Fatemeh Haghighatjou is a former reformist member of the Iranian Parliament. She spoke to us from her current residence in Boston at M.I.T. University.
Rooz (R): Ms. Haghighatjou, you have heard about the arrest of women activists in Iran. How do you analyze this event?
Fatemeh Haghighatjou (FH): As you know, after the coming to power of militarist elements, the government has taken an extremely security-centered approach to issues. The reason for this is the military-security background of those in the government. The minister of interior comes from the security apparatus and his political deputy comes from the military. The intelligence system follows the same trend as well. As a result, the atmosphere ruling over Mr. Ahmadinejad’s administration is centered around security. They connect any activity inside Iran to foreign elements and this demonstrates a serious ignorance on their part of the country’s internal dynamic.
With such an outlook, any gathering or group movement, including the women’s movement, will be suppressed. The activities of women began last year with the campaign to change discriminatory laws, which led to the mass arrest of several activists. There were long detentions until all of the activists were released, except for Mr. Mousavi Khoiniha, who spent 5 months in prison. The women who were arrested than had a court date today, and other women were interested to gather in front of the courtroom to protest the trial of these activists. We all know what happened afterwards.
R: What is the most important reason for confronting the women’s movement in such a manner?
FH: I think that the government is pursuing an aggressive policy to confront women’s rights, student, labor and teachers’ union activists. It will suppress any special interest activity. But the more important question is about our responsibility to these people. In my opinion, activists inside Iran put their lives on the line and we have a responsibility to defend their rights and condemn the government’s behavior. The more international pressure is put on the government, the less power it will have to suppress these kinds of movements. Honestly, if it wasn’t for international pressure in the past few years, prison sentences would have been much longer, just as they are for those prisoners whose plight is not reflected by the media. In sum, the more international organizations and institutions react to these confrontations, the less violence will the government be able to exert on activists.
R: Don’t you think the row over Iran’s nuclear program and the threat of a foreign attack has intensified the government’s violence?
FH Of course. One of the objections I have always had against international organizations is that they are sacrificing human rights in Iran for the nuclear issue. On the other hand, ensuring that democracy takes root in Iran presents a long-term solution to the nuclear issue as well.
