by Walter Onubogu

Created on: November 11, 2008   Last Updated: November 12, 2008

Iran has sustained and still experiences substantial human rights abuses. Be it under the western supported and autocratic Shah of Iran (1941-1979) or the revolutionary ayatollahs (clerics) that followed his rule in 1979. The problem with Iran is that the promise of the 1979 revolution was totally lost when revolutionary islamic zealots under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini violently seized the reigns of power and hijacked the people's revolution and dismissed the Iranian people's long held aspirations for democratic reform and respect for human rights -freedoms. Ever since then human rights abuses have actually increased.

I remember those days back in 1979 when the hostage crises was going on , and the only images I saw on TV were that of a fumbling President Jimmy Carter and seemingly masses of hate filled black chador wearing women who demomstrated against the USA and the Monarchy and shouted along with all others " Death to America" and " Marg bar Shah _ Death to the Shah". What did they know about what was really to follow under the islamic dictatorship of Khomeini. Nothing. They were as blind and ignorant as everyone else in their pursuits for change without knowing what it was and if it was to improve their human rights or not.

Certainly, the Shah of Iran ( Shahanshah Aryamehr Mohammad Reza Palavi) was autocratic, but also determined and focused on transforming Iran, through rapid modernization and westernisation into a replica of Western Europe - USA in the Middle East. He believed that Iran was destined to become another "great civilization" taking its place next to America, UK, Japan, France ect. He was also highly convinced that his people as part of this process needed first and formost to be socially and economically advanced before democracy and respect for human rights could be fully established. The problem was that his economic and social reforms, albeit initially welcomed by the masses of Iranians in 1963, raised thereafter considerable expectations about "democratization and political reform" which remained unfullfilled. In order to implement his "White Revolution" modernization program as rapidly as possible the Shah resorted to and relied heavily upon his CIA and Mossad trained intelligence services SAVAK to quell domestic dissent against his regime. Also many critical Iranians were tried by military tribunals and had little legal recourse available to them. SAVAK was known for its brutal measures of interrogation and torture (beating

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