IMPORTANT THREAD

1-Over the past few days, there've been mounting attacks on Iranian human rights activists, which sets a dangerous precedent. To add insult to injury, even a @bbcpersian journalist was targeted for simply commending the work of a human rights organisation

2-The human rights organisation is the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center @IHRDC, which has done an amazing job of documenting egregious human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has done so thanks to veteran human rights experts working for it

3-Recently, @NegarMortazavi fell out with one board member of the @IHRDC and also resorted to smearing the organisation to cast it like a sinister project to bring democracy to Iran. The tone of this message sets a very dangerous precedent for human rights.

4-It’s dangerous because most human rights work related to Iran is dependent on some foreign funding due to the extremely authoritarian nature of the government that doesn’t allow for human rights experts to freely document abuses inside the country.

5-To add insult to injury, @NegarMortazavi problematized the fact that a prolific @BBCPersian journalist, @HadiNili, liked a post about the beneficial role that @IHRDC and its members played and then blocked him.

6-Visibly stressed, such pressure seems to have forced @HadiNili to explain himself and 1) ask what he had done wrong b) why he had been blocked by @NegarMortazavi. Those are very valid questions. Yet, the tweet disappeared shortly afterwards. Was Hadi under pressure?

7-In essence, there’s nothing in BBC's code of conduct that forbid their reporters from liking/approving the human rights work of an organisation. Scaring a journalist into silence by making a complaint to their employer (or threatening to do so) is redolent of fascist behaviour

8-Unfortunately, @NegarMortazavi has made a habit of going after employers of people with whom she has differences of opinion. Other human rights activists have complained of such threats. Such behaviour is shameful and creates an environment conducive to censorship.

9-One has to recall that working on human rights on Iran is a risky business. Documenters, researchers, and activists face death threats on a regular basis. That they will also have to be muzzled in the West sets a very dangerous precedent.