Examining the Security Sensitivity Towards Wildlife Activists

March 3rd is World Wildlife Day. The aim of the United Nations in designating such global days is to provide an opportunity for awareness and discussion on the topic. As we approach Sunday, March 3rd, corresponding to 12 Esfand, it is a chance to review the challenges facing wildlife in Iran. Until last winter, annual reviews of wildlife in Iran focused on questions such as whether Iranian cheetahs bred in the past year or how many Iranian rangers were injured or killed by poachers. The answers determined whether the situation of wildlife in Iran had improved or not. However, such questions have now been replaced by others. In Bahman and Esfand of last year, the IRGC arrested nine wildlife activists in Iran and subsequently the judiciary accused them of espionage and corruption on earth – allegations based on the claim of 'using environmental projects as a cover for gathering classified strategic information.' Several other events further complicated the situation: First, the news of the death of Kavous Seyed Emami, a sociology professor at Imam Sadiq University and CEO of the 'Persian Wildlife Heritage' institute, who was officially declared a suicide in prison, but his family did not accept this and Amnesty International described the death as suspicious; shortly after, the news of the arrest of Kaveh Madani, the former deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment (who was later released and left Iran), was published. Finally, in Mehr of this year, the body of Farshid Haki, a lawyer and civil activist who also had environmental activities in his record, was found. The Department of Environment and the Ministry of Intelligence have stated that wildlife and environmental activists did not engage in espionage. A four-member government-appointed committee has also confirmed this. Currently, concerns over the detention of Amir Hossein Khalighi, Hooman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghadirian, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, eight imprisoned wildlife and environmental activists, have taken on international and human rights dimensions. Now, as we approach World Wildlife Day, questions arise: Why have the IRGC and armed forces, along with the judiciary, become sensitive to at least some wildlife activists? And how can this security-political sensitivity towards wildlife and environmental activists be reduced and resolved? To address these questions, three guests this week have responded: Ismail Kahrm, a senior expert and former deputy of the Department of Environment in Tehran; Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer and former attorney for one of the imprisoned environmental activists in Tehran; and Solmaz Ikdar, a journalist in Istanbul. To review the issues facing civil activities related to the preservation of wildlife in Iran and to obtain information, listen to the complete audio file of this challenging discussion.