Human rights in Iran is not just a domestic problem – MEP
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| MPs Europe José Inácio Faria |
The United Press International published on Thursday an opinion piece by José Inácio Faria, a Member of the European Parliament from Portugal, on the Iranian regime's human rights abuses and the steps the international community should take in response.
Mr.
José Inácio Faria MEP wrote:
Last
week, together with 270 other colleagues in the European Parliament, I signed a
statement condemning the ongoing, rampant human rights abuses in the Islamic
Republic of Iran. We have called on EU and Western governments "to
condition any further relations with Iran to a clear progress on human rights
and a halt to executions."
Iran
is today the world leader in number of executions per capita. It has also been
declared by the U.S. State Department as the world's leading state sponsor of
terrorism.
The
rate of hangings has increased in recent years with the arrival to power of the
so-called "moderate" president, Hassan Rouhani. Nearly 1,000 people
were put to death in 2015 alone, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights in Iran, Ahmad Shaheed, who declared it as the highest number of
executions in Iran in 27 years.
In
the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities, morality police and the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps have intensified their efforts to root out and punish
various forms of deviance from the country's repressive religious laws,
including the forced veiling of women and the criminalization of labour unions
and other forms of peaceful gathering. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime's
unwavering support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has made Iran part of
the problem rather than a solution to the Syrian war.
Iran's
fingerprints are also deepening in Iraq, where Iranian-backed Shiite militias
have recently been accused again by international rights organizations of
systematic torturing and killing of the Sunni population in the battle to take
over Fallujah. This will further alienate the Sunnis and drive them toward
extremist groups such as the Islamic State.
And
as if to illustrate the danger of being caught as a bystander in the middle of
Tehran's contest for dominance of the region, Iraq is also the site of a community
of exiled Iranian dissidents, who have been stranded since 2012 in the former
U.S. military base of Camp Liberty. Described by the UN as a "detention
center," the camp has been the target of attacks utilizing Iranian-made
rockets, as well as an ongoing blockade of medical supplies and other
lifesaving provisions.
When
the defenseless camp residents who belong to the main Iranian opposition PMOI
were forcibly relocated to Camp Liberty from Camp Ashraf under a deal overseen
by the UN and United States, it was done with the promise that they would soon
be relocated to stable homes, presumably in Europe and North America. Four
years and dozens of deaths later, no nations other than Albania have made a
significant effort to relocate those people.
At
the same time, following the nuclear agreement that has provided the Islamic
Republic with extensive sanctions relief, several EU countries have both sent
and received political and trade delegations and have actively pursued
investment in Iran without any precondition.
As
it has been admitted by the U.S. president and other Western officials, and
given the dominance of the IRGC over the Iranian economy, there's little doubt
that most of the money, instead of being used for the well-being of Iranian
people and the development of the country, is funneled directly to support
terrorist groups in the region.
On July 9, together with other many other parliamentarians and
political figures from around the world, I will attend a rally organized by the
Iranian democratic opposition led by Maryam Rajavi. In doing so, we will strive
to reassure the Iranian people that not everyone in the West has forgotten
their righteous struggle for freedom and democracy.
Iran's
human rights record is of global significance and it is very much the
responsibility of Western nations to address that issue.
In
fact, our essential values as Europeans ought to be reason enough for us to
demand that Iran improve its domestic human rights as a price for any expansion
in trade relations. But as foreign investment gives Iran the opportunity to
reach its hand further across the region, it should be clear to us that the
stakes are much higher than we might have once imagined. And if we refuse to
respond to this situation, we will bear responsibility for the loss of innocent
lives not only in Iran but also in Syria, Iraq and other places in the region
where Iranian proxy fighters seek dominance.
José Inácio Faria, a Portuguese member of the
European Parliament, is member of Friends of a Free Iran group
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