HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN: REVIEW OF 2021/22
29 March 2022 Index: MDE 13/5366/2022

IRAN

Islamic Republic of Iran
Head of state: Ali Khamenei (Supreme Leader)
Head of government: Ebrahim Raisi (President, replaced Hassan Rouhani in August)

Thousands of people were interrogated, unfairly prosecuted and/or arbitrarily detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights, and hundreds remained unjustly imprisoned. Security forces unlawfully used lethal force and birdshot to crush protests. Women, LGBTI people and ethnic and religious minorities faced entrenched discrimination and violence. Legislative developments further undermined sexual and reproductive rights, the right to freedom of religion and belief, and access to the internet. Torture and other ill-treatment, including denying prisoners adequate medical care, remained widespread and systematic. Authorities failed to ensure timely and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. Judicial punishments of floggings, amputations and blinding were imposed. The death penalty was used widely, including as a weapon of repression. Executions were carried out after unfair trials. Systemic impunity prevailed for past and ongoing crimes against humanity related to prison massacres in 1988 and other crimes under international law.

BACKGROUND

The former head of Iran’s judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, rose to the presidency in June instead of being investigated for crimes against humanity related to the mass enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of 1988, reflecting systemic impunity in Iran. Presidential elections were held in a repressive environment with a markedly low turnout. Authorities barred women, members of religious minorities and critics from running, and threatened to prosecute anyone encouraging election boycott.

Ongoing US sanctions, Covid-19 and corruption deepened Iran’s economic crisis, characterized by high inflation, job
losses and low or unpaid wages. Strikes and rallies punctuated the year as authorities failed to prioritize adequate wages, housing, healthcare, food security and education in public budgets. Environmental experts criticized the authorities’ failure to address Iran’s environmental crisis, marked by loss of lakes, rivers and wetlands; deforestation; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste; and land sinking.

Iran continued to provide military support to government forces in the armed conflict in Syria (see Syria entry).
In February, a Belgian court sentenced Iranian diplomat Assadollah Asadi to 20 years’ imprisonment for his role in a thwarted bomb attack against a rally by an exiled Iranian opposition group in France in 2018.

In March, the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iran. The authorities denied him, other UN experts and independent observers entry to Iran.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY

The authorities continued to heavily suppress the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. They banned independent political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations, censored media and jammed satellite television channels.

1 “Iran: Ebrahim Raisi must be investigated for crimes against humanity”, 19 June

In January, the authorities added Signal to the list of blocked social media platforms, which included Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and YouTube. Security and intelligence officials carried out arbitrary arrests for social media postings deemed “counter-revolutionary” or “un-Islamic”.

The authorities imposed internet shutdowns during protests, hiding the scale of violations by security forces. In July, parliament fast-tracked preparations for a bill that is expected to be adopted in 2022 and which would criminalize the production and distribution of censorship circumvention tools and intensify surveillance.

Several thousand men, women and children were interrogated, unfairly prosecuted and/or arbitrarily detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Among them were protesters, journalists, dissidents, artists, writers, teachers, dual nationals. Also among them were human rights defenders, including lawyers; women’s rights defenders; defenders of LGBTI people’s rights, labour rights and minority rights; environmentalists; anti-death penalty campaigners; and bereaved relatives demanding accountability, including for mass executions and enforced disappearances in the 1980s. Hundreds remained unjustly imprisoned at the end of the year.

The decade-long arbitrary house arrest of former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and the latter’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, continued. Dissidents and journalists based abroad faced intensified threats, and their families in Iran were interrogated and/or arbitrarily detained in reprisal for their work.

In July, US prosecution authorities charged four Iranian agents for conspiring to kidnap Iranian-US journalist Masih Alinejad from US soil. In August, intelligence officials interrogated the relatives of exiled Kurdish human rights defender Arsalan Yarahmadi and threatened him with death. Iranian-Swedish dissident Habib Chaab and Iranian-German dissident Jamshid Sharmahd, who had previously been abducted abroad and returned to Iran, remained at risk of the death penalty.

Security forces deployed unlawful force, including live ammunition and birdshot, to crush mostly peaceful protests. In July, at least 11 people were shot dead during protests over water shortages in Khuzestan and Lorestan provinces while scores were injured.3 On 26 November, security forces fired metal pellets to disperse protests over water mismanagement in Esfahan, leading to scores of people, including children, being blinded or sustaining other serious eye injuries.
Over 700 petrochemical workers were unjustly dismissed for participating in nationwide strikes in June.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture and other ill-treatment remained widespread and systematic, especially during interrogation. Torture-tainted “confessions” were broadcast on state television and consistently used to issue convictions. Prison and prosecution authorities, working under the judiciary, held prisoners in cruel and inhuman conditions characterized by overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate food and water, insufficient beds, poor ventilation and insect
infestation, and denied many of them adequate medical care, placing them at greater risk of Covid-19. Increasingly, the authorities transferred women prisoners of conscience to squalid conditions in prisons far from their
families in reprisal for continuing to denounce human rights violations while imprisoned.

Leaked surveillance footage from Tehran’s Evin prison in August showed prison officials beating, sexually harassing and otherwise torturing or ill-treating prisoners. At least 24 prisoners died in suspicious circumstances involving allegations of torture or other ill-treatment, including the
denial of adequate medical care.

2Iran: Rights Groups: Iranian Dissidents Remain at Risk Worldwide Without International Action (Index: MDE 13/4480/2021), 19 July
3 “Iran: Security forces use live ammunition and birdshot to crush Khuzestan protests”, 23 July; “Iran: Security forces use ruthless force, mass arrests
and torture to crush peaceful protest”, 11 August
4 “Iran: Leaked video footage from Evin prison offers rare glimpse of cruelty against prisoners”, 25 August
5 “Iran: A decade of deaths in custody unpunished amid systemic impunity for torture”, 15 September

The Penal Code retained punishments violating the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, including flogging, blinding, amputation, crucifixion and stoning. In February, Hadi Rostami was flogged 60 times in Urumieh prison in reprisal for his hunger strikes against repeated threats that his amputation sentence would be implemented.

Hadi Atazadeh died in Ahar prison in September after being flogged.

In October, a court in Tehran sentenced a man to be blinded in one eye under the principle of “retribution-in-kind”
(qesas) for assault.

At least 152 people were sentenced to flogging, according to Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.

DISCRIMINATION

Women and girls
Women faced discrimination in law and practice, including in relation to marriage, divorce, employment, inheritance and political office. Discriminatory compulsory veiling laws led to daily harassment, arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, and denial of access to education, employment and public spaces. At least six women’s rights defenders remained imprisoned for campaigning against compulsory veiling.

Parliament further undermined the right to sexual and reproductive health by adopting the bill “Youthful population and protection of the family” in November which, among other things, bans state-funded facilities from providing birth control free of charge; requires pharmacies to sell contraception only with a prescription; bans vasectomy and tubectomy except when pregnancy would endanger a woman’s life or lead to serious physical harm or unbearable hardship during pregnancy or after labour; and suppresses access to prenatal screening tests.

The parliamentary Social Commission approved the long-standing bill “Defending dignity and protecting women against
violence” in July after regressive amendments by the judiciary. The bill, which awaited final approval, contains welcome provisions, including the establishment of special police units, safe houses and a national working group to devise strategies to tackle violence against women and girls. However, it fails to define domestic violence as a separate offence, criminalize marital rape and child marriage, or ensure men who murder their wives or daughters face proportionate punishments. In cases of domestic violence, the bill prioritizes reconciliation over accountability.

The legal age of marriage for girls stayed at 13, and fathers could obtain judicial permission for their daughters to be married at a younger age. According to official figures, between March 2020 and March 2021, the marriages of 31,379 girls aged between 10 and 14 were registered, representing a 10.5% increase over the previous year.

LGBTI people
The murder in May of Alireza Fazeli Monfared, who self-identified as a non-binary gay man, highlighted how the
criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct and gender non-conformity with punishments ranging from
flogging to the death penalty perpetuated violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.

State-endorsed “conversion therapies” amounting to torture or other ill-treatment remained prevalent, including against children.

Gender non-conforming individuals risked criminalization unless they sought a legal gender change, which required
gender reassignment surgery and sterilization.

The military continued to characterize homosexuality as a “perversion”. Military exemption cards issued to gay and
transgender individuals indirectly disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent, putting them at risk of violence.

6Iran: Murder of 20-year-old Gay Man Highlights Urgent Need to Protect LGBTI Rights (Index: MDE 13/4129/2021), 17 May

Ethnic minorities
Ethnic minorities, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen, faced discrimination,
curtailing their access to education, employment and political office. Despite repeated calls for linguistic diversity, Persian remained the sole language of instruction in primary and secondary education.

Ethnic minorities remained disproportionately affected by death sentences imposed for vague charges such as “enmity
against God”. The authorities secretly executed those convicted of such charges and refused to return their bodies to their families, as in the cases of four Ahwazi Arab men in March and a Kurdish man, Heidar Ghorbani, in December. At least 20 Kurdish men remained on death row after being convicted of such charges.

The authorities refused to cease and provide accountability for the unlawful killing of scores of unarmed Kurdish crossborder couriers (kulbars) between the Kurdistan regions of Iran and Iraq and unarmed Baluchi fuel porters (soukhtbar) in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

More than 200 Kurds, including dissidents and civil society activists, were swept up in two waves of arbitrary arrests in January and July-August.9 Most were released after weeks or months of being forcibly disappeared or detained incommunicado, while several remained in prison and several others were sentenced to imprisonment.

Religious minorities
Religious minorities, including Baha’is, Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Yaresan and Sunni Muslims, suffered
discrimination in law and practice, including in access to education, employment, child adoption, political office and places of worship, as well as arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment for professing or practising their faith.

People born to parents classified as Muslim by the authorities remained at risk of arbitrary detention, torture or the death penalty for “apostasy” if they adopted other religions or atheist beliefs.

Members of the Baha’i minority suffered widespread and systematic violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, forcible closure of businesses, confiscation of property, house demolitions, destruction of cemeteries, and hate speech by officials and state media, and were banned from higher education. In April, authorities prevented Baha’is from burying their loved ones in empty plots at a cemetery near Tehran, insisting they bury them between existing graves or at the nearby Khavaran mass grave site related to the 1988 prison massacres; authorities lifted the ban after a public outcry.10 In June, security forces demolished around 50 Baha’i homes in the village of Ivel in Mazandaran province as part of a long-standing campaign to expel them from the region.

In January, parliament further undermined the right to freedom of religion and belief by introducing two articles to the Penal Code that prescribe up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a fine for “insulting Iranian ethnicities, divine religions or Islamic denominations” or for engaging “in deviant educational or proselytizing activity contradicting… Islam”. In July, three Christian converts were sentenced to lengthy imprisonment on this basis.

Several Gonabadi Dervishes remained unjustly imprisoned, including in connection with a peaceful protest that authorities violently quashed in 2018. One of them, Behnam Mahjoubi, died in custody on 21 February following months of torture and other ill-treatment, including deliberate denial of adequate medical care.
Authorities continued to raid house churches.

RIGHT TO HEALTH

The authorities’ response to Covid-19 was marked by a lack of transparency and failure to address shortages of vaccines, hospital beds, oxygen supplies and nurses.

7 Iran: Four Ahwazi Arab men secretly executed (Index: MDE 13/3864/2021), 18 March
8 “Iran: Unlawful killings of destitute fuel porters must be independently investigated”, 2 March
9 Iran: Joint Statement: Urgent International Action Needed to Secure Release of Kurdish Activists and Others Arbitrarily Detained in Iran (Index: MDE 13/3624/2021), 3 February
10 “Iran: Stop destruction of mass grave site and allow dignified burials of persecuted Baha’is”, 29 April

Iran launched its Covid-19 vaccination programme in February, but given the Supreme Leader’s January decision to ban vaccines produced in the UK and USA, by August less than 6% of the population had been vaccinated. The ban was
lifted in August and over 80% of the population had received the first dose of the vaccine by the end of the year.
The authorities failed to devise a national strategy to ensure timely and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for
thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals, with local officials in some provinces establishing special vaccination
centres for this group from October.

In some cities, mobile vaccination teams were dispatched to informal settlements and areas where people experiencing homelessness were living, but outreach remained uneven nationally.

The vaccination of prisoners did not start until August.

Six people were arbitrarily arrested in August and tried for spurious national security charges in October solely for meeting to discuss possible legal action over the authorities’ failure to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines.

DEATH PENALTY

The death penalty was imposed after unfair trials, including for offences not meeting the threshold of the “most serious crimes” such as drug-trafficking and financial corruption, and for acts not internationally recognized as crimes.

Death sentences were used as a weapon of repression against protesters, dissidents and ethnic minorities.
Yousef Mehrdad and Saadollah Fazeli in Arak were sentenced to death for “insulting the Prophet”.
Sajad Sanjari, arrested when aged 15, and Arman Abdolali, arrested when aged 17, were executed in August and
November, respectively. Over 80 people remained on death row for offences that occurred when they were children.

IMPUNITY

The authorities continued to cover up the number of those killed during November 2019 protests, dismissed complaints by victims’ families, and praised security forces for the crackdown. Throughout the year, security forces dispersed peaceful gatherings of relatives seeking justice and beat and temporarily detained them. Manouchehr Bakhtiari, the father of a killed protester, was detained in April and sentenced to imprisonment in July for denouncing impunity.

The trial of Hamid Nouri, arrested in Sweden for alleged involvement in prison massacres in 1988, began in August under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Consistent with long-standing patterns of denial and distortion, Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry described the trial as a “plot” concocted by “terrorists” that relied on “fake documentation and witnesses”.

The authorities continued to conceal the truth surrounding the January 2020 shooting down of Flight 752 by the
Revolutionary Guards, which killed 176 people, and harassed, arbitrarily detained, tortured or otherwise ill-treated bereaved relatives for seeking justice. In November, the prosecution of 10 low-ranking officials before a military court in Tehran started behind closed doors amid grievances by victims’ relatives about the impunity afforded to top military and executive officials.

EU Reporter     |     MARCH 5, 2022

Personalities and politicians take part in international conference in solidarity with the Iranian women in the resistance, calling for a firm policy against the ayatollahs, express support for Ukrainian women.

On 5 March, on the verge of the International Women’s Day, an international conference was held in the German capital Berlin, featuring political luminaries, lawmakers, and women’s rights activists from 37 countries around the globe that called for solidarity.

Connected online to Ashraf 3 in Albania, where thousands of members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) reside, as well as hundreds of other locations around the world. The conference expressed its support for the struggles of women worldwide, especially the resistance of Iranian women for freedom, equal rights, and elimination of unjust discriminations. They pointed the role of the Iranian women in the popular uprisings and protests, in particular in the MEK affiliated Resistance Units.

The conference’s speakers, representing a wide spectrum of political views and orientation, also announced their strong support for the heroic resistance of the people of Ukraine, particularly the women, who at times have made huge personal sacrifices to fight foreign invasion and their country’s integrity and sovereignty.

“Today, I extend my warmest greetings to the proud people of Ukraine, especially to the valiant women of that country,” said keynote speaker and the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi. “Millions of women and girls have risen up for freedom and rushed to the battlefield in droves; from ministers and parliamentarians to elderly mothers, have taken up arms. I salute those mothers who sent their children out of Ukraine so that they could themselves join the resistance.”

“The Ukrainian people’s resistance is not only an epic in defending the honor and survival of their country but also a turning point in reviving the culture of unswerving resistance in today’s world. They stood up and challenged the West’s appeasement and inaction. They stood up and motivated the world to support them. Their people and soldiers have stood firm like steel,” Mrs. Rajavi added.

Speaking about the daring struggle of Iranian women and their active role in recent uprisings, Mrs. Rajavi stated: “Throughout the past year, women were at the forefront everywhere in all protest movements, from the uprisings in Khuzestan, Isfahan, and Shahrekord to the protests of teachers, nurses, and the defrauded investors.”

Calling on her fellow countrywomen, the NCRI President-elect said: “The dark and bleak destiny does not change except through your mighty hands. The reactionary oppressors who have taken you captive will never offer you freedom and equality willingly; Rise up and overthrow them!”

“I commend Maryam’s courage and commitment to empowering Iranian women,” Urška Bačovnik Janša, the spouse of Slovenia Prime Minister told the conference. “I would like to take the opportunity of today’s event to pass a very strong message to my fellow Western women and Western governments. We must stand firm together, against the policies of the Iranian regime that strangles women’s freedoms. Words of western women’s organizations and governments must be put into action. We must be there for Iranian women.”

Ukrainian MP, Kira Rudyk connected to the conference from Kiev. She gave a passionate and moving description of life in Kiev and the people’s resistance, in particular the role of women. “All countries of the world said that we would not stand a chance and Kyiv would fall in 24-48 hours. It’s ten days and we are still standing. This happened because of our army and because of the bravery of the resistance,” she said.

Addressing the International Women’s Day in Berlin, Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko used very inspiring words. She stated: “To everyone who is listening, don’t give up on your country. We’re fighting for all of you. If we don’t defend our freedom right now, history will never be the same. I’m very proud of my nation and I send my love to all of you. We need peace in Ukraine. We need peace in the world.”

Frances Townsend, a former Homeland Security Advisor to the United States President said: “The women of the world lead the resistance for freedom across the world, whether it’s in Kurdistan, Ukraine, or Iran. I am humbled by the courage of women in Iran who fight for choice, for freedom, whether it’s for speech or the overthrow of the misogynist regime of Iran.”

Expressing her support for the NCRI and its leader, Maryam Rajavi, former Prime Minister of Denmark‎, Helle Thorning Schmidt said: “It is remarkable that the NCRI is actually led by a Muslim woman, Maryam Rajavi. Her ten-point plan is a blueprint for the whole world to see that there is a democratic future for Iran. All democrats across the world should support this plan.

The international community should stand with the desire of the Iranian people for a democratic, secular republic. We stand with you. The world needs to stand with the Iranian people. I’m here to tell you that you inspire us.”

According to Rita Prof. Rita Süssmuth, a former president of the Bundestag who attended the conference “Iran is a highly civilized country. You can see it in the women who come from Iran, the women in Ashraf. They survived the regime. They were not weak. Suffering can lead to fresh energy,”  “Maryam Rajavi is a woman that I admire,” she added.

Another prominent German politician, former German Minister of Defense, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said: “A lot of women fight for their freedom even though they have to lay down their lives for a better Iran. A great example is Maryam Rajavi, who has laid out a plan for the future of Iran that is liberated from discrimination, where men and women are equal, a country that is not a hub of fundamentalism and terrorism.”

“Iranian women are at the forefront of all protests inside Iran. What does that mean for women who are suffering from gender apartheid across the world? Condemning suppression of women in Iran is not enough. We need to support these women in Iran and worldwide,” Mimi Kodheli, former Albanian Minister of Defense told the conference.

The conference included dozens of prominent speakers from all over Europe, US, Canada, and Muslim countries, including several members of the US House of Representatives.

https://www.eureporter.co/world/iran/2022/03/05/on-the-occasion-of-international-women-day/

Iranian activist disappears after criticizing internet bill

AP     |     Feb. 26, 2022

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian activist went missing after criticizing a proposed bill by hard-liners to implement highly restrictive internet policies, his family said Saturday.

Hossein Ronaghi, a blogger and free-speech activist, disappeared Wednesday after he criticized a bill in parliament to limit internet access in the country, known as the “Users Protection Bill.” The proposal has been criticized by many Iranians on social media.

There was no information on Ronaghi’s location or condition.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said in March last year that social media in Iran is “unbridled” and it should not be “surrendered to the enemy.”

In a recent tweet, Ronaghi said: “The Protection Plan was a decision made by the entire system based on the demand from the Islamic Republic’s leader who had stated: ‘Virtual space must be controlled.’”

Ronaghi’s brother, Hassan, who also is an activist, said in a tweet that Hossein was kidnapped. He said his brother had received several anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his disappearance.

Hassan Ronaghi also said his brother needs medical care because he is suffering diseases affecting several of his organs, including his kidneys.

“Anything that happens to Hossein is the responsibility of the Supreme Leaders’ office, the (Revolutionary Guard), and the judiciary.”

Reza Ronaghi, the father of the two brothers, said in an interview with Iranian foreign-base media on Wednesday that Khamenei was directly responsible for his son’s life.

A day after the first reports surfaced of his disappearance, human rights activists claimed that security forces came into Hossein Ronaghi’s home and and took a laptop and notebooks.

The language in the proposed internet legislation has yet to be finalized. But if implemented in its current form, it could lead to the disruption of international internet services and websites — like Instagram — that have not yet been blocked.

Under pressure from hard-liners, the Iranian government has long blocked access to many websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram.

Many Iranians, especially youths, access social media through VPNs and proxies. Instagram and WhatsApp remain unblocked.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, this is not the first time Ronaghi has been arrested. In December 2009, during the mass arrests that followed post-election protests over voter fraud allegations in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he was arrested after discussing politics in a series of critical blogs that were eventually blocked by the government.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-iran-media-social-media-dubai-685dd71ae6299f9411c703cbbec0cc7a

 

Newsweek     |     LELA GILBERT      |     2/23/22

The Islamic Republic of Iran never seems to disappear from headlines, while its misdeeds persist—often out of sight and out of mind. A primary example is the regime’s ceaseless abuse of religious minorities—Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians, Baha’is, atheists and Christians, and even at times government recognized Assyrian and Armenian churches. These abuses are often hidden from view. Yet the highly respected Open Doors World Watch List consistently places Iran among the world’s top 10 persecutors of Christians.

“Marathon talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal have hit a new roadblock, with Iran accusing the US of refusing to make the necessary political decisions to entrench the agreement in international law or to broaden the scope of economic sanctions that would be lifted,” The Guardian noted. Negotiators claim that progress on a nuclear deal is becoming “more and more difficult.” And while those nuclear talks drag on interminably, the regime’s abuse of religious minorities continues, and in some cases, it increases unabated.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) observed that religious freedom in Iran is “egregiously poor”—the Islamic Republic’s interpretation of Islam denies minorities the freedom to worship.

The Baha’i faith has its origins in Islam and teaches the essential unity of all religions and of humanity. But it is considered heretical by Islamic fundamentalists. And Baha’is are often recognized as the most persecuted minority in Iran. However Christians—and particularly converts from Islam—also continue to pray a high price for their faithfulness. And there’s a reason for this troublesome distinction: Iran’s small but persistent Christian community has been growing at an unprecedented pace in recent years.

In 2021, commentator Daniel Pipes shared the concerns of an Iranian church leader, “What if I told you the mosques are empty inside Iran? What if I told you no one follows Islam inside of Iran? … What if I told you the best evangelist for Jesus was Ayatollah Khomeini [the founder of the Islamic Republic]?” An evangelical pastor, formerly an Iranian Muslim, concurred as far back as 2008: “We find ourselves facing what is more than a conversion to the Christian faith. It’s a mass exodus from Islam.”

Other outlets have echoed that Islam in Iran is on the decline. The Christian Broadcasting Network claimed in 2019 that “Christianity is growing faster in the Islamic Republic of Iran than in any other country.” Shay Khatiri of Johns Hopkins University wrote last year that “Islam is the fastest shrinking religion [in Iran], while Christianity is growing the fastest.”

This kind of growth encourages Christian believers, but also increases their risks of persecution. This is especially true of converts from Islam.

One young female former Muslim from Tehran, Mary Mohammadi, recently told Newsweek, “I have been threatened many times by the authorities.” She mentioned receiving intimidating messages in Farsi on Twitter, including warning that she would be attacked with acid and specifically threatened with “gang rape.” She explained, “If anything happens to me, the Islamic government of Iran, and its associates, inside and outside Iran, are responsible.” Appallingly, just days after those threats, Mary was indeed brutally assaulted. Today Mary’s future is sadly uncertain.

Christian persecution by Iranian authorities is not new but continues unabated. And despite the global pandemic, USCIRF reports that Christians in Iran faced intense religious persecution in 2021.

These include USCIRF religious prisoner of conscience Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was charged in 2016 with “promoting Zionist Christianity.” He remains in prison due to a 10-year sentence.

Iranians gather to celebrate the new year at Saint Sarkis Cathedral on Jan. 1, 2022, in Tehran, Iran.MEGHDAD MADADI ATPIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

In February, an appeals court sentenced three Christian converts to jail for spreading “propaganda.” Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence also summoned Christian convert Ebrahim Firouzi to the prosecutor’s office after he uploaded videos documenting his persecution. He was ultimately arrested and placed in prison.

On Feb. 15, Article 18 reported that three Christian converts—Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh—were officially charged with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia,” and “connections with foreign leaders” and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The men were mocked by the court and called “Satan-worshippers who believe in the end of the world, the divisions between sects and races, the return of the Jews to their promised land, and the superiority of this race [Jews] to others, which proves the claim that they are working for foreign elements.”

Unsurprisingly, as the Iran nuclear talks drag on, the regime has tried to put on a kinder, gentler face for its Western debaters. One tactic was releasing nine incarcerated Christians, after which the court quietly reversed their decisions days later. A February 2022 article was headlined “Christian Converts Absolved by Supreme Court Now Face ‘Propaganda’ Charges.”

On Feb. 14, the U.N.’s special rapporteur Javaid Rehman was less than impressed with Iran’s treatment of Christians. In his latest report he noted the arrest of at least 53 Christians between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 1, 2021. He said that they were arrested “for the practice of their religious beliefs.”

Rehman pointed out that Iran should “ensure in law and practice the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association” and “that any limitation on these rights is in accordance with international law.”

Young Iranian lives are being transformed by newly found Christian beliefs, eclipsing depression and fear with love and joyful worship. However, any high hopes for positive change in the Islamic Republic’s vicious 40-plus year history of violent abuse is quite another matter, requiring us all to take an enormous leap of faith. May the persecuted get the freedom they deserve.

https://www.newsweek.com/precarious-circumstances-irans-christians-opinion-1681571?amp=1

 

Reuters     |     By Stephanie Nebehay     |     Jan. 27, 2022

GENEVA, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Prominent former U.N. judges and investigators have called on U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet to investigate the 1988 “massacre” of political prisoners in Iran, including the alleged role of its current president, Ebrahim Raisi, at that time.

The open letter released on Thursday, seen by Reuters, was signed by some 460 people, including a former president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sang-Hyun Song, and Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador for global criminal justice.

Raisi, who took office in August, is under U.S. sanctions over a past that includes what the United States and activists say was his involvement as one of four judges who oversaw the 1988 killings. His office in Tehran had no comment on Thursday.

Iran has never acknowledged that mass executions took place under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolutionary leader who died in 1989.

Amnesty International has put the number executed at some 5,000, saying in a 2018 report that “the real number could be higher”.

“The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. They include the current Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei,” said the open letter. Ejei succeeded Raisi as head of Iran’s judiciary.

Raisi, when asked about activists’ allegations that he was involved in the killings, told a news conference in June 2021: “If a judge, a prosecutor has defended the security of the people, he should be praised.” He added: “I am proud to have defended human rights in every position I have held so far.”

The letter, organized by the British-based group Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran, was also sent to the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose 47 member states open a five-week session on Feb. 28.

Other signatories include previous U.N. investigators into torture and former foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Kosovo and Poland.

Javaid Rehman, the U.N. investigator on human rights in Iran who is due to report to the session, called in an interview with Reuters last June for an independent inquiry into the allegations of state-ordered executions in 1988 and the role played by Raisi as Tehran deputy prosecutor. read more

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-urged-open-query-into-irans-1988-killings-raisi-role-2022-01-27/

 

Reporters Without Border     |    Jan. 15, 2022

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is asking the UN to set up an independent international commission of enquiry into the death of Baktash Abtin, an Iranian journalist and writer who died on 8 January as a result of not being treated when he caught Covid-19 in Tehran’s Evin prison.

A member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, Baktash Abtin was transferred too late to hospital by the Iranian authorities although prison officials had warned them that his condition was worsening dramatically, his lawyer told RSF.

Deprivation of medical care is deliberately used by the Iranian authorities as a way to eliminate imprisoned dissidents,” said Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran-Afghanistan desk. “We urge the UN rapporteurs on the human rights situation in Iran, on extrajudicial executions and on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to shed all possible light on Baktash Abtin’s death. It is time to put a stop to this kind of criminal behaviour, which amounts to state murder.

Depriving detainees of medical attention violates the ban on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It violates the laws that the Iranian authorities themselves have undertaken to respect, the rules that they have decreed, as well as international norms established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran signed.

Authorities ignored warnings

Abtin’s lawyer, Naser Zarafshan, who is also a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, warned prison officials on 27 November that Abtin’s condition was worsening, that he had a fever and was coughing and that his entire body was aching. But it wasn’t until 5 December that he was transferred to Tehran’s Taleghani hospital and another three days went by before his family was informed.

For six days, neither the family nor friends of this journalist, who was chained to his bed, knew what he really had,” Zarafshan told RSF. “The guards even refused to let his family bring him a fruit juice.” By the time of his transfer to Taleghani hospital he had developed a severe form of Covid-19 and more than 78% of his lungs were infected. “It was too late,” Zarafshan added.

Abtin’s state of health had long been a source of concern. He suffered a previous bout of Covid-19 in April 2021, when the authorities also delayed treatment. Several doctors called for his release at the time, saying his state of health was incompatible with continued detention, but their appeal went unanswered.

Concern about other imprisoned journalists

The fate of other ailing imprisoned journalists is a source of great concern. One of the world’s oldest imprisoned journalists, Kayvan Samimi Behbahani, the 73-year-old editor of the monthly Iran Farda, continues to be detained although doctors have certified that his condition is incompatible with imprisonment. And his situation could quickly worsen following the publication of a letter in which he blames the Iranian judicial authorities for Abtin’s death. He could be transferred to another prison, putting his life in danger.

Many other journalists who are members of the Iranian Writers’ Association are also in prison. They include Reza Khandan Mahabadi, Kayvan Bagen and Khosro Sadeghi Borjeni. Although it is Iran’s oldest civil society organisation, the association’s activities have been banned under both the Shah and the Islamic Revolution. Two of its representatives, the writers and journalists Mohamad Makhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, were murdered in 1998.

Died in prison

Abtin is far from being the first Iranian journalist to die in detention. Zahra Kazemi, a 54-year-old photographer with Iranian and Canadian dual nationality, died on 10 July 2003 after being tortured while held. The blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi died in detention in unclear circumstances six weeks after his arrest in February 2009. Iran-e-Farda editor Hoda Saber, 52, died of a heart attack in June 2011 after being detained since the previous August. The blogger Sattar Beheshti died while being held by Iran’s cyber-police, the FTA, in November 2012. None of the perpetrators and instigators of these crimes has been brought to justice.

The Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 174th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-asks-un-investigate-iranian-journalist-baktash-abtins-death

Meeks Issues Statement on Passage of Stop Iranian Drones Act out of Committee

Statement     |     December 10, 2021

Washington, DC – Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement regarding the passage of the “Stop Iranian Drones Act” (SIDA), a bipartisan bill to address the growing threat of Iran’s lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, out of Committee:

“As we have seen in recent months, Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist and militia groups have been growing increasingly aggressive with their drone attacks in the Middle East – targeting US troops, commercial vessels, partner countries and more. Such activity will not be tolerated by the U.S. Congress and is actively being addressed by the Biden Administration. Our bill clarifies that existing conventional weapons sanctions against Iran include unmanned combat aerial vehicles and brings U.S. code up to date with the UN’s categories of major conventional arms. By doing so, this legislation will allow us to better respond to the threat posed by Iran and its proxies’ aggressive UAV tactics to the U.S. and our partners. This clarification makes clear to the international community that it is in everyone’s interest to work to stop Iranian UAV procurement and production.”

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-releases?ID=D84FAF49-D0B8-4234-ACDC-37D434FF2C5E

 

Remarks by Honorable Vice President Mike Pence

Washington, DC, October 28, 2021

Thank you all.
Washington, DC, Thank you for that warm welcome. And it is my great honor to address the Free Iran 2021 summit. Today, along with all of you, thousands of freedom loving people across the United States and Europe, Iran and nations around the world are joining together in pursuit of a common cause, the liberation of the Iranian people from decades of tyranny and the rebirth of a free and peaceful, and prosperous and democratic Iran.

It is very humbling for me to be here with all of you, and with the distinguished Americans that you’ll be hearing from in the balance of this program. And I know I speak for them when I say I want to thank you, I want to thank you for your courageous work, the work you’re doing to promote a free Iran. Thank you all for standing for freedom, for the Iranian people.

Now, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to speak at length about Iran since completing my term as Vice President of the United States. And while I no longer speak on behalf of the United States government, I can assure you, as others, you will hear from today my countrymen. I’m confident I speak for the views of tens of millions of Americans. And I tell you with certainty that the American people support your goal of establishing a democratic, secular, nonnuclear Iranian Republic that derives its powers from the consent of the governed.

Many American citizens trace their family roots to Iran. More than 1.5 million Americans, including many gathered here and looking on across the country, were born in Iran, which means the United States is home to more members of the Iranian diaspora than any other nation on earth. And America has been incredibly enriched by your contributions to our culture, our economy, and our society. Most Iranian Americans came to the United States following the tragic events after the revolution in 1979.

They chose to make the United States their home because they knew that America is and will always remain the land of Liberty.

But for those who were left behind, many of your family members and to those that are looking on from afar, life over those years has been full of misery and hardship.

What the Iranian people have endured since 1979 will be recorded by history as one of the great tragedies of the modern era. As a former elected leader, as an American citizen, as a man of faith who believes that all people are created in the image of God, the Iranian people have always been on my heart throughout my 20 years in public life.
In 2009, like so many other Americans, I remember watching with great hope and anticipation as hundreds of thousands of people across Iran rose up to reclaim their birthright of freedom.

In the 2009 uprising, millions of courageous young men and women filled the streets of Tehran and Tabriz in what seemed like every city and village in between. They denounced a fraudulent election, they demanded an end decades of repression. Those brave protesters looked to America, and they looked to the leader of the free world for support.

But as I saw firsthand as a member of Congress, sadly, for days, our administration remained silent. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, it was my honor to take action, recognizing that in their hour of need there could not be an abdication of American leadership. The American cause is freedom. And in that cause, we must never be silent.

So as a member of the House International Relations Committee, I went to work. I worked with a distinguished Democrat member of Congress named Howard Berman. We authored a resolution that the late Senator John McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman, who is with us here today, introduced in the United States Senate.

We expressed America’s support for the courageous young Iranian protesters, and I’m proud to say it passed almost unanimously in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. And Senator Lieberman, thank you for your strong and decisive leadership on that day. With such strong and overwhelming and bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, happily, the Obama administration joined the chorus of Americans supporting the cause of a free Iran in the days that followed. Unfortunately, the Obama-Biden administration’s halfhearted support and refusal to act ultimately emboldened Iran’s tyrannical rulers to crack down on that dissent.

The 2009 uprising was ruthlessly put down. As I said at the time, cable television channels were filled with the brutality on the streets of Tehran. We were witnessing a Tiananmen in Tehran.

But the enduring hope of a free Iran, as you approve again today, can never be extinguished. And under the Trump-Pence administration, I’m proud that America did not turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the Iranian people. We did not remain silent in the face of the regime’s countless atrocities. We stood with the freedom loving people in Iran.
We stood against their tyrannical regime, as perhaps no administration had done in the modern era.

We canceled the Iran nuclear deal, which had flooded the regime’s coffers with tens of billions of dollars with pallets of cash money that it used to repress its own people and support deadly terrorist attacks across the region. We imposed crippling new sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard. We launched a campaign of maximum pressure, punishing the regime for its belligerent behavior, its assaults on its own citizens. We enforced sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
And we called on free nations around the world to stand with us.

We encouraged world leaders to condemn Iran’s unelected dictators and defend the Iranian people and their unalienable right to chart their own future and determine their own destiny. In no uncertain terms, we told the United Kingdom and Germany and France and Russia and China that the JCPOA was a dangerous mistake for America, for the world and for the people of Iran. And we made it clear that under no circumstances would the United States ever allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

When we came into office, Iran was sowing violence all across the region. Even in the wake of international agreements and billions of dollars of international support. We confronted the regime’s malign activities and violence in the region, and our administration did not hesitate to take decisive action against the most dangerous terrorist in the world. The head of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani is gone.

On the day we left office, the Iranian regime was more isolated than ever before.
Truth be told, as many of you know, gathered at this Free Iran Summit 2021, the Iranian regime has never been weaker than it is today. Its economy is in shambles. The inflation rate has skyrocketed. Iranian currency has lost 90% of its value. Four out of five Iranians now live below the poverty line. Corruption is at an all-time high.
And by all indications, the Iranian people are ready for change.

And there’s every indication that the tyrannical regime in Iran knows their days are numbered.
The recent selection of Ebraham Raisi to service Iran’s President, I believe, is a sign of the regime’s growing desperation and vulnerability. Thirty years ago, Raisi was in charge of the Ayatollah’s death squad, and he’s now the President of that country, a brutal mass murderer responsible in 1988 for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. His selection as President is clearly intended to quash internal dissent and intimidate the people of Iran into remaining silent.

But we must never remain silent in the face of evil. Many people attending today know well just how evil Raisi is.
Many of you gathered here, and many of you looking on, lost loved ones by Raisi’s hand. You lost your homes, your livelihoods. And as I heard in a meeting just before we gathered here, some of you barely escaped his grip with your lives.

So today, with other distinguished Americans, we join you in pledging his crimes must not go unpunished.
Ebrahim Raisi must be removed from office by the people of Iran, and he must be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and genocide.

And today, by all indications, the resistance movement in Iran has never been stronger. Resistance units in Iran are the center of hope for the Iranian people. They’re the engine of change from within during the uprisings and continued protests. Let me be clear. And I know I speak on behalf of tens of millions of Americans, of both political parties and of every political philosophy. The American people stand unequivocally on the side of the Iranian people and their Resistance.

One of the biggest lies the ruling regime has sold the world is that there’s no alternative to the status quo. But there is an alternative, well organized, fully prepared, perfectly qualified and popularly supported alternative called the MEK.

The MEK is committed to democracy, human rights and freedom for every citizen of Iran, and it’s led by an extraordinary woman. Mrs. Rajavi is an inspiration to the world.
Her ten point plan for the future of Iran will ensure freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom for every Iranian to choose their elected leaders. Our greatest hope must always be for a peaceful, cooperative and harmonious coexistence with Iran and all the sovereign nations of the region and the world. The United States will always be ready to embrace peace with all who seek it.

But peace follows strength.
And with our current administration’s embrace with the JCPOA, their hesitation to condemn rockets being fired at our cherished ally Israel, the heartbreaking and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, our adversaries may be sensing weakness in the current American administration. They may be emboldened to test our resolve. And in fact, they’ve already begun to do so with reports of an Iranian drone attack on a US base in Syria.
Weakness arouses evil.

But whatever the current decisions of the present American administration, let there be no doubt the American people are strong and the American people stand for freedom.
And I know the people of our country will remain committed to defending freedom and standing with oppressed people around the world because we know in our hearts that Iran can be a great nation once again. We know the rich history of Iran, which stretches back in time and memorial. The story of a people who have made great contributions to art, music, literature, science and commerce.

And we know your story is far from over.
As President Ronald Reagan said, there is no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

Iran will someday be free. Because here in America, we know the Iranian people. You’ve seen all that you’ve achieved in our country when you’ve been free to pursue your hopes and your dreams. All free nations of the world must continue to support the Iranian people in their calls for freedom and demand that Iran’s leaders cease their dangerous and destabilizing actions at home and abroad. We stand with the proud people of Iran because it is right, because the regime in Tehran threatens peace and security in the world, and no oppressive regime can last forever.
I believe in all of my heart that the day will come when the Ayatollah’s ironfisted grip on Iran is ended.

I believe that a new glorious day will dawn. A bright future will begin, ushering an era of peace, stability, prosperity and freedom for the good people of Iran. And so I pray with all my heart that that day will come soon. And looking at all of your shining faces and seeing the broad support so well represented by distinguished Americans here, I believe that day of a free Iran will come soon.

Thank you.
God bless the people of Iran and God bless the United States.
https://oiac.org/remarks-by-mike-pence-at-2021-free-iran-summit/

 

Sir David Amess’ Last Article Calls for Reversing a Pattern of Appeasement by Arresting Iran’s Genocidal President

On October 15, the world was shocked to hear about the assassination of Sir David Amess. Sir David was a staunch advocate of human rights. As a member of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, he supported the Iranian people and their Resistance for nearly four decades. Sir David was a renowned politician who prioritized dignity and human values over politics and economic interests. In his last article in TownHall on October 14, he urged world leaders to hold the Iranian regime accountable, particularly prosecute the mullahs’ president Ebrahim Raisi for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.

Reverse a Pattern of Appeasement by Arresting Iran’s Genocidal President

Townhall | David Amess | Oct 14, 2021

Human rights activists have recently joined with persons affected by the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses in order to issue formal requests for the arrest of Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran. Raisi assumed office in August following months of protests by Iranian citizens and expatriates alike over his role in severe human rights violations, including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, mostly members and supporters of the main opposition, the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) in the summer of 1988.

Public demands for his arrest intensified in the wake of the announcement that Raisi is expected to attend the COP26 climate change conference that is scheduled to take place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12. Iranian dissidents have long criticized Western policymakers for maintaining ordinary diplomatic relationships with the Iranian regime in spite of its ongoing commitment to terrorism, suppression of dissent, nuclear proliferation, and other malign activities.

It has been evident in recent years that the European Union and certain member states have remained publicly committed to preserving and restoring a nuclear agreement that provided Iran with wide-ranging relief from economic sanctions, even as the regime’s behavior grew worse in various areas. Discussions over the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have overshadowed more and more examples of that behavior as time has gone on, and the worst consequences have been borne by the Iranian people.

Raisi’s appointment to the presidency is a vivid affirmation of those consequences, as well as a “grim reminder of the impunity that reigns supreme in Iran.” This was the language used by Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard in a statement responding to that appointment. It emphasized that instead of ascending to the presidency, Raisi should have been investigated at the international level for “the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance, and torture.”

The calls for such investigation, as well as the calls for Raisi’s arrest, are naturally focused on the 1988 massacre, but those calls are made especially urgent by Raisi’s more recent history. In 2019, as an apparent stepping-stone to the presidency, he assumed leadership of Iran’s judiciary upon the order of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In that capacity, Raisi oversaw key aspects of the crackdown on the nationwide uprising of November 2019, which saw 1,500 peaceful protesters killed in a matter of days, after which thousands of arrestees were subjected to torture over a period of several months.

That crackdown naturally helped to fuel protests against Raisi’s candidacy, but his “election” was effectively orchestrated in advance by the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council, prompting the overwhelming majority of eligible Iranian voters to boycott the polls. That protest denied Raisi the legitimacy he sought at home, so it is all the more shameful that Western powers have so far refused to deny him that legitimacy on the international stage.

Although Raisi has only held office for just over two months, his invitation to COP26 is already part of a larger pattern. His August 5 inauguration featured attendance by international dignitaries including the deputy political director for the European External Action Service, and in September the United Nations General Assembly screened a pre-recorded speech by the new Iranian president. That speech sparked simultaneous protest rallies by NCRI supporters across Europe and the Americas, which reiterated the call for Raisi and other Iranian human rights abusers to be held accountable rather than legitimized by the international community.

Fortunately, the European presence at Raisi’s inauguration appears to have inspired only limited confidence in the new administration. This is to say, Raisi’s decision not to attend the UNGA in person may reflect his fear of arrest under universal jurisdiction – something the NCRI and its allies have earnestly sought to promote.
The rallies against Raisi’s speech were accompanied by a conference in Stockholm, which highlighted the fact that at least one Western nation has resolved to live up to its reputation for defending human rights. In 2019, Swedish authorities arrested the former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury after he arrived for a visit to the country. Noury is accused of helping to carry out many of the executions that comprised the 1988 massacre, and he is currently on trial in Sweden for war crimes and mass murder.

Such prosecution is made possible by the principle that allows for severe violations of human rights to be prosecuted by any legal authority, even if the crimes actually took place in another jurisdiction. If this principle applies to Noury’s case, then it certainly applies to that of Ebrahim Raisi, whose role in the 1988 massacre was much larger and whose subsequent human rights abuses have been much more shocking and escalatory.
Such a figure has no business standing among other heads of state at an international conference in the West. If he is permitted to enter the United Kingdom next month, it should only be so that the Police in Scotland may execute an arrest warrant and launch an investigation for crimes that may include attempted genocide against moderate Muslims who challenged the regime’s fundamentalist theocracy more than 33 years ago.
Sir David Amess is a Conservative Member of the British House of Commons from Southend West.

https://townhall.com/columnists/davidamess/2021/10/14/reverse-a-pattern-of-appeasement-by-arresting-irans-genocidal-president-n2597370?1412

 

NEW EUROPE | By Patrick J. Kennedy & Alejo Vidal-Quadras | 10/7/2021

Human rights seem nonexistent in today’s world. That’s because the world’s democracies are not fighting for it.
While the world’s dictatorships always seem to have each other’s backs, the world’s democracies are failing to do the same when it comes to standing up for their own core values such as human rights and the rule of law. Too often we forgo our moral, and at times legal, responsibilities for the sake of pragmatism, and sometimes out of sheer greed for petrodollars.
Take our relationship with Iran, for example.

This summer, ultra-hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi took office as President. He is listed by major human rights groups as a key perpetrator of the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
At the time, Raisi was Tehran Deputy Prosecutor, when he was tasked by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini with serving on a Death Commission that sent prisoners to the gallows after mock trials that lasted just minutes.

In a decree, Khomeini ordered the elimination of all political prisoners affiliated to the main opposition People’s Mujahedin (PMOI or MEK) who remained committed to the group, which was declared to be ‘Mohareb’, or waging war against God. Raisi and other Death Commission members were tasked with determining which prisoners were still resolute.
Survivors of the 1988 massacre put the number of victims at above 30,000. They were buried in mass graves in what amounted to crimes against humanity and, according to some legal experts, genocide.

The perpetrators have never been held accountable. To the contrary, many have been promoted to senior posts.
Before becoming President, Raisi was Iran’s Judiciary Chief. Under his reign, the judiciary and security forces launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in November 2019, killing an estimated 1500 anti-government demonstrators and dissidents and detaining and torturing thousands more with total impunity.

The international community is partly to blame for the rise of such impunity. In September 2020, seven UN Special Rapporteurs announced that the failure of UN bodies to act over the 1988 massacre had “emboldened” the Iranian authorities to commit further human rights abuses.

In an attempt to challenge this impunity, some 152 former UN officials and renowned international human rights and legal experts in May 2021 wrote to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the 1988 massacre.

Signatories included a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former UN Deputy Secretary-General, 28 former UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights, and the chairs of previous UN Commissions of Inquiry into human rights abuses in Eritrea and North Korea. Distinguished legal professionals who signed the appeal included the former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, a former Special Prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the first President of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International in a statement on June 19 reiterated that Raisi had a key role in the 1988 massacre and should be “investigated for his involvement in past and ongoing crimes under international law, including by states that exercise universal jurisdiction.”

On June 29, 2021, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, added his voice to the fray, calling for an independent inquiry into the 1988 state-ordered executions and the role played by Raisi as Tehran deputy prosecutor. Rehman said his office was ready to share gathered testimonies and evidence if the UN Human Rights Council or another body sets up an impartial investigation.

More recently, on August 4, the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in a report to the Human Rights Council called for an “international investigation” into the 1988 massacre.
The onus is now on the world’s leading democracies, including the EU and US, to challenge the impunity enjoyed by Iranian officials.

Last July, Janez Jansa, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, announced his country’s support for a UN Commission of Inquiry. Sadly though, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell quickly distanced the 27-nation bloc from that position, stating that Brussels pursues a ‘balanced’ Iran policy.

That shameful retraction was music to the mullahs’ ears. It sends a signal to Iran, and to the wider world, that for all its talk of human rights, the EU is prepared to look the other way when regimes murder their own citizens.
It’s time for Europe to end ‘business as usual’ with the regime of mass murderers running Iran.

Instead, the European External Action Service (EEAS) should use its Magnitsky Act powers to impose stringent sanctions against perpetrators of the 1988 massacre in Iran. Slovenia shouldn’t be the sole EU voice supporting the UN experts’ call for accountability. It’s time for the other 26 members of the European Union to seek a UN Commission of Inquiry into the 1988 extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances (In Iran). The EU must finally show it’s prepared to fight for human rights.

The West needs to unite to fight for human rights