On July 1, 2024, at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit – Day 3 hosted at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in Paris, Mariana Stilman, former MP and lawyer from Argentina, delivered a heartfelt speech.
She commended the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) Plan for Women’s Rights and Freedoms and reaffirmed her support for Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a democratic, secular Iran.
A translated version of Mariana Stilman’s speech follows:
Esteemed and honorable members of the Council, Mrs. President Maryam Rajavi, I am very honored by the invitation to participate in this summit for a free Iran. I am grateful to such distinguished guests for accepting me among you.
As the presenter mentioned, I am a lawyer and a former member of Parliament of the Argentinian Republic. As MP Maximiliano Ferraro mentioned yesterday, I was a plaintiff, representing the state in the AMIA unit, in the trial regarding the terrorist attack carried out in 1994 against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), headquartered in Buenos Aires, the capital of our country. This brutal terrorist attack, which took 85 lives and injured 300 others 30 years ago, was orchestrated and commanded by the Iranian regime. Their crimes have been classified as crimes against humanity and severe human rights violations by the highest courts in our country, including the Supreme Court of Justice and the Federal Cassation Court.
Participating in one of the most important and complex cases in our history has given me insight into how a terrorist state operates through an organization that, under the guise of legality and international relations, exports terrorism worldwide. They infiltrate states with people, logistics, and even the materials needed to carry out their attacks, utilizing large diplomatic corps, apparent cultural representatives, business agents, and even religious figures. Terrorist organizations like Hezbollah are involved in planning actions aimed at attacking democratic societies to spread their fundamentalist ideology.
Con Maximiliano Ferraro asistimos a la "Cumbre Mundial por un Irán Libre 2024 – Hacia una República Democrática" en París y ratificamos nuestra postura en contra del régimen fascista, teocrático y terrorista que gobierna Irán. pic.twitter.com/WhWPo9E00P
— Mariana Stilman (@MarianStil) July 3, 2024
The motives for the attack have been established through the investigation, though no firm convictions have been made, as our domestic law requires trials in absentia for this to happen. We hope the international community will also comply with this, especially as we approach a significant date: the 30th anniversary of the attack and 30 years without justice.
Of course, the Iranian regime has never cooperated with Argentine justice; quite the opposite. Even their accused officials continue to evade red notices issued against them and travel freely, as was the case in 2022 when Mohsen Rabbani attended an official event in Nicaragua.
According to judicial documents, there is evidence that Iran took retaliatory actions when the Argentine government decided to stop supplying nuclear material due to geopolitical stances. We were an easy target due to our lack of security, and terrorism exploited that. This same fundamentalism suppresses the Iranian people, preventing them from rebelling against the strict and often brutal mandates of their rulers, especially targeting women, who, I must say, are the leading figures in this struggle under Maryam’s leadership.
Thus, both the Argentine and Iranian people, despite being thousands of kilometers apart, have been victims of the regime’s fundamentalism. I could not fail to mention our experience. Sadly, we also share the experience of living under a bloody dictatorship. Argentines suffered from state terrorism against its own citizens, violating human rights, committing murders, disappearances, child theft, torture, and restricting all freedoms inherent to a democracy. That’s why, 40 years after recovering our democracy, Argentines firmly say “never again” to dictatorships.
We know, as many speakers have highlighted, that women particularly suffer daily from the deprivation of fundamental rights in Iran. Women lack the freedom to manage their assets, work freely with equal pay, decide about their children, or run for the presidency, as it is reserved only for male political and religious figures.
The parliament consists of only 14 women, representing just 4% of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Similarly, women are barred from most high-ranking judicial positions. I dare say that these civil and political rights violations would not persist if women held significant roles in these state powers. Hence, the regime’s strong oppression of them. It’s no surprise that the NCRI unanimously approved the Women’s Rights and Liberties Plan back in 1987.
We all know that this paradigm shift will never be implemented by the current regime in Iran. Clear evidence of this is the ongoing severe punishments for regime opponents, such as the death penalty, torture, and degrading treatment of women for non-compliance with prevailing mandates, as well as executions of protesters by the Revolutionary Guard and other security forces.
For these reasons, I reaffirm my support for the declaration we have signed to endorse Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a democratic, secular Republic with full human rights. I take this opportunity to call for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, among whom are also Argentine citizens. Terrorism is a global scourge against which all who love democracy and freedom must unite. For all these reasons, I say Free Iran.
