Speaking at a conference in the UK Parliament, Baroness Liz Redfern called for international accountability over Iran’s past and ongoing human rights violations, warning that impunity has helped enable continuing executions and repression.
The failure to hold perpetrators of serious human rights crimes in Iran accountable has contributed to continuing repression, Baroness Liz Redfern said at a conference in the UK Parliament on human rights, accountability, and democratic change in Iran.
Focusing her remarks on accountability, Redfern argued that the issue must be central to any discussion about human rights and Iran’s democratic future. She pointed to the 1988 massacre of political prisoners as a defining example of the consequences of impunity, noting that thousands of political prisoners were executed because of their political beliefs.
According to Redfern, despite the scale of those crimes, their perpetrators were never held accountable and some subsequently obtained positions of power. She argued that the consequences of this lack of accountability remain visible today in the continued use of political executions.
From Impunity to Continuing Repression
Redfern linked the struggle for freedom in Iran directly to the pursuit of justice. In her view, the Iranian people’s demand for political change is not simply a political struggle but also a struggle to obtain accountability for serious abuses.
She argued that Iran’s judiciary cannot provide genuine justice while it remains part of the state apparatus responsible for repression. Redfern pointed to recent directives concerning the courts and the acceleration of death sentences as evidence, in her assessment, that domestic judicial mechanisms cannot provide meaningful accountability under the current system.
The result, she warned, is a cycle in which those responsible for past abuses can avoid accountability while new generations of protesters and political opponents face imprisonment and execution.
The Need for International Accountability
Against this backdrop, Redfern called for greater use of international accountability mechanisms.
She argued that Britain and its European allies should go beyond issuing statements urging Iran’s regime to halt executions and respond to demands for political change. In her view, continued repression should carry tangible consequences.
Redfern called for international efforts aimed at increasing the cost of continued executions and the detention of protesters and political prisoners. Accountability, she argued, should communicate clearly that ongoing violations of human rights cannot continue without consequences.
She emphasized that international mechanisms are particularly important because, in her assessment, domestic institutions inside Iran cannot independently hold the perpetrators of serious abuses accountable.
Britain’s Role at the United Nations
Redfern placed particular responsibility on the United Kingdom because of its position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
She argued that Britain can play a decisive role in supporting international efforts to hold those responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide accountable.
Her appeal therefore went beyond bilateral UK-Iran relations. She called for Britain to use its position within international institutions to support mechanisms capable of addressing serious crimes and preventing continued impunity.
For Redfern, international accountability should be part of a broader policy toward Iran rather than a secondary issue alongside diplomatic and political considerations.
Accountability and Iran’s Future
Redfern also stressed that Iran’s future should ultimately be determined by the Iranian people rather than by political factions or foreign powers. She emphasized the role women can play in leading democratic change.
This connection between accountability and political transition was central to her argument. Justice for victims of past atrocities, she maintained, cannot be separated from efforts to build a different political future for Iran.
Accountability, in this framework, serves two purposes: addressing crimes already committed and helping prevent future atrocities.
Redfern argued that establishing consequences for serious human rights violations is therefore essential not only for victims and their families but also for creating the conditions for a free, democratic, and peaceful Iran.
She concluded by warning that repression itself represents a fundamental threat to the wellbeing of the Iranian population, underscoring her broader argument that confronting systematic repression and impunity must remain at the center of international policy toward Iran.