On December 20, 2019, four lawmakers from the UK House of Commons and the House of Lords released a Press Statement concerning a joint statement by the British Committee for a Free Iran the International Committee of MPs for a Democratic Iran, announcing support of over 200 Parliamentarians from 14 European countries for Iran protests and expressed their solidarity with the Iranian resistance.

“Over two hundred Members of Parliament from 14 European countries have signed a statement expressing support for anti-government protest by millions of Iranians in 191 cities throughout Iran, calling for democracy and human rights.” Reads the Press release adding:

“Signatories include 50 Members of Parliament from Italy, 50 Members of Parliament from Switzerland, 20 Members of Parliament from Portugal and 30 Members of the UK House of Commons and the UK House of Lords as well as Parliamentarians from France, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Malta, Albania, San Marino, Morocco, and Jordan,”

“The signatories of the statement called on the United Nations, the European Union, and the Member States to condemn the suppression of protesters, to take urgent measures to stop the massacre and release of detainees and to provide the Iranian people with free Internet access,”

The signatories also “endorsed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President’s call to United Nations to send an investigative fact-finding mission to visit the uprising detainees in Iran and call on the Security Council to investigate crimes against humanity in Iran and hold its officials accountable for their crimes and to face justice.”

According to Amnesty International, at least 304 people, including 12 children, are confirmed to have died in Iran protests. Amnesty International reported that the total could be more than 400.

According to Iran’s main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) the number of people killed is over 1500 people. The MEK has released the names of 547 people in this regard.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has called on the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and its member states to condemn this horrendous mass killing by the Iranian regime and to take urgent action to stop this crime against humanity and secure the release all those arrested. She also has asked the UN to send a fact-finding mission to Iran’s prisons to visit the detainees.

 

The full text of the press release:

200 Parliamentarians from all parties from European countries support Iran protests for freedom, condemn the suppression of protesters MPs to support the call by Maryam Rajavi for UN to dispatch a fact-finding delegation

Over two hundred Members of Parliament from 14 European countries have signed a statement expressing support for anti-government protest by millions of Iranians in 191 cities throughout Iran, calling for democracy and human rights.

Signatories include 50 Members of Parliament from Italy, 50 Members of Parliament from Switzerland, 20 Members of Parliament form Portugal and 30 Members of the UK House of Commons and the UK House of Lords as well as Parliamentarians from France, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Malta, Albania, San Marino, Morocco and Jordan.

The statement is also supported by several prominent political personalities including former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, Morocco’s former Minister of Education and Youth Najima Thay Thay and former Jordanian Ministers Saleh al-Ghalab and Bassam Alamoush.

The parliamentarians who represent diverse political tendencies in Europe condemned the repression of the Iran protests on the orders of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and underscored, “terrible video footages show state security forces and revolutionary guards firing guns from the rooftops or from close range at unarmed demonstrators. In many cases, the regime has stepped in to repress the population with helicopters and tanks.”

The regime attempted to cover up the scale of its crimes by completely cutting off the Internet. But gradually the scope of the crime is becoming clearer. According to the latest reports of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the principal Iranian opposition, more than 1,500 protesters have been killed, another 4,000 injured and more than 12,000 have been arrested. The MEK has released details of more than 500 victims.

It is of serious concern that senior government officials have called for the execution of those arrested. President Hassan Rouhani supported the repression of the demonstration and his adviser threatened the MEK, which the regime’s leaders described as the main cause of the uprising, with murder, like the 1988 massacre, during which the Iranian regime executed some 30,000 political prisoners.

The silence of the international community regarding this crime, one of the worst crimes of the 21st century, is unacceptable. The leaders of the Iranian regime have to be held accountable.

The signatories of the statement called on the United Nations, the European Union and the Member States to condemn the suppression of protesters, to take urgent measures to stop the massacre and release of detainees and to provide the Iranian people with free Internet access.

They also endorsed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President’s call to United Nations to send an investigative fact-finding mission to visit the uprising detainees in Iran and call on the Security Council to investigate crimes against humanity in Iran and hold its officials accountable for their crimes and to face justice.

 

20 December 2019

Rt Hon David Jones MP is a Conservative member of the UK House of Commons and co-President of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran.

Bob Blackman MP is a Conservative member of the UK House of Commons and a member of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran.

The Lord Clarke of Hampstead CBE is a Labour member of the House of Lords.

Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool is an Independent Crossbench Member of the House of Lords.