Putting human rights in Iran front and center

Now that Congress has cleared the way for the Iranian nuclear deal to go forward, the United States should work with other democracies to tackle a second critical issue that remains central to all other concerns about Iran: the country’s appalling human rights record.

Despite hopes that respect for fundamental rights might improve under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the regime has only deepened its repression. Authorities continue to arrest critics of the government, and maltreatment of minorities and women remains pervasive. Iran’s hardliners have pushed through a law that denies access to justice to would-be political opponents.  

{mosads}Despite repeated calls by the UN for a moratorium on executions, the judiciary has hanged 1,900 people and expanded the use of capital punishment for “national security” crimes since Rouhani took office. There should be no illusions about the regime’s intentions even as sanctions are lifted and Western business returns to Iran.

Above all, the United States should do two things.  First, it should sanction abusive Iranian officials as called for by existing Congressional legislation and The Global Magnitsky Act, which could soon be voted on by Congress. Immediate targets for visa bans and asset freezes should be Iran’s Judiciary and Guardian Council, two organs that continue to bear great responsibility for stifling the country’s popular and democratic will.

Second, the U.S. needs to accelerate its multilateral cooperation on the human rights issue.  This fall, the UN General Assembly should adopt a robust resolution that renews the global commitment to human rights in Iran. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon should appoint a special advisor to negotiate Iran’s cooperation with the UN on human rights, and secure Iran’s agreement to allow UN monitoring of parliamentary elections in February. The UN Human Rights Council should strengthen its current Iran mandate to establish specific benchmarks for Iran to meet, including the release of over 1,200 political prisoners.

Back in 2010, President Obama declared his commitment to the Iranian human rights cause, while establishing a strict global sanctions system. In 2011, then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton worked with Sweden and the European Union to establish a United Nations Special Rapporteur to investigate serious abuses in Iran, citing the demand from Iranian human rights advocates to exert pressure on their government.

By 2013, however, that pressure was allowed to wane as global powers chose the singular pursuit of nuclear concessions.  After five years of intensifying abuses by Iran’s government, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s human rights envoy, has still not been allowed to travel to Iran, nor has he been given access to democratic countries like Turkey and Australia to meet with Iranian refugees. Despite 12 successive UN human rights reports documenting Iran’s increasing repression, the world has failed to act and abandoned Iran’s victims.

If we have learned anything from the history of Iran and the region, it is that repression and systematic violations of human rights lead over time to instability, conflict, and atrocities. Stability – true stability – in Iran and the Middle East will arrive with representative government, rule of law, and increased freedoms. No country in the region is better poised for democracy than Iran, and it is unlikely that Iranians will achieve it without some support from the international community.

The jubilation of Iranians on the streets of Tehran on July 14 about the nuclear deal revealed a deep desire for a more open Iran. Crowds called for the release of leading opposition figures and for new negotiations to secure citizens’ civil rights. According to a recent poll, 52 percent of Iranians support normalization of US-Iran ties, though that is unlikely to materialize given the position of the country’s Supreme Leader.

Experience shows that lifting economic sanctions and increasing trade will not by themselves lead to marked improvements in civil liberties. Three and half decades after trade normalization with China, the Chinese government still outlaws dissent and harshly punishes those that seek political freedoms.

In Myanmar, the Obama administration took steps to end sanctions and allow American businesses to return, but only after working to secure reconciliation between the Burmese people and their rulers and after considerable progress was achieved toward democratic reform. The US, in coordination with others, supports close monitoring by the UN of Myanmar’s progress, and has rightly kept a blacklist of more than 100 human rights offenders, military leaders, and those connected to them subject to sanctions as the country shows signs of relapse.

A similar approach should be taken with Iran. We now know that the Iranian regime responds to the right incentives, when presented by the international community. It is time the world applies that lesson to human rights – to improve the future of the Iranian people.

Lagon is president of Freedom House. Fassihian is senior program manger there for MENA programs.