The international police organisation
INTERPOL has posted wanted alerts on a number of Iranian political dissidents.
This revelation follows in the wake of the
December 26-27th protests in Iran which drew millions onto the
streets nationwide. Clashes with police led to military units being ordered to
fire on demonstrators, an order which is alleged to have been disobeyed.
A spokeswoman for the campaign and website Stop Terrorism (http://stopterrorism.org) said: “At the request of Iranian authorities, INTERPOL has
labelled a number of leading members and supporters of the Worker-Communist
Party of Iran – Hekmatist as criminals and terrorists, and has published their
pictures and personal information on their website.
“By taking sides with
the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) secret police, INTERPOL is making the life
of Iranian opposition inside and outside of the country insecure and dangerous.
This institution will then be responsible for the outcome of this policy.
INTERPOL’s decision is the first step in providing a ‘legal’ and an
‘international’ permission to the IRI’s secret police to attack any opposition
and their family members.”
The list of those
wanted includes ten exiles currently residing in Sweden. Khaled Haji
Mohammadi, a longstanding communist and one of those named by INTERPOL, said: “I don’t know what sort of political or economic
agreement Iran may have with INTERPOL, but it’s very surprising that INTERPOL
would abide by the demands of a request from a regime that has executed so many
of its critics.”
The Iranian government has gained notoriety
worldwide for its brutal treatment of left-wing activists ever since the
Islamic regime came to power in 1979.
What began as a wide scale opposition
movement against US ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – which saw the mobilisation
of millions and the creation of the Shoras, a form of democratic workers’
councils, – ended with the ascendancy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the creation of the IRI.
By 1982 Khomeini
had largely eliminated all opposition, including the organised workers’
movement and executed or exiled many of its leaders. The regime has since not
hesitated to arrest and torture labour leaders such as famed trade unionist Mansour Osanloo, leader of the Steering Committee of the Trade Union
of the Vahed Bus Company, who is currently incarcerated in Evin prison.
Presidential
elections last year led to extensive street protests in which hundreds of
thousands took part. The elections were widely regarded to have been rigged in
the favour of the current president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who defeated rival Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Despite renewed
state oppression, the protest movement again exploded last December as millions
took to the streets for Tasoa and Ashoora, traditional Shiite days of mourning.
Visit www.marxist.com for more on the events in Iran
