Helsinki Commission To Focus on Iran

Eli Lake, writing for The New York Sun:

The new chairman of the Helsinki Commission says he plans to use the Cold War institution to highlight Iranian human rights issues with Europe. The plan by Senator Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, is in keeping with the president's commitment to spread freedom throughout the world, a theme that is likely to be reiterated in his State of the Union speech tomorrow.

In an interview last week, Senator Brownback said he planned to publicize the plight of Iranian dissidents in hearings before the Helsinki Commission, the American body created in 1976 to engage the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe on their treatment of political prisoners and human rights. American envoys would often read the names of political prisoners aloud at commission-related meetings, at first to embarrass their Soviet counterparts. Later this technique proved effective, when in the twilight of the Cold War many political prisoners were released.

"We are going to bring up human rights issues and what is taking place in Iran aggressively," he said. Mr. Brownback was one of the few advocates for Iranian democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a panel he left this year. In the past he has sponsored legislation that commits American funding to help opposition on the ground in Iran. He said he is looking into having an American-sponsored conference for the Iranian opposition, which recently has rallied around a proposal to push the mullahs to allow for a constitutional referendum.

"We will not avoid other issues. Russia is pushing away from democracy. Belarus is still a problem. But Iran is a special case. I am hopeful the OSCE will be a good forum to raise Iranian abuses of human rights," he said. ...

In addition to taking on Iran at the OSCE, Mr. Brownback said he was interested in closing a loophole in the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act that allows American subsidiaries headquartered in foreign countries to trade with Iran. Halliburton, which is under a federal investigation for such practices, announced last week that they intended to wind down their Iranian businesses. ...