Written declaration No. 658 | Doc. 14552 | 27 April 2018

Justice and democracy for Iran

Signatories: Mr Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Claude ADAM, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Francesco Maria AMORUSO, Italy, FDG ; Mr Allal AMRAOUI, Morocco ; Mr Jason AZZOPARDI, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Wojciech BAKUN, Poland, EC ; Mr Jokin BILDARRATZ, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Piet De BRUYN, Belgium, NR ; Mr Vernon COAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Paolo CORSINI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Vanessa D'AMBROSIO, San Marino, SOC ; Ms Cristina DE PIETRO, Italy, FDG ; Mr Manlio DI STEFANO, Italy, NR ; Mr Sergio DIVINA, Italy, FDG ; Sir Jeffrey DONALDSON, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, FDG ; Mr Simonas GENTVILAS, Lithuania, ALDE ; Mr Francesco Maria GIRO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Miren Edurne GORROTXATEGUI, Spain, UEL ; Mr Claude KERN, France, ALDE ; Mr Betian KITEV, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', SOC ; Mr František KOPŘIVA, Czech Republic, ALDE ; Sir Edward LEIGH, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlo LUCHERINI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Marco NICOLINI, San Marino, UEL ; Mr Johan NISSINEN, Sweden, NR ; Mr Martin POLIAČIK, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Ms Laura PUPPATO, Italy, SOC ; Mr Frédéric REISS, France, EPP/CD ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Senad ŠEPIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Manuel TORNARE, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Christoph WENAWESER, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Markus WIECHEL, Sweden, NR ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The United Nations has condemned Iran’s gross violations of human rights in 64 resolutions. More than 120 000 people have been arbitrary arrested, tortured and executed, notably during the massacre of 30 000 political prisoners from the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in 1988. Amnesty International called it a “crime against humanity” whose perpetrators must be brought to justice. According to United Nations reports, the Iranian regime has the world's highest number of executions per capita.

Despite repression, in January 2018, the world witnessed a wave of uprisings and protests by the Iranian people spread to more than 140 cities. People chanted “Reformists, hardliners, the game is over,” “Down with Khamenei – Rouhani”, “Leave Syria alone, think about us!”, indicating their will to end dictatorship and to stop terrorism.

A telephone call from Rouhani asking the French President to restrict the legitimate activities of the PMOI, for having provoked recent demonstrations, shows the regime's fear of opposition (AFP-2 January). Khamenei publicly announced that the PMOI has been organising uprisings; “We have specific information they have been planning, preparing and organising these protests for months”.

We call on the Parliamentary Assembly and the international community to support the demands of the Iranian people for justice and democracy. We support the grand gathering of 30 June 2018 in Paris to recognise Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point Plan for democracy as a viable alternative to the crisis in Iran.