Strong condemnation of the executions of protesters in Iran: time for action
The uprising in Iran is entering its fourth month and is still going on unabated. Iranians are determined to overthrow this regime and establish freedom. The constant slogans in all the protests “down with Khamenei” and “down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader” reflect this aspiration for a democratic republic.
After killing more than 700 people in the streets, most of them young people including 70 children, the Iranian regime is now resorting to executing demonstrators. On 8 December Mohsen Shekari, 23 years old, was hanged in Tehran, and on 12 December at dawn Majid-Reza Rahnavard, also 23 years old, was hanged from a crane in a public square in Mashhad. Then his executioners buried the body and only then notified the family of the execution and burial. He had been arrested 3 weeks earlier.
This shows that the regime is determined to engage in mass executions of prisoners of the uprising. Let us not forget that in 1988, the religious dictatorship did not hesitate to massacre 30,000 young political prisoners to remain in power.
Statements alone are no longer enough. It is time for international bodies, in particular the UN Security Council, the European Union and its member states, and democratic countries to take effective measures to stop the bloodbath in Iran.
While strongly condemning these criminal executions we call on democratic states to:
– Make all relations with the regime in Iran conditional on an end to executions
– Close its embassies and expel its agents
– Put its Intelligence Ministry and the IRGC on the list of terrorist entities
– Recognize the right of the Iranian people to resist and overthrow this religious dictatorship
Signatories:
Janez Jansa, former Prime Minister – Slovenia
Geir H. Haarde, former Prime Minister – Iceland
Petre Roman, former Prime Minister – Romania
Avdullah Hoti, former Prime Minister – Kosovo
Tony Clement, former Minister of Industry – Canada
Ryszard Kalisz, former Minister of Interior Affairs – Poland
Audronius Ažubalis, former Foreign Minister – Lithuania
Karel Schwarzenberg, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs – Czech Republic
Tonio Borg, former Foreign Minister and European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy – Malta
Jan-Erik Enestam, former Minister for Defence – Finland
Kimmo Sasi, former Minister for Transport and Communications – Finland
John Perry, former Minister of State for small business – Ireland
Liv Signe Navarsete, former Minister of Transport and Communications – Norway
Marcin Święcicki, former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, former Mayor of Warsaw – Poland
Edvard Solnes, former Minister for Environment – Iceland
Francis Zammit Dimech, former Foreign Minister – Malta
Wayne Easter, 40th Solicitor General of Canada, former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture – Canada
Stanislasv Pavlovschi, Judge, former Justice Minister – Moldova
In memory of Majid-Reza Rahnavard & Mohsen Shekari
