EUobserver opinion: Opinion: Can nuclear talks be a template for human rights in Iran?

BRUSSELS - As the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton i, leads the latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group, it has become clear to the EU and the international community that president Hassan Rohani’s year in office has had some success in the foreign policy arena.

While expectations on nuclear co-operation raised hope internationally during Rohani’s campaign, domestically his popularity was anchored by a human rights message.

During his election campaign, Rohani notably said: “Justice means that anyone who wants to speak in a society should be able to come out, speak their mind, criticize and critique without hesitation and stammering.”

It was this statement and others that encouraged many Iranians to cautiously vest their trust in him. For the first time since the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997, people at home and abroad felt change might be approaching in Iran, a nation that has so far resisted reform.

Eager to shift the political momentum back in their favor, hardliners have fiercely attacked the nuclear negotiations, calling them capitulation and hoping to sabotage a deal.

This has left Rohani and his administration in a difficult position on the domestic front. Hesitant that tackling sensitive domestic issues could spark territorial battles with hardliners and further inhibit his foreign policy, Rohani has resisted substantive action.

As such, human rights reforms have been sparse and lackadaisical. By ebbing on human rights, however, Rohani is risking losing crucial support from his base. It was, after all, a focus on rights issues not foreign policy that won him the election.

As the decisive parliamentary elections in 2016 approach, keeping the support of those who put him in office is critically important.

Rouhani needs to show his supporters that he’s willing to leverage all mechanisms available to protect their rights. Maybe it is time he mimic his international engagement around the nuclear issue with a credible track on human rights.

How should he do this? By letting the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, into the country.

Shaheed is increasingly a household name in Iran. In fact, Iranian officials often complain that he is a media celebrity and have gone to great lengths to slander him in domestic media.

Yet, Shaheed’s status is fueled by the same feelings that drove Rohani’s rise in popularity: desperation on the part of some Iranians for more social freedoms and equality.

Since 2005, however, Iran has blocked any UN special rapporteur from visiting the country. In fact, Ashton has been one of the few Western dignitaries allowed to travel to Iran.

Her landmark trip earlier in March proved the importance of such visits. Though the purpose was to discuss the potential relationship between Iran and the EU, it focused significantly on the issue of human rights.

Getting to meet with women activists, family members of victims and Iranian interlocutors, Ashton was able to do what Shaheed has long asked for: observe the situation on the ground and hold meetings with authorities in Iran who are often cut off from the type of human rights conversations that happen in New York and Geneva.

Though her trip was followed by criticisms from the Iranian government, it has proven invaluable. Similarly, if Rohani can create an opportunity for Shaheed to travel to Iran, he will demonstrate that his administration has taken its human rights commitments seriously.

Rohani can reaffirm to his base that he is honest and willing to stand up to hardliners to make good on his commitments. When he does, the international community will resoundingly support him and his goals.

For his part, Rohani remains consistent in language and tone around human rights and has appointed some moderates and reforms as ministers and governors. These steps need to now translate into a change in international engagement.

Rohani suspended the practices of barring student activists from entering universities. On the whole, however, Rohani’s actions have been limited and failed to alter the disappointing status quo.

The promised Citizenship Rights Charter is rather weak. Moreover, serious human rights violations continue mostly unabated, including a shockingly sharp rise in executions, and the curtailing of press freedoms.

Iranian journalist Reyhaneh Tabatabaie and Saba Azarpeik were both recently arrested. Both wrote for reformist newspapers, including the Shargh and Etemaad dailies, respectively, and have been accused of allegedly “weakening the pillars of the Islamic Republic” and promoting “propaganda against the state.”

True human rights reforms will naturally take time, as abuses in Iran are entrenched in law and practice, and hardliners dominate parliament, judiciary and the security. But Rohani can, in the short term, alleviate some pressure at home and show his dedication to change by embracing engagement on human rights with the UN rapporteurs.

The EU is essential in making this happen. Its seat at the nuclear talks can help encourage Iran to apply a similar sense of urgency on human rights issues. EU leaders have a responsibility to encourage Iran’s full co-operation with all UN mechanisms, which includes allowing special rapporteur Shaheed into the country.

In fact, October will offer the perfect opportunity to do so. The international community will gather to review Iran’s progress on the recommendations it accepted four years ago at its last Universal Periodic Review.

EU members made recommendations in 2010 that Iran accepted. They will need to return in late October, seeking answers as to why the Islamic Republic has not honored its commitments.

While a visit by a UN rapporteur is not enough to address all concerns, it would be an important step and major achievement for the administration, and could be a launching pad for meaningful human rights reforms.

Success on human rights will help boost Rohani’s credibility domestically and internationally. By returning to the more difficult domestic challenges that need attention, the president can take the first of many steps necessary to help truly uphold human rights.

It is time for the Iran rapporteur to be granted a visit.

The writer is an Iranian journalist who was awarded the "Defender" prize by US-based NGO Human Rights Watch in 2005