IOPHR, London
It has been more than three weeks since the Islamic regime of Iran started its new phase of naked violence and aggression towards its own people, by brutally suppressing the peaceful demonstrations of the Iranian people, against the threefold rise in gas price, through targeted killings and murders of its citizens, especially its youth and teenage protestors.
To hold peaceful demonstrations is a recognized right of all Iranian citizens, under the current Iranian constitution, and officials within the Ministry of the Interior, are also responsible for ensuring the safety of all citizens during demonstrations. Therefore, the Iranian regime’s shooting of defenceless protestors lacks any legal authority, or legal justification. Consequently, there is an urgent need for international prosecution of the perpetrators of these hideous crimes.
Given the recent actions of the Iranian authorities, in viciously suppressing the demonstrations through brutal killings of the demonstrators and given the appalling dimensions of the killings, makes all these abhorrent acts worthy of being considered as “crimes against humanity”. Therefore, the shooters, and the officers generally affiliated with the Quds Force, who are associated with these crimes, must be brought to justice immediately. The ministry officials of the Islamic Republic, who are responsible for ensuring the safety of its citizens and the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic, who are accused of “crimes against humanity” must all be tried in international courts.
IOPHR (the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights) notes that what is going on in Iran, should not be viewed as a purely internal matter, but directly relates to the peace and security of the international community. The Iranian regime, who is a signatory of the United Nation’s human rights charter, must be forced to answer for its crimes, through the development of a global consensus on its inhumane actions carried out by the Iranian regime, against its own citizens, which are summarised in the following points:
- The killing of over a thousand unarmed civilians in order to intimidate and terrorize the Iranian citizens to stop their protests.
- The hunting down of innocent civilians, by sniper force of Quds Army through shooting bullets into the heads of the protestors and by wounding the protestors through scattered firing of shots at the public.
- The unjustified killing of youth and children. At least 20 children under the age of eighteen, were shot and killed on the way home from school.
- The widespread blackmail orchestrated by the Iranian regime against the families of the dead through openly demanding large sums of money (often up to ten thousand dollars) for the delivery of the bodies of the dead to their families. All of which are blatant atrocious inhumane demands by the Iranian authorities.
- For mass public bloodshed, through mass reported killings, especially in the remote areas such as Mahshahr, Sistan and Baluchistan and Kurdistan. Specifically around Mahshahr, where hundreds were reported to be killed in the fields with Dushka guns.
- For Kidnapping injured people and stealing corpses from hospitals. According to numerous cases, kidnapping of the injured, and stealing of corpses from hospitals have been reported. All with the aim of hiding the true dimensions of the crimes of Quds Force officials.
- The Detention of more than ten thousand people without due process
- The disconnection of internet throughout Iran for two weeks, which is still continuing in many parts of the country
- The intractable corruption of the Iranian regime, which is clearly visible when one considers that the recent gasoline price increase in Iran generates about $ 3 billion a year in government revenues. A sum that is vastly overshadowed by the fact that more than forty percent of the total wealth of the Iranian people, about $ 200 billion, remains in the hands of four groups belonging to the Iranian Supreme leader, which are: Astan Qods, Razavi (the executive headquarters of Khamenei’s administration), the Mostazafan Foundation, and Al-Anbia’s camp, all of whom are exempt from any form of control or auditing. These statistics show that the main cause of the poverty and indeed the reason for the protests in Iran are not international sanctions, but rather the corruption of the Iranian authorities, especially the Supreme Leader’s family and the Quds Force officials.
Unfortunately, the unjustified procrastination and delay of the Iranian officials towards implementation of FTAF, anti-money laundering protocols, and the unjustified extension of Iran’s deadline for transparency in regards to its financial operations, has provided a golden opportunity for the corrupt officials of the Islamic Republic, to transfer their vast wealth, which is held in public accounts, to their personal accounts. All of which, will increase national poverty and push Iran further up the international index of misery, which in turn has fuelled the widespread discontent behind the popular protests.
In view of the foregoing, IOPHR urges the European Union member states, in particular the Union’s foreign policy apparatus, to urgently restrict or shut off all diplomatic and business relations with the tyrannical Iranian regime, as a form of protest against the regime’s inhumane actions against its own citizens. Secondly, it also calls on the European foreign policy apparatus to condemn the crimes of Iranian authorities, in order to demonstrate their adherence to fundamental and accepted principles of human rights.
Moreover, IOPHR calls on other governments, in particular UN Security Council member states, in view of the undeniable acts of violence by the Iranian authorities inside and outside the country, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and the threat the Iranian regime represents to international peace and security, resulting from these actions and in accordance with Articles 39, 40 and 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, to put the despotic and inhumane actions of the Islamic Republic’s system on the agenda of the Security Council for immediate review.
IOPHR, will in turn, take all necessary steps to establish and pursue “charges against humanity” in international legal forums against the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to hold them to account in fair international tribunals or legal proceedings.