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Human rights situation in Iran

Written declaration No. 783 | Doc. 15849 | 12 October 2023

Signatories:
Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Ms Nerea AHEDO, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Ahmed AKHCHICHINE, Morocco ; Ms Isabel ALVES MOREIRA, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Allal AMRAOUI, Morocco ; Ms Tonia ANTONIAZZI, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Dora BAKOYANNIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Gabriela BENAVIDES COBOS, Mexico ; Mr Salomó BENCHLUCH, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Ondřej BENEŠIK, Czech Republic, EPP/CD ; Mr Régis BERGONZI, Monaco, ALDE ; Ms Arta BILALLI ZENDELI, North Macedonia, SOC ; Ms Larysa BILOZIR, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Chris BONETT, Malta, SOC ; Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Ms Doris BURES, Austria, SOC ; Ms Naomi CACHIA, Malta, SOC ; Mr Anastasios CHATZIVASILEIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Sir Christopher CHOPE, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Bernadeta COMA, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Ms Sabina ĆUDIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ALDE ; Mr Geraint DAVIES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Andrea EDER-GITSCHTHALER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Anna EFTHYMIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Christiana EROTOKRITOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Ms Camilla FABRICIUS, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Piero FASSINO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Sascha FAXE, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Joseph Beppe FENECH ADAMI, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Thibaut FRANÇOIS, France, EC/DA ; Mr Erkin GADIRLI, Azerbaijan, EC/DA ; Ms Róisín GARVEY, Ireland, SOC ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Joël GIRAUD, France, ALDE ; Ms Olimpia Tamara GIRÓN HERNÁNDEZ, Mexico ; Ms Gökçe GÖKÇEN, Türkiye, SOC ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Lord Leslie GRIFFITHS, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Jean-Pierre GRIN, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Valentina GRIPPO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO, Spain, SOC ; Ms Sally-Ann HART, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Minerva HERNÁNDEZ RAMOS, Mexico ; Ms Nicole HÖCHST, Germany, EC/DA ; Ms Maria-Gabriela HORGA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr John HOWELL, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Nadejda IORDANOVA, Bulgaria, NR ; Mr Yuriy KAMELCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Mia KARAMEHIĆ-ABAZOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, NR ; Mr Claude KERN, France, ALDE ; Mr Ondřej KOLÁŘ, Czech Republic, EPP/CD ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Sir Edward LEIGH, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Carmen LEYTE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Reinhold LOPATKA, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Arminas LYDEKA, Lithuania, ALDE ; Mr Saša MAGAZINOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SOC ; Mr Dimitrios MANTZOS, Greece, SOC ; Ms Ada MARRA, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Oleksandr MEREZHKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Lucie MONCION, Canada ; Ms Carla MOONEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Simon MOUTQUIN, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Dmytro NATALUKHA, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Marco NICOLINI, San Marino, UEL ; Mr Andreas NIKOLAKOPOULOS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Fiona O'LOUGHLIN, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Yuliia OVCHYNNYKOVA, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Berdan ÖZTÜRK, Türkiye, UEL ; Mr Ian PAISLEY, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr George PAPANDREOU, Greece, SOC ; Ms Tatjana PAŠIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Mr José Luis PECH VÁRGUEZ, Mexico ; Ms Rosangela Amairany PEÑA ESCALANTE, Mexico ; Mr Paulo PISCO, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Catia POLIDORI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Mihail POPSOI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Gonzalo ROBLES, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Lianne ROOD, Canada ; Mr Theodoros ROUSOPOULOS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Paulina RUBIO FERNÁNDEZ, Mexico ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr Chris SAID, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Axel SCHÄFER, Germany, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Ms Ingjerd SCHOU, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Marco SCURRIA, Italy, EC/DA ; Ms Dunja SIMONOVIĆ BRATIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Ms Jódís SKÚLADÓTTIR, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Serhii SOBOLIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Søren SØNDERGAARD, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Francesco SORBARA, Canada ; Mr Georgios STAMATIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Constantin STARÎŞ, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Ms Annika STRANDHÄLL, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Bruno STUDER, France, ALDE ; Mr Evripidis STYLIANIDIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria SYRENGELA, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliana TANGUY, France, ALDE ; Ms Dzhenal TOPALOVA-YASHAR, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Andreas Sjalg UNNELAND, Norway, UEL ; Ms Susanna VELA, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Sjoerd WARMERDAM, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr David WELLS, Canada ; Ms Yelyzaveta YASKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We express our solidarity with the Iranian youth, women, and girls, who, in September 2022, courageously initiated protests across the nation, demanding freedom. These protests resounded as a call for change, an end to oppression and the establishment of a democratic governing system.

We denounce the violent suppression of these protests, resulting in over 750 fatalities, tens of thousands of arrests, and an increased number of executions.

The Iranian regime, in addition to internal suppression, employs disinformation, terrorism and cyberattacks to silence Iranian dissidents beyond its borders. Aggressive behaviour towards Albania and the 2 500 Iranian dissidents belonging to the opposition PMOI residing in Ashraf III, including cyberattack threats and spread of disinformation, must be unequivocally condemned by all European governments.

We strongly urge Albania to safeguard Ashraf residents’ fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In his letter to Vice-President of European Parliament in April 2016, the Albanian Prime Minister confirmed that “Albania is fully engaged and committed to ensure for the Iranian refugees all rights stipulated in the 1951 Geneva Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights and international law.”

Europe cannot compromise on the values enshrined in those conventions, most notably, freedom of expression and assembly.