USA inleder stöd till Irans frihetsrörelse

I januari 2007 kommer USA att inleda sitt stöd till den Iranska frihetsrörelsen. Det är de 75 miljoner som annonserades i februari. Det innebär att från januari 2007 kommer VOA att utöka sina sändningar från nuvarande 4 timmar/dag till 12 timmar/dag. Radio Farda´s budget kommer också att utökas.

Så här sade Nicholas Burns, vice utrikesminister under veckan som gick, våra kommentarer kommer efter texten:

"Democracy and Human Rights

Before I conclude, I would like to turn briefly to another dimension of Iran's challenge to the international community – the regime's reprehensible treatment of its own people. Iran's leaders are determined to preserve a system that endows power, privilege, and vast economic perks to a narrow revolutionary elite. As a result, the Iranian regime's record of human rights abuse is among the worst in the world. Like its nuclear ambitions, the record of the regime at home is equally clear, equally consistent, and equally negative. It is a record of: lack of transparency surrounding judicial proceedings; depressed living standards; intolerance toward minority ethnic and religious groups; discrimination against women as it relates to child custody laws; and limitations on the extent of freedom of speech and assembly.

The Iranian people – an ancient, proud nation of 70 million – deserves much better. They have made clear their desire to live in a modern, tolerant society that is at peace with its neighbors and in close contact with the broader international community. And we are confident that, if given a genuine opportunity to choose its leaders freely and fairly, the Iranian people would make a very different choice. They would choose leaders who invest in development at home rather than bloodshed abroad and a system that respects all faiths, empowers all citizens, and resumes Iran's historic place as a regional leader.

For this reason, in parallel with our efforts on the nuclear and terrorism issues, we have launched a set of new initiatives intended to achieve an equally important goal – reaching out to the Iranian people to promote democracy and freedom. As President Bush and the Secretary have clearly articulated, we stand with the Iranian people in their century-old struggle to advance democracy, freedom and the basic rights of all citizens. Since the Department received its first Iran-specific appropriation from Congress in FY 2004, our efforts to foster Iran's democratic development have expanded considerably. Congressional allocation of $66M in FY06 supplemental funding has allowed us to begin initiating a wide range of democracy, educational and cultural exchange programs as well as significantly expanding the flows of free information that are available inside Iran.

Support for pro-democracy activities inside Iran will consume $20M of this supplemental funding as well as an additional $11.5M in initial FY 2006 funding. These programs build on our effort initiated since 2004 to support human rights, expand civil society, improve justice and accountability, and advance basic rights and freedoms. Our grantees are assisting independent labor activists, conducting training workshops on civil mobilization and activism for NGO leaders, linking reformers within Iran to like-minded groups outside the country, assembling documentation on human rights abuses in Iran, and creating Persian and English-language internet portals to connect reform-minded Iranians.

Given the nature of U.S.-Iran relations, however, progress toward our goals has predictably been difficult. Our partners on the ground – the brave men and women who have worked for years to advance democratic ideals in Iran – fear in many cases that public association with the U.S. and other governments could jeopardize their work and, possibly, their lives. Accordingly, we employ all possible safeguards – including confidentiality – to enable them to pursue their work.

The FY 2006 Supplemental has also enabled us to undertake another critical goal in reaching Iranians – enhancing the volume and the quality of information that is available to the people of Iran. Communications are a vital tool in our efforts to champion democracy in Iran. Toward that end, the Broadcasting Board of Governors received $36.1M of the $66M that Congress allocated for Iran under the FY 2006 Supplemental, an increase of more than 200 percent of the BBG's initial FY 2006 budget of $17.6M for Iran broadcasts. This additional funding will enable the BBG to dramatically upgrade its infrastructure, improve Radio Farda service and its website, and increase Voice of America – Persian service television programming from one to 12 hours per day by January 2007. "


Våra kommentarer:
Övergripande: Det är glädjande att USA berättar om hur förfärlig mänskliga rättigheter situationen är i Iran. Det är helt klart värt en eloge.
VOA: Tycker VOA trots allt är en ganska bra TV. Den ger mycket tid åt sådana som stöder regimens åsikter men åtminstone 4/10 gäster som bjuds in är ändå hyfsade. Mycket positivt att VOA nu får 12 timmar per dygn. Vi hoppas dock antalet frekvenser den sänder över ökas också. I dagsläget sänder den enbart över Telestar 12 och Hotbird.
Radio Farda: Vi har aldrig varit imponerade av denna radio och tycker inte den förtjänar något stöd.
Frihetskämpar: 20 miljoner dollar skall avsättas till frihetskämpande aktivister, dels i Iran dels i utlandet. Här kan vi bara hoppas att stödet går till rätt personer, dvs inte till islamiska republikens herrar som Khatami och Akbar Ganji. Vi kommer se tidigt år 2007 hur det blir.

Studentutbyten: Burns nämnde även några ord om ökat studentutbyte med Iran (vi klistade inte in del delen). Vi är mycket starkt emot studentutbyten. Varför? Därför att regimen enbart låter regimlojala åka på utbyten för att sprida propaganda. Helt fel idé.

Sammanfattning: Detta kan vara början på ett regimskifte där betydligt större summor kommer ges till oppositionen så småningom men det kan även vara ett fåfängt försök att vinna röster till amerikanska presidentvalet 2008. Vi hoppas på det förstnämnda, och att även de privata TV kanalerna får stöd så småningom vilket personer på deras UD har sagt åtskilliga gånger.