Quote:
Originally posted by Luvian:
That's what I'm saying, those would not happen in our society. Our rights are a cultural thing, in my opinion.
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Ah, I see now.
But power abuses can happen here, too. I think much of the problem is the individual, not merely the society/culture. Just recently a BC judge was stripped of his position and sent to jail for a good stretch of time. Reason? He coerced/threatened/extorted sex from/raped a couple of teenaged girls who were in trouble with the law. He used his position as a judge to force them to keep silent, as he threatened to send them up for long stretches if they caused him trouble. He was on the bench in their cases several times before, during and after this sordid story. He might have gotten away with all this, except that one of the girls broke down when he was lecturing her from the bench and accused him of his crimes and hypocrisy - which subsequently turned out to be true. The difference here is that someone took the accused's accusations seriously and investigated the judge. Moreover, we have judicial standards. So in that regard, I see eye to eye with you, Luvian.
I agree with you in the sense that the Iranian system/society is rife with abuses and lends itself to covering over and allowing the abuse. But I view that as more political than cultural. Iran rebelled violently against Western influence in their country in the late 70s; it was corrupt, at the time - the Shah was milking as much money as he could from the state. The fanatics managed to gain power because they represented change and they haven't looked back. Who knows what kind of system or culture Iran might have now if the theocrats weren't in charge? There is substantial dissatisfaction in Iran right now, because the government is keeping the lid down on all sorts of reforms. There are also a sizable number of Iranians who fled the regime who might otherwise have stayed, many ending up in Canada.
One of them, a female journalist with long-standing Canadian citizenship, went to Iran to report on the status of women in the country. She was held for a month in a state prison "for questioning", and died in state custody. The state-run trial, held at the insistence of Canadian Foreign Affairs and the international community, was a crock. Nothing happened, and the Iranian government had the gall to suggest that her multiple severe head injuries (consistent with those caused by blunt instruments) were caused by an "accidental fall." Yeah, right.
[ 08-25-2004, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: Aerich ]