An Open Letter to President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias

President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Palacio de Miraflores

Caracas, Venezuela

Fax: 58212 806 3221

 

January 19, 2007

 

Dear President Chavez,

 

      We have been following the events of your presidency for the past eight years with great interest.  The existence of free elections, respect for the will of the people to the point of having provisions for a referendum to recall the president in your constitution, and establishment of thousands of new social and civic organizations to involve the people in public policy are some of the points that have garnered our admiration.

 

     Your presidency is a prime example of how to allow opposition groups to participate in a free election.  Your reelection to the post of the president was the result of such a free election.

 

     In light of all of this, we cannot help but express our regret for your unconditional support for Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad, the president of Iran.  Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad is the representative of a religious dictatorship that, unlike you, has not arrived at the seat of the power through a free and fair election.  Women, opposition groups, and even moderates with a critical view were not allowed to be nominated to the post.  International observers were barred from monitoring the election.  In such an environment, and, fundamentally, in an environment were there is no separation between religion and government, elections can never have a real meaning.

 

     You have called Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad your “brother” and supported the Iranian government’s nuclear enrichment program.  We are puzzled what it could be that brings you and the Iranian government close to each other?  Is it your common goal or common enemy, namely the United States of America?

 

     We, as defenders of human rights, oppose the wars and aggressive policies of the United States government all around the world.  However, we believe that this opposition does not lend any legitimacy to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad.  The nuclear enrichment program is not for the benefit of the people of Iran, and does not help the security of Iranian public nor the region.  To the contrary, it destabilizes the region as a whole.  The Iranian people have been the victim of a bloody eight-year war with Iraq and continue to carry the burdens of that war to this day.

 

     Mr. Chavez, we believe that you, as a progressive leader, are fully aware that Iran’s nuclear program only exacerbates the militarization of the Middle East.  We would like to remind you that in Iran for the past twenty-eight years, the major offender of the people’s security has been the government’s disregard for their basic rights.   What has contributed to a culture of insecurity and fear in Iran has been baseless arrests, the disappearance of the opponents of the regime, journalists, workers and students who had opposed tortures and executions, attacks on women who do not adhere to Islamic codes of clothing, and other similar civil and human rights violations. (1)

 

     If it is not your shared opposition to the Unites States’ policies, could it be that mutual economic interests are the main reason for the closeness of your governments?  In the last visit of Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad, your two governments signed contracts in the amount of $2 billion, and in his most recent visit there were talks to set oil production levels.

As defenders of human rights, we believe that economic and political interests cannot and shall not override human rights concerns.

 

      Mr. Chavez, we believe that Iran’s human rights record must have a place in your relationships with that government.  Can you ignore the bitter reality of imprisonment, torture and execution of Iranians in the hand of their government for having opposing views? Many of them had socialist views similar to what you believe in.

 

     Perhaps you are not aware that in the summer of 1988, close to 4,000 political prisoners were hung.  The Iranian government has done its utmost to hide this fact from the public.  This action of the Islamic Republic took place under the direct order of Ayatollah Khomeini.  The government has never taken official responsibility and has kept the exact burial location, date, and reason for the execution from the relatives of the prisoners. (2)

 

     Mr. Chavez, you called Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad a person “who is fighting for justice and revolutionary ideas”.  Are you aware that two members of his cabinet had direct involvement in the aforementioned executions? Mr. Mostafa Poor-Mohammadi was one of the three-member committee who issued the death sentences for the prisoners that were serving their sentences.  Mr. Gholam-Hossein Aje-ee was the judiciary representative in the intelligence ministry. (3 & 4)

 

     Mr. Chavez, is it not important to you that Iranians do not have the right to strike or form labor unions? (5)

 

     Let us remind you that by ignoring the Iranian government’s human right violations in your relation with that government, you are damaging your credibility in the eyes of freedom-loving people in Iran and all around the world.

 

     We hope you will reconsider your statements and policies with respect to the government of Iran and the human rights of Iranian citizens, as you espouse the rights of all citizens of the world.

 

Respectfully,

 

The Iranian Society for Human Rights in Northern California.

E-Mail: koshesh@aol.com

Fax: (314) 228-8329

 

 

References:

 

1-     Iranian Human Rights Defenders, Sweden  http://www.komitedefa.org/sidor/rep33E.htm

 

2-     Amnesty International report Feb 1989 volumeXIX#2

 

3-     Human Rights Watch; “Pour-Mohammadi and the 1988 Prison Massacres”, http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/2.htm#_Toc121896787.

4-     Human Rights Watch; “Mohseni Ezhei: From Inquisitor to Minister of Information”,http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/4.htm#_Toc121896789.

 

5-     Open letter to President Hugo Chavez from Iranian Workers' Solidarity, http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1358