Home News Human Rights NCRI Calls on EU to Take Action Against Iranian Regime’s Crimes

NCRI Calls on EU to Take Action Against Iranian Regime’s Crimes

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"On behalf of the Iranian people’s Resistance, I propose a policy with three elements: Human rights for the people of Iran, comprehensive embargo of the religious dictatorship, and recognition of the Iranian people's Resistance for freedom and democracy," said Maryam Rajavi.

On October 7, dozens of members of the European Parliament and distinguished politicians joined a webinar, discussing gross violations of human rights in Iran. The event was hosted by the Iranian coalition opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to condemn ongoing crimes against humanity by the Iranian regime and to call the West, particularly the European states, to prioritize human values, peace, and fundamental freedoms rather than economic interests.

As the first speaker, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, mentioned the vile human rights condition inside Iran, especially in prisons. “Dozens of political prisoners are on the death row in Iran. Political prisoners are under torture. Today, you can hear families of thousands of those killed in recent protests, calling on Europe and the world to stand by them,” she said.

Mrs. Rajavi also reminded the Iranian people’s continuous struggle for freedom, justice, equality, and basic human and civil rights. “This regime is facing the anger and discontent of the vast majority of the Iranian people. In addition to thousands of large and small protests, five major uprisings have erupted in Iran since January 2018,” she added.

The NCRI President-elect highlighted the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities in European countries. She also remembered the arrest of a senior Iranian diplomat for plotting a bomb attack against the Iranian opposition’s annual gathering in 2018. “The big question, however, is this: Why has the regime become so emboldened to engage one of their diplomats directly in a terrorist operation?” Mrs. Rajavi questioned.

“One reason is that the regime is desperate in the face of the Iranian people’s protests and the significant role of the Iranian Resistance in the uprisings. But another reason is that the regime was confident that it would not pay any price for committing such major terrorist crime in the heart of Europe, due to the ongoing policy of appeasement,” she continued.

“In such circumstances, the security of Europe, its long-term economic interests and its relations with the Middle East, depending on its decision to stand by the people of Iran, and not by the mullahs. On behalf of the Iranian people’s Resistance, I propose a policy with three elements: Human rights for the people of Iran, comprehensive embargo of the religious dictatorship, and recognition of the Iranian people’s Resistance for freedom and democracy,” Mrs. Rajavi concluded.

Following Mrs. Rajavi’s remarks, many MEPs and distinguished politicians delivered their speeches, supporting the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and justice. They also condemned the EU appeasement policy toward the Iranian regime, calling on taking concrete actions against the brutal dictatorship in Iran.

“Iranian women face discrimination. Iranian law denies freedom of religion. We have a political and legal duty to stand up for human rights in Iran,” said Juan Fernando López Aguilar, MEP from Spain and Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

“Over the past year, human rights violations by the Iranian regime have been on full display, exposing the mullahs’ brutal suppression. The Amnesty International report in early September on the torture and treatment of the November 2019 protests detainees is shocking,” said Rasa Juknevičienė, MEP from Lithuania.

“We’re at a crucial point in history. The region is unstable. There are more conflicts. We should pay more attention to what’s going on in Iran. The very core of the Iranian regime is not changing and won’t change without pressure. It’s a fundamentalist regime, a dictatorship, a brutal theocracy. It is contrary to basic human rights concepts,” said Jan Zahradil, MEP from the Czech Republic, President of the ECR Party (2009 – 2020).

“Political prisoners are easily killed under torture. In its latest report, Amnesty International speaks about an “epidemic of torture” in Iranian prisons. Torture is a routine matter in all detention centers and prisons whether of the security forces or the Intelligence Ministry or in the IRGC. There is no law and no due process. Everything is arbitrary,” said Gianna Gancia, MEP from Italy.

“The situation in Iran is deteriorating every day. Thousands of people have participated and detained for participating in demonstrations, showing many many people are tired and fed-up with this regime,” said Antonio López-Istúriz White, MEP from Spain, Secretary-General of the EPP group and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“As we speak about Iran, we witnessed the execution of Navid Afkari. He was one of many who were sentenced to death based on false accusations and confessions under torture. The Iranian regime is spreading hatred and terrorism in the region and beyond. I support the Iranian people who want freedom and justice in their country,” said Veronika Vrecionová, MEP from the Czech Republic.

“In the last decade, the Iranian regime has had a horrible record of human rights abuses. Demonstrations were harshly suppressed by authorities and many protesters were sentenced to death. The execution of Navid Afkari is the latest manifestation of the Iranian regime’s cruelty. The regime has total disregard for humanitarian standards,” said Marco Zanni, MEP from Italy and Chair of the ID Group.

“I’ve been closely following the developments in Iran. Reports indicate that Iranian security forces have used hard force in arresting more than 7,000 people and killed hundreds in connection with the protests,” said Milan Zver, MEP from Slovenia.

“An on-going crime against humanity is happening in Iran. There has been no considerable improvement in the human rights situation. If any, it has worsened. Executions have never stopped. Lack of freedom of speech and assembly, suppression of women and religious minorities continue persistently,” said Ivan Štefanec, MEP from Slovakia.

“I was shocked by the execution of Navid Afkari for his participation in anti-government protests. Unfortunately, we’re witnessing the EU’s appeasement policy with Iran. The result is that today we’re seeing an ever-more aggressive regime that is not only victimizing its citizens but exporting terror to the world. The EU is falling into Iranian state propaganda that sanctions are hurting the people. These sanctions are targeting the regime’s malign behavior,” said Derk Jan Eppink, MEP from the Netherlands.

“Iran is the first state in terms of executions per capita. We can’t close our eyes to the events in Iran. A month ago, Navid Afkari was executed secretly without his family, lawyers, and even himself being warned. How can we close our eyes to these events?” Benoît Biteau, MEP from France.

“In Iran, misogyny dominates the constitution. Women are systematically oppressed by the regime. They have no human rights. The suicide rate is highest among Iranian women. They are tortured. Even pregnant women have been executed by the regime. Women are contracting Covid-19 in Iran’s prisons,” said Patrizia Toia, MEP from Italy.

“The violation of human rights has not stopped in Iran. The situation in Iran is catastrophic. It is the first country for executions in the world. We must not forget the great number of women and minors executed in Iran,” said Alessandra Moretti, MEP from Italy.

“We can’t forget that many prisoners were not allowed to meet families and lawyers before being killed. We can’t forget what happened to 30,000 political prisoners who were massacred in 1988. We can’t forget the deaths of 1,500 protesters killed in November 2019. We can’t forget the sacrifices made by many Iranian women for their rights,” she added.

“In the coming years, Iran will be able to find the role of stabilization and peace in this unstable region. I deplore what is going on in Iran today. It is in contradiction to the values I hold dear and the values of the EU. I regret the fact that those European bodies that defend democracy are remaining silent on these issues,” said Michèle Alliot-Marie, former MEP and French Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

“Of course, it’s for the Iranians to decide what kind of government should rule Iran. But it is our responsibility to denounce execution, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, terrorism—including on European soil,” she continued.

“We usually deal with human rights violations and terrorist activities of the Iranian regime as two separate issues whereas the two are two sides of the same coin. The view and approach that allows the regime to suppress peaceful protests of the people, killing more than 1,500 of them, and arresting and torturing thousands of them in November 2019, is the same view and approach that allows it to plot the bombing of the gathering of 100,000 people in Villepinte, near Paris, to kill many innocent people. The regime is doing all this for one reason only: for its own survival,” said Stanislav Polčák, MEP from the Czech Republic.

“I think it’s very important that in this year we have another gathering in force, searching in ways in the fight for creating the spaces of liberty in Iran that we strongly need to get rid of the criminal regime, which is again showing the worst face and the incapability of every way of having a humane treatment of the population of the Iranian population, 40 years now of tyrannical regime of the mullahs,” said Hermann Tertsch, MEP from Spain, Vice-Chair of the ECR group and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Let me tell you that even speaking of the death penalty in this context seems inappropriate to me because it’s not a penalty. It is state murder… So far the Rouhani regime has executed 198 people this year. Some time ago, the international community was shocked by the execution of the 27-year-old Iranian Navid Afkari,” said Javier Zarzalejos, MEP from Spain and Secretary-General of the Spanish Prime Minister’s Office (1996-2004).

“I was appalled to hear that the mullahs’ regime executed young Iranian national sports hero Navid Afkari despite so many protests and pleas by political leaders and sports figures all around the world. Many German athletes, sports champions, and lawmakers joined the call to stop executions in Iran,” said Lars Patrick Berg, MEP from Germany and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan represents everything Iran needs. We call on the EU to hold the regime to account for its serious human rights abuses. I’m concerned about the expiring arms embargo that will further empower the regime’s terrorist activities. This will not only be a threat to the people of Iran and the stability of the region, but also a threat to the security of Europe,” said Franc Bogovič, MEP from Slovenia.

“It is the very injustices and human rights abuses that the Iranian regime commits against its own people that brings us all together today. The Iranian regime is desperate to control speech, ideas, and indeed life itself,” said David Lega, MEP from Sweden, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and shadow rapporteur of the EPP group on Iran.

“And the protests in Iran signal that the Iranian people have had enough, they have had enough with the regime’s economic failures. They have had enough with the kleptocrats and they have had enough with a regime that denies them basic, fundamental human dignity that comes from each of us as a nature of our humanity,” he added.

“We hear executions continue in Iran. We cannot accept this… We also see how the regime has launched a brutal crackdown against popular protests demanding change and freedom, which are taking place frequently in Iran since 2018. We hear their demand to get rid of this corrupt regime, but what is the EU really doing to help them?” said Jaak Madison, MEP from Estonia and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Over the last four decades, the present regime in Iran has committed many crimes against humanity. Breaching human rights, disrespecting citizens’ rights, and opposing opponents. That’s the way the mullahs’ regime is trying to sustain the situation in Iran. International crimes should be added,” said Petras Auštrevičius, MEP from Lithuania, chairman of the Delegation for relations with Afghanistan, and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Women are the first target of this regime. Women prisoners are in terrible conditions in Iran. Serious action is needed. The regime cannot be allowed to continue violating the rights of its people. The EU should use its power to help the Iranian opposition,” said Radka Maxová, MEP from the Czech Republic.

“I am troubled seeing the great Iranian people powerless in the face of this regime’s actions. We must help those who raise their voice. Media and political pressure must continue. The executions in Iran are shameful. I want to tell the people of Iran that you’re not alone. We must help young Iranians take back their future,” said Anna Bonfrisco, MEP from Italy and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Almost one year ago, in the course of mass protests by the Iranian people, we were able to debate in Parliament the violent actions of the mullahs’ regime against the people. The majority of MEPs condemned the mullahs’ actions against the people, including the killing and imprisonment of thousands of people. The whole situation has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation of political prisoners is a real disaster,” said Anna Fotyga, MEP from Poland, Secretary-General of the ECR group, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and former minister.

“It is crucial to realize that democratic countries are part of the solution. In fact, they bear direct responsibility for the continuation of Tehran’s inhuman and aggressive dictatorship. Western ambiguity, pragmatic economic interests, and double-standards are helping prolong the mullahs’ bloody rule. We need to realize that every additional day of this regime means new arrests, new executions, and new suppression,” said Tunne Kelam, former MEP.

“Sixty million Iranians are now living below the international poverty line. The grinding deprivation and penury have driven people to sell their livers, kidneys, and even their corneas for cash. Forty-one years of venal corruption, dim-witted incompetence, and brutal oppression by the fascist Iranian government has brought this once prosperous and successful nation to its knees,” Struan Stevenson, former MEP, president of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-14) and chairman of the EP Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup (2004-14).

“The execution of Navid Afkari was a state crime. This is a continuation of the genocide of 30,000 political prisoners under orders from Khomeini in 1988. We also witnessed the assassination of Kazem Rajavi by this regime two years later,” said Paulo Casaca, former MEP.

“The Iranian people protest because of the terrible conditions in their country. The dictatorship is very afraid. The Iranian dictatorship is desperate and that is why they try to crush their own people. This is why protesters have been murdered and many are in prisons today. Iranian authorities tortured Navid Afkari for many weeks. He was finally executed,” said Kimmo Sasi, former Finnish MP.

“We all have a very serious concern about the inaction of the EU and the High Representative. The two recent cases of political prisoners Navid Afkari and Mostafa Salehi are of concern. Amnesty International called for a halt to their execution,” said Alejo Vidal Quadras, former vice-president of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.

“The EU did nothing. They waited until they were executed, and then they tweeted their condemnation. Navid and Mostafa could have been alive today if the EU and the Member States had taken concrete actions to stop these murders. They could have done many things to put pressure on the regime, but they didn’t, and Navid and Mostafa are dead,” he added.

“The EU and the UN must take action on Iran. The people of Iran want to change. The economic situation is desperate. The covid-19 situation has rendered the situation worse because of the regime’s mismanagement and hiding from the people,” said Isabella Tovaglieri, MEP from Italy, and member of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

“Today, the mullahs’ regime is a dictatorship and a criminal regime. It is a toxic regime that is dangerous for the region and the world. It threatens the world with terrorism. Things cannot continue and have to change. The world is not acting enough as the situation deteriorates in Iran. We must act strongly and positively,” said Jean-Pierre Muller, former mayor of Magny-en-Vexin and member of the Departmental Council of Val d’Oise.

“National parliaments and the European Parliament must be the spearhead of the effort to support democracy in Iran because the EU and the High Representative do very little.
The situation in Iran has come to a level of oppression, brutality, and criminal suppression by the regime that it is untenable. It must end,” Mr. Vidal-Quadras said.

“We have been fighting for years, together with you, Mrs. Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance, to change this terrible situation. It is time that national governments and the European External Action service take action. If they do nothing, every innocent life lost in Iran at the hands of the regime will be the responsibility of those who do nothing… The evil men win when the good men do nothing,” he concluded.

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