Iranian Nobel laureate criticises Rouhani's human rights record

New York: Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi strongly criticised the human rights record of President Hassan Rouhani, citing a dramatic increase in executions since he took office this year and accusing the government of lying about the release of political prisoners. She also pointed to spreading support for a hunger strike by human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani and three others in a Tehran prison to protest inadequate medical care, which was joined Monday by about 80 prisoners at another prison west of the capital. Ebadi, a US-based human rights lawyer who since 2009 has lived outside Iran in self-exile, said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that Rouhani may have the reputation of a moderate reformer, but so far “we get bad signals” from the new government when it comes to human rights. [caption id=“attachment_1215807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Hasan Rouhani. AP image[/caption] Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy, becoming the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the prize. Her comments also underscore Iran’s internal tensions between Rouhani’s government and hard-liners opposing diplomatic initiatives that include groundbreaking overtures to Washington. After Rouhani and President Barack Obama held an historic phone call during the Iranian leader’s September trip to the United Nations in New York, Iran’s supreme leader hinted that he disapproved, though he reiterated his crucial support for Rouhani’s general policy of outreach to the West. Ebadi expressed hope that nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers, which are set to resume today, will lead to the end of US-led sanctions and a settlement of the stalemate with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. “But I have doubts,” she quickly added, “and I think it’s too early to be optimistic.” Instead of economic sanctions that impoverish Iranians, Ebadi urged the United States and Europe to block satellite access for Iranian “propaganda” broadcasts in 16 non-Persian languages, including English, Arabic and Spanish. Ebadi’s criticism further points out the limitations of Iran’s presidency, which has little control of security or judiciary affairs that are under the sway of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the ruling clerics, as well as the powerful Revolutionary Guard. Ebadi pointed to Tehran’s largest anti-US rally in years on Monday the anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy in 1979 following the Iranian revolution where tens of thousands of demonstrators chanted “death to America” and burned an American flag. AP