Rising censorship among world's oil powers
Venezuela's move to shut down a major TV station parallels recent crackdowns in Iran and Russia.
from the May 24, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Iran cracks down on academics
Press freedom is usually one of the first rights to be curbed, Mr. Walker says, but all types of freedoms are at stake. In Iran, recent crackdowns under conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have only sporadically focused on the media.
But Iran's intelligence services are now targeting academics and other activists with ties to the West, on the pretext that they are receiving some of the $75 million earmarked by the US Congress for "pro-democracy" activities.
On Monday, for example, charges were published against Haleh Esfandiari, a dual Iran-US citizen who directs the Mideast program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. She has been in Iranian custody since Dec. 30. Iran also has reportedly detained Kian Tajbakhsh, a consultant for philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Institute.
The US funding is part of the continuing "civil society" support that is credited with enabling the "democratic revolutions" in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Russia, Belarus, and now Iran have sought to pre-empt Western influence by clamping down on civil society groups.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Mrs. Esfandiari of helping set up a secret network with the Open Society Institute to undermine the regime. "The long-term and final goal of such centers is to try to enable this network to confront the ruling powers," the ministry said in a statement.Some in Iran see the moves not as a clamp on freedom of expression but a matter of domestic security.
In Russia, where no one claims that press controls have returned to the Soviet model of total subservience, pro-Kremlin experts blame local journalists for not taking advantage of their legal freedoms. "Any media outlet has a choice whether to be independent or not. Some, such as the [Moscow radio station] Ekho Moskvi, or Novaya Gazeta, are criticizing [President Vladimir] Putin in a harsh way, and they survive," says Boris Reznik, a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party and deputy head of the State Duma's commission on information policy. "But other journalists don't want to be free; they'd rather earn a lot of money and take state subsidies."
Meanwhile, in Caracas, more protests over the closure of RCTV are expected this weekend. But few expect Chávez to back down. Like many leaders, he doesn't need to, says Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue. "The move will hurt his international reputation, but it's damage he judges he can weather," says Mr. Shifter. "It's because oil prices are so high [that] these oil-producing countries feel they can get away with a lot and take steps to silence the press. Neighboring countries would hesitate to criticize them since they need their oil.
• Contributing to this report: Correspondent Fred Weir in Moscow, Daniel Cancel in Caracas, and staff writer Scott Peterson
in Istanbul, Turkey.
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