The international committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) welcomes the 7 July 2009 call by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, to support the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising against the ruling religious fascism and defend the victims of the mullahs’ regime during the uprising. The Committee reiterates that it will use all means at its disposal to convey the cries of the Iranian people to the international community. It calls on all colleagues in Parliaments in Europe and North America to join in solidarity with the Iranian Resistance.
ISJ also congratulates the founders and members of the International Committee of Lawyers in Defence of Victims of Crackdown on Iran Uprising on the formation of this committee and wishes them every success on the important responsibilities that await them.
All Parliamentarians, jurists, human rights organizations, and those living in freedom outside Iran have a duty to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people’s uprising and condemn the crimes of the ruling regime against its people who demand democracy and free and fair elections. This responsibility is ever more important given that Western governments are regrettably far from adopting a firm position against the regime and abandoning the destructive policy of appeasement.
ISJ reiterates the following in relation to the events in Iran:
The Presidential election in Iran and its widespread rigging and the subsequent uprising clearly show that the policy of Western governments and the European Union toward the Iranian regime has been misguided. The Iranian regime is incapable of reform or change. All policies that were pursued hoping that this would happen were entirely destructive. This is what our colleagues in the ISJ have been reiterating for some time now.
The Iranian people have paid a heavy price in their month-long uprising, as hundreds have been killed and thousands of others injured or arrested. However, they have kept the flame of resistance alive. This is telling of the explosive state of society and the will of the people for change. The widespread and profound discontent in society has driven the crisis to the heart of the ruling establishment. All signs suggest that democratic change by the Iranian people and Resistance is today inevitable and within reach. This is the ‘Third Option’ for which Mrs. Rajavi has been campaigning beginning in 2004 at the European Parliament. It is thus imperative for the West to carry out a fundamental re-assessment of its policies.
In order to adopt a decisive policy, the international community should at least:
• Dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate the circumstances of those arrested, missing or killed;
• Sever diplomatic and trade ties with the Iranian regime until a complete halt to the suppression;
• Compel the regime to annul the results of the sham election and hold free and fair UN-supervised elections outside the framework of the regime’s laws and in conformity with international standards so that everyone has the possibility to participate.
We are aware that the regime’s defeated factions, and their leaders such as Mir Hossein Mousavi, carry a strong burden of responsibility in the past. However, in the current circumstances, we welcome the responsible and judicious suggestion by Mrs. Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance to the defeated factions, and particularly Mr. Mousavi, to distance themselves from the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and denounce that system of absolute clerical rule, as well as her call for Mr. Mousavi’s safety and wellbeing.
We fully welcome the suggestion by Iranian Resistance leader Mr. Massoud Rajavi to the regime’s Assembly of Experts to depose Khamenei and install Mr. Hossein Ali Montazeri as the interim leader of the regime to pave the way for UN-supervised elections and the dissolution of the Assembly of Experts.
In the course of the uprising, the Iranian Resistance has given absolute priority to the advancement of the uprising and averting further bloodshed over the Resistance’s own interests. This is highly commendable and demonstrates the political and historic foresight of this Resistance. It indicates its place in Iranian society and its unique social base. Following in the footsteps of the Iranian Resistance, we urge the defeated factions within the regime to use this historic opportunity to completely turn their back on the religious dictatorship and stand with the people of Iran.
Alejo Vidal- Quadras
Vice President of the European Parliament
President of The international committee In Search of Justice