Human rights in Iran
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Cyrus Cylinder

Iran is home to the earliest known charter of human rights^[1] — the Achaemenid dynasty established unprecedented principles of human rights in the 6th century BC, under the reign of Cyrus the Great. After his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, the King issued the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 and recognised by many today as the first document defining a person's human rights. The cylinder declared that citizens of the Persian Empire would be allowed to practice their religious beliefs freely and abolished slavery. This means that all the palaces of the Kings of Persia were built by paid workers, in an era where slaves typically did such work. These two reforms were reflected in the biblical books of Chronicles and Ezra, which state that Cyrus released the followers of Judaism from slavery and allowed them to migrate back to their land. Following Persia's defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great, the concept of human rights was abandoned.

Iranian Constitutional Revolution

In 1906, the Iranian Constitutional Revolution resulted in a constitutional monarchy. For the first time in the more than 2000 years since the reign of Cyrus the Great, Iran was relying on a code of law to govern the interactions of its citizens and define their minimum freedoms.

Pahlavi Dynasty

Main article: Human rights in the Pahlavi Dynasty

With the arrival of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, the constitution was for all practical purposes ignored. Political prisoners were imprisoned, political opponents and erstwhile allies were executed. Torture of political prisoners was common ^[2]

His son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi continued in his father's footsteps, and his SAVAK were notorious for their imaginative torture methods. ^[3]

Islamic Republic

Main article: Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran has been criticized by such organizations as the UN and Amnesty International for violations of humans rights, including but not limited to child executions, torture, discrimination against women, and suppression of the press.^[4][5]

References