MEPs draw attention to policy toward Iran in respect of human rights violations
The European Parliament headquarters in Strasbourg was where MEPS and a number of European dignitaries gathered on Wednesday 23rd October to attend a conference regarding the Iranian regime’s warmongering and violations of human rights.
The conference was organised by the European Parliament Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup. Many of the speakers also called for the Iranian regime to be held accountable for the 1988 massacre – a horrific crime against humanity in which the regime murdered more than 30,000 political prisoners, most of who were members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK), the main opposition to the Iranian regime.
The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Mrs. Maryam Rajavi addressed the conference. She presented a book containing the names of over 5,000 prisoner that were killed by the Iranian regime. She said the book tells the story of a supressed nation in which human rights are overlooked.
Mrs. Rajavi expressed her regret that the United Nations and Western governments have “closed their eyes to this crime” which has allowed the regime to brazenly expand across the region. She said that Europe must support the people of Iran in their quest for democracy and popular sovereignty.
MEP from Slovenia Milan Zver pointed out that the Iranian regime’s survival depends on its spread of instability and highlighted that it has close alliances with the Assad regime in Syria as well as North Korea and Russia. Mr. Zver also highlighted that poverty is rife and widespread in Iran and that there are a large number of political dissents in jail. He said that Europe is “largely responsible for this sad situation” and called on the European Union to adopt a firmer policy towards the mullahs in Iran.
Former MEP Struan Stevenson, a long-time supporter of the Iranian Resistance and Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change said that it is imperative for the “business-as-usual” appeasement of the regime to end.
He highlighted the most recent actions of the regime, explaining that in the past year alone more than 270 people have been hanged in the country – eight of whom were juveniles. Mr. Stevenson said that the will of the people is to see this regime that has bankrupted their country collapse and that Europe must pay attention to this.
MEP Radka Maxová from the Czech Republic urged her fellow MEPs to “no longer stay silent”, saying that they must speak up for the people of Iran that are suffering.
Spanish MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar spoke of the case of the young Iranian woman who committed suicide after being arrested for entering a stadium to watch a football match. He said that the European Parliament should be paying more attention to the women’s and human rights situation in Iran. “It is time to call on EU diplomacy to make sense to its founding values and make the case against the death penalty wherever it takes place.
We have a duty towards the Iranian people. We will not give up our moral responsibility to bring about change in human rights elsewhere, particularly in Iran
