Iran Should Cancel Televised ‘Confessions’

This is an article from Human Rights Watch in which they condemn the televised confessions forced out of Iranian Dissidents. It is wrong for the US to torture those who yhey hold illegally and it is also wrong for the Iranian SState to torture "confessions" out of those they hold illegally. Full article at link.

The Iranian government should cancel the scheduled July 18 broadcast of the “confessions” of two detained Iranian-Americans, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that Iranian authorities have used coercive means to compel Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh to make statements that may be later used to incriminate them in court.

The authorities have held them in largely incommunicado detention for more than two months, preventing lawyers and family members from visiting them. They have only been permitted brief phone calls to family members.

Public ‘confessions’ of this kind are a shameful tactic used by oppressive governments around the world. It’s a way for governments to intimidate critical voices into silence and flaunt their disregard for fundamental rights.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

Esfandiari’s lawyer, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, says that authorities have not allowed her to meet with her client or to examine her case files. Ebadi also said that Esfandiari’s health was deteriorating as a result of the harsh conditions in prison.