NO REFORM POSSIBLE WITHOUT CHANGE OF THE CONSTITUTION IN IRAN
ROME 13 Dec. (IPS) "There is no way to introduce any real reforms in the Islamic Republic without changing the present Constitution", Mrs. Mehrangiz Kaar, an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist told a conference here on the subject of "Communication, Information and Democracy the Islamic Republic".
Explaining for the participants the meanders of the Iranian Islam based Constitution that enforces discriminations against a large majority of the Iranian population, particularly on women and the minorities, Mrs. Kaar called on the European nations to increase their pressures on the ruling Iranian ayatollahs for the respect of human rights and "do not sacrifice the interests, will and demands of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy on the altar of lucrative economic contracts".
The one-day conference was organized by the Italian National Federation of the Press (FNSI) that includes all major Italian media, attended by several lawmakers, journalists, editors and political personalities as well as some Iranian journalists, including Ms. Hengameh Shahidi, an independent journalist in Iran and Mr. Ahmad Ra’fat, the Rome bureau Chief and senior correspondent of the influential Spanish newsweekly "El Tiempo" for the Balkans and the Middle East, who is also a member of the FNSI.
The conference was held at almos the same time that in Oslo, Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, a colleague and old friend of Mrs. Kaar was receiving officially her award as the 2003 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr. Paolo Seruenti Longhi, the General Secretary of the FNSI observed that only the Iranians, but also the international community have despaired from President Mohammad Khatami and the reforms he had promised.
"Unfortunately, under Mr. Khatami, repression and crackdown against the media increased in Iran. Right now, there are eleven journalists in prison. This is a situation that no one can accept", he pointed out.
Mr. Longhi described the murder of Ms. Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canadian photojournalist at the hands of interrogators in an Iranian prison as a "threat" not only for Iranian journalists but also for all those who believe in the freedom of the press, calling on the Iranian authorities to free them "immediately and without any conditions".
Ms. Shahidi told the audience that Iranians have despaired from both the ruling conservatives and the reformists, observing that none of these two wings of the present Iranian leadership has any chance.
In her view, "only a third force can advance the cause of reforms in Iran", but she added, this force has yet to emerge".
For his part, Mr. Ra’fat draw a chilling picture of the terrible situation of the Iranian press in the last seven years (of Khatami’s presidency) that saw the closure of more than a hundred publications and noted that independent journalists faces "innumerable obstacles" in carrying out their profession.
In an interview to the press in Geneva where he took part at the International Communication Summit, Mr. Khatami claimed that there were no journalists behind bars.
The statement outraged Iranian journalists and intellectuals. "Until now, Mr. Khatami would closed his eyes on the plight of imprisoned journalists, but now, not only he does not keep silence, but openly and shamelessly take the side of the Judiciary that send journalists behind bars", Mr. Ali Keshtgar, the Editor of the Paris-bases "Mihan" (Homeland) monthly told the Persian service of Radio France International.
According to Iranian the international press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) confirmed by Iranian sources, at least ten journalists are right now in jail, most of them accused of propaganda and activities against the Islamic Republic ENDS ROME CONF 131203