I am comparing the Human rights records of Iran and the United States.
 I need an extensive rundown of both of their records from as unbiased
and legitimate possible source.  This should include their records
when it comes to human right around the world and how they treat their
own people.

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Request for Question Clarification by richard-ga on 20 Mar 2006 18:01 PST

You may need to be more specific about what "human rights" are,
especially if you're looking for the countries' "records."

For example, the U.S. has over 2 million people in its prisons.  All
of them  (well, nearly all), unless they are waiting for a trial, are
there because they were sentenced by a judge after pleading guilty or
being found guilty by a jury.

On those facts, is the U.S. human rights record good or bad?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 20 Mar 2006 18:09 PST

brentwill1-ga,

Your best source of comparative information is probably Human Rights
Watch, the most respected source of information on this topic
(well...except from the point of view of the countries being
criticized).


The HRW summary page for the US is here:



http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/usdom12292.htm


and for Iran:


http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/iran12214.htm



Let me know if this information meets your needs.  If not, what other
sorts of information are you after?


pafalafa-ga

Relying on any one particular source is not a good idea with a topic
as broad as yours. Consult a variety of sources - including
international organizations like the above mentioned Human Rights
Watch, or United Nations surveys, as well as the governments of the
USA and Iran themselves. You will want to examine many different
issues - here are a few to start:
- Income equality / social mobility / poverty
- Prison populations per capita
- Gender equality
- Racism/nationalism
- Freedom of travel
- Freedom of expression
- Freedom of religion
- Executions per capita

It will be easy to fall heavily in favour of one side or the other,
and I advise you to avoid this. Both the United States of America and
Iran have glaring faults, but neither are completely benevolent or
malicious. For example, Iran's theocracy is relatively young and
potentially less static than America's deeply entrenched two-party
system, so simply declaring one a dictatorship and the other a
democracy would be glossing over very complex issues.

What should prove interesting is that many of the human rights issues
are paralleled between the two nations. Iran and the United States of
America are both very culturally diverse nations with long histories
of progressive society that have both in the recent past seen surging
growth in religious conservatism. Your best bet, as such, may be to
narrow your overall focus - if possible - to a select handful of
issues and compare the two nations on that limited ground.

Finally, be wary of painting in too broad of strokes. What is true of
Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia or other prominent parts of the Middle
East is not necessarily true of the culturally distinct Iran.
Similarly, the United States of America encompasses a wide gradient of
cultural elements and the human rights issues present in Los Angeles
are not the same ones present in Seattle, or Boston, or Houston. Good
luck!