InsideofIran – Brussels 29th of November at 15.00 hrs meeting of the Delegation for Relations with Iran. Exchange of views of NGO `s on the current situation of civil society in Iran.
On invitation of Mrs Cronberg, the Chair of the Delegation Relations with Iran, several representatives that were contacted prior to the non-visit of the delegation to Iran, made a statement of what would have been said by the individuals whom the delegation had hoped to meet in Tehran. It was a symbolic event to raise awareness of the current situation of civil society in Iran and to underline the ongoing commitment of the European Parliament to human rights in the country.
The NGO`s that participated in today’s gathering were:
BBC Persian, represented by Sadegh Saba, the head of BBC Persian section.
The Coordinating Council of the Republican , Democratic and Secular Movement, by Mrs Nahid Hemmati.
The Bahá`i International Community represented by Sarah Vader
The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights in Iran: Lydia Boons and Anne-Marie van den Bercken
The International Trade Confederation ( ITUC ) Representative Magnus Palmgren
Human Rights activist and former political prisoner: Mehdi Aslani Tabrizipoor
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation ( UNPO ) representatives Andrew Swan and Andrea Hak
Professor Didier Idjadi, speaking on the environmental problems of Lake Orumiyeh
For Mrs Cronberg, the new chair of the delegation, it was instructive to hear about the difficulties and troubles of the different diversities in Iran. She told that she is aware of how widespread the suffering is in Iran, how many people are affected by the human rights violations committed by the regime and how serious the difficulties are for the different groups to survive. She also regretted that the delegation only has limited means to help and she advised the different organisations, if possible, to work together and put a priority list which the delegation can use as a working program. During the next meeting of the delegation on 19th December will be discussed which goals are to be set and what means can be used to achieve these goals.
Introduction statement IOPHRI
On behalf of Dr Azmayesh and of our Organization : The international Organization To Preserve Human Rights In Iran I would like to thank the delegation for inviting us to this important meeting.
Unfortunately Dr Azmayesh, one of the co founders of the organization, is not able to be here to read his statement. The reason is that 4 weeks ago, after having received some serious threads from Tehran, Dr Azmayesh was forced to leave his house and country. It is very sad that these things can happen, even in Europe, to those who are fighting for the rights and justice for others.
The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights in Iran (IOPHRI) is an independent initiative of European and Iranian human rights activists. The commitment of the members is rooted in the insight that the Iranian regime has turned out to be a totalitarian dictatorship with ambitions in exporting their threatening ideology, which endangers citizens in the whole world.
The International Organization to Preserve Human Rights in Iran is advocating for respect for human rights in Iran. By organizing conferences, it provides a platform for religious and ethnic minorities, students, women, journalists, bloggers and human rights activists. In this way it tries to increase awareness of the western community about the human rights abuses in Iran and it hopes to bring about a dialogue between the different ethnic and religious diversities because “together we are stronger. “
Statement:
One of the natural rights of human beings is the right to have access to Information. Moreover it is crucial to know some details about people and governments who would like to hide their destructive intentions and their dark deeds in the field of human rights violations. Today we would like to highlight some hidden details on the various human rights violations of the regime in Iran.
Some days ago, Mr Mohseni Ejei, prosecutor general, complained that there is no unity in the country behind Ali Khamenei and everybody would like to follow an own agenda.
One of the groups that is following an own agenda can be considered as the shadow government in Iran. This group consists of ideologues who are very influential inside the system and who operate hiddenly. They propagate an aggressive nazi-like ideology and apply what can be called a religious Apartheid. The name of this group is Ammaryioun, which alludes to martyrs. Their influence reaches into the seminaries of Qom and the cadre schools of the Pasdaran. One of their aims is to cleanse the country of groups whom they regard as the strongest adversaries to their style of running the country by mixing up politics and religious concepts. Thus Ammariyounists are behind just another campaign against the Sufi-Dervishes.
This campaign was started by a young Mullah from Qom in September 2011. He travelled to Kavar, region of Shiraz, where he instigated Bassiji to attack Dervishes of the Nematollah Gonabadi Order. We display some of the results of this campaign against Dervishes by the so-called Lords of Hate or Ammariyoun:
One Dervish, Vahid Banani, was shot dead. Several dervishes were wounded. Sixteen Dervishes, including lawyers and journalists, reporting on the events, are still being held in Evin’s political section. Relatives reported signs of torture on the bodies of their beloved ones when they were allowed to see them after a period of more than 70 days of solitary confinement. And because the International Organisation to preserve Human Rights in Iran brought this case to the public and to the UN special rapporteur for Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, the head of our organization is being accused of being a spy of the French government and to act against the Iranian Nation. A slander campaign with diffuse accusations has started against Dr. Azmayesh.
We conclude that if talking about human rights violation is considered as a terroristic act by the regime in Iran this clearly shows one of the disturbing methods of a state that tries to hide its true nature and intentions in front of the world.
The International Organization to Preserve Human Rights in Iran