#Iran
opposition leader urges Council of Europe to compel Tehran to release arrested
EU Reporter Correspondent | January 24,
2018 | 0 Comments
In
an official visit to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday (24 January), Maryam Rajavi,
president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) rebuked
Europe’s silence and inaction vis-à-vis the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown
and mass arrests of thousands of unarmed protesters, as well as torturing
detained protesters to death.
She said that such a muted reaction
undercuts many of Europe’s fundamental commitments and principles, including
the European Convention on Human Rights.
Several political groups of PACE invited
the prominent Iranian opposition leader to address their official meetings,
including the Council’s largest political group, European People’s Party (EPP),
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and the Unified
European Left (UEL). Mrs. Rajavi also met and held talks with several
senior officials of the Council.
In her remarks, Mrs. Rajavi urged the
Council of Europe and its member states to adopt effective measures and binding
decisions to compel the religious dictatorship ruling Iran to release the
prisoners detained during the uprising, uphold freedom of expression and
association, end repression and abolish the compulsory veil against women.
“Thirty-nine years of bloodshed,
atrocities, discriminations against, and subjugation of, women, and censorship
is enough,” Mrs. Rajavi said, adding, “The International Community in general
and Europe in particular must end their silence and inaction.”
She stressed, “Expressing concern is not
enough. Europe’s inaction sends the wrong signal to the brutal dictatorship in
Iran that it can continue its crimes against the Iranian people with impunity.”
Rajvi’s invitation to the European
institution came in the aftermath of a popular uprising that began on December
28, 2017 and shook the Iranian regime to its foundations.
According to the network of the
Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the NCRI’s main constituent group, the protests
rapidly spread to 142 cities in Iran’s 31 provinces.
In his speech on January 9, Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei said, “These incidents had been organized and that the MEK
implemented the plans,” adding, “The MEK had prepared for this months ago and
its media outlets had called for it.”
According to Mrs. Rajavi, the security
forces shot dead dozens of protesters and arrested at least 8,000
people.
“Every day, we learn of another
prisoner killed under torture, but Tehran’s henchmen preposterously claim that
they committed suicide while in detention.
A number of youths are missing, and
their families know nothing about their whereabouts.
Making mass arrests, opening fire on
unarmed protesters, and torturing prisoners to death, are clear examples of
crime against humanity,” the NCRI’s president-elect said.
Mrs. Rajavi called for the formation of an
international commission of inquiry to investigate the deaths, detentions, and
disappearances of Iranian protesters and those murdered in the prisons.
She said the regime must be
compelled to allow this delegation to visit the prisons in Iran and speak to
those detained and their families.
She described the situation in Iran as “a
powder keg” and stressed that the protests were continuing throughout the
country.
Mrs. Rajavi emphasized, “The regime is
doomed to fall, and the Iranian people are determined to continue their
struggle to topple the religious dictatorship and establish freedom.”
She urged the Council of Europe to stand
with the Iranian people and hold the regime accountable for opening fire on
protesters and torturing them to death.”
Mrs. Rajavi reiterated, “The Iranian
people’s nationwide uprising made it palpably clear that the religious fascism
ruling Iran is devoid of legitimacy and of any future.
Investing in this regime is doomed to
fail. All diplomatic and economic relations with the Iranian regime must be
halted.
Iran’s rulers must face comprehensive
sanctions for decades of crimes against humanity. Doing business with this
regime will only strengthen its killing machine and contribute to its export of
war and terrorism.”
The PACE is the parliamentary arm of the
Council of Europe, a 47-nation international organization dedicated to
upholding human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
.”. در توئیتر با نام @ bahareazady مطالب مارا دنبال کنید
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