We believe in a free Iran and freedom of all religions and denominations
Hello; my name is Nigel Evans. I’m a conservative member of parliament from the United Kingdom and I’m also a member of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe, the bastion of democracy, an institution that fights for human rights. And what I want to talk to you today is about the denial of human rights that exists for a lot of people who live in Iran. Since 1988 the regime has mercilessly imprisoned over a hundred and twenty thousand people, over thirty thousand people have been massacred. And indeed there have been uprisings against the regime in Iran. And the latest one was in December of last year. It started in just one town and then it soon spread, as it became organized, to over a hundred and forty cities and towns throughout the whole of Iran. And Iran has got one of the worst reputations as far as any regimes around the world are concerned. you have to look at any Amnesty International report to see how awful is the regime in the way that it treats its own people, whether you are somebody who is disabled, whether you are a woman, whether you are somebody who does not believe in the rights of the regime, in Iran somebody that perhaps wants to see somebody different being in government in Iran, Just for that, you could be detained, you could be imprisoned you could go missing and it has happened to so many people. Indeed since the uprisings we’ve seen over eight thousand people imprisoned. We’ve seen over 50 people killed. Iran has one of the largest groups of people who were executed throughout the world. Indeed last year over 50 percent of all the executions that took place, took place in Iran.
And that has got to be some sort of appalling record as I’ve told you I’m a member of the Council of Europe. We believe in the abolition of the death penalty and to see so many executions taking place in one country is an absolute abuse of human rights. So what do we believe in and what do I believe in. Well, certainly I believe in the ten-point plan that Mrs. Rajavi has put forward since 2006 the Ten Point Plan I won’t go through all of the points because they will be generally you can google them. But the important thing is that it’s a belief in democracy. It is a belief in the rule of law. It is a belief in pluralism so that everybody has the opportunity to put themselves forward for elections irrespective of whether you’re a man or a woman irrespective of what you believe in that you are able to put forward yourselves for election. It believes in a free Iran. It believes in freedom of all religions and denominations. It believes in gender equality. It believes in the end of All Discrimination against Women and it will be abolished. It also believes that women should be able to wear whatever clothes that they want to do. I said it believes in the rule of law. And that is that people are innocent until proven guilty and they want to see the Total Independence of the judiciary in Iran. It’s a belief also in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants and conventions something that this body absolutely upholds.
It also recognizes private property private investment and the market economy it believes that the foreign policy will be a peaceful coexistence of international and regional peace cooperators throughout the world. And it also wants to see a free Iran of tomorrow devoid of any nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. I’m one of the signatories to the statement that we had circulating around the Council of Europe which makes reference to the inhumane treatment of people in Iran it’s difficult when somebody from the United Kingdom to believe that because you are opposed to your own government or you want to demonstrate against things that you disagree with that you could end up in prison and you could end up executing. That’s what’s happening in the Iran of today. And what I would finally say is that as well as almost a hundred people in the Council of Europe who have signed this particular declaration hundreds of members of parliament from all over Europe will be gathering towards the end of June in Paris to show their support for Mrs. Rajavi’s 10 point plan to show their support for the people of Iran to show their support for democracy for freedom for human rights and I do hope that you will be able to support the people of Iran in this absolute just fight that they’ve got to be a free country. A freedom that so many of us in Europe take for granted but not in Iran. My fight is their fight. I want to see the people of Iran have the same freedoms that I’ve got. I hope you’ll join me in that fight.
Mrs. Rajavi’s 10 point plan for a free Iran
