Human Rights Research Paper : Iran

Most who argue against censorship believe that it goes against a person’s right to freedom of speech. Within this argument, most people wonder “just when, and on what grounds, the state is justified in using its coercive powers to limit the freedom of individuals” (West). When thinking in this mindset, individuals tend to antagonize the government, because they come to believe that it suppresses their individuality and fail to consider the fact that it unites people who share its similar beliefs. As a result of the recent spike in technology and use of the Internet, the public must continually alter its definition of freedom of speech and expression. As the media offers more and more methods of communication, many of which are relatively self-regulated by users, more methods of expression develop, which may render other forms of expression obsolete, or even socially unacceptable (Qazi). Without understanding how much freedom of speech one is entitled to, one may never hope to defend that freedom if it ever comes under attack. Because technology develops so quickly that one definition will hardly suffice for a short period of time, people will find it increasingly difficult to understand how much right to expression they are allowed and will therefore fight for any and all that they may attain, never considering the benefits of censorship in the slightest. In America especially, people idealize the idea of democracy, the investigation of truth, and independence (Fieser). In

It is very important to be aware that the media is capable of controlling the flow of information that citizens receive. Furthermore, much of the content suppressed in this country is for fear of retribution from others. When governments and other institutions suppress information, citizens are not able to address matters concerning their country, as well as around the globe. In ‘The Decline of American Press Freedom’ by Anne Applebaum, Applebaum explains a recent controversy with Yale University and the publishing of a contentious comic in a scholarly report on the global consequences of political comics. The comics in question were satirical in nature and displayed the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an offensive manner. In an aniconic religion where visual depiction of the prophet is inherently blasphemous, the Islamic response to these comics were violent. When an analysis of the comics and the cultural backlash was written, instead of publishing it, Yale University swept it under the rug for fear of offending Islamic extremists. Applebaum argues that if “Yale University Press refuses to publish [the comics], then that makes it much harder for anybody else to treat the cartoon controversy as a legitimate matter for scholarly and political debate” (Applebaum 640). By not allowing the publishing of this analysis, Yale University is censoring what the American populace have access to in terms of global controversy. The issue becomes trivialized because institutions fear retribution from extremist groups. Without these scholarly points of reference of this issue and others, it is difficult to have a serious conversations about the ramifications of political and religious satire. This leads to people remaining uneducated and ignorant of these serious issues, and liable to repeat these same actions that so sorely offended an extremist

In 1970 to 1990 I would like to see the Iran hostage crisis. The Iran hostage crisis, November 4th, 1979, was when Iran held 66 Americans citizens at us embassy in Tehran and held 52 people for 400 days, they were thought to have been American spies, they were finally released when Reagan was inaugurated. The Iran hostage crisis seems interesting and how when it became headlines on news everywhere than cater would stop the trade with Iran and freeze their assets in the us, they would do things in his power to help his country, when he could not have helped at all, but he stuck his neck out there to help. It would be scary yet interesting at the same time to see our people held hostage somewhere else.

The Iran Hostage Crisis was a discretionary standoff between Iran and the United States. In 1979, a group of Iranian students went to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days, from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. The reputation of Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, started to become awful as the Hostage Crisis kept going. Ayatollah Khomeini was the Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader and politician and he made several demands that needed to be met before the hostages were released. The Iran Hostage Crisis caused the United States to cut ties with Iran and was an exemplary demonstration of America’s resolve to ensure the safe return of our citizens.

“On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages.”(Iran Hostage Crisis). This happened when the pro-american monarchy, the Shah, was overthrown in a revolution. The 6o Americans were held for 443 days and released on the 444th day of being captured. During this time, Carter’s foreign policy team seemed weak because it took so long for the hostages to be released. However, the plan was executed correctly. It was executed correctly in a sense that no more Americans were killed in this extensive year and a half long crisis. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was admitted into an American hospital for treatment because Pahlavi had recently developed cancer. In return, the new power

IN 1978, as the fever for upset swelled, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called from outcast in Iraq for Iranians to launch priests from their work places. Shirin Ebadi, then 31 years of age and Iran's first female judge, went along with her partners in storming the workplace of the clergyman of equity. He wasn't there. Rather, the adolescent activists discovered an old judge sitting behind a work area and gazing at them in shock.

Fast forward twenty-five years, and we arrive at the beginning of the Iranian Revolution. In August of 1978, riots and civil violence were escalating dramatically within Iran, as supporters of the Iranian Shah and the Supreme Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini clashed in demonstrations that frequently turned lethal. The problem for American President Jimmy Carter was that both sides represented different evils, as the Shah employed the use of the SAVAK, the Iranian secret police, as well as torture to maintain control; but Khomeini represented a vehement hatred for all Western influence in his country, and his supporters often lit cinemas and other Western symbols on fire (Farber, 92). One incident in particular sparked the beginning of a

Although, the demonstrators were not only supporting the overthrow of American influences and their overstepping of boundaries in Iran, but also in actuality supporting the Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Revival throughout the Muslim World. The United States, who for years had played a significant role in Iran’s political and economic affairs, despite supporting and economizing off of core values that the Iranian and Islamic community believed to be immoral and corrupt, as well as planning secret missions to overthrow Iranian politicians for economic gain, had actually given Iran a long list of reasons to expel them and their influences from their social and political sphere, unlike the otherwise simplified reasons presented to the American people through the media. The Iran Hostage Crisis not only represents the first real conflict that the United States of America had with radical Islamic militants, but shows the great influence that the media has on portraying and forming the social identity of various peoples and historical events in the minds of its viewers. It also shows how the media can be used to manipulate the public 's minds through the creation and use of propaganda to change the course of history and to in turn benefit itself as a country.

Iran has made headlines consistently in the past few years. Yet, the most horrific and large scale events to take place in the country since the Iranian Revolution failed to make headlines in most parts of the country. The headlines that it had managed to make didn’t focus on the people. This is because dehumanization, one of the eight stages to genocide, was utilized by the Iranian Government following the 2009 election in order to force a silence and content over their population that continues today. I will be arguing the extent of dehumanization by examining three major tactics as well as examining Iran today. The three major tactics for dehumanization a through their use of rigged elections, civilian clothed militant squads, and post-election procedures including undocumented and uninvestigated disappearance of deviants.

The Iranian hostage crisis occurred on November 4, 1979. This crisis was a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Iran, which lasted 444 days. A group of Iranian students from the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line took over the United States embassy in the capital city of Tehran. This crisis is known as the longest hostage situation in recorded history. A total of 52 diplomats and citizens were held hostages within the U.S embassy. In Iran, this crisis was widely viewed as an attack against the United States and its influence within Iranian borders. During this crisis, the United States also granted asylum to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after he was overthrown in 1979. The people of Iran demanded that the United States return

Negative press, scandalous acts, and suppressive measures by the government all are risks in the modern, web-oriented world. While this is an unfortunate side-effect of technological progress in the West, the situation is trickier in authoritarian nations. While both democratic and non-democratic social movements rely on capitalizing people’s anger, high-risk does not begin to describe the pressure put on activists under governments with low civil rights. Activists in nations such as these need to pick their fights carefully; one wrong move and you plus any family members might be looking at arrest, imprisonment, torture, or execution. Such events have been seen recently in the Arab Spring, especially in regimes such as Egypt and Tunisia. While success has followed the movement in some of these countries, an unfortunately large number either fell into bitter fighting or clamped down on these individuals. And it is not limited to the Middle East, as Russia and China have proven very effective at controlling the populace’s efficacy to change society. And while pure momentum may help bring revolution to the Middle East the best course of action in stronger authoritarian governments is to practice rightful resistance, something that really only exists in non-democratic states. As exemplified in struggle of rural Chinese citizens to gain reforms, such actions are viewed as

People only think that this mostly happens in the United states but it happens all around the world such as Venezuela, Hungary, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, etc. In Venezuela they are super strict with the censorship that “The government has passed legislation limiting press freedom, restricted access to public information, levied fines and taxes on media companies…” The government had gotten so strict that they would use violence to those who posted bad things about the country or do something else that could stop the user from posting. In 2014, Venezuela had a problem where a violent clash between the police and protesters burst, where the protesters were standing up because a crime on a provincial campus had happened, but it ended up causing a lot of violence. People started posting pictures of dead and wounded people in twitter but twitter had blocked all the images. This shows that the government is trying to cover up the problems that was occurring in Venezuela because it can hurt how they look as a country and people can start to think this it is an unsafe place to live in. In the article Censorship in the social media it states, “ Diaz had posted to Facebook a short docudrama by a Venezuelan artist about the conditions of political prisoners.. But she notices soon after uploading the video had disappeared. She tried to re-upload it, she got a message that “ the action was disallowed,” but was given no further explanation.” Censorship has gone far to the point that companies are just deleting the post with no explanation. That’s a big problem because we need reasons to why they’re getting rid of our post. If the companies are taking away the people’s right of speech, meaning they can say whatever they feel like it, then they deserve at least an explanation to why it wasn't

Reporters without Boarders further talked of why these regulations present a new block for free speech. “What Netizen will dare to criticize the regime after meeting the person who could put them behind bars for one wrong word?”(Anonymous) Reporters Without Borders is further stating that someone who might talk about something the government might find questionable will not do it at all if that person is met by someone who could put them in prison.

All people are entitled to various basic rights which should not be desecrated under any situation. Some of these rights include political rights, civil liberties and most importantly the right to physical safety and life. Human rights bodies articulate for tolerance, justice, human dignity and mutual respect for all people. Human rights are protected by ensuring that all people receive humane and decent treatment. Denying people their basic rights are violating them and it’s a terrible offense which can face a strict legal response. Everything that violates people’s rights or prevents them from enjoying ought to be eliminated with immediate effect.. Many people from all over the world cannot access some services due to poverty.

Glendon, Mary Ann (2002). A world made new: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Random House. ISBN