Following the arrest of cleric Mamusta Ayub Ganji, a Sunni Friday prayer leader in the Kurdish town of Sanandaj in Iran, Abdol-Karim Lahiji, the president of the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues spoke with Rooz about the incident and its implications.
Rooz (R): Under what conditions is a Friday prayer leader of the Ghaba mosque in Sanandaj arrested and what is your take on it?
Abdol-Karim Lahiji (AKL): The arrest of Sanandaj’s Imam (Friday prayer leader) follows the restriction that continue to be placed onto the Sunnis, including their clergy in Sunni populated regions of the country. This is of course not the first time authorities are imposing such constraints and policies. Just ten days ago two clerics were hanged in Zahedan, also a Sunni stronghold. Yes, such things take place in the Islamic Republic of Iran. And of course as usual, officials said that these individuals had affiliations with rebels. But nothing about the issue such as when where the individuals tried, what exactly were the charges against them, was any court-acceptable evidence available, etc has been announced.
R: What is the cause root of such acts?
AKL: The Islamic Republic (of Iran) is an ideological oligarchy. This means that a group of people reserve special privileges for themselves. This group believes in the Velayat Faghih, i.e. the rule of the clergy. Since the time Velayat Faghih was incorporated into the constitution of the Islamic Republic, even before the constitution was ratified, the first slogan that they began to spread was “death to opponents of Velayat Faghih.” So this regime cannot live with any one other its die-hard supporters. This is the nature of the regime. It is because of these inherent properties that the regime is considered totalitarian. See how easily Mr. Ahmadinejad labels individuals as corrupt or spy.
R: What is the legal status of the accusations that are made this way?
AKL: They have been using the term “counter revolutionary” for their opponents ever since the (1979) revolution. Then they provided a Shii cover for the term and came up with things like Mohareb (rogue in Arabic) or Mofsed fil Arz (corrupt of the world in Arabic) etc. And they do not discriminate in this regard and have no mercy on any one. At one time they used to say that the Islamic regime has no tolerance for dissidents but now it does not even tolerate those who support it. Even if that person is (former president) Khatami or (former Majlis speaker) Karubi.
R: What do you think is the effect of such measures on the religious minorities and society in general?
AKL: The same situation that existed for non Muslims is now being practiced against Sunnis, Sufis and any one who does not accept the Velayat Faghih idea. Even Shiites who do not recognize this idea are persecuted. No one can doubt the religious leadership of Mr. Montazeri (at one time appointed to succeed Khomeini). But they treated him very harshly. We must take note that if the Iranian population has a 20 percent Sunni following, this branch also has a national-ethnic identity and peculiarity by being a Kurd, Baluchi, Turkmen, etc. And displeasing them can produce dangerous consequences because of their regional position which exists since the first invasion of Iraq (i.e. 17 years ago when northern Iraq was completely separated as Kurdistan). We have the same gravity in Turkmen and Baluchi populated regions which are Sunni followers. So discriminating a part of the population from the whole nation because of their religious beliefs and pushing them to national-ethnic issues because nationality in Iran is identified around the 12 Imam Shiite beliefs and Velayat Faghih only means that the Islamic Republic has absolutely no belief in the national unity of the country.
