Peaceful steps towards regime change in Iran Arsen Ostrovsky & Saba Farzan 15 December 2011 The Australian – HYPERLINK http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/peaceful-steps-towards-regime-change-in-iran/story-e6frg6ux-1226222253495 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/peaceful-steps-towards-regime-change-in-iran/story-e6frg6ux-1226222253495 Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. AND so begins the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which marked its 63rd anniversary last Saturday, December 10. The declaration was adopted in December 1948, in the aftermath of World War II and on the ashes of the Holocaust. Navi Pillay, the UN's human rights chief, said this would be an occasion to celebrate this global human rights movement. On the streets of Iran there won't be any such fanfare. What does the UN's (self) lauded declaration mean to the 509 individuals executed there so far this year, according to the respected Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, including 37 in November alone. And to the political prisoners, to Iranian women who are treated as less than second-class citizens, to the Baha'is or Christians or homosexuals who are forced to deny their identity, or suffer flogging, stoning, torture or worse? To the Iranian victims of systematic human rights abuse, the declaration is not worth the paper it is written on. On November 21, the UN General Assembly committee that deals with social and humanitarian issues adopted a resolution titled Situation of Human Rights in Iran. This resolution is the ninth consecutive year that the UN has, in the words of the resolution itself, express(ed) deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling on the regime to heed previous resolutions of the General Assembly and to respect fully its human rights obligations, in law and in practice. But Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary-general of Iran's laughably titled High Council for Human Rights, would hear none of this. Speaking before the UN at the time of the vote, Larijani said the substance of (this) resolution is absolutely unfounded and a shameful fabrication, blaming it on Western Iranophobia. Larijani added this resolution was an unforgivable insult to the whole institution of the UN. No, the only unforgivable insult is to the Iranian people. Nine years of resolutions and umpteen sanctions, and what has the UN got to show for it? Just empty rhetoric. The people of Iran continue to be denied their most basic rights, which the UN is supposed to uphold while their regime inches closer to obtaining nuclear weapons. The UN has never realised or, worse, refuses to see how the human rights violations are interconnected with the nuclear program: look at what the Iranian regime is doing to its own innocent citizens and ask yourself what it would do to the world armed with nuclear bombs? Whereas the UN ought to be referring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the International Criminal Court for incitement to genocide for his persistent calls to wipe Israel off the map, it continues to legitimise the world's foremost Holocaust denier and proponent of genocide, giving him a public platform at the General Assembly each year to espouse his vile hatred. Even the appointment of Ahmed Shaheed as the new special rapporteur on Iran hasn't changed anything on the ground. Though Shaheed deserves respect for documenting Iran's devastating human rights crisis, it is clear that the various human rights organisations still naively trying to engage with Iran's brutal dictatorship can achieve very little. In fact, Iran's entire leadership, including the religious and paramilitary apparatus, should be brought in front of the ICC. Of course, Ahmadinejad and his cohorts-in-crime at the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps and the ayatollahs are unlikely to see the inside of a criminal dock in The Hague anytime soon. Certainly, not as long as those other great bastions of democracy, China and Russia, keep shielding Iran at the UN Security Council. There are, however, concrete steps the world community, with or without the backing of the UN, can take to support Iran's civil society in achieving liberty and democracy. First and foremost is passing crippling sanctions against the Iranian regime's lifeblood: its energy resources. It is a welcome development that the Gillard government introduced tough new sanctions in this regard only a few days ago. Sanctions must also be directed against Iran's Central Bank, the main conduit for funding its nuclear program and global terror network. Second is equipping Iran's Freedom Movement, including students, intellectuals, lawyers, economists, liberal clerics and various social groups actively leading the struggle for democracy, with safe technology to help deepen communications ties inside and outside the country. This could include establishing virtual freedom round tables where the US, Canada, European and all other democratic leaders of the world can speak through safe communication channels directly with the Freedom Movement. And third, a diplomatic boycott is necessary to isolate the Iranian regime. In short, nothing less than complete regime change to democracy will solve the human rights crisis in Iran and avoid a nuclear confrontation. Making this possible without a military intervention is the most devastating defeat we can deliver to this barbaric regime. Arsen Ostrovsky is a Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a member of the World Jewish Diplomatic Corps. Saba Farzan is a German-Iranian journalist.