Cartoon 57: Elham Aminzadeh, Rouhani’s VP for Legal Affairs

On August 11, President Hassan Rouhani appointed Elham Aminzadeh to the post of Vice President for Legal Affairs, touting her “scientific, legal, and legislative qualifications and credentials.” Though some activists have welcomed her appointment after much criticism of Rouhani’s all-male cabinet, many are concerned about her history of denying human rights abuses. For example, on March 13, 2012, Aminzadeh characterized Iran’s human rights situation as follows:

“We have a good situation. Religious minorities enjoy citizenship and political rights, too. People with different religions can study in Iran’s schools and universities and they have their own special representative in the Parliament, too. In the political system, also, we observe that people are continually present on the scene and determine the future of the country themselves. The people’s vote even has an impact on the choice of the Supreme Leader, and the Council of Experts which is elected by the people’s vote selects the Supreme Leader. All of this indicates the people’s right to vote. Regarding the freedom of expression, I must say that today newspapers and different political media freely operate in the country and speak their mind easily. If we look at the headlines of different newspapers, we can see this freedom of expression very well.”