Without first pulling down capitalism, the Islamic Republic cannot be prosecuted

(The text has been published by the Internationalist Voice)

The history of Islamic bourgeoisie is filled with blood. The rule of God on earth was born in blood, and with blood was able to stabilize itself. In the 1980s tens of thousands of protesters were imprisoned in chains and tens of thousands of political prisoners were massacred. The Islamic bourgeoisie, with its repressive and octopus-like apparatus, imposed the most unimaginable physical and mental torture on political prisoners. It is very difficult to give a list of the Islamic bourgeoisie’s torture, the very thought of which makes one’s hair stand on end. The most common form of torture was being bound on a table with hot wires placed on the soles of the feet, and the most terrible and most unimaginable was the «coffin» [1] that was applied to break down the resistant political prisoners. The dimensions of this crime are so vast, large, painful and unforgettable that the escapees of the Islamic bourgeoisie’s “Auschwitz”, despite the passing decades, still have nightmares of those years, which have indeed become a part of their existence. These escapees jump out of the bed in the middle of the night with the nightmare of the torture room, nightmare of the cable, nightmare of humiliation, nightmare of their own execution, nightmare of... and it takes a moment to come back to reality. Every time there is a hard knock on the door, they are reminded of the raids of the Iranian “Revolutionary” Guards (Pasdaran) on their homes. Humans that with the slightest reminder of their pain, their suffering, and… their tears flow, unwanted, and their hearts are upset. The memory of their most cherished loved ones, fallen to the soil in the «Auschwitz» of the Islamic bourgeoisie, does not comfort them a moment. Three or four year old children whose games were binding each other legs [2], today, despite the years that have passed, still carry the effects of those days with them. Indeed these escapees are condemned to real hell, although they escaped, and are condemned to live with the pain, suffering and nightmares as long as they live. Who is accountable for these crimes?

In order to address the crimes of the Islamic Republic in the 1980s, the «Iran Tribunal» arranged a tribunal in two stages. The first phase was held at the Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International from the 18th to the 22ndof June 2012, and its second phase will be held in The Hague in October. Organizers have announced that the Court is modeled on the tribunals set up by «Bertrand Russell», established in the late 1960s to expose the crimes of America in Vietnam, as a symbolic trial. The first phase of the trial is the evidence gathering - in this stage, victims and witnesses present their testimony and evidence to the Fact Finding Commission, then this Commission will provide its report to the prosecution team so that they can present their indictment to the court in the second phase, the trial issuing a symbolic vote on the charges. The prosecution team (the jury) is in the hands of six Western lawyers, and the Presidency of the prosecution team is assumed by «PayamAkhavan». «PayamAkhavan» is the authorities of the "Iran Human Rights Documentation Center", an institution in the interests of America and Canada, mainly paid for by these countries.

The question is, should this Tribunal not be welcomed despite it being symbolic? Isn’t the Tribune rather a dressing on the wounds? The majority of the left of capital not only supports the Tribunal but are involved in it. Two National Leftist currents, the Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (RaheKargar) and the Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)from a reactionary perspective, were critical of the Tribunal. Of course a part of the escapees (former political prisoners), from a progressive position did not participate in the Tribunal.

Certainly for every person who seeks the truth, the question is why was a group of prominent western lawyers willing to form a fact-finding commission to arrange the prosecution team to put the Islamic Republic of Iran on trial. Why didn’t these “honorable” lawyers, these “philanthropist” lawyers speak up when the Islamic «Auschwitz» was going on? Incidentally, this question was given to Mr. «Galindo Pohl» in the «Iran Tribunal»: why did he keep quiet about the executions in Iran in his report? Ashamed, he answered: "then there was nobody to testify"!

According to those involved in the «Iran Tribunal», after years of imperialist tensions between the infamous Islamic Republic and Democrat gangsters which could undermine the position of Iran, they have won the consent of lawyers, jurists and other institutions of the capital in order to hold the Tribunal. They state that the objectives of this Tribunal coincide well with the policies of the bourgeois to put pressure on the Iranian regime.

The World bourgeoisie has always declared that the theocrat faction of the Islamic bourgeoisie must adapt itself to the capital’s routines. To punish the theocrats, Western bourgeoisie made a gesture during the Mykonos trial via the head the German bourgeoisie. “In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for the Iranian intelligence minister Hojjat al-Islam Ali Fallahian after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with the knowledge of supreme leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Ayatollah Rafsanjani”[3]

Democratic gangs have been crying crocodile tears over the massacres carried out by criminals and dictators who did not believe in human rights and democracy. Therefore, in line with their “philanthropy”, they help the «Iran Tribunal» to bring the crimes and savagery of the Islamic government in its prisons to public attention. Therefore the “honorable” media of the Democrats such as the BBC, America TV, Radio Farda, Radio France and Deutsche Welle, etc, also broadcast coverage of the Tribunal. Referring to human rights violations in Iran, in the current situation, is a part of the Democrats' chorus of propaganda, besides the sanctions which are a part of the West bourgeoisie's plan to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and weaken its position.

The fact is that bourgeois dictatorship and bourgeois democracy are two sides of the same coin, namely the barbarism of capitalism. History has shown that when the bourgeoisie feel threatened, they are able to tarnish their democratic and humanitarian principles. In the cradle of bourgeois civilization, France, after the fall of the Commune of Paris, in just over a week 30 000 Paris proletarians drew blood, and the conscience of the Democrats was not too upset. Because of the competition between civilized barbarians, France on the one hand and Britain and America on the other, 800,000 people were massacred in Rwanda and did not even slightly upset the Democrats and the civilized conscience. Because conscience is also a class phenomenon. Is anyone concerned in establishing a tribunal to investigate the crimes of the French, British or American bourgeois? Even animal rights associations did not care about this human disaster. Apparently these people were not even worth as much as an animal! How humanitarian was the big gangster (USA) in the «Abu Ghraib» prison?

The activists of the left of capital are aware that the performance and functionality of the Tribunal does not go against the policies of the bourgeois West. The attorneys and lawyers, who are responsible for the prosecution team, are a part of the institutions of the capital state, and as ideologues of the bourgeois cannot question the Islamic bourgeoisie but also they are themselves touching on the crimes of the Islamic Republic. Ms. AzarMajedi, a member of the the Central Committee of the Worker-communism Unity Party on the necessity of using bourgeois lawyers (ideologues) says:

“Whether we want it or not, the families of dead victims and former political prisoners alone cannot establish such a court. We must use attorneys and lawyers who have graduated and have become professionals under this system. If this symbolic court is to have an effect, we must utilize the existing facilities.”[4][Our translation]

Another criticism of the «Iran Tribunal» by the National leftist was the unclear financing of the «Iran Tribunal», to which Ms. Azar Majedi responds:

“As far as receiving money from various capitalist states that are in one way or another involved in suppression and massacre in the world is concerned, all the major opposition parties and organizations and various social, cultural and art institutions created by the left opposition abroad have received financial support from a state. There are many institutions in different European countries which are in some way related to opposition organizations, and these have been formed with financial support from various states. States that are members of NATO. Moreover, until the fall of Saddam Hussein, main opposition organizations got money from Saddam Hussein's state, and apart from Komala, no one else has publicly announced these financial supports to the people.”[5][Our translation]

Even if those responsible for and involved in the «Iran Tribunal» claim that the cost of the Tribunal has come from their own pockets, Ms. Majedi, one of the forefront figures of the left of capital, openly admits to the fact that the vast majority of the left of capital, whether Iranian or non-Iranian, as a political institution of capital have received or continue to receive "money" from different bourgeois states to advance their goals. But where have these states, including Saddam Hussein, gained «money»? The «money» noted by Ms. Majedi is the surplus value of the proletariat, in other words the blood of workers that is used by the left of capital in the continuation of wage-slavery and the advancement of their anti-Communist goals.

The background of the formation of the bourgeois «Auschwitz», whether of Islamic type or of Nazi type, should be analyzed, discussed and studied. Such repression and genocide is a product of capitalism. The entire bourgeois world, including the Democrats, was involved in these crimes, in other words the «Auschwitz» of the Islamic bourgeoisie. Internationalists should not have any illusions about the Democrats nor become an instrument of the Democrats in their “philanthropist” policies. The spearhead of the attack should be aimed on both dictators and democrats.

It is only through the demolishing of the capitalist system that it becomes possible to prosecute this barbarian system with its all factions.

M. Jahangiry

10 July 2012

Notes:

[1] Describing the «coffin» is very difficult for non-Iranian” readers. Imagine a box, about two meters long with a width of 75 cm and 90 cm height. The blindfolded prisoner would squat from 6 am to 10 pm, and at ten o'clock at night would lie, still blindfolded. He would be led blindfolded to the toilet three times a day, which would take around one to three minutes, and was only allowed to take her/his blindfold off in the toilet. Food was given three times a day, which would be eaten blindfolded. Any sound, even if they were to be interpreted as evidence, would of course be followed with cable handling. This process continued for months. All efforts were based on the assumption that the prisoner would lose her/his mind and control over their thoughts, and would feel herself/himself to be a humble and low man who has betrayed the rule of God on earth. Those who finally broke and repented were brought in front of the other resistance prisoners. The repented prisoner, crying remorsefully, would declare that he/she was a humble human who had betrayed God and was Marxist, but would now admit the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic ... The innovator of the «coffin» was the chief of «Ghezalhesar» prison, «Haji DawoodRahmani».

[2] When both a child's parents were arrested, and the child was very small,they were usually kept with their. They unwittingly tried to emulate their mother and the chains emprisoning their mother.

[3] en.wikipedia.org

[4] AzarMajedi (widow of MansoorHekmat) – International tribunal to handle the crimes of Islamic can be support or condemnation?

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Communist Revolution or the destruction of humanity!