State Department cuts off funds for Iran Human Rights Document Center

"If there was one time I expected to get funding, this was it. “I was surprised, because the world was watching human rights violations right there on television," said Rene Redman. Redman is the executive director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center after she learned that funding was being cut off.

Michael Rubin, a scholar at the conservative thinktank American Enterprise Institute speculated that the focus on engaging Iran diplomaticly is why funding was cut. The information provided would get in the way of dialogue.

The response of the State Department was that its focused on Iranian human rights. The job of assigning funding to influence Iran has been shifted to the US Agency for International Development. (USAID) A spokesmen for USAID said that the views of the administration has not changed. "US government priorities for the region continue to include support for civil society and advocacy, promoting the rule of law and human rights, and increasing access to alternative sources of information."

Really? This is hardly a single abdomaraility but a part of a pattern as seen with Turkmenistan, Burma, and .China Given this record, it isn't hard to believe that commitment to Iranian human rights might be slipping. Respect for the rule of law is also slipping in the case of of Honduras.