Human rights and Iran

I'm standing in solidarity with Iranians in their fight for human rights

Human rights is something I am very passionate about and Iran is providing a flashpoint for global attention on human rights.  I’m tempted to rant about how democracy and human rights are being trampled in Iran, but I’d rather readers think about human rights in their own countries.

Let it be said that the situation in Iran is a disgrace with civil liberties and human rights being entirely ignored and trampled.  There are repeated efforts to censor the Internet and prevent “Western-liberal” media from reporting on protests and demonstrations, or to question the electoral commission independently of “official” channels.  This is extreme stuff, with regular reports of bloggers, journalists, academics, trade unionists and activists being “arrested” and taken to undisclosed locations for “questioning”.  These are not the actions of a supposedly democratic nation, which under Iran’s constitution protects political demonstrations and a free media.  Regardless of the issues associated with their system of veto by the Ayatollah, the basic human rights afforded to all peoples (and some supposedly advocated by the Ayatollah) are being denied.

It should give us cause to think about human rights in our own countries when Iran had proven to be a relatively stable nation, steadily opening up to greater international influence and investment.  It could even be described as a pretty democratic nation with human rights enshrined in the constitution. Sure some will say it is inherently unstable for whatever reasons, but by many measures, citizens of Iran were enjoying a pretty good standard of living and had for all intents-and-purposes a democratic state with a popularly elected President.  So, I ask again what of the state of human rights and civil liberties in our own countries?

It’s important to show our solidarity with the people of Iran trying to protect and fight for their human rights, but it is also important we do not allow our own human rights to be eroded; if we allow our rights to be eroded we cannot help them in their efforts to draw international attention to their situation. While the human rights situation in Iran is very dire, it’s necessary to point out that other nations continue to flaunt international law and treaties (or pacts or whatever other name they go by). Such countries include China, Zimbabwe and a host other nations [insert here your choice].

Even here in Australia, our civil liberties are being regularly challenged and slowly eroded by state and federal governments. The previous Howard Coalition government made regular changes to laws to remove basic human rights, despite efforts of others including government organisations and departments.  (It is only now that the Rudd Labor government, with the Australian Greens, has made some legislative changes to undo some elements of Howard’s anti-terrorism and refugee laws.) And just like officials in Iran, our officials told us the changes were for the greater good and to protect our way of life. Sound familiar to the kind of rhetoric being extolled throughout post-presidential election upheaval?

Thought has to be given to the impacts the instability in Iran could have on other nations in the region, like Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan and not forgetting Israel and Palestine.  As I’m not really familiar with the complexities of the politics of the region, I hesitate to speculate on the possible consequences of Iran’s instability on the region.

But what now? What do we do? How can we do something?

There are things we all can do like talking to our friends and family about the situation in Iran and what it means to us here in Australia.  And we can do this through email; through our own blogs; on Facebook; on MySpace; on Twitter and on a million other places online; and in real life through good-old-fashioned letters. We can all be diligent about the motives of government decisions that further erode our human rights and civil liberties, and use our votes wisely.  We can all speak out against the diminution of human rights no matter where it occurs, even if it means speaking out against our own governments.

So to show my solidarity with Iranians in their fight for human rights I offer the following message:

I stand in solidarity with the citizens of Iran in their fight to restore their human rights and their efforts to resist state bans on free speech and freedom of association.

I, like millions of others, call on the Iranian government to respect the country’s constitution and restore human rights for all Iranians.  And I call on the Iranian government for the immediate release of all detainees arrested in the post-presidential election upheaval.

I also call on the Australian government to continue working towards diplomatic outcomes and support non-government organisations’ humanitarian efforts.

Please feel free to pass this message on so that it might reach the remaining free Iranian blogger community.

Will Brimbank watchdog make a difference?

The Brumby Labor Government now has its watchdog in place to oversea the conduct of Councillors and ensure there’s no dodgy dealings going on.  If you haven’t been keeping up with this issue the state ombudsman investigated allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism among the dominant ALP-right faction of Brimbank City Councillors (you can read more detail about it here and here).  But as has been noted by other commentators, the appointee has a long history working for the Labor Party, as well as being a member at some stage. So with already questionable credentials for independence, there will be some strong community scrutiny of the watchdog, the so called council inspector.

If the Brumby government and/or the council inspector delay or defer on releasing the reports then it will provide further proof the government isn’t interested in cleaning up the problems plaguing Brimbank, including others like Casey City and Hume City.  And of course providing further proof the Brumby government isn’t interested in open and transparent governance, despite its public claims to the contrary.  Victoria’s governments of either persuasion has a long history of resisting calls to establish an independent anti-crime and corruption commission.

For Brimbank’s residents and ratepayers it will provide further evidence that they can have little confidence in the Council acting in the best interests of residents and ratepayers.  And further justify calls for the Council to be dissolved and fresh elections held.

The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party: "An intriguing, dark, and genuinely moving experience" - Alex Schlotzer

I recently went to the theatre, yes the theatre at the Melbourne Arts Centre, for a new production from the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) called “The Birthday Party”.  I have to be up front and admit that part of the reason I went was because a good friend of mine is in the cast and I scored a free ticket.  But I’m not writing this post for any other reason than to give my review of this interpretation of “The Birthday Party”. Just so you know.

Anyway.

The description of “The Birthday Party” provided by the MTC is, in my humble opinion, under-rated for what is delivered. The play is written by Harold Pinter, his first full-length production, which provides a realistic setting and stage to explore the dark sides of humanity.  The interplay of dialogue and the language used with each actors’ body language helped build the characters, scenes and revealed the duplicity of the characters and their motives.

The setting is a familiar one for most people; being around a kitchen table where everything of great importance is discussed, from the different items of the day’s agenda to the household family conspiracies.  Albeit it’s not a family under Pinter’s microscope.  The dialogue has been contemporized to suit an Australian audience and place names have been changed with Victorian ones.  The cast were excellent, demonstrating how well they had developed their role and their interplay with the other cast members.  Even though I know one of the cast members (Greg Fryer playing Petey Boles), I can honestly say each actor gave thoroughly believeable performances; allowing themselves to be their character. The combination of the actors’ talent and the use of music, props and lighting made this production thoroughly entertaining that brought the play together, delivering a strange story with dark, disturbing under-currents.

I was fully engaged for the entirety and had a lot to talk about afterwards with my friends; including the ones who haven’t seen it but know of Pinter’s work. I strongly recommend “The Birthday Party” for anyone wanting an intriguing, dark and genuinely moving experience.

5 out of 5

A Few Pictures from the Production

McCann and Goldberg

Meg and Petey

Petey and Stanley

Stanley and Goldberg