The supreme leader, influential mullahs and Iranian politicians constantly hark back to the time of Ayatollah Khomeini. When the current supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, talks about destroying Israel, he finds it has more impact if he quotes his predecessor. Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani repeatedly calls for the Islamic Republic to go back to its Khomeini roots. Reformists complain that those devoted to Khomeini’s values and visions have been sidelined. Hardliners and self-proclaimed traditionalists say they are acting in line with Khomeini’s principles. Khomeini’s children have expressed a desire to revive the spirit of his era, while the regime’s opponents believe that no change or reform will be possible without a critical reexamination and review of his time.
But what would Khomeini think of today’s Iran? In particular, what would be his response to calls for Iran to uphold and protect the rights of the nation’s citizens, from both outside and inside the country? In this imagined interview to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, I look at what the founder of the Islamic Republic actually said about human rights and freedoms, issues at the heart of some of the biggest dilemmas Iran faces today, and regularly debated by politicians and the media — as well as by Iranians as they prepare to go to the polls later this month.
Your Excellency Ayatollah, what are your views on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
All the miseries that we have had — and will continue to have — come from the heads of states who signed this Declaration. Those who signed it took people’s freedoms away when they were in power. They say “people are free” to stupefy the masses. They passed this Declaration of Human Rights to fool people.
Human rights and the [UN]Security Council are weapons in the hands of those who plunder weak nations. This talk of human rights is all fiction. Neither is their security real nor are their human rights. [2]
These Westerners who gathered together for the interests of superpowers have no idea about humanity. They see the surface of nature, not its depth. They don’t know what a human is, let alone what human rights are! The goal is to rob society.
These corrupt words are spoken in Iran as well. There are those who defend these “rights” here. We have advised them to part company with these ideas.
Where does Islam stand on human rights?
Islam both respects human rights and enforces them. Islam does not allow people to be dominated and have their freedoms taken away from them.
Islam puts human dignity first. Other governments snoop into the lives of their citizens, eavesdrop on their conversations, and unearth their relationships. Materialistic regimes of any stripe only want to keep order in their own countries. Anybody can do whatever he wants inside his home as long as it does not harm the government and the system. He can make wine, he can gamble and he can commit other dirty acts. He is left alone until he comes out and makes noise. At that point they take him on because he has disrupted the order. But Islam and divine governments are not like that. They have edicts for everybody.
By edicts do you mean judicial decrees?
Divine rules safeguard human rights. Islam observes human rights. Society must be educated. Divine rules are for educating society, not for vengeance.
Humans — all humans — have a right to life. But if a murderer is not killed, murder will increase. Of course, those who see that their interests or the interests of their masters are under threat by this idea criticize it, using every kind of conspiracy to do so. They sometimes use the excuse of human rights to criticize executions in Iran, calling it cruel.
So Islam can interfere in domestic affairs to safeguard human dignity and human rights?
It does not intrude — but there are rules and things that must not be done. One face of Islam is government and politics. The other face is the development of humans. Even if you are alone at home, Islam is there. It tells you what kind of a person you must be, how you must behave and how you must understand things.
What’s your view on a citizen’s right to self-determination?
Under the Islamic Republic everybody is free to express any opinion — but they are not free to sabotage. The Islamic Republic is a democratic government in the real sense of the world. This nation is free, based on the constitution and based on Sharia law. The constitution has liberated the nation.
What does this freedom mean in terms of politics, society and culture?
Freedom in its Western form corrupts young people. Propaganda —articles, speeches, books, magazines — contrary to Islam, public chastity and the interests of the country are forbidden. It is the duty of all Muslims to prevent them.
What about freedom of expression?
It is important to identify its limits. Insults, libel, intrusion into people’s privacy, violating other people’s rights, disclosing government secrets, publishing obscene writing or images, blasphemy, insulting the sacred and violating the rights of minorities are examples of violations against society. These should not be allowed.
There are many reports of the rights of minorities not being respected in Iran. Some of their activities have been banned, and people have been arrested. What is your response to this?
Religious minorities are not only free, but the Islamic government is duty-bound to defend their rights. Every Iranian is entitled to enjoy equal social rights. All people are free under the Islamic revolutionary movement. It makes no difference whether they are Muslim or Christian or Jewish, or belong to any other religion.
Freedom does not mean that people can get involved in conspiracies or say things to defeat our people, or our movement. This is not freedom. Anybody can say anything, but they will not be allowed to take steps to destroy Islam and the institutions that promote Islamic activities.
I heard the American president on the radio. He told the world that the Baha’is in Iran are oppressed and that they are not spies. But he would never sympathize with Baha’is if they were not spies, or if they were not a political party working for foreigners.
What about the right to association? Many political and professional groups and unions have been shut down in Iran.
From the very beginning, when the Islamic Republic triumphed, it gave absolute freedom to all. Groups and activities carried on their activities. But gradually it was revealed that these groups were seditionists or spies. Neither Islam nor reason allowed us to remain silent when a group plans to bring down the Islamic Republic or engage in espionage. They must be dealt with seriously and decisively, but cautiously, no matter where they are — in government institutions, in the judiciary, or in universities and colleges.
Sources:
Sahifeh-ye Noor (a Multi-Volume Collection of Khomeini’s Speeches and Messages); Public Speech, August 12, 1978; Speech to Seminary Students, June 28, 1979; Speech to Iran’s Statistics Central Council, June 10, 1979; Sahifeh-ye Noor, Vol. 14, P. 69; Public Speech, September 28, 1977; Speech to Iranian Businessmen, May 15, 1979; Speech to Seminary Students, September 28, 1977; Conversation with the Representative of Amnesty International, November 11, 1978; 15. Public Speech, July 1983; Ayatollah Khomeini’s Eight-Point Directive, November 15, 1982
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