Government Spokesman Hassan Rouhani: We Regret the Whipping of Workers

Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesman for Hassan Rouhani's government, said on Tuesday, June 8, that the government is "sorry" about the implementation of the whipping sentence for 17 workers of the Agh Dareh gold mine in West Azerbaijan province. According to ILNA news agency, the Iranian government spokesman referred to a note by Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, regarding the whipping of the 17 workers, stating that it reflects the government's view. Previously, some news agencies reported that about two weeks after the whipping sentences were executed and widely publicized, Rabiei commented on the phrase "disturbance of public order," which the 17 workers were accused of, saying, "This phrase, in a way that encompasses any workers' protest and turns it into a social issue, does not help strengthen public order." The Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare also requested the Attorney General of Iran to review the case of these workers, stating that he would try to prevent such labor incidents in the future through negotiations with judicial officials. However, he did not mention what actions would be taken by this ministry for the whipped workers. He had previously dismissed the Director General of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare of West Azerbaijan province for being "unaware" of the execution of the whipping sentence for the 17 workers. The government's expression of regret over the whipping of the 17 workers comes at a time when Nader Qazipour, a member of parliament from Urmia, had previously told the Basij news agency that the Takab governor insisted on the execution of this sentence and held the Ministry of Interior responsible for it. Criticism of the issuance of whipping sentences against workers continues. According to ILNA news agency and the Teachers and Workers' Rights website, close to the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, 52 student organizations in Iran issued a statement protesting the implementation of the whipping sentence for the Agh Dareh gold mine workers, condemning the normalization of such a pattern of "dealing with labor protests and violent responses to workers' gatherings." Part of this statement reads: "These sentences are issued and executed while the hardworking workers dissatisfied with mass and sudden layoffs, who merely sought to return to their jobs under the same harsh and exhausting conditions, had no choice but to protest. These student organizations questioned such a harsh response to protesting workers, adding: "Instead of dealing with workers who have merely sought justice and demanded their rights and had no other recourse, those who have caused such conditions through their actions should be prosecuted." The signatory organizations of this statement, while supporting the workers' demands, called on Hassan Rouhani's government to "restore the dignity of the workers and comfort this suffering and pain-stricken class, using all its legal capacities to respond to the workers' demands, including adhering to the law by implementing directives and circulars to prevent labor-related disputes from being dragged into non-specialized judicial courts, striving for the recognition of labor gatherings and strikes, and strengthening and valuing independent labor organizations." Reports indicate that so far, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, the Workers' Rights Defenders Association, the Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations, the Free Workers' Union of Iran, the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, the Iranian Islamic Councils' Association, and the Iranian Writers' Association have protested against the whipping of the 17 dismissed workers. The issuance of whipping sentences for workers or labor activists in Iran is not unprecedented. In recent years, several workers and labor activists have been sentenced to endure lashes, with such sentences previously executed in Sanandaj. On Tuesday, it was also reported that a court in Yazd sentenced 9 workers of the Bafgh iron ore mine to prison and lashes on charges of "disturbing public order and preventing activity and production in the mine." The Free Workers' Union of Iran also described the judiciary's action in a statement as "anti-worker and medieval." Previously, Tavakkol Heydari, the head of the West Azerbaijan judiciary, labeled the protests and criticisms regarding the implementation of whipping sentences for the 17 workers as claims and propaganda, accusing the critics of causing confusion among the public and responsible officials. These remarks were made at a time when four members of parliament have criticized the whipping of the 17 dismissed workers from the Agh Dareh mine.