  Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
BY EVA MOLYNEUX*
IDN-InDepthNews Service
LONDON (IDN) - The withdrawal of a threat by German company 'Knauf Gips KG' to fire any employees involved in anti-regime demonstrations has highlighted the dilemmas companies face in politically sensitive environments.
Issuing the threat had reportedly been Tehran’s condition for the release from custody of a senior executive of the company, yet Knauf Gips’s attempt to restrict its employees’ political expression is in violation of their human rights.
Such dilemmas for business are set to continue, yet they can be managed more effectively.
On August 3, Knauf Gips, a German building materials company that employs several hundred people in Iran, withdrew a threat to its employees in the country that they would be fired if they participated in political demonstrations.
The threat was reportedly printed in a letter to employees dated July 21, following the arrest of one of the company’s executives. It was then withdrawn after details of the letter were published in the German and international press, resulting in widespread public criticism.
Knauf Gips's letter was signed by Isabel Knauf, a member of the supervisory board of company's operations in Iran and of the founding family of the Bavaria-based company.
The letter reminded employees that Knauf Gips is an apolitical entity and stated that it does not approve of any acts against the current government. It added that employees' actions could negatively affect Knauf in Iran and concluded by saying that "from now on, if anybody from [the] company gets caught demonstrating against the current government, he or she will be immediately dismissed".
After news of the letter broke, Iranians living in Germany reportedly contacted Knauf Gips repeatedly with threatening calls and e-mails. Germany's Foreign Ministry also reiterated that it opposed any retribution against protestors by companies in Iran.
Company spokesman Joerg Schanow confirmed the letter was sent but he called the wording of the document "unfortunate” and said it did not correspond with the firm's overall policy.
In a later statement, Executive Board Chairman Manfred Grundke added that Knauf’s employees could "participate in political demonstrations at any time without having to worry about work-related sanctions". Grundke said that he was trying to clarify the details of why the letter was written.
RESPONSE TO REGIME PRESSURE?
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran's government had pressured Knauf Gips to threaten its employees with the sack if they demonstrated against the regime after one of the company’s senior executives was arrested during prayer demonstrations in mid-July this year.
The arrested executive is a dual national of Germany and Iran and heads Knauf Gips's Iran operation. The company was reportedly told that such a message to employees would be a condition for the executive's release. Indeed, the executive was freed from custody four days after the company sent the letter, but he still faces trial.
He is not the only foreigner or foreign-linked person to have been arrested. On June 24, Tehran said it had arrested several foreigners, including British nationals, whom they claimed had fanned the flames of protest over the disputed presidential elections.
It did not elaborate on the arrests, though the UK government said it was making enquiries. In addition, the independent watchdog Reporters Without Borders reports that 36 journalists have been arrested since the presidential elections on June 12, 26 of them Iranian. It reported that many others were ‘missing’. In a separate incident on July 27, ten Iranian British Embassy workers were arrested on charges of spying, though all were released within ten days.
INCREASED RISK OF COMPLICITY
During a period of heightened political tensions in Iran, there are consequential increased risks for business including that of complicity with the regime. Business can be deemed to be complicit, either beneficially or silently, if it seeks to curtail the political activities of its employees (especially in their private lives) to the advantage of the government.
Knauf Gips's letter therefore went against international human rights law and norms.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas without fear or interference. Violations of freedom of expression include restrictions on the ability to freely express one's thoughts.
Knauf Gips may have been concerned that its arrested senior executive was at risk of torture, disappearance, being held in incommunicado detention, possibly faced with an unfair trial or that his life was in danger.
Iran's performance on Maplecroft's Human Rights Risk Index is very poor, scoring 1.98 (extreme risk) overall and 3.31 (high risk) in the human security category. The latter includes an assessment of the country's record on torture, disappearances, its security forces and extrajudicial killings among others.
FORECAST
During the current period of political unrest and change in Iran, responsible companies will face dilemmas as they attempt to balance their requirements under international human rights norms, the safety of employees at all levels and their commercial relationship with Tehran. Foreign business in Iran may be faced with open or veiled threats from the regime, which may accuse their employees of spying, whether those employees are foreign or Iranian. (IDN-InDepthNews /14.08.09)
2009 IDN-InDepthNews Service
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*Eva Molyneux is political analyst at London-based Maplecroft, the leading source of global risks intelligence.
Useful Links:
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http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Knauf_letter.pdf
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