01/10/2024 Session
The Parliamentary Assembly today expressed its concern about the persecution of human rights defenders in Iran and abroad, in particular in the Council of Europe member States, by the Iranian regime.
The resolution, unanimously adopted by PACE on the basis of the report by Max Lucks (Germany, SOC), underlines that many Iranians in exile in Europe, and European citizens of Iranian origin, who are opposed to the Iranian regime, are often faced with threats, intimidation, violence and abductions by the Iranian State structures of repression operating abroad, and are even murdered.
Diplomatic engagement vis-à-vis Iran should not be limited to the nuclear deal and address all issues in a comprehensive manner, the parliamentarians said, adding that “the human rights situation should be made a central topic of discussion”.
Believing that Iran's domestic and foreign policy posed a serious threat to regional, European and global security, PACE called on member states to put in place a coherent and co-ordinated policy to ensure the protection [...] “of Iranians who are citizens of, refugees in, or otherwise under the jurisdiction of member States, in particular the key opposition figures.
The adopted resolution also calls on member states to strengthen solidarity with Iranian civil society, to enforce targeted sanctions against the Iranian power elite, to introduce international legal prosecution of Iranian human rights violators, and to provide protection to all Iranians who manage to escape and cannot return because of fear of persecution.
Finally, according to the Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe “should play a significant role in guiding and supporting its member states when it comes to building up co-ordinated human rights-based relations with Iran”.