On July 13, 2019, dignitaries from dozens of countries across the world attended the main event of the Free Iran 2019 international conference. The conference was part of the five-day Free Iran 2019 series of conferences at the main headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Ashraf 3, Albania. Several dignitaries, political and human rights activists delivered speeches, issuing remarks about the struggles of the Iranian people and their resistance movement for freedom in their country.
Following are key remarks by UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (2003-2006) Yakin Ertürk at the Ashraf 3 conference.
Yakin Ertürk:
Salam Ashraf [Hello Ashraf] I’m impressed with your energy. It seems endless. Keep it up.
I would like to start by giving voice to a 12th-century Persian poet, (Sadi). He said, “The children of Adam are limbs of one another, created from a single substance. When one limb suffers misfortune, the others cannot be addressed. You who do not suffer the pain of others do not deserve to be called human.”
And this was written way before the French Revolution or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which shows that human rights are embedded into the culture of this region.
Now, the testimonies that we received yesterday from Ashraf residents put our humanity to test. I was saddened. I felt shame and rage. But I also felt hope. Seeing the survivors continue their struggle with determination and a smile on their face was very empowering. Human dignity, I’m sure, will defeat evil.
Yakin Ertürk: Iranian regime is misogynist, many rapporteurs repeatedly wrote on violence against women in Iran. Yet we must also note the Iranian women’s resilience on the street, in social media.#IStandWithMaryamRajavi #WeSupportMEK #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/yYTrNbhlki
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) July 13, 2019
Many human rights rapporteurs, particularly rapporteurs on the situation in Iran, including the late Asma Jahangir, have repeatedly written about the continuing discrimination and violence against women. But we must also acknowledge the resilience of women. For 40 years, women resisted the regime’s attempts to silence them and transgress their rights, on the street, in social media, even in the privacy of their homes. Women stood firm and became the most vocal voice of resisting political and social controls. The new generation of Iranian women who are the product of the revolution era is as bold, if not more, like their predecessors in defying boundaries imposed on them.
Streets of Tehran are increasingly more colorful and vocal. Men and women of Iran are ready, as you said, Hazer [ready], to claim their freedom and determine their own destiny. Those of us who are supporters of freedom and justice in Iran must join forces in a more determined way to take measures that would empower the Iranian people’s struggles.
I would like to join Mrs. [Maryam] Rajavi who has argued that religious fascism can only be defeated by forces that reject misogyny. And in this context, women are a decisive factor. Iranian people, men, and women alike, are the force of change. Until we meet in Tehran, Tashakor [Thank you]
