, US federal government grants accounted for most of Freedom House’s funding. The organization’s annual Freedom in the World report, which assesses each country’s degree of political freedoms and civil liberties, is frequently cited by political scientists, journalists, and policy-makers. Freedom of the Press and Freedom of the Net, which monitor censorship, intimidation and violence against journalists, and public access to information, are among its other signature reports.

The Freedom House website has more information on the organization:

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world. Today, as more than two billion people live under oppressive rule, Freedom House speaks out against the main threats to democracy and empowers citizens to exercise their fundamental rights.  We analyze the challenges to freedom; advocate for greater political and civil liberties; and support front-line activists to defend human rights and promote democratic change. Founded in 1941, Freedom House was the first American organization to champion the advancement of freedom globally.

If you don’t already know, their yearly Freedom in the World report is of huge importance to Democracy Chronicles and is a must read for anyone interested in international politics.  Take a look at the 2011 Map of Freedom for the Middle East and North Africa. Freedom House maps are simply the real maps of world politics and are more important than the maps we usually see. For the Middle East, little changes but Tunisia is the hope of the Arab Spring still!: