To bring together activists’ and the EU’s viewpoints on the Iranian protests and human rights violations, this Twitter space will feature speakers from Iranian human rights groups, activists, and MEPs from the Renew Europe group.
Protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran started with the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab. Following her death, civil unrest has grown to a scale larger than what Iran has experienced in years, calling for the overthrowing of the governing regime.
Although there have occasionally been protests in Iran over the election results and the country’s economic woes (2009, 2017 and 2019), this time the upheaval is not limited to a specific substratum of the society. People from all sections of society and age groups have been involved in the protests that have spread across dozens of cities and towns. Women, especially, have played a bigger role in organising and leading the protests all over the country. The Iranian security forces have responded to peaceful demonstrations with disproportionate force. This has resulted in a tremendous loss of life, as well as a large number of injuries among the peaceful protestors.
Meanwhile, the European Union has stated that it ‘’strongly condemns the widespread, intentional and disproportionate use of force by Iranian security forces against peaceful protestors and calls on the Iranian authorities to stop their continued, systematic and unacceptable violence against their own citizens; demands that the Iranian authorities allow for an evidence-based, swift, impartial and effective investigation into the killings of all protesters, including bringing those responsible to justice’’ (European Parliament, Resolution of 6 October 2022).
Nonetheless, additional support is needed. It is important to continue to provide a platform to the European policymakers and the Iranian activists on the ground to discuss the ongoing developments in Iran and ensure that requests for support from a society in an existential fight for freedom do not go unheard.
19:00 ELF welcome
Moderator: Morteza Esmailpour, Human Rights Activist and Journalist, Bahainews
19:05 Presentation on the topic