{"id":757,"date":"2014-01-27T19:20:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T19:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cornellilj.org\/?p=757"},"modified":"2014-01-27T19:20:58","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T19:20:58","slug":"iran-religion-and-relativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/2014\/01\/27\/iran-religion-and-relativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion and Relativity in Iran, Vol. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CC  Image Courtesy of Abode of Chaos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion and Relativity in Iran<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Jordan Manalastas*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Valentine\u2019s Day of 1989, the first Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, became perhaps the world\u2019s surliest book critic by condemning British author Salman Rushdie to death.[1] Rushdie was charged with blasphemy for his less-than-flattering portrait of the Prophet Muhammad in The Satanic Verses<\/em>.[2] Rushdie lived, but the violence and death that came to those involved in the novel\u2019s publication gave \u201chatchet job\u201d a whole new meaning.[3] Since Ruhollah Khomeini\u2019s reign, his successor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has had a more forgiving taste in Western literature.[4] More importantly, while his predecessor\u2019s reign was marked by a titanic scorn for the West, Khamenei\u2019s contempt has been more subdued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example of this is the more accommodating policy approach of Iran\u2019s new president, Hassan Rouhani, who has been touted (if reluctantly) as a sort of undeveloped Gorbachev.[5] Indeed, Rouhani\u2019s more progressive attitude has shown through in his attempts to negotiate with the West over Iran\u2019s nuclear program. More recently, in a move that is almost Glasnostian, the new president has also announced a Charter of Citizens\u2019 Rights (the Charter).[6] The goal of the Charter, the first draft of which was released exclusively in Persian last November, is to \u201cdraw[] a clear image of the rights of citizens\u201d in Iran.[7]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is the Charter a meaningful step forward for human rights in Iran? Maybe not. As an initial matter, the document proclaims its own toothlessness. It is not an expansion of existing rights; nor does it create, under existing law, any new rights[8]\u2014as one hopes to see, for instance, in the Saudi Arabian move to let women finally drive.[9] Instead, the Charter\u2019s primary virtue is to clarify the government\u2019s position vis-\u00e0-vis its already impoverished rights regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to the meat of its provisions, the Charter arguably has a number of additional deficiencies. For example, while Article 3.92 of the Charter prohibits torture, it does not provide any description of what types of torturous activities are forbidden.[10] Moreover, the Charter\u2019s prohibition only extends to torture \u201cfor the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information.\u201d[11] This means torture for other purposes may be tolerable. The death penalty provides another illustrative sample: the Charter does not forbid the execution of persons who were under the age of eighteen when they committed their crimes.[12] Thus, even putting aside its toothlessness, the Charter appears to fall short even on its own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Infidels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps the Charter\u2019s most glaring blemish of all, at least to Western eyes, is its subtle refusal to proffer anything cognizable as a freedom of religious expression. Like the Iranian Constitution, the draft Charter pays lip service to the varieties of religious experience, as expressed in a plurality of mazaheb<\/em>.[13] Language here is critical. Mazhab<\/em>, or in Arabic madhhab<\/em>, refers to a school of Islamic thought. Iranians enjoy the latitude to choose freely among these schools. However, a question naturally arises: what of non-Islamic schools or even non-religious schools? Likewise, under Article 3.117 the Charter declares that Iranians are free to organize and attend religious ceremonies.[14] However, this right only extends to those religions recognized in the Iranian Constitution.[15] The Constitution, in turn, acknowledges Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity[16] but conspicuously excludes Iran\u2019s largest religious minority, the Baha\u2019i. [17]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Charter does<\/em> protect is a limited scope of religious freedoms, conditioned on compliance with the law of the land.[18] However, considering the inherent strictures built into that law, one wonders whether Iran enjoys a religious freedom worthy of the name. The fatwa<\/em> on Rushdie\u2019s life, for example, remains firmly in place.[19] There, Mr. Rushdie\u2019s thoughtcrime was not religious, but literary, and showed the ruthlessness of a regime that privileges Shari\u2019a<\/em> over free expression. Worse still, Iran still counts itself among the handful of countries that enforce, under penalty of death, the Qur\u2019anic prohibition on apostasy from Islam.[20] This is particularly troubling from a religious liberty perspective because of Iran\u2019s prevailing clerical inkling that the entire Baha\u2019i religion is one collective apostasy.[21]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having analyzed the Charter\u2019s toothless implementing mechanism and some of its substantive provisions, it appears the Iranian government\u2019s rhetoric that it respects its citizens\u2019 rights is, at best, empty posturing. More cynically, one might say that the Charter obscures what a \u201cright\u201d even means in the religious context. So while the president insists that the Charter ought to be a point of Iranian pride,[22] the Charter still falls short of any legitimate attempt to repair the cultural and normative gap announced so venomously by the first Ayatollah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Relativism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One should keep in mind that the Western conception of religious freedom, as cherished in America, did not emerge ex nihilo<\/em>. It is premised on the principle of voluntariness, which was itself a distinctively religious notion\u2014\u201cforced worship stinks in God\u2019s nostrils\u201d[23]\u2014immortalized in Locke\u2019s Letter Concerning Toleration<\/em>.[24] We have inherited, of course, a more secularized version, but our latitudinarianism springs from a tradition that takes individual conscience almost too<\/em> seriously. This is why the Iranian spin on religious liberty seems altogether alien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this in mind, it may seem unrealistic or even unfair to impose onto Iran a normative heritage it does not share. However, as a purely normative matter, a belief in human<\/em> rights must entail some sense of universality, cultural difference notwithstanding. Otherwise, one risks enabling a solipsistic culture ruled by clerical decree. More importantly, Iran is a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which protects not just freedom of thought and religion, but also the right to leave one\u2019s faith.[25] By any sensible standard, Iran\u2019s flimsy rights regime stands in violation of its international obligations under the UDHR.[26] Thus, whether Iran likes it or not,[27] the country\u2019s leaders should afford religious minorities greater protection. Where individual conscience and human lives are at stake, it is not simply a matter of taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a PDF of this article in formal, law-journal format, click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citation:<\/strong> Jordan Manalastas, Religion and Relativity in Iran<\/em>, 1 Cornell Int\u2019l L.J. Online 153 (2014).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Jordan Manalastas is a J.D. candidate at Cornell Law School, where he is the Cornell International Law Journal<\/em>\u2019s Associate on Middle Eastern Affairs and a research associate for the Legal Information Institute. He holds an A.B. in political theory from the University of California, Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] See<\/em> Ayatollah Sentences Author to Death<\/em>, On This Day, BBC News, http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/onthisday\/hi\/dates\/stories\/february\/14\/newsid_2541000\/2541149.stm (last visited Jan. 26, 2014).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]  See<\/em> Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses 93\u2013129 (1988) (depicting \u201cMahound\u201d as a flawed and desperate businessman in the dream sequence of a madman).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] See, e.g.<\/em>, Steven Weisman, Japanese Translator of Rushdie Book Found Slain<\/em>, NY Times (July 13, 1991), http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/99\/04\/18\/specials\/rushdie-translator.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] He has gone on record to confess a fondness for Hugo and Balzac. See<\/em> Akbar Ganji, Who Is Ali Khameini?<\/em>, Foreign Affairs (Jan. 26, 2014), http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/139643\/akbar-ganji\/who-is-ali-khamenei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5] See, e.g.<\/em>, Jochen Bittner, Is Rouhani an Iranian Gorbachev?<\/em>, Op. Pages, Opinion Pages, NY Times (Dec. 5, 2013), http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/12\/06\/opinion\/bittner-is-rouhani-an-iranian-gorbachev.html?_r=0; Stephen Kotkin, Rouhani\u2019s Gorbachev Moment<\/em>, Foreign Affairs (Nov. 24, 2013), http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/140287\/stephen-kotkin\/rouhanis-gorbachev-moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6] See<\/em> Arash Khalatbari, Draft Charter of Citizen Rights for Iranian<\/em>, Press TV (Dec. 4, 2013), http:\/\/www.presstv.ir\/detail\/2013\/12\/04\/338266\/iran-charter-human-rights-president-rohani-law\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7] Mohammad Saleh Sodqian, New Iranian ‘Citizen Rights Charter’ Met with Mixed Reviews<\/em>, Al Monitor (Dec. 6, 2013), http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/tr\/contents\/articles\/politics\/2013\/12\/iran-charter-citizen-rights-contoversy.html##ixzz2rY49FFYS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8] See <\/em>Draft Charter of Citizens\u2019 Rights, art. 1.1, Nov. 26, 2013 (Iran), available at<\/em> http:\/\/president.ir\/att\/shahrvandi.pdf. [hereinafter Charter]. See also <\/em>Nazila Ghanea, The Iranian Charter of Citizens\u2019 Rights<\/em>, EJIL: Talk! (Dec. 10, 2013), http:\/\/www.ejiltalk.org\/the-iranian-charter-of-citizens-rights\/ (\u201cThe Charter itself announces that it will not have an effect on existing rights, laws and obligations or on international conventions.\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9] See<\/em> Ian Black, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Women Hold Day of Action to Change Driving Laws<\/em>, Guardian, Oct. 25, 2013, at 39. See also<\/em> Jordan Manalastas, Women Take the Wheel: A Humble Reformation in Saudi Arabia<\/em>, 1 Cornell Int\u2019l L.J. Online 67 (2013), http:\/\/cornellilj.org\/saudi-arabia-women-take-the-wheel\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10] See <\/em>Charter, supra <\/em>note 8, art. 3.92.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11] See Iran: Charter of Citizens\u2019 Rights Must Enshrine Human Rights for All<\/em>, Amnesty International (Dec. 19, 2013), http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/asset\/MDE13\/057\/2013\/en\/0583b691-f8ec-4693-97e6-bd8f0e35943f\/mde130572013en.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12] Id.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13] See<\/em> Charter, supra<\/em> note 8, art. 3.21; see also<\/em> Constitution of Iran, 1979, art. 12 (\u201cOther Islamic schools, including the Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, Hanbali, and Zaydi, are to be accorded full respect, and their followers are free to act in accordance with their own jurisprudence in performing their<\/p>\n\n\n\n

religious rites.\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14] See<\/em> Charter, supra<\/em> note 8, art. 3.117<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15] See id.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16] Constitution of Iran, 1979, art. 13 (\u201cZoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are the only recognized religious minorities, who, within the limits of the law, are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education.\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[17] See generally<\/em> Nazila Ghanea, Human Rights, the U.N., and the Baha\u2019is in Iran (2002).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18] See<\/em> Charter, supra<\/em> note 8, arts. 1.1, 3.11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[19] See<\/em> Damien McElroy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Sir Salman Rushdie \u2018Still Under the Threat of Death<\/em>,\u2019<\/em> Telegraph (Sept. 24, 2012), http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/middleeast\/iran\/9563686\/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-Sir-Salman-Rushdie-still-under-the-threat-of-death.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[20] See<\/em> 2010 International Religious Freedom Report: Iran, U.S. Dept. of State 3 (Sept. 13, 2011), http:\/\/www.state.gov\/documents\/organization\/171734.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[21] See<\/em> David P. Forsythe, Human Rights and Comparative Foreign Policy 217 (2000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[22] See<\/em> Khalatbaria, supra<\/em> note 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[23] Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America 35 (1986) (quoting Roger Williams).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[24] See<\/em> John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (James H. Tully ed., Hackett 1983) (1689).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[25] See<\/em> Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A, U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess., 1st plen. Mtg., U.N. Doc. A\/810, at art. 18. (Dec. 10, 1948); United Nations, Yearbook of the United Nations 1948\u20131949, at 535 (1950), available at <\/em>http:\/\/unyearbook.un.org\/1948-49YUN\/1948-49_P1_CH5.pdf (noting that Iran voted in favor of the Declaration).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[26] Of course, being just a U.N. declaration, the UDHR was not originally binding. However, since its adoption, many parts of it have become customary international law. See <\/em>Tai-Heng Cheng, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Sixty: Is It Still Right for the United States?<\/em>, 41 Cornell Int’l L.J. 251, 270 (2008).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[27] The head of Iran\u2019s judiciary has implied that it does not. See<\/em> The Head of Iran\u2019s Judiciary: The Universal Declaration Mistakenly Joined<\/em>, BBC News (Feb. 2, 2012), http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/persian\/iran\/2012\/02\/120202_l23_sadeq_larijani_iran_un_human_rights.shtml. In opposition to the liberal democratic paradigm enshrined in the UDHR, Iran has adopted also the Shari\u2019a<\/em>-friendly Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam See<\/em> Eva Brems, Islamic Declarations of Human Rights<\/em> in Human Rights: Universality and Diversity 241\u201384 (2001).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CC  Image Courtesy of Abode of Chaos Religion and Relativity in Iran by Jordan Manalastas* On Valentine\u2019s Day of 1989, the first Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, became perhaps the world\u2019s surliest book critic by condemning British author Salman Rushdie to death.[1] Rushdie was charged with blasphemy for his less-than-flattering portrait of the Prophet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,17],"tags":[54,90,219,226,247,335],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-2","category-forum-archive","tag-ali-khamenei","tag-charter-of-citizens-rights","tag-hassan-rouhani","tag-human-rights","tag-iran","tag-religious-freedom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/cilj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}