Rasa Juknevičienė MEP addressed a webinar by European lawmakers on October 7, 2020, on the human rights situation in Iran.
Online Conference held under title, “Iran’s Ongoing Crimes Against Humanity, EU’s political and moral obligations”. The online event was on October 7, 2020. Dozens of members of the European Parliament attended and spoke at the conference.
MEPs made their remarks in order to condemn the horrific human rights violations witnessed on a daily basis across Iran. In addition, MEPs called on the European Union to fulfill its moral and political obligations in the face of human rights violations in Iran. They called for a firm policy by the European Union against the mullah regime in Iran. Also, they pointed out, It is high time to stand alongside the Iranian people and support their justified aspirations for a free, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran(NCRI), was the keynote speaker at this conference. Her message welcomed as a democratic solution to Iran’s future. Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan has widespread support from the majority of MEPs for a long time.
Rasa Juknevičienė, MEP from Lithuania
My name is Rasa Jukneviciene. I am a member of European Parliament from Lithuania. I am very familiar with the costs of freedom. I come from a background that fought for freedom. My family was a victim of the communists, but finally, the day came where my country was freed. This is why I support your course and support the call for democracy in Iran, as well as Belarus, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.
Over the past year, human rights violations by the Iranian regime have been on full display exposing the Mullahs’ brutal suppression. The Amnesty International report early September on the torture and treatment of the November 2019 protests detainees is shocking. Increasing arbitrary arrests and the torture of young people, including women who are Iran’s elite and assets that any country would have been proud to have in order to get forced confessions is vicious.
Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old wrestling champion, who would have been promoted and taken care of by any other country to bring gold medal is tortured and executed by the regime for defying it and participating in anti-governmental protests despite calls from around the globe to save his life. The regime resorts to these types of crimes out of desperation because Iran situation is explosive.
Daily protests continue in Iran. The message is clear. On the one hand, the Iranian people don’t want this regime and oppose it. And on the other hand, a powerful alternative exists, meaning that change in Iran is imminent and the regime is terrified by this ultimate fate as like other regimes all over the globe, including Europe.
Given these circumstances, what should our policy be in Europe with this Iranian regime? We must stand by the Iranian people, as doing so is defending our democratic principles. We must stand firm against the regime, condemn its suppression with the strongest terms, and hold it to account.
We should not be deceived by the regimes lies about the lack of an alternative. All nations have alternatives to brutal and democratic regimes. Iran also has alternatives. The time to act is now.
