Executions are not an internal affair!

By Mohammad Shokohi

November 8, 2002

 

In recent weeks, the Islamic Republic of Iran has once again begun another round of public executions. According to the regime’s newspapers, from September to November 2002 more than 50 people have been executed in public. The brutal Islamic authorities have stressed their continuation of such executions and have referred to them as 'a necessity for confronting those who bring public disorder.' Based on reports and news from rights organisations, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of executions and stonings. Nearly two hundred executions and twenty-two stonings have been 'reported' in the last year. Under these circumstances, European governments have nonetheless decided to further and more officially support the Islamic regime of Iran.

 

In lieu of this, the European Union has begun a new round of negotiations with the Islamic regime to develop and expand their political and economic relations. In the past several weeks alone, several high-level delegates from Belgium, France, Britain and Austria and Switzerland have visited the Islamic regime of Iran. European Union officials have effectively approved the inhuman policies of the Islamic regime such as executions and stoning with the justification of 'non-interference in the judicial and legal system of the Islamic regime.' In response to the Austrian foreign minister's 'polite' question, the Islamic regime's foreign minister Kharazzi has stated: 'carrying-out Islamic laws such as executions is our affairs and an internal matter.' Swiss foreign minister Deiss recently said: 'We are emphatic on respect for human rights, but we only express our views and do not seek to interfere in the internal affairs of any country'. At the same time, the regime’s officials are making every effort to persuade their European friends to eliminate any discussion on human rights from their official negotiations if they want improved relations with the Islamic regime.

 

In the meantime European countries including Germany, France, Holland, Denmark, and Belgium are trying hard not to pass the resolution on the Islamic regime's human rights violations in the European human rights commission and to prevent its submission to the United Nations human rights commission. Improved relations between the Islamic regime and European countries have resulted in more pressure on asylum seekers who come from Iran to seek asylum in Europe. Most asylum seekers are rejected and awaiting deportation.

 

Government officials in these countries shamelessly state that the human rights situation in Iran has 'improved' and there is no reason to seek asylum or make 'accusations' such as repression, torture and execution against the Islamic Republic. Thus, the Islamic Republic continues its executions while the European Union supports it. The Islamic Republic executes people in public while European governments arrest and deport asylum seekers.

 

Irrespective of what the EU and Islamic regime say, the Islamic regime's suppression and execution are condemned by the people of Iran and internationally. Rights violations are not an internal issue. A vast international protest movement must condemn the Islamic regime of Iran and expose the European states for their collaborations with the regime.