{"id":1082,"date":"2017-08-18T14:31:52","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T14:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2017-08-18T14:31:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T14:31:52","slug":"rouhani-cabinet-pick-linked-to-mass-surveillance-of-2009-protestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1082","title":{"rendered":"Rouhani Cabinet Pick Linked to Mass Surveillance of 2009 Protestors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi<\/p><\/div>\n

August 17, 2017\u2014President Hassan Rouhani\u2019s pick to head the telecommunications ministry should publicly address concerns over his direct involvement with surveillance operations during the state crackdown on the peaceful protests in 2009 and allegations that he personally interrogated activists at the time, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement today.<\/p>\n

Rouhani\u2019s nomination of\u00a0Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, who built parts of Iran\u2019s massive surveillance infrastructure while working in the Intelligence Ministry, to lead the Ministry\u00a0of Information and\u00a0Communications\u00a0Technology (ICT) has led to concerns among civil rights activists that Jahromi could use his new position to expand already extensive online state spying operations on citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelecting a man who said he\u2019s \u2018proud\u2019 of making the technical infrastructure for the surveillance industry is a sharp shift from Rouhani\u2019s election campaign promises to protect citizens\u2019 rights,\u201d said CHRI\u2019s executive director Hadi Ghaemi.<\/p>\n

\u201cRouhani should nominate someone who will protect citizens\u2019 rights, not someone linked to human rights violations through the work he did for the Intelligence Ministry,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A member of Parliament and activists have spoken out against Rouhani\u2019s nomination of Jahromi, who purchased surveillance equipment for the Intelligence Ministry during former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad\u2019s second term (2009-13).<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t turn the telecommunications ministry into a second Intelligence Ministry,\u201d warned MP Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar on August 15, 2017 during deliberations in Parliament over Jahromi\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n

On August 12, a few days before Parliament deliberated his nomination, Jahromi denied\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that he directed intelligence operations under Ahmadinejad while adding the he was \u201cproud\u201d of aiding the Intelligence Ministry in another way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have legal surveillance based on Article 150 of the\u00a0Criminal Procedures Law<\/a>\u00a0passed by Parliament,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Jahromi in front of the parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my career, I have never been in charge of surveillance itself, but rather I was in charge of making the technical infrastructure for the surveillance equipment industry and I\u2019m proud of it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Aiding Iran\u2019s Citizen Surveillance Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Jahromi was working in the Intelligence Ministry\u2019s surveillance department in 2009, the Iranian government was on a buying spree to modernize its electronic spying operations and strengthen its ability to intercept messages and hack citizens\u2019 online accounts.<\/p>\n

Thousands of activists and protesters were arrested in 2009 for peacefully disputing the re-election of Ahmadinejad that year in a\u00a0state crackdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The equipment the Intelligence Ministry purchased while Jahromi was heading the infrastructure project\u2014including wiretapping gear, geo-locators and voice recognition apparatus\u2014was used by the ministry, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 Intelligence Organization and other domestic security organizations to spy on Iranian citizens, suppress freedom of expression and intimidate civil rights workers and dissidents without judicial review.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorrying about electronic surveillance has become a daily part of life since 2009,\u201d a civil rights activist in Tehran who spoke on condition of anonymity told CHRI on August 14. \u201cSince then we have had to take the battery out of our phones or turn them off on a regular basis for fear of being monitored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI even remember my interrogator talking about conversations that I had only had with another person on the phone,\u201d added the activist. \u201cIt was impossible for anyone to have known about them without phone tapping.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2009, Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and other human rights activists campaigned against sales of Nokia Siemens Networks\u2019 equipment to Iran \u201cafter several prisoners, including Mr.\u00a0[Issa] Saharkhiz<\/a>\u00a0said that they had been abused as a result of the Iranian government\u2019s utilization of technology and software sold by Nokia Siemens.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 2010, the telecommunications giant\u00a0stopped<\/a>\u00a0selling monitoring equipment to Iran after months of negotiations with Ebadi, who criticized the threat they posed to the security of Iranian online users.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s surveillance operations also targeted elected Parliamentary representatives. In a\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2013, conservative MP Ali Motahari revealed that he was being illegally spied on.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Article 25 of the\u00a0Constitution<\/a>,\u00a0\u2018eavesdropping, and all forms of covert investigation are forbidden, except as provided by law\u2019 and the judge can order them for a certain period only for serious crimes such as in a murder investigation,\u201d said Motahari. \u201cTo wiretap MPs, the Parliament speaker should first be informed. However, neither he nor the judiciary was aware of this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHRI has also confirmed that five activists in Iran were personally interrogated by Jahromi amid the state repression of the peaceful protests that erupted in 2009 in response to the widely disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that year. They were all members of the campaign team for\u00a0Mir Hossein Mousavi<\/a>, who was running for president at the time.<\/p>\n

Fearing retribution by security forces, the people who were interrogated by Jahromi have refused to speak out about their cases publicly. However, associates of theirs have relayed some of their experiences on social media.<\/p>\n

On August 14, Hamzeh Ghalebi, who worked on Mousavi\u2019s campaign team,\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that a friend of his, a former political prisoner, was personally interrogated by Jahromi in 2009: \u201cHe confirmed that Jahromi had been his interrogator who treated him badly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo of my friends who were arrested in 2009 confirmed that not only was Jahromi their interrogator, but that he also took part in home search and seizure operations,\u201d\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0reformist journalist Nahid Molavi on August 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cRouhani\u2019s pick for the telecommunications ministry casts a shadow on a president who was\u00a0twice elected<\/a>\u00a0on a platform of improving civil rights,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/p>\n

\u201cRouhani has a duty to ensure that the integrity of the telecommunications ministry, which is responsible for protecting citizens\u2019 online communications, is not jeopardized because of Jahromi\u2019s relationship with the Intelligence Ministry,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For interviews, contact:
\nHadi Ghaemi
\n+1-917-669-5996
\nhadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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