As Iran returns to the forefront of the worlds’ political consciousness it is not just its uranium enrichment that continues to attract attention, but also the poor record on human rights and freedom of speech. Iran, labelled the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East, came 164th in the 2005 worldwide press freedom index, taking it into the top 5 most repressive regimes in the world. Over recent months the Iranian government has deserved this position by increasing its political repression and judicial harassment of journalist and NGOs, illustrated by the recent imprisonment of Isa Sahakhiz and the ban issued against the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, whilst one of its co-founders, Abdulfatah Soltani, remains imprisoned. Hayley Dixon reports for Index on Censorship

Iran is, according to Akbar Ganiji, the only country in the world where journalists can be banned from writing for the rest their life (Index on Censorship, 03/2006). When President Ahmadinejad, the leader of the hard-line government, was elected in June 2005, there was widespread concern that he would stifle the country’s independent media and reformist movement, and as the government has stepped up its harassment of the county´s journalists and human rights activists over the last couple of months, these fears have been confirmed. Individuals as well as organisations suffer constant threats and intimidation, with journalists and editors being interrogated and jailed arbitrarily by Ministry of Islamic Guidance officials.

´Expecting justice is pointless´
Issa Sahakhiz, editor of Aftab and Akhbar Egtesadi, has become the most recent addition to the many Iranian journalists behind bars after being sentenced to four years´ imprisonment and banned from working as a journalist for 5 years by a court in Tehran on 28 August. Reformist journalist Sahakhiz, who has lived under the threat of the government for years, was also arrested in 2003 for ‘propaganda against the regime’, convicted of publishing articles against the constitution and offending the state media. Sahakhiz, who recently attacked the concentration of power in the supreme guide Ayatollah Khamenie’s hand, told Reuters that ‘I believe Iran´s judiciary does not have the necessary independence, therefore expecting justice in this system is pointless. So, although I have the right to appeal against the sentence, I will not’. Sahakhiz also believes that Khamenei is personally behind his punishment. Both of Sahakhiz´s publications Aftab and Akhbar Egtesadi, have had their licenses annulled after previously being suspended by the judiciary.  These are two of many papers that have been suppressed recently by the Iranian government. On 11 September the country´s three most prominent reformist newspapers, the daily Shargh and the monthlies Nameh and Hafez, were banned by the Commission for Authorising and Monitoring the Press.

NGOs also in danger
But it is not just journalists and publications that are suffering from harassment and political repression. On 5 August, the interior ministry also banned the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, an NGO co-founded by Nobel Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, which represents the country´s most prominent human rights programme. The interior ministry released a statement claiming that ‘any activity by this centre is illegal, and violators of this decision will be prosecuted’. The centre aimed to provide pro-bono legal counsel to journalists, dissidents and students regarding their rights to exercise fundamental freedoms. The CDHR applied for a license in 2002 but the government has ignored its repeated requests ever since. Under the Iranian constitution, NGOs who act peacefully and within the boundaries of law do not require a license, but the interior ministry has made the request for a license essential, stating that the CDHR ‘did not have a proper permit’. Ebadi, the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, has claimed that the centre’s members will continue to work toward the establishment of fundamental human rights: ‘We shall continue our activities. However, there is a high possibility that they will arrest us.’

This is not the first time that the centre and its members have felt the force of government intervention. On 16 July 2006 co-founder Abdulfatah Soltani was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for opposing the state and disclosing official information. Soltani has appealed but is awaiting a response. The ban on the Centre has been heralded as yet another attempt by the Iranian government to silence opposition.

Crackdown as two important elections approach
 The crackdown on dissenting voices comes as the country faces political and social pressure at home and abroad and two important elections this year. Insiders claim that the censorship of the media is now almost complete, effectively denying the public any independent news coverage, at home and abroad, as the government has also released statements implying that all journalists who travel abroad are thought to be spying. Journalist and political activist Fariba Davoudi Mohajer claims that the boundaries for the press have tightened, but also claims that ‘some of these red lines are very clear and some are not’, meaning that for their own safety journalists practice self-censorship, making it easier for the government to quickly change what is or is not acceptable for discussion. A number of human rights groups and media pressure organisations are running campaigns to see the bans lifted and the prisoners released.