European Parliament Members Express Concern over Human Rights in Iran and Support for Democratic Opposition

The European Parliament and its members have expressed concern throughout the last few years about Iran’s increasing influence throughout the Middle East, as the 2015 nuclear agreement appears to have given the regime an entrance toward normalizing its international relationships.

Yet an Iranian democratic opposition, as represented by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), also are active in the international community, calling for an end to the Iranian regime, its oppression and its terrorist activities. 265 members of the European Parliament released a statement condemning the activities of the Iranian regime and calling for an investigation of human rights violations.

“According to the Iranian regime’s laws, women are banned from becoming President and pursuing leadership positions in the judiciary and many other areas. Women are repressed for improper veiling and many women activists are sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Girls as young as nine can be married, even to their stepfathers,” said Gérard Deprez, Chair of the Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament.

Amnesty International noted that “Iran alone accounted for 55% of all recorded executions” in the world in 2016. It currently carries out the highest number of executions in the world per capita. Iran also remains a leading executioner of prisoners who were under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest. There is also evidence of a massacre of 30,000 or more political prisoners that occurred in 1988, which the Iranian regime denies even as more families come forward to ask about their loved ones.

“We, therefore, call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Council, to set up a commission of inquiry into the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran,” said Deprez. He also noted in his statement, which was signed by 265 other MEPs, that the elections in Iran were not free and fair, as the candidates were cleared by the Guardian Council appointed by Khamenei.

The group urged the EU and European member states, the U.S., and the UN to condemn human rights violations in Iran, to blacklist the IRGC, and have those involved in crimes against humanity to be brought to international tribunals.

“Any further expansion of relations with Iran must be conditioned to a clear progress on human rights, women’s rights, and a halt to executions,” said Deprez.

On July 1, 2017, a gathering of Iranians and their supporters will be held in Paris to support a Free Iran. The convention will include a variety of international speakers, who will discuss not only the necessity of the international community to send a strong message to Iran, but also the steps necessary to make that message effective. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, will also outline the steps necessary to create a peaceful regime change and a democratic Iran.