In the short time after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken office as president of the Iranian regime, more than 120 prisoners have been either executed or condemned to death. A significant number of the victims were less then 18 years at the time of offence. The head of the regime’s security forces, Salehi, told local media recently that over 12,000 people have been arrested in Tehran alone in the past 57 days on dubious charges of “hooliganism.”
The Presidency of the European Union said in its December 20 declaration: “The EU is deeply concerned that the human rights situation in Iran has not improved in any significant respect in recent years, and in many respects has worsened. Use of the death penalty is frequent, including for minor crimes, and executions are often carried out in public.” The EU Presidency had also alluded to the unsuccessful human rights dialogue with the Iranian regime and said the negotiations had faltered in June 2004 and the regime had not agreed to another round. The EU had expressed hope that the negotiations could be resumed.
Mr. Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, described the Iranian regime’s mocking and ironic remarks a consequence of the appeasement policy of the European countries and their turning a blind eye on the anti-human crimes of the religious dictatorship in Iran. He said that the Iranian Resistance had on several occasions pointed out that negotiations and dialogue with the Iranian regime, which has executed 120,000 political prisoners and grossly violates the rights of women, and ethnic and religious minorities, has no legitimacy and will only result in more repression, executions, and torture in Iran.
The Iranian regime will only welcome negotiations which it can use to whitewash its crimes and continue its suppression of the Iranian people free from international censure. The same holds true in the nuclear file as well; the Iranian regime only welcomes negotiations that buy time for its acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Mohaddessin added: “Now that the bitter and tragic consequence of human rights dialogue with the clerical regime is clear, it is time to place the human rights situation in Iran under international monitoring. It is necessary to refer the regime’s human rights record to the United Nations Security Council and to bring the regime’s criminal heads to justice in an international court of law.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 23, 2005
