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Press Release | Fact Sheet | H.R. Violations | Members | Organizers | Decision

Gross and Systematic Violations of Human Rights in Iran

The International Moral Court on Iran (The Paris Tribunal) will hold its first session from September 23 to September 25, 2004 in Paris, France. The human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran is still abhorrent and no effective initiative is under way to help by the democratic countries and the intellectuals of the free world. In summary:

1.    On a daily basis people disappear, are tortured, persecuted and executed for political or religious reasons. Victims are not able to express their sufferings publicly. Neither can their families express their sufferings in a public forum.

2.    Agents of the Islamic Republic have assassinated Iranian refugees and opponents of the regime abroad. The culprits have never been arrested and prosecuted except in rare exceptional cases.

3.    Organizers of such assassinations (e.g. assassinations of Reza MAZLOUMAN – former Deputy Minister of Education; Cyrus ELAHI – former Assistant Minister of Education; Shapour BAKHTIAR – former Prime Minister and Shahriar SHAFIGH, an Iranian Naval Officer; which took place in France; as well as assassinations of Kurdish Democratic Party leaders, which took place in Austria and in Germany, …) are all high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic and have never been apprehended and tried.

4.    Yet, for 25 years, refugee victims outside Iran, or worse still, people inside Iran have never had a chance to appear as plaintiffs concerning their sufferings, before an independent tribunal.

5.    In effect, international justice, that had at one time, in certain countries like Belgium, envisaged the principle of Universal Jurisdiction, condemning Crimes Against Humanity, acts of torture and bringing culprits to book, was renounced in early 2002. Except in very rare exceptional cases, like in Rwanda or Yugoslavia, International Criminal Jurisdiction does not cover heinous crimes like those committed in Iran.

6.    Many reasons impede this progress of the law and Justice – Iran’s economic power, the general political situation in that part of the world, the geopolitical situation of Iran and finally, the existence of enormous oil and gas reserves in the country. Those are indeed some of the contributing factors in the conspiracy of silence practiced by many leaders of the free world.

7.    Today, inside Iran, thousands of innocent individuals are behind bars, being tortured under appalling circumstances and eliminated – for mere expression of opinion and refusal to repent.

8.    To date, there have been more than 110 political assassinations of Iranian opponents of the regime outside of Iran,
not counting 200 or more aborted attempts. The pursuit of such a policy clearly shows that it is the regime’s intention to eliminate political opponents abroad as well.

9.    The application of the" Islamic law" to the Iranian women has led to a system of apartheid and regression of their equal status with men, in law and in fact. In the last 25 years, over 400 women have been stoned to death. This practice still continues today.

10.    Under the provisions of the Law of Vengeance, culprits could be condemned to stoning, flogging, amputation of legs, arms, hands, fingers and/or plucking of eyes.

11.    During the past 25 years an estimated number of over 120,000 persons have been summarily executed and tens of
thousands tortured.

12.    In Islamic Revolutionary Courts, which deal with - “political and social crimes” - the same person acts as the judge, the jury and the prosecutor at the same time.

13.    Due to this ongoing horrendous state of affairs, during the past 25 years over 3.6 million Iranians have sought refuge in other countries. Still today, by the regime’s own official statistics, over 200,000 are leaving Iran each year.

14.    The clerical regime in Iran is today known as the most active state sponsor of international terrorism. It is widely suspected to have been behind many acts of terrorism abroad, including, among others: the 1986 series of terrorist acts in Paris, France; the hostage takings in Beirut, Lebanon; the 1996 Al-Khobar bombings against U.S. soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia; the 1982 U.S. Marine barracks bombings and French Embassy bombings in Beirut; and the 1994 Jewish Community Center bombing in Buenos Aires – all of which have resulted in the loss of lives of several hundred innocent individuals.

There is therefore a need today for a World Moral Tribunal – International Moral Court on Iran – to properly and publicly address these heinous crimes and bring them to the attention of world public opinion. The International Moral Court on Iran (The Paris Tribunal) is presently composed of nine highly respected world citizens of diverse nationalities, beliefs and gender. The Paris Tribunal will receive and hear complaints from all those who have suffered, so that their sufferings shall no longer remain out of public notice and anonymous. The Court will also hear expert witnesses and examine reports by non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) such as the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Frontiers and United Nations experts. The Court will subsequently render its opinion on the situation of gross and systematic violations of Human Rights in Iran.

In the judicious and impartial performance of its functions, The Paris Tribunal will invite representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take part in its deliberations.

Iranians from throughout the world have played a key role in the creation of the International Moral Court on Iran and have been the sole source of its funding (visit: www.iricrimes.org). The Paris Tribunal will pass Moral Judgments. Its success in mobilizing world public opinion will be astounding for the culprits – as well as their victims who will appear before the court and whose identities will be made public. The Paris Tribunal would also set an important precedent for similar cases worldwide and thus make a great contribution in the field of International Protection of Human Rights.