On July 1, at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit in Paris, Tahar Boumedra, former chief of the UN human rights mission in Iraq and co-founder of JVMI, addressed the audience, emphasizing the importance of universal jurisdiction in achieving justice for Iran’s political prisoners. Boumedra began by extending his solidarity to what he called his brothers and sisters in Ashraf 3 and across Iran, acknowledging their collective struggle for justice.
Reflecting on their 2018 meeting in Ashraf 3, Boumedra highlighted the significance of universal jurisdiction as a viable avenue for accountability. He celebrated the conviction of Hamid Noury in Stockholm under this principle as a major victory for the Iranian Resistance. Despite Noury’s subsequent return to Iran due to political deals, Boumedra stressed the significance of a judicial decision condemning Noury and highlighted the exposure of governments’ willingness to engage in appeasement. He cited a similar case in Belgium, where Asadollah Assadi, a convicted terrorist, was sent back to Iran, reinforcing the narrative of political compromises undermining judicial decisions.
Boumedra expressed disappointment in the actions of the Swedish and Belgian governments, criticizing their undermining of independent judicial systems and the misuse of taxpayers’ money.
The former UNAMI human rights chief also said that the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK) has consistently been vindicated by courts worldwide, having been delisted as a terrorist organization through legal decisions in the US, UK, and Europe. He reaffirmed that while political deals may temporarily obscure justice, the judicial victories are significant and more successes are anticipated in the fight for a free and democratic Iran.
The full text of Tahar Boumedra’s speech follows:
I would like first to speak to my brothers and sisters in Ashraf 3 and also to all the brothers and sisters in Iran and indeed all over the world. In fact, I don’t know whether I’ve been privileged to speak the last in this forum or if it’s a punishment, it could be either, but let me say that in 2018 we met in Ashraf 3, and at the time we were trying to identify what avenues are available to seek accountability and I was advocating that the easiest and the only, probably given the world legal order, the only available avenue was the universal jurisdiction.
Indeed time has proved me right because the first perpetrator of the extra legal and extrajudicial executions that took place in 1988 against political prisoners was held in Stockholm under the universal jurisdiction. It’s a victory.
Dr. Boumedra: "Hamid Noury and Asadollah Assadi were sent back as criminals condemned by an independent court of law, and they were sent back to Iran because of political deals."#FreeIran2024 #MaryamRajavi4FreeIranhttps://t.co/T4XXTchFty
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 1, 2024
Brothers and sisters in Ashraf 3, you should celebrate. Brothers and sisters in Iran, you should celebrate because it’s a great victory. And don’t you ever think that sending or bargaining, negotiating with the Iranian regime, and sending Hamid Noury back to Iran, don’t you think it’s a loss or a defeat? No, it’s another success. So, in fact, we achieved two victories for the price of one.
We have a judicial decision condemning Hamid Noury to life imprisonment for his crimes and their international law. And the second victory is that we have revealed the kind of appeasements governments are prepared for.
It’s the same thing that happened in Belgium. A terrorist was condemned to 20 years in prison. But there were negotiations and Asadollah Assadi was sent back to Iran. Here again, we got two victories for the price of one. Because on one hand, Asadollah Assadi was condemned by an independent court of law. On the other hand, we have discovered the kind of deals, political deals, governments are prepared for.
Now, I am one of those people who benefited a lot from the contributions of the European Union to the promotion and protection of human rights. But when I see this kind of practice of governments, I get disappointed. I am very disappointed in the sense that independent courts of law make this kind of judgment and then the governments undermine their own judicial system.
Dr. Boumedra: "We have a judicial decision condemning Hamid Noury to life imprisonment for his crimes under international law. And we have revealed the kind of appeasement that governments are prepared to engage in."#FreeIran2024 #MaryamRajavi4FreeIranhttps://t.co/T4XXTchFty
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 1, 2024
So, both governments in Sweden and Belgium, first of all, they undermined their own legal system, their judicial system, and also they spent the taxpayers’ money for the end to send back criminals, and condemned criminals back to Iran.
So, this is why I would like to say to the brothers and sisters in Ashraf and in Iran that we need to celebrate these victories and we need to keep in mind that the MEK had never lost a case before a court of law.
They were listed as terrorists by these political decisions and they were delisted by a court of law. In America, in the United Kingdom, in Europe, everywhere it was always a decision, a judicial decision that cleared them.
So, today we see Hamid Noury and Asadullah Asadi going back to Iran. That’s not a victory. They went back as criminals condemned by an independent court of law, and they were sent back to Iran because of political deals. So, this is the reason for us to be able to celebrate these victories and I’m sure other victories are on the way.
Thank you very much.
