On the brink of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual session, an online international summit, entitled “Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy, Time to Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable,” was held September 18. The Summit brought together Iranians in various countries around the world from 10,000 locations. Mr. Tom Emmer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, joined the Summit.
Among the personalities who addressed the summit were 30 bipartisan U.S. lawmakers from the House and the Senate. Personalities including:
Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Roy Blunt, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Bob Menendez, and dignitaries like Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, General James Jones, National Security Advisor to President Obama (2009-2010), Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator, as well as a delegation of U.K. lawmakers, and Ambassador Giulio Terzi, former Foreign Minister of Italy.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the keynote speaker of the summit
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI was the keynote speaker of the summit. She paid tribute to Navid Afkari, a rebellious national hero recently executed by the regime. Mrs. Rajavi said: “Faced with executions and massacres, the people of Iran urge the U.N. and the U.N. Security Council, in particular, to restore snapback sanctions stipulated in the six U.N. resolutions against the clerical regime in Iran.”
She continued,”Otherwise, Khamenei will continue to ravage the nation as his regime’s survival depends on murder and suppression. If Khamenei were to stop executions, he would lose control of the situation, and uprisings simmering in the depths of Iranian society would erupt and overthrow the mullahs’ religious fascism.”
At the summit, speakers demanded justice for over 30,000 MEK and other activists, political prisoners massacred in 1988. As a result they urged an end to the appeasement policy and requested those who ordered and carried out this great crime, who currently occupy high positions in the regime, to be brought to justice.
Tom Emmer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives joined to the summit. In his remarks, Mr. Emmer said, “In Congress, I’ve worked to spread democracy across the globe, especially to the people of Iran. Last Congress I was proud to support imposing sanctions on Iran to hold them accountable for their human rights abuses.”
Tom Emmer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
I’m excited to support your mission for a free and democratic Iran and I appreciate the opportunity to participate in your 2020 Human Rights Summit.
I speak to you during a painful anniversary. Thirty-two years ago, between late July and September 1988, Iranian authorities arrested and executed thousands of political prisoners. Lower estimates put the death toll at 5,000. Little peace exists for the families of these prisoners who were dumped in unmarked graves. The Iranian government has refused to acknowledge the killings and destroyed burial sites, forbidding commemorations for the victims. This anniversary doesn’t just call us to mourn those killed for their convictions, it reminds us just how brutal a government can become in order to suppress free expression.
In Congress, I’ve worked to spread democracy across the globe, especially to the people of Iran. Last Congress I was proud to support imposing sanctions on Iran to hold them accountable for their human rights abuses. I am also encouraged by the January passage of a measure which supports the rights of the people of Iran to free expression and condemns the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests.
Too many Iranians have been punished for asking to participate in their own government. Thousands have been arrested or killed as part of legitimate protests, and this violence towards those seeking a free and open democracy must come to an end. Thank you for your hope for a free Iran and for your hard work to make it a reality. Like you, I look forward to the day when all Iranians can express themselves without living in fear.
