Joint Statement by Human Rights Organizations: Sanctions Related to Human Rights Violations Should Not Be Lifted in Nuclear Negotiations
Iran Human Rights Campaign, together with eight other human rights organizations, released the following statement today regarding nuclear negotiations in Vienna. The statement emphasizes the importance that sanctions regarding human rights violations by the Islamic Republic should not be lifted in these negotiations:
We, the undersigned human rights organizations, call on the governments negotiating with the Islamic Republic of Iran in nuclear talks not to lift sanctions related to human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sanctions that have been imposed on the Islamic Republic government due to gross and widespread violations of human rights in Iran. Criminalization of peaceful public protests, killing of protesting citizens, unlawful detention, imprisonment, torture, and execution of protesters, opponents, and civil activists are among the blatant cases of human rights violations in Iran.
Furthermore, sanctions against Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s President, due to human rights violations should also not be lifted. Ebrahim Raisi is one of the main figures responsible for human rights violations since the establishment of the Islamic Republic government in Iran. Some instances of human rights violations in which Ebrahim Raisi participated constitute crimes against humanity.
Ebrahim Raisi personally participated in the “Death Committee.” A committee under whose orders thousands of political prisoners who had been previously tried and were serving their sentences were collectively executed in a completely unlawful process.
Since the prosecution and punishment of human rights violators within Iran is impossible based on international law, lifting sanctions regarding human rights violations by the Islamic Republic for political expediency sends a dangerous message to all authoritarian and oppressive governments in the world; that when the interests of the international community are at stake, it will turn a blind eye to human rights violations.
Meanwhile, lifting sanctions regarding human rights violations by Ebrahim Raisi demonstrates that leaders of countries can commit such crimes without punishment.
As negotiations over the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have reached a decisive stage, we call on all parties negotiating with the Islamic Republic to remain committed to defending human rights and international human rights standards as a serious and vital matter, and to approach the human rights issue with the same level and degree of concern that exists regarding other matters under discussion between the parties, free from political interests and expediencies.
Iran Human Rights Campaign
Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for Human Rights in Iran
Justice for Iran
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
Collection of Human Rights Activists in Iran
Union for Iran
Siamak Pourzand Foundation
Association for the Defense of the Rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran
Human Rights Association in Kurdistan of Iran – Geneva
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
