In Iran today, we face a government known for executions and massacres, violating all clauses of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In November alone, at least 120 people were executed in Iran’s prisons, equating to one execution every six hours. Over 5,000 people currently face execution in the regime’s prisons.
The mullahs’ government, amid the escalating regional war it initiated, has increased both secret and public executions, taking advantage of international attention on the conflict. Since the war’s onset on October 7, the regime has executed 225 people in Iran, including political prisoners and those arrested in recent uprisings.
On November 7 and 8, Milad Zohrevand, a participant in the 2022 uprising, and Ali Saber Motlaq, a supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were hanged. Additionally, political prisoners Hani Albushahbazi and Ayub Karimi were executed on November 7 and Kamran Rezaei was executed on November 8 in Shiraz, the latter being involved in the November 2019 uprising.
The government’s extensive repression machine includes usurping people’s right to sovereignty, obstructing free elections, denying freedom of religion, violating freedom of speech, assembly, and political parties, and eliminating labor unions and non-governmental trade unions and organizations.
Under the mullahs’ rule in Iran, the most pervasive human rights violations occur in the permanent and institutional suppression of women. This includes allowing violence and discrimination, imposing the compulsory hijab, and killing girls for not obeying the regime’s dress code, such as Zhina Amini and Armita Geravand. Amnesty International recently published a report detailing the horrifying story of 12 women, seven children, and 26 men who were tortured and assaulted during last year’s uprising.
The report exposes sexual assault, gang rape, and other forms of sexual violence against arrested protesters, perpetrated by the regime’s intelligence and security forces. The regime especially targets the MEK relentlessly.
In recent months, an international movement involving 124 former world leaders seeks to hold the heads of the Iranian regime accountable for crimes against humanity, particularly the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. However, the regime remains confident in its actions due to perceived inaction by Western governments.
The regime, condemned 70 times by the United Nations for violating human rights, holds the world record for executions and has committed crimes against humanity. President Ebrahim Raisi, personally involved in torture and execution since the Mullahs’ rule began, played a role in the 1988 massacre and the 2019 and 2022 demonstrations.
Raisi’s government has forced millions of Iranians into becoming refugees through execution, torture, and imprisonment, with a four-decade track record of continuous crimes against humanity. Despite this, Raisi is set to participate in the World Refugee Forum in Geneva, a stain on the United Nations and a mockery of the right of asylum.
The Iranian resistance proposes four ways to address this situation:
- Blacklist the Revolutionary Guards as a terror entity.
- Activate the snapback mechanism in Security Council Resolution 2231 to reinstate sanctions against the regime.
- Place Tehran’s government under Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter.
- Recognize the Iranian people’s struggle against the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
While Western governments have historically appeased such brutality, the Iranian resistance is actively working to restore human rights in Iran, including pursuing legal action against the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre as part of the broader effort to overthrow the mullahs’ regime.
