Ibrahim Rashidi (Savalan) - 2008
SouthAz: Ibrahim Rashidi's article discusses the lack of awareness of human rights among activists, particularly regarding education and social pressures. He reflects on the impact of this ignorance and argues for the need to educate individuals about their rights to resist oppression and promote social justice.
_________________________________
I was an eleven-year-old child, studying in the first year of middle school. The school principal explained to us in a tone filled with both encouragement and threat that it was the duty of every student to participate in the upcoming rally. Anyone who failed to attend or fled before the ceremony ended would have their discipline score deducted. From each class, five students were chosen and armbands labeled "Order" were tied to their arms. The next day, we were taken to the street surrounded by the principal, the deputy principal, teachers, the educational supervisor, and those students who could hardly contain their joy at being assigned to "Order." We were cornered to prevent us from fleeing; of course, the deputy principal and the educational supervisor were monitoring our mouths to ensure that anyone who did not loudly shout "Every Student's Slogan" would be noted. The harsh cold of Khiyo (Meshgin) and the eleven-year-old children who were also deprived of proper clothing, along with the snow, bare feet, and the hoarse voices and persistent coughs of my classmates the following day, could be a separate topic.
That day, we did not know that Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, paragraph two states: "No one shall be compelled to participate in any assembly." Our fathers did not know they had the right to protest to the school principal about their children’s colds, and even now, the vast majority of people do not know that the freedom to participate or not participate in any assembly is a recognized right. However, even if we had known, we would not have been able to do anything about it and would have had to participate in that ceremony for the sake of our grades and discipline; that is a separate discussion. We are unaware of our rights; claiming them and enacting laws to defend them is a secondary issue.
Recreational camps were the rights of all students, but to obtain that right, one had to actively participate in festivals first. Later, membership in the Student Basij and participation in the eight competitions would prove that you had the right to have fun. Families also recommended participation in those ceremonies and obtaining membership cards for the sake of the future.
For seven years now, a new topic has been occupying my mind. After each arrest and release, the first question from friends was: "Were you tortured during detention?" I would answer: "No, I was not tortured," and I did not understand what torture meant. From the perspective of our oppressed nation, torture means pulling nails, burning parts of the body, ironing, branding, cables, electric batons, electric shocks, and hundreds of other dehumanizing and humiliating acts. There is no reason for a fist, kick, or slap to be considered torture in comparison to these crimes. Any traffic officer can beat a reckless driver. A punch and slap are a part of our lives. In the summer of 2003, I was imprisoned in the dark detention center of Ardabil; I slept four nights on the wet, filthy, and cold floor of the Eah jail, and I spent 43 days in solitary confinement. During the two months we were in the Urmia detention center, due to a lack of fruit, vegetables, and any food containing vitamins, the gums and teeth of most of us bled and became infected; yet we still said we had not been tortured. Until one day we read the definition of torture.
According to Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted on December 10, 1984, by the United Nations General Assembly, torture is defined as follows:
"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
According to experts and various international organizations, acts such as physical punishment, interrogation under threat and pressure, confinement in dark cells, reduction of daily food rations, solitary confinement, and so on, are part of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
In short, we are unaware of our rights, and if we are not even aware of our rights, how can we defend them? The people of Azerbaijan do not know that education in their own language is their right and that no one should deprive them of that right. Children should learn about mutual understanding and coexistence among nations in schools, while in Southern Azerbaijan schools, they face the inability to communicate in their own language. The right to education in one’s own language, alongside other human rights, is the basis of our demands. In schools filled with anti-Arab sentiment, anti-Turk sentiment, hostility towards Sunni Muslims and non-Muslims, and hatred of Greeks and Mongolians, Azerbaijani children are taught only about the duties of an Iranian student and not about the rights of an individual.
The growing unemployment in Azerbaijan, due to a lack of private investment, has turned the freedom to choose a job into a struggle to find any job. With higher education, they seek jobs that have nothing to do with their qualifications; and because they lack job security and must fight to maintain their positions, they not only welcome President Ahmadinejad during his provincial tours but also encourage their children to participate in rallies, even traveling to places like Assaluyeh for unsuitable jobs!!
The people of Azerbaijan do not know that they have the right to find a respectable job in their own area, just as the people of Azerbaijan do not know that interrogation under threat and pressure is one of the manifestations of cruel and inhumane treatment. And while we remain ignorant of our rights, how can we defend them?
I am certain that families do not realize that when marrying their daughters, they must consider the complete consent of both parties, and daughters do not know they have the right not to be forced into arranged and obligatory marriages. Similarly, cultural activists do not know that no one has the right to detain, imprison, or exile them arbitrarily (Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). If we want to achieve our cultural rights, we should not present ourselves for informal gatherings with just a phone call. If the sense of resistance and defiance against arbitrary summons gradually grows within each activist, then we can protest the arbitrary detentions of our friends.
Implementing at least our rights recognized in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran requires that each individual becomes aware of their own rights and those of others, enabling them to demand their preservation and observance. Therefore, a deep and extensive understanding of our human and national rights (as enshrined in international laws) and outlining suitable ways to protect them is one of the essential prerequisites for preventing these rights from being trampled upon and, in turn, for preserving our humanity.
Link to the original article in Farsi: https://savalansesi.blogspot.com/2008/01/blog-post_03.html