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Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, A Voice Of Moderate Shiah Islam

Ghazal Omid - 6/21/2007

Renegade Ayatollah, some call him. Most of the Iranian human rights activists, including me, know him through his late illustrious father and through his bold actions in Iran in 2005. His is the first voice of Moderate Islam echoing aloud from Iran. Tragically, the government of Iran, seemingly, will soon succeed in shutting him down if we don’t move fast. The Ayatollah and 17 other members of his family were sentenced to death in a private court session in Zafaranieh Tehran on June 10th, 2006. Although very ill and suffering from Parkinson disease, he defended himself in the Iranian court where he did not even have access to a lawyer.

In April 2007, as an activist spokesperson passionately fighting for the rights of 19 political prisoners, I publicly criticized on Fox TV the lack of effort of international committees on his behalf.

I now publicly apologize for my uninformed criticism. Most people, including me, assume the UN and Amnesty International don’t do much because we don’t see many positive results from our petitions. In response to my criticism, I have belatedly learned through personal communication with sources inside these organizations that both have in fact actively petitioned Iran for leniency not only for the Ayatollah but other political prisoners as well. Unfortunately, they do not have the power to enforce the international laws to which Iran is signatory but chooses to ignore. UN officials in Geneva assure me that they are well aware of the mental and physical torture political prisoners are enduring daily and that Mr. Olson, the UN rapporteur, has make repeated appeals but there is not much that either of the international agencies can do to save Ayatollah Boroujerdi or anyone else in Iran.

UN and Amnesty International officers point out the sad-but-true reality that their hands are tied. They can only remind but cannot force the Iranian regime to abide by their international contract prohibiting torture of dissidents. Amnesty has not been able to visit Iran since 1979 and UN visitations have been denied since 2003.

I asked UN officers what can be done to save this and other voices who will loose their lives in the next few months. They answer that the only way seems to be the media and politicians who can sway Iran by denying resources it needs.

I naively thought that since America is searching for an influential Moderate Muslim to stand up to the terrorist Iranian regime, the suicidal willingness of this man to speak out against this medieval theocracy in an effort to avoid military conflict and save the lives of American soldiers would get the immediate attention of someone in the media. Unfortunately I was in for a rude awakening. Fighting for media attention has proven about as difficult as fighting the Iranian regime. I was genuinely shocked when my scheduled appearance on national TV to publicize this voice of reason was pre-empted by Paris Hilton’s family visit to her private cell which is a cut above the 10th century dungeons of Iran’s Evin or the Raji-Shahr prison.

Tears came to my eyes remembering the 19 political prisoners relying on me for help; even as I hoped Americans would want to help. It made me sad to remember that even though Amnesty and UN have done everything they can, Khaled Hardani, who has not been permitted to see his family for six months, will lose his life on July 3, 2007 and I will have to be the one to deliver the message to his family or they will hear it over the Iranian media and it will be as though he never existed.

It made me sad; wondering where was the media two nights ago when prison guards inside Raji -Shahr prison beat Mr. Nasser Khirolahi unconscious and left him lying on the ground to bleed to death? Another of his fellow inmates called me 2:30 AM to let me know that the guards beat him on his spine, damaging disks and leaving his right arm paralyzed.

I am sad to say one of the men I represent has not seen a dentist in many years. Finally, the tooth infection overcame a strong man and brought him to his knees by the pain he felt in his face.

It made me sad that none of these individuals are celebrities and their lives seem to be expandable.
For the past 28 years, Iran has struggled under a cult of religious Mullah zealots exploiting and ruining the resources of this vast country to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Recent evidence reveals that road bombs made in Iran and bearing fake US marks are being used by Al Quaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those of us who dig deeper in the sand see a master plan by certain individuals in the government of Iran to silence key members of the opposition even, or especially, if they are the son of Grand Ayatollah Broujerdi. Eye witnesses say he was able to rally more than 200,000 people around his house last year to hear him inform the regime that he can no longer bear to witness the atrocities of killing people in the name of Islam. He shouted that he did not believe Khomeini’s broadcast when he returned to Iran because he was not a real Ayatollah. In a rare audio sent to my attention by connections to Ayatollah Broujerdi, he denounces Iran as a religious dictatorship instead of an Islamic Republic outlines Khomeini’s deception and lies and calls for replacing the fake Islam taking over Iranian’s hearts and minds with real Islam. Broujerdi charged that the title velayat-e faqih assumed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not valid. In a handwritten letter to Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq he appeals for support in criticism of the regime.

The Ayatollah then takes another brave step and clashes with Khomeini, explaining who Khomeini really is and how he was made an instant Ayatollah. This is the reason he was sentenced to death in a private court session in Zafaranieh, Tehran along with 17 other family members.