Press Freedom Under Attack: Is Rouhani to Blame?

When Hassan Rouhani was ushered in as president in June 2013, he promised greater press freedom and more freedom of expression, bringing hope to journalists, civil society activists and ordinary citizens. Yet during his tenure, little has improved: journalists continue to be systematically harassed, abused and arrested on false or vague charges, including spreading propaganda, insulting the Supreme Leader or working with foreign news outlets.

The continuing decline of Iran’s press freedom has been widely debated both within Iran and outside the country. Who should be held accountable? Is Rouhani doing all he can to improve the lives of journalists and liberalize Iran’s media, held back by the country’s constitution and the overarching power of the Supreme Leader? Or is he to blame for reneging on his own electoral platform?

IranWire spoke with some of the country’s most prominent and respected lawyers, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and celebrated lawyer Hossein Raeesi, to shed some light on these contentious questions. How is power distributed among the country’s political and religious elite?

The Supreme Leader: Absolute Power?

Award-winning human rights lawyer Hossein Raeesi argues that it’s unfair to hold President Rouhani responsible for the state of press freedom in Iran, insisting that the Islamic Republic’s political power structure is not subject to normal legal principles. According to him, Iran’s laws are designed to serve the Supreme Leader.

Article 110 of the constitution, he explains, defines the duties and the powers held by the Supreme Leader, while Article 113 states that, after the office of the Supreme Leader, “the president is the highest official in the country, holding the responsibility of implementing the constitution and acting as the head of the executive, except in matters that are directly connected to the Leadership.”

“The powers given to the Supreme Leader in Article 110 of the constitution leave no room for [presidential] powers under Article 113,” Raeesi says. “So we cannot comment on the responsibilities of the president from a legal point of view. Instead of power flowing from laws, it’s built upon the absolute power of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.”

The president owes his legitimacy to this political system. “The president has no tools to implement his powers under Article 113 and the article is moot when set against Article 110,” says Raeesi.

Musa Barzin Khalifeloo, a criminal lawyer currently seeking asylum in Turkey after he was detained for speaking to foreign media, sees the Supreme Leader as all-powerful. It’s  typical, he says, for autocratic regimes to repress the media because of its tendency to express the will of the people.

“Through the constitution and its bylaws, the Leadership enjoys extraordinary powers and so he can effectively interfere in any area that he wants to. As the most powerful institution of the Islamic Republic, it has had a crucial role in persecuting journalists and shutting down the media. There are even laws that give the Supreme Leader a direct means to influence the press.”

As Khalifeloo explains, Article 138 of the Labor Law enables Ayatollah Khamenei to have a representative on any professional guild or association he likes. In this way, Iranian law gives the Supreme Leader power over the “independent” press.

“Over the past decade, Khamenei has extensively issued orders to shut down publications critical of the regime. Security forces continually persecute Iranian journalists following policies set by the Leadership,” says Khalifeloo.

Lawyer Mehri Jafari says Article 110 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Leader the power of an absolute monarch. It does so by allowing him to supervise the implementation of high-level policies. Under 110, he is entitled to accept or reject laws passed by parliament, and he has complete oversight of the judiciary.

The Article stipulates that the Supreme Leader can issue pardons or reduce sentences “on recommendation from the head of the judicial power.” In Jafari’s view, “This is such a pervasive control system that journalists never have job security and often have to compromise with the regime or leave the journalism profession.”

Rouhani: A Duty to Investigate Violations

But not all legal experts share the view that Rouhani is powerless; many believe he can initiate greater press freedom in Iran. Nobel Peace Prize winner and lawyer Shirin Ebadi points out that all arrests are carried out by Intelligence Ministry security agents. Because the ministry is controlled by the executive office, by law it falls under the supervision of President Rouhani.

“Investigating all violations that occur under that ministry is the legal responsibility of the president and therefore we cannot consider him free from blame,” says Ebadi, who lives and works in exile. “As president, he can report an issue to the people through the media and prove that he has not forgotten his duty to correctly implement the constitution. Unfortunately, this has not happened while he’s been president.”

Ebadi says that the president could bolster press freedoms using the investigative tools at his disposal. Because it’s actually his duty by law, she says, it would not amount to political suicide as some have claimed. 

“Investigators trusted by the president must constantly inspect the prisons, report on prisoner interrogations and on how jails are run, determining whether it is all in line with the law. If there are violations, Rouhani has a duty to warn the judiciary,” Ebadi says. 

Lawyer and human rights activist Mohammad Hossein Nayeri, who also lives in exile, also believes Rouhani could make a difference. In particular, he points to potential power through Iran’s bylaws.

“The president can do a number of positive things via bylaws without having to use the constitution, especially when it comes to the Interior, Intelligence and Islamic Culture ministries” says Nayeri. “The president and his cabinet do not need extraordinary powers to deal with violations of freedom of speech, the arbitrary treatment of publishers, journalists and government censorship. The president is already a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and other bodies and so can play a role in their decisions.”

Nayeri emphasizes that no one outside the executive branch can stop the president from using his membership to these decision-making bodies to effect change. He could use tribunals at his disposal to push for press liberalization and to inform the Iranian people of constitutional violations — and who is responsible for them.

Human rights lawyer Mohammad Olyaeifard,  who spent a year in prison in 2010 for criticizing the execution of one of his clients, 17-year-old Behnoud Shojaee, believes that the harsh treatment journalists receive is the fault and responsibility of both the judiciary and the executive branch. “Arresting journalists or shutting down publications is a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression,” he says. “According to Article 113, the president is responsible for implementing this. Under Opinion 4214 of the Article, the president must do what is necessary to implement the constitution.” As the Opinion was issued by the Guardian Council, Iran’s most influential body, Olyaeifard says, both the council and the president are responsible.

Does Rouhani have the power to honor his promises? Can the Supreme Leader exert his power to the extent that reform is impossible? The answers are complex and often divisive. It’s clear that the debate about who should be held accountable for the plight of journalists and the deterioration of press freedom in Iran will continue. Meanwhile, journalists and civil society activists will continue to be targeted. And the Iranian people will suffer from the deficiencies of an unfree press, denied their right to freedom of expression.