Iran, a land rich with resources and culture, has long been fighting for the right to live in a free and democratic society. Today, it is still under the yoke of a criminal regime, whose main record is a disgrace to humanity: an execution every six hours.
Systematic human rights violations in Iran
The violation of human rights in Iran is not a result of tactical errors or the actions of rogue individuals within the regime. It is systemic. Throughout the history of this regime, there has never been a case where officials in the judiciary, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), or security forces, who are the principle violators of human rights in Iran, have been prosecuted. Available data indicate the opposite. Whenever elements of the regime have been accused of human rights violations, their value and importance within the repressive apparatus have increased, and they have occupied higher-ranking positions.
Violations of human rights in the regime are systematic, institutionalized, and pervasive, extending to all aspects of Iranians’ lives. Now, wherever we point our fingers, we see gross violations of human rights in the philosophy of existence, history, laws, and practices of this regime. Is there truly any domain left untouched by the rulers of Iran? It is indeed the case that there is no domain that has not been touched by the evil clutches of the ruling mullahs.
In a recent address to a conference in the Netherlands on human rights conditions in Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council Resistance of Iran (NCRI), highlighted the different aspect of human rights violations in Iran:
“The clerical regime’s vast repression machinery encompasses a long list of abuses, including the usurpation of people’s sovereignty, hindering free elections, prohibiting freedom of religion and belief, violating freedom of speech, assembly, and political parties, as well as dismantling labor unions and other non-governmental syndicates and organizations.
“The most pervasive realm of human rights violations involves the continuous and institutionalized suppression of women, including acts of violence and discrimination, imposition of compulsory veiling, and the tragic murder of young women for improper veiling, exemplified by cases of Zhina Amini, Armita Geravand, and numerous other innocent women and girls facing similar fates.
“Ethnic groups and followers of diverse faiths also face an inhumane policy marked by the double oppression of various ethnic nationalities, the tragic massacres of our Baluch, Kurd, and Arab compatriots, and the implementation of an extensive system of religious compulsions.
“Political opponents, particularly the PMOI/MEK, are not just subjected to human rights violations; they are systematically deprived of all their fundamental rights, including instances such as the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and the denial of fair trials and due process.
“The streets of cities across Iran still bear the scars of past uprisings, with the bloodshed of 1,500 individuals during the November 2019 uprising and 750 deaths from last year’s protests. The blinding of hundreds of protesters by pellet guns stands as a stark symbol of the regime’s unforgiving brutality.”
The policy of appeasement and a dual approach to human rights
According to this comprehensive and all-encompassing definition, the slaughter of human rights in Iran begins with the violation of people’s sovereignty and extends to the most personal aspects of life, including individuals’ clothing choices. It is astonishing that the policy of appeasement in the West has adopted a dual standard approach towards religious fascism. After numerous condemnations of this regime for gross violations of human rights, no government can now claim that its data on the human rights situation in Iran is incomplete or insufficient.
As Mrs. Rajavi said in her speech, “The mullahs unabashedly commit any crime against the people of Iran, confident in the inaction of Western governments.
“Hasn’t the UN condemned this regime 70 times for its human rights violations? Isn’t it the top record holder for executions worldwide? Haven’t human rights jurists and institutions, including Amnesty International, accused this regime of committing crimes against humanity?”
Inviting Iranian regime president Ebrahim Raisi to Geneva to attend the Global Refugee Forum was a stain on the reputation of the United Nations and western states. Raisi has played a key role in the killing of innocents, including the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and the massacre of protesters in 2019 and 2022.
Raisi was forced to cancel his trip following a campaign by the Iranian Resistance. But a delegation led by the regime’s terrorist foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian still attended the forum and was met with a large protest rally organized by the Iranian Resistance.
The West’s double standard, which allows it to turn a blind eye to the Iranian regime’s human rights violations for the sake of political and economic gains, must come to an end. The people of Iran have paid the price of this failed policy with their lives and freedoms for four decades.
