“PMOI should never have been proscribed” – British jurist

NCRI – Speaking to the "Conference of Jurists & Parliamentarians on Legal Status of Ashraf Residents" in London on December 15, 2006, Geoffrey Bindman, Renowned human rights lawyer, founder of Bindman & Partners and visiting Professor of Law at University College London, criticized western governments’ hypocritical approach to Iran and the progressive opposition movement for democracy in that country. The following is the text of his remarks: 

I feel the strongest possible commitment to the values of the PMOI (People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran) and enormously admire the struggle they have led to establish a democratic society in Iran. I am confident it will not be too long before they achieve their aim.

What puzzles and astonishes me is the way in which western governments have continued to placate and appease the Iranian government and at the same time to oppress and place obstacles in the path of the PMOI and the NCRI. Our government argued that it waged war in Iraq to defend democracy and to bring democracy to that country. If we want to bring democracy to Iraq, then why are we blocking the attempts of the Iranian Resistance to bring democracy to Iran? Why are we not supporting the democratic forces within the NCRI who seek to overthrow the fundamentalist regime in Iran?

Proscription of the PMOI is opposed by a majority of MPs and more than 160 Peers. It is also opposed by thousands of lawyers in Britain. One of the worst aspects of the procedure used to proscribe the PMOI was that 21 organisations were placed on a single list. Parliament was then asked to either approve or reject the entire list.

The overwhelming view is that the PMOI should never have been proscribed. Its proscription was a dreadful act of appeasement. In other words, the PMOI was not proscribed due to fears of terrorism, but in an attempt to please the mullahs in Tehran.

Now we have this extremely valuable and progressive decision by the Court of First Instance in Luxemburg, which has quashed the freezing of PMOI assets and lifted other restrictions placed on the PMOI in Europe. I hope that this is a sign that the legal climate is changing and we can look forward to the de-proscription of the PMOI not only in the rest of Europe but in Britain as well.

I want to finish by stressing again that we must oppose and challenge the gross hypocrisy, not only of the British government but also other western governments, who on the one hand purport to promote and advocate democracy in the Middle East and on the other appease and legitimise the fundamentalist regime in Iran. Instead, they should be supporting the prospect of democratic change, which is being promoted and pursued with great energy and courage by the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.