Mehrangiz Kar is a lawyer, writer and a journalist focused on human rights and the spread of democracy. Kar has won at least eight internationally recognized human rights awards and works at Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University.
On the tenth anniversary of Human Right Activists, (HRA), Peace Mark Monthly asked Ms. Kar’s opinion on HRA’s performance and effectiveness regarding the growth of the civil society of Iran.
While emphasizing the importance of the lasting existence of HRA, Mehrangiz Kar tells Peace Mark Monthly: “HRA and especially its news agency HRANA are established names, and having an established name means that they are effective. The degree of this impact cannot be determined. However, when an organization’s name is established, it shows that it has covered a wide range of information, and it certainly has had audiences and has been noticed by the international human rights communities.”
How would you describe HRA in general?
HRA is an organization that was formed within Iran, and it has not necessarily been related to the global human rights organizations. Naturally, when it comes to human rights, it is valuable and important to be within a country where human rights are widely violated in many ways. However, this is my personal opinion, and many might not agree.
Students and youth who were in real danger in terms of human rights during the late 1990s and early 2000s established an organization to defend human rights and became the pioneers. I should again mention, the young age of these group members is very important; in my opinion, it is a positive point that finally in the Iran of post-Islamic Republic, a new generation of victims and university-educated people were able to realize that Iran is in need of developing such a discourse and that they needed to create a young human rights core within Iran. Each one of these young people, without having any special political background became a journalist. They certainly did not anticipate the consequences or the security problems that would spread across the world into countries where Iranian immigrants live.
In your opinion, how has HRA (as a human rights organization) affected the growth of the civil society in Iran?
HRA has been influential in promoting human rights discourse in Iran. What has been really interesting to me, by following the reports and news that HRA publishes on the human rights’ situation in Iran are all the details in the reports. At times, there might have been mistakes in mentioning them, yet it has continued its work constantly and continually.
If it is possible to highlight one positive feature of HRA, what would that be in your opinion?
I believe what is important is the permanence of this organization. We have witnessed that many of them in this field, for whatever reasons, were not able to survive.
If I must give HRA credit, it would be that its primary core has been created in Iran at the critical time between the presidency of Mohammad Khatami and Mahmud Ahmadinejad and when the country was entering a new political phase, and that despite all the vicissitudes that HRA has faced within and outside Iran, it has been able to stand firm for 10 years. This is highly commendable.
I believe that now that HRA’s name has been established as a known human rights organization, it has an obligation to work harder and broader towards the realization of the rights of the victims. Indeed, as I understand, while HRA’s members are scattered inside and outside of Iran, and while most lawyers are afraid to accept the defense of political prisoners, HRA is still trying in different forms to report on and aid the victims of human rights violations in order to attain their rights. I expect them to address the rights of these victims even more. For instance, HRA published reports about victims are used by many human rights sources around the world. It should be noted, in Iran and since the Islamic Republic has been in power, what has led the human rights situation to wane daily is that people did not have enough information on the rights of the accused and convicts and mostly they believed a prisoner has no rights; maybe just as a favor to the convict and his family, they would allow visits.
Now that HRA has been able to operate for a decade, it should appreciate this opportunity and contribute a facet of its activism to further inform the convicts and the victims of their rights in accordance with both Iranian and international laws; this should be done in a way that is heard and understood inside Iran. The accused might not be able to use this information to defend himself under the torture, but with this approach, there will be a way for the family of the accused to be informed and use this information. With a goal that is based on these rights, they could follow the case of their loved ones who are in the prison and detention centers, and they could interact with the authorities based on this information on the rights of the accused.
