Marking the International Human Rights Day
Maryam Rajavi Addresses the Hearing of the Italian Senate’s Human Rights Commission
Madam President,
Esteemed Senator Pucarelli,
Honorable Senators,
I express my gratitude for your focus on the grave violations of human rights suffered by the people of Iran. I also deeply commend the esteemed Senator Pellegrino for her initiative in convening this important session.
On the eve of the International Human Rights Day, we reaffirm the unwavering commitment of the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance to achieving the noble goal of human rights in Iran.
In the face of a regime that stands as humanity’s fiercest enemy in the modern world, our message of resistance is the restoration of humanity in chains. The Iranian people have paid an extraordinary price for this noble ideal, with over 100,000 martyrs for freedom, including 30,000 political prisoners massacred in 1988.
The esteemed martyr for human rights in Iran, Professor Kazem Rajavi—whose life was taken by the regime’s terrorist assassins near the Palais des Nations in Geneva—once proclaimed: “We are writing the history of human rights with our blood.”
Hossein Naghdi, the representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Italy, sacrificed his life for this very cause, assassinated by the regime’s terrorists in Rome.
Against a regime of execution and massacre that has sustained its existence for 46 years by obliterating human rights, our Resistance has risen to establish a society where executions and torture are eradicated.
The campaign against executions, both within Iran and abroad, is a powerful movement in this direction: No to the daily hanging of youths, no to the execution of women, and no to the reign of the noose.
For 45 weeks, political prisoners in 25 prisons have been staging hunger strikes every Tuesday to protest against executions.
On November 13, men and women imprisoned in Evin and Qezel Hesar prisons raised their voices in unison: “With one voice, united in resolve, we will stand until the death penalty is abolished.”
This is the voice that will reach its crescendo in the organized uprising of the Iranian people, bringing the clerical tyranny to its downfall. The people of Iran will forge their way toward a democratic republic by rejecting all forms of dictatorship, including those of the Shah and the mullahs.
Record of Human Rights Abuses in Iran
Dear Friends,
The violation of human rights in Iran is an unrelenting war that invades every aspect of individual, social, intellectual, and cultural life. It is a comprehensive, organized, and continuous repression that tramples upon the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a daily basis.
This includes the imprisonment of at least half a million political prisoners over the past four decades, the use of dozens of methods of torture against them, and the mass execution—by firing squad and hanging—of countless political dissidents.
This harrowing record was described by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Javaid Rehman, in his report as “the commission of the worst and the most egregious human rights abuses of our living memory.”
On November 30, the Iranian regime’s judiciary sentenced six political prisoners to death on charges of “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.” Over the past months, four more individuals have received the same death sentence on identical charges. In addition, recent months have seen the sentencing of numerous protesters arrested during the uprisings, alongside Baluchi, Kurdish, Arab, and Sunni compatriots, to execution.
The total number of executions in the past 11 months has surpassed 870, with thousands more languishing under death sentences. Although these convictions are often justified under various pretexts, their underlying purpose is to secure the survival of the clerical regime, making them fundamentally political in nature.
Amnesty International has aptly described the regime’s prisons as “slaughterhouses.”[1]
Since the regime’s new president took office, at least 560 individuals, including 20 women, have been executed. On October 8, he brazenly defended these executions.
Sexual violence against female prisoners has been a devastating reality over the past four decades and continues unabated. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, which has meticulously documented these assaults alongside other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, has underscored that “pervasive institutional discrimination against women and girls has led to serious human rights violations by the Government of Iran, many of amounting to crimes against humanity.”[2]
The systematic oppression, deprivation, and injustice inflicted upon women, characteristic of the past 46 years, persist to this day. Twelve ministries and 20 security and political agencies are actively engaged in suppressing women and enforcing the compulsory hijab. The regime’s new criminal, inhuman, and anti-Islamic hijab law stands in direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions, including those concerning women’s rights. Through this oppressive law, Khamenei aims to subjugate society—especially women, who are leading the fight against religious fascism—by enlisting repressive forces such as the police, Ministry of Intelligence, the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij, and half of the ministries to enforce it.
Our response to this misogynistic regime is, “No to compulsory Hijab, no to compulsory religion, and no to compulsory governance.” Every year, more than 1.5 million people are arrested in Iran. In a country where its economic, educational, and healthcare infrastructures are being systematically destroyed, and even basic electricity needs cannot be met, the construction of prisons and torture chambers thrives. Despite this, the prison population is 2 to 4 times the official capacity. An NGO, in a statement released by the UN Secretary-General, has described the regime’s treatment of prisoners as “contemporary forms of slavery.”[3]
One of the most brutal punishments inflicted on the victims of poverty and oppression is the amputation of their fingers. On October 29, in Urmia prison, the fingers of two members of a family were cut off. Five other prisoners in the same prison, as well as eight more in Tehran, are being held in anticipation of this inhumane punishment.
The country has become a vast prison. Freedom of speech is banned, freedom of the press is prohibited, and the freedom to assemble and form political parties and organizations is outlawed.
At least 20 different police forces are involved in enforcing these prohibitions.
One of these agencies, known as the Cyber Police (FATA), is responsible for repressing online users. In every province, at least 17 organizations are engaged in surveillance and suppression of internet users.
Even local governments, particularly the Tehran Municipality, play a direct role in the ongoing efforts to control and repress society. The reality is that human rights in Iran, as well as peace and security in the region and the world, hinge on the change and overthrow of the clerical regime.
This goal can only be realized by the Iranian people and Resistance. The world must stand with the people and the Resistance of Iran.
The Initiative to Halt Executions in Iran
In the name of the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance, I urge Italy and the European Union to:
Condition their diplomatic and trade relations with the clerical regime on the cessation of executions and torture, and to end the impunity of its leaders.
Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, international arrest warrants should be issued for Khamenei and other officials responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Compel the regime to allow an international investigative delegation to visit Iran’s prisons and meet with prisoners, especially political detainees. Designate of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—the regime’s primary tool for human rights violations—as a terrorist organization. I appeal to Italy, which has long been a leader in the global fight to abolish the death penalty, to take the initiative in halting executions in Iran.
Thank you all.
[1] Agence France Presse, April 4, 2024
[2] The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, press release, UN Human Rights Council, March 8, 2024
[3] Website of the United Nations, UN.org, August 29, 2024
