23 June 2009

U.S. Appalled and Outraged by Violence Against Iranian Protesters

President Obama says he is “appalled and outraged” by Iran’s actions against peaceful demonstrators.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — President Obama says Iranian government actions against peaceful demonstrators since the country’s June 12 presidential election have been “unjust,” and images of silent demonstrations and the risks being taken by Iranian protesters show a “timeless dignity.”

Speaking in a press conference at the White House June 23, Obama said the United States and the international community have been “appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings and imprisonments of the last few days.”

“I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost,” he said.

The United States continues to respect Iran’s sovereignty and “is not interfering with Iran’s affairs,” Obama said, adding that accusations to the contrary are “an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders.”

The Iranian people are trying to debate their own future and “can speak for themselves,” he said. “This is not about the United States or the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they, and only they, will choose.”

At the same time, the president said, people all over the world are witnessing “the courage and the dignity of the Iranian people,” and “a remarkable opening within Iranian society.” The suppression of ideas never can make them go away, Obama said, echoing his June 4 speech to Muslims around the world. Iran’s rulers must govern through consent rather than coercion, and the Iranian people will be the ultimate judge of their government’s actions, he said.

“We’ve seen the timeless dignity of tens of thousands [of] Iranians marching in silence. We’ve seen people of all ages risk everything to insist that their votes are counted and that their voices [are] heard. Above all, we’ve seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we’ve experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and extraordinarily painful, we also know this: Those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history,” Obama said.

In his remarks, the president took a question from an Iranian citizen that was relayed by Nico Pitney, a writer for the Huffington Post Web site. The questioner asked Obama under what circumstances he would accept incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, which has sparked the demonstrations.

Obama said the United States cannot definitively say what took place in the June 12 election, citing the absence of international election observers on the ground. However, he said there are “significant questions” that many Iranians have raised about the legitimacy of the election. (See “Iran Must Respect the Right of Its People to Peaceful Expression.”)

“The most important thing for the Iranian government to consider is legitimacy in the eyes of its own people, not in the eyes of the United States,” he said.

But there are international norms and principles on how to deal with peaceful dissent, which “spans cultures [and] spans borders.”

Americans have seen “powerful images and poignant words” thanks to Internet and cell phone technology, and “what we’ve been seeing in news reports violates those norms and violates those principles” of the right to free speech and free expression.

“I think it is not too late for the Iranian government to recognize that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and legitimacy and prosperity for the Iranian people. We hope they take it,” Obama said.

The United States is waiting to see how the situation plays out inside Iran before deciding how to proceed with its long-standing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and support for terrorist organizations.

“There is a path available to Iran in which their sovereignty is respected, their traditions, their culture, their faith is respected, but one in which they are part of a larger community that has responsibilities and operates according to norms and international rules that are universal,” he said. “We don’t know how they’re going to respond yet, and that’s what we’re waiting to see.”

The president said the Iranian government’s recent actions toward its people have not been encouraging “in terms of the path that this regime may choose to take.”

Iranian leaders need to understand that “how they handle the dissent within their own country generated indigenously, internally from the Iranian people, will help shape the tone not only for Iran’s future but also its relationship to other countries,” he said.

U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL “DISMAYED” BY USE OF FORCE AGAINST CIVILIANS

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. leader is “dismayed” by the post-election violence in Iran, “particularly the use of force against civilians,” and he urged an “immediate stop to the arrests, threats and use of force.”

In a statement released June 22, Ban urged Iranian authorities to respect the fundamental civil and political rights of the Iranian people, “especially the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of information.”

The U.N. leader also urged the government and opposition to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue and legal avenues. “The Secretary-General reiterates his hope that the democratic will of the people of Iran will be fully respected,” the statement said.

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