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August 6, 2007
Another Coat of Whitewash at the Times
Ed Lasky
The New York Times purportedly supports human rights, women rights, the rights of unions to organize and support workers, free expression (be it clothing, hair styles, clothing), is against the death penalty, unfettered internet access, the rights of college students, and legal due process that enshrines human rights values.
All are under vicious assault in Iran. All have been all but ignored by the New York Times-particularly its editorial board.
Thankfully, the Wall Street Journal cares more about these rights in Iran than the Times seemingly does. Here is a brief, but panoramic, view of the state of affairs in Iran.
Not all executions take place in public. In the provinces of Kurdistan and Khuzestan, where ethnic Kurdish and Arab minorities are demanding greater rights, several activists have been put to death in secret, their families informed only days after the event.
The campaign of terror also includes targeted "disappearances" designed to neutralize trade union leaders, student activists, journalists and even mullahs opposed to the regime. According to the latest tally, more than 30 people have "disappeared" since the start of the new Iranian year on March 21. To intimidate the population, the authorities also have carried out mass arrests on spurious grounds.
According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, a total of 430,000 men and women have been arrested on charges related to drug use since April. A further 4,209 men and women, mostly aged between 15 and 30, have been arrested for "hooliganism" in Tehran alone. The largest number of arrests, totaling almost a million men and women according to Mr. Muqaddam, were related to the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) in May 2006. Not a pretty picture.
Why did this op-ed not appear in the New York Times? Perhaps because the paper has done all it could to whitewash the Iranian regime.
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