US Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013- IRAN

Part of this report about Mr. kazemini boroujerdi is given as follow: On December 19, an associate of dissident cleric and regime critic Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi reported that Boroujerdi continued to suffer from poor health and harsh prison conditions while being denied medical care. The associate further reported that authorities subjected Boroujerdi to torture and threatened his family to compel him to write a letter saying he did not wish to meet with visiting European representatives. In October 2012 Boroujerdi was allegedly poisoned by unnamed fellow prisoners, leaving him in critical condition. Boroujerdi, who advocated the separation of religion and government, was arrested in 2006.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a theocratic republic established after the 1979 adoption of a constitution by popular referendum. The constitution, amended in 1989, created a political system based on the concept in Shia Islam of velayat-e faqih (“guardianship of the jurist” or “rule by the jurisprudent”). Shia clergy, most notably the “supreme jurisprudent” (or supreme leader), and political leaders vetted by the clergy-dominated key power structures. While mechanisms for popular election exist within the structure of the state, the supreme leader directly controlled the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government as well as the armed forces. The supreme leader also indirectly controlled internal security forces and other key institutions. Since 1989 the supreme leader has been Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite high popular participation in the country’s June 14 presidential election, candidate vetting conducted by unelected bodies based on arbitrary criteria, as well as limitations on civil society, print and electronic media, and election monitoring by credible nongovernmental observers, continued to undermine the freedom and fairness of the electoral system. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Security forces frequently committed human rights abuses.

The most egregious human rights problems were the government’s manipulation of the electoral process, which severely limited citizens’ right to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on civil liberties, including the freedoms of assembly, speech, and press; and disregard for the physical integrity of persons whom it arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, tortured, or killed.

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