Baroness Verma, addressing the UK Parliament on September 12 during a gathering commemorating the first anniversary of Iran’s 2022 uprising, brought attention to the heinous killing of Mahsa Amini and the countless lives shattered by a regime that shows no regard for human rights.
She commended the endorsement of a statement by over a thousand prominent women from 67 different nations, which included current and former heads of state, legislators, Nobel Prize winners, and artists, all standing in solidarity with the Iranian people’s cause.
Baroness Verma underscored the importance of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi‘s Ten-Point Plan for a democratic Iran and urged for decisive action in proscribing the IRGC. She called upon lawmakers worldwide to actively champion this measure.
The text of Baroness Verma’s speech follows:
Thank you very much for having all of us here again, because it’s really, really important that we keep the foot on the pedal to make sure that this doesn’t go into the abyss of media silence. And so for people like me who have advocated for women’s rights for a very, very long time, this is really close to my heart.
And, you know, we are approaching the first anniversary of the Iranian people’s uprising for freedom, where it all started last September with the awful, awful, brutal murder of Mahsa Amini. But there are so many people who have lost their lives. And so many people, including children, have been taken away and brutalized by a regime that has zero respect for human rights.
So, I think it is a good reminder to all of us when we join together, that we look at how we are coalescing around a subject matter that isn’t going to go away until the world recognizes it for what it is.
And so for me, I mean, I’m really pleased that there’s a statement that’s been collected by over a thousand prominent women who have come from five continents, 67 countries. I mean, you know, this is the sort of show of support for our brothers and sisters in Iran. And amongst them are 50 current and former presidents. You know, we’ve got 175 parliamentarians, Nobel Prize laureates, artists, everybody is joining in on this cause.
And I think, as Madam Rajavi always highlights, it is actually led by a person who has a plan. The Ten-Point Plan is a democratic process that will enable the people of Iran to live free and have respect for their human rights. And I really, really cannot understand why we are still discussing the proscribing of the IRGC. I don’t understand why there are other terrorist groups that have not had to go through such a strenuous process. Why are we still discussing this?
And I would advocate all parliamentarians to really urge their governments to push harder on this agenda because until we see that happen, we actually don’t make as much progress as we would like because the message isn’t as clear as it should be. And so for me, it’s just critically, critically important that the courage, the prominence of all the people of Iran, and particularly for me, the women, the women and the girls who have been at the forefront of demonstrating, and their lives have been at risk throughout.
And so many people have gone missing. We don’t even have a real number of people who are not available for comment anymore.
So, we can’t, we cannot keep silent, we mustn’t keep silent. And if leaders across the world were seriously contemplating doing the appeasement policy to get things to change, it does not work. History will tell you over and over again, that appeasement does not work.
So, for me, I will sit on this platform as many times as I am asked to until we see that change. And I know my colleagues from across both houses and across all parties are very, very much supportive of the work that you’re doing.
And I would just like to say that as far as I’m concerned, the General Assembly will be meeting again in September. I do hope that the message is loud and clear to all of us as parliamentarians across the globe, that we do have to see change. And it starts with action and not just gentle words. Thank you very much.
