Posted by Joseph Klingler \u2013 February 7, 2014 @ 10:26.<\/p>\n
The paramilitary Basij Resistance Force has long been a central pillar of support for the Islamic Republic of Iran.\u00a0According to the United States Institute of Peace<\/a>,\u00a0the volunteer \u201cpeople\u2019s militia\u201d was formed in 1980 by the regime\u2019s first leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to help defend the country \u201cin accordance with . . . Islamic criteria.\u201d The group now operates beneath the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and assists with \u201cinternal security, law enforcement, special religious or political events and morals policing.\u201d Infamously, the Basij played a key role in suppressing, through actions described as \u201cbrutal and predatory,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>the so-called Green Movement surrounding Iran\u2019s disputed 2009 presidential election.<\/p>\n By many accounts,<\/a>\u00a0the Basij is no paragon of human rights. But it is precisely this reputation that makes the group\u2019s recent publication of a 27-page report<\/a>\u00a0documenting alleged human rights violations by the United States so interesting. Indeed, the report is striking not only in its subject matter, but also in its scope and depth. Adopting the rhetoric of human rights, the Basij address a variety of human rights concerns with U.S. practice, ranging from the treatment of minorities, immigrants and prisoners, to civil liberties, torture, and the use of the death penalty. In so doing, the report buttresses its arguments through references to a number of western rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n While perhaps one-sided in its presentation of certain facts, the report takes itself seriously and can be applauded by those concerned with human rights in the United States and Iran alike. It would be premature to suggest that the organization has internalized<\/a>\u00a0all of the norms it now espouses, i.e. that the Basij\u2019s identity and interests have been \u201creconstituted\u201d in line with international human rights norms. At the same time, however, the report does suggest that the organization\u2014and the larger Iranian regime\u2014would like to present itself as a defender of human rights. To that extent, the Basij might at least be said to have begun a process of \u201cacculturation,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0a mechanism of state compliance with legal obligations according to which \u201cidentification with a reference group\u201d\u2014in this case, the human rights community\u2014\u201cgenerates . . . cognitive and social pressures . . . to conform.\u201d But whether the Basij is internalizing norms, acculturating, or merely hypocritically propagandizing, the organization\u2019s decision to engage with human rights discourse in this way is encouraging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Posted by Joseph Klingler \u2013 February 7, 2014 @ 10:26. The paramilitary Basij Resistance Force has long been a central 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