Call on the Security Council to condemn Iran's violence against protesters
A number of human rights defenders inside and outside Iran have written a letter to the rotating president of the Security Council, calling on the body to consider the repression of the people during the November protests as a "crime against humanity" and issue a resolution in this regard.
Sixteen human rights advocates, representing political and civil society activists imprisoned in Iran, have written to Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations and current president of the Security Council, calling on the body to pay attention to the severe repression of the people during the November protests. They write that the Islamic Republic’s approach should be condemned as a “crime against humanity.”
The letter states, among other things: "The Islamic Republic is an illegal and rogue government that brutally suppressed unarmed people who peacefully protested against its oppression by cutting off the entire internet."
The signatories cited a recent Reuters report that put the death toll from the November protests at 1,500, including 400 women and about 20 children. Referring to the arrest of Pouya Bakhtiari’s family and the security forces’ prevention of a 40th anniversary commemoration of the victims, they asked: “How many more Pouyas must be killed before the world declares this massacre a crime against humanity?”
Nazila Golestan, a representative for human rights in the Iranian National Assembly and one of the signatories of the letter, explained the motivation for writing it to DW: "After Reuters and France 24 reported on the scale and scope of the repression and after the arrest of Pouya Bakhtiari's family, we thought of doing something to attract more world attention. We urgently contacted various people late at night, and after several people responded to our proposal, we wrote the letter. Now, a number of others have responded and agreed that their names should not be included."
In response to the question of why the Security Council was addressed with this call, Ms. Golestan stated: "The Security Council is the only institution that can issue such a resolution. According to the Rome Statute, if such a resolution is issued in the Security Council, the case can be sent to the Hague Court."
The International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, is responsible for investigating crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and examines cases referred to it by the UN Security Council.
The open letter to Ms. Kelly Craft also calls on the Security Council to show its support and solidarity with the Iranian people who are fighting to achieve "freedom of expression and freedom of political choice."
Six women and ten men have signed the letter. Among them are Mohammad Karim Beigi, father of Mostafa Karim Beigi, one of the victims of the 2009 protests, Hossein Dayimi, father of Atena Dayimi, a civil rights activist imprisoned in Evin, Elham Yaghoubian, translator, writer and human rights activist, Mehdi Yahyanejad, founder of the website Nabaash and director of the “Toshe” project, Niloufar Gholami, journalist and women’s rights activist, Mehdi Rajabian, composer, Hossein Rajabian, filmmaker, Yaghoub Najari, judo coach, Reza Pirzadeh, member of the Political Bureau of the Iranian National Council, and Abdolsattar Doshuki, director of the Baloch Studies Center.
Source: DW
