Do Iranian lives matter?

The Iranian protesters have been striking an incredible blow for freedom. For over a fortnight now, ordinary men and women have been coming out on to the streets to demand liberation from their theocratic rulers. And they have been putting their lives on the line to do so – the reactionary, autocratic regime of the Islamic Republic has reportedly massacred thousands of protesters so far.

These unimaginably brave people are fighting for the most fundamental of freedoms. They are demonstrating in the most courageous way possible their belief in human rights.

So what have international human-rights bodies said about these protests? Surely they have offered their full-throated support to those risking everything to fight for the very freedoms these groups claim to promote?

Er, not quite. Amnesty International has expressed virtually no support for the protesters themselves. Instead, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, merely urged Iran’s repressive regime ‘to stop the unlawful use of force and firearms’. Likewise, Amnesty Canada called on the Iranian authorities ‘to uphold the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and refrain from using unlawful force.’ The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office added: ‘The right to peaceful protest, as enshrined in international law, must be protected. All deaths should be promptly, independently and transparently investigated.’

These mealy mouthed messages, written as if they’re addressing a Western state during a period of civil unrest, are completely disconnected from reality. This is the Islamic Republic of Iran we’re talking about here. It’s a regime built on the murderous repression of any dissent. A regime that, on pain of death, enforces strict Islamic laws, limiting what people can say, do and wear. And the likes of Amnesty International and the UN’s human-rights arm are asking for it to respect the right to peaceful protest and carry out a full and transparent investigation into the deaths of protesters. The boilerplate legalism of their response bears no relation to the brutal reality of the Islamic Republic.

The human-rights agencies’ response to the Iranian protests stands in stark contrast with their response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here, they speak with shrill moralistic certainty, denouncing and condemning the liberal, democratic state of Israel at every turn. Amnesty International constantly levelled baseless accusations of ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ against Israel. And the UN has issued countless statements affirming the Palestinians’ ‘inalienable, permanent and unqualified right… to live in freedom, justice and dignity’.

Do Iranians not have the same right to ‘live in freedom, justice and dignity’? If they do, why is the human-rights NGO-ocracy suddenly so reserved in its criticism? Are its leading bodies afraid of upsetting Iran’s Islamic regime – one of the most aggressive enemies of human rights on the planet?

There may be practical reasons for the response of the human-rights industry to the Iranian protests. Perhaps Amnesty International and its ilk fear appearing to endorse an alternative leadership in Iran. Perhaps they worry that open support for the protesters would bolster the Iranian regime’s claims of foreign interference. They may insist that they support human-rights law, not political movements for liberty.

But this does not explain why they qualify their support for Iranian protesters in ways they do not for Palestinians. It does not explain why they speak with moralistic zeal about some causes, but with legalistic restraint about others. Their commitment to human rights appears to fluctuate depending on how fashionable the cause is. And let’s be in no doubt that the Palestinian cause is far more in vogue among Amnesty’s Western, middle-class supporters than the Iranians’ fight for freedom against Islamist tyranny.

As a result, these international NGOs have reduced themselves to spectators in the face of the most significant pro-freedom movement the world has seen in decades. Their legalistic, half-baked response reminds us once again that real freedom is not granted by international lawyers, supranational bodies or NGOs. It’s fought for by the people themselves – in this case, by Iranian men and women whose bravery deserves to echo throughout history. They demonstrate that liberty is won through a willingness to fight for it – often at extraordinary personal cost.

Iranians are now paying that cost in blood. How appalling that the world’s most prominent human-rights institutions cannot bring themselves to stand firmly behind them.

Luke Gittos is a spiked columnist and author. His most recent book is Human Rights – Illusory Freedom: Why We Should Repeal the Human Rights Act, which is published by Zero Books. Order it here.