EU Reporter, June 26, 2017 – Today (26 June) 265 members of the European Parliament have signed a joint statement on human rights abuses in Iran. The cross-party group includes all political groups and four Vice-Presidents of the parliament and 23 committee and delegation chairs. The issue of human rights violations, repression of women and minorities and the Iranian regime’s support of terrorism are also addressed in the statement.
Recently the Iranian regime held a presidential election. In the MEPs’ view this was a fake election because there were no opposition candidates and people had a choice between several senior mullahs. Hassan Rouhani who is starting his second term, is no moderate or reformist. During his first four years, Iran was the number one in the world for the highest number of executions per capita.
MEPs call Rouhani’s minister of justice is a self-confessed murderer who was a member of the Death Committee, ordering the executions of over 30 thousands political prisoners in 1988, mostly from the main opposition PMOI.
The statement calls for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran.
The MEPs call on governments to end their relationship with Iran unless there is a halt to executions and a clear progress on human rights and women rights.
MEPs are also concerned about the destructive role of the Iranian regime in the region. The statement says that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is mainly active in Syria and Iraq and must be put on the international black lists.
IRGC also runs most of Iranian economy. So our European companies who want to sign economic deals with Iran, take a high risk of dealing directly and indirectly with IRGC which the MEPs consider a terrorist organisation.
In order to express our solidarity with the Iranian democratic opposition, Gérard Deprez MEP will attend the FREE IRAN gathering in Paris on 1 July where he will present the European Parliament’s joint declaration.
Statement:
We are extremely worried about the high number of executions in Iran. More than 3000 people have been hanged during the first term of the ‘moderate’ President Hassan Rouhani.
According to Amnesty International, “Iran alone accounted for 55% of all recorded executions” in the world in 2016. It currently carries out the highest number of executions in the world per capita. Iran also remains a leading executioner of prisoners who were under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest.
In a public speech on Iranian television, Rouhani described executions as “a good law” and “the law of God!” He also openly expressed full support for Bashar Assad even after the chemical attack in April which killed many people, including children.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that controls most of the Iranian economy is involved in both internal suppression and spreading death and destruction in the rest of the region.
According to Iranian regime’s laws, women are banned from becoming President and pursuing leadership positions in the judiciary and many other areas. Women are repressed for improper veiling and many women activists are sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Girls as young as nine can be married even to their stepfathers.
Recently revealed evidence by a senior cleric inside Iran confirmed that the current Iranian Justice Minister was a key member of the so called “Death Committee” that approved the summary mass executions of over 30,000 political prisoners, including several thousand women, in Iran in the summer of 1988 – a massacre which Amnesty International has described as a crime against humanity. Most of the victims were affiliated with the opposition PMOI.
We therefore call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Council, to set up a commission of inquiry on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran.
The elections in Iran are not free and fair. Opposition is banned. All candidates have to declare their heartfelt belief to the concept of supreme clerical rule. An unelected body named the ‘Guardian Council’, whose members are appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, disqualifies most of the candidates.
We urge the EU and the European Member States, the US and the UN to condemn human rights violations in Iran, blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and call for those who were involved in crimes against humanity to be brought to international tribunals. Any further expansion of relations with Iran must be conditioned to a clear progress on human rights, women’s rights and a halt to executions.
Gérard DEPREZ, MEP, Chair of Friends of a Free Iran in European Parliament
265 other MEP signatories: Lars ADAKTUSSON, Nedzhmi ALI, Eric ANDRIEU, Laima Liucija ANDRIKIENĖ, Marie ARENA, Jonathan ARNOTT, Richard ASHWORTH, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Georges BACH, Zigmantas BALČYTIS, Amjad BASHIR, Hugues BAYET, Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Heinz K. BECKER, Bas BELDER, Bendt BENDTSEN, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA, Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ, Franc BOGOVIČ, Michał BONI, José BOVÉ, Mercedes BRESSO, Renata BRIANO, Cristian Silviu BUȘOI, David CAMPBELL BANNERMAN, Nicola CAPUTO, James CARVER, David CASA, Jean-Marie CAVADA, Nessa CHILDERS, Ole CHRISTENSEN, Anna Maria CORAZZA BILDT, Thierry CORNILLET, Silvia COSTA, Andrea COZZOLINO, Pál CSÁKY, Ryszard CZARNECKI, Edward CZESAK, MIRIAM DALLI, Seb DANCE, William DARTMOUTH (THE EARL OF), Paolo DE CASTRO, Esther DE LANGE, Isabella DE MONTE, Pilar DEL CASTILLO VERA, Andor DELI, Karima DELLI, Mark DEMESMAEKER, Jean-Paul DENANOT, Tamás DEUTSCH, Nirj DEVA, Mircea DIACONU, Ian DUNCAN, Pascal DURAND, Stefan ECK, Ismail ERTUG, Bill ETHERIDGE, Tanja FAJON, José Inácio FARIA, Fredrick FEDERLEY, José Manuel FERNANDES, Raymond FINCH, Raffaele FITTO, Christofer FJELLNER, Luke FLANAGAN, Lorenzo FONTANA, Jacqueline FOSTER, Anna Elżbieta FOTYGA, Ashley FOX, Kinga GÁL, Elisabetta GARDINI, Elena GENTILE, Arne GERICKE, Lidia GERINGER DE OEDENBERG, Adam GIEREK, María Teresa GIMÉNEZ BARBAT, Julie GIRLING, Beata Barbara GOSIEWSKA, Nathalie GRIESBECK, Theresa GRIFFIN, Andrzej GRZYB, Sylvie GUILLAUME, Antanas GUOGA, Takis HADJIGEORGIOU, Jussi HALLA-AHO, Marian HARKIN, Roger HELMER, Krzysztof HETMAN, Czesław HOC, Gunnar HÖKMARK, Danuta Maria HÜBNER, Carlos ITURGAIZ, Cătălin Sorin IVAN, Ivan JAKOVČIĆ, Diane JAMES, Petr JEŽEK, Karin KADENBACH, Jarosław KALINOWSKI, Rina Ronja KARI, Tunne KELAM, Seán KELLY, Jude KIRTON-DARLING, Bernd KÖLMEL, Ádám KÓSA, Andrey KOVATCHEV, Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI, Eduard KUKAN, Mia-Petra KUMPULA-NATRI, Zbigniew KUŹMIUK, Kashetu KYENGE, Merja KYLLÖNEN, Marju LAURISTIN, Patrick LE HYARIC, Ryszard LEGUTKO, Andrew LEWER, Bogusław LIBERADZKI, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Sander LOONES, Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR, Bernd LUCKE, Olle LUDVIGSSON, Elżbieta Katarzyna ŁUKACIJEWSKA, Krystyna ŁYBACKA, Petr MACH, Monica Luisa MACOVEI, Ivana MALETIĆ, Svetoslav Hristov MALINOV, Ramona Nicole MĂNESCU, Vladimír MAŇKA, Marian-Jean MARINESCU, Fulvio MARTUSCIELLO, Gabriel MATO, Valentinas MAZURONIS, Linda MCAVAN, Emma MCCLARKIN, Anthea MCINTYRE, Gesine MEISSNER, Nuno MELO, Morten MESSERSCHMIDT, Louis MICHEL, Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK, MARLENE MIZZI, Claude MORAES, Alessia Maria MOSCA, József NAGY, Jim NICHOLSON, Norica NICOLAI, Ludek NIEDERMAYER, Péter NIEDERMÜLLER, Andrey NOVAKOV, Stanisław OŻÓG, Artis PABRIKS, Urmas PAET, Maite PAGAZAURTUNDÚA RUIZ, Rolandas PAKSAS, Gilles PARGNEAUX, Margot PARKER, Aldo PATRICIELLO, Alojz PETERLE, Marijana PETIR, Tonino PICULA, Bolesław PIECHA, Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN, Julia PITERA, Marek Mirosław PLURA, Salvatore Domenico POGLIESE, Stanislav POLČÁK, Tomasz PORĘBA, Jiří POSPÍŠIL, John PROCTER, Emil RADEV, Jozo RADOŠ, Christine REVAULT D’ALLONNES BONNEFOY, Frederique RIES, Dominique RIQUET, Michèle RIVASI, Robert ROCHEFORT, Claude ROLIN, Virginie ROZIERE, Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER, Petri SARVAMAA, Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, David SASSOLI, Algirdas SAUDARGAS, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Elena Ethel SCHLEIN, Helmut SCHOLZ, Annie SCHREIJER-PIERIK, Remo SERNAGIOTTO, Jill SEYMOUR, Czesław Adam SIEKIERSKI, Siôn SIMON, Branislav ŠKRIPEK, Monika SMOLKOVÁ, Csaba SÓGOR, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Jordi SOLÉ, Renate SOMMER, Barbara SPINELLI, Bart STAES, Joachim STARBATTY, Ivan ŠTEFANEC, Jaromír ŠTĚTINA, Helga STEVENS, Dubravka ŠUICA, Patricija ŠULIN, Pavel SVOBODA, Kay SWINBURNE, Tibor Jenő SZANYI, Marc TARABELLA, Indrek TARAND, Pavel TELIČKA, Josep-Maria TERRICABRAS, Eleni THEOCHAROUS, Isabelle THOMAS, Patrizia TOIA, László TŐKÉS, Ruža TOMAŠIĆ, Romana TOMC, Evžen TOŠENOVSKÝ, Ulrike TREBESIUS, Ramon TREMOSA I BALCELLS, Mihai TURCANU, Kazimierz UJAZDOWSKI, Traian UNGUREANU, Ivo VAJGL, Anneleen VAN BOSSUYT, Wim VAN DE CAMP, Lambert VAN NISTELROOIJ, Geoffrey VAN ORDEN, Tom VANDENKENDELAERE, Derek VAUGHAN, Hilde VAUTMANS, Marie-Christine VERGIAT, Henna VIRKKUNEN, Anders Primdahl VISTISEN, Beatrix VON STORCH, Róża Gräfin VON THUN UND HOHENSTEIN, Jarosław Leszek WAŁĘSA, Julie WARD, Renate WEBER, Bogdan WENTA, Lieve WIERINCK, Cecilia WIKSTRÖM, Glenis WILLMOTT, Iuliu WINKLER, Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA, Anna ZÁBORSKÁ, Jan ZAHRADIL, Boris ZALA, Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ, Janusz ZEMKE, Roberts ZĪLE, Jana ŽITŇANSKÁ, Kosma ZŁOTOWSKI, Željana ZOVKO, Milan ZVER, Tadeusz ZWIEFKA
