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MEPs strongly condemn organized acid attacks against Iranian women

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Members of European Parliament strongly condemned the wave of recent acid attacks against Iranian women by criminal gangs affiliated to the Iranian regime, and demanded that “the dossier of savage and systematic violation of human rights in Iran” be referred to the UN Security Council.

Press release – Friends of a Free Iran –23 October 2014 – Strasbourg

In recent days, dozens of Iranian women have been victims of a new wave of acid attacks by organized criminal gangs affiliated to the government in cities of Isfahan, Kermanshah and Tehran.

The Iranian regime is trying to prevent spread of reports about these heinous crimes by intimidating the families of the victims and hospital nurses and staff. Journalists are prevented from going to hospitals to see the victims. These measures unveil the ominous intentions of the regime to allow these attacks to continue. The attacks have coincided with the passage of a law adopted on Sunday in the Majlis (parliament) designed to protect those who “correct” women deemed to be acting in an “un-Islamic” way.

We express our deep sympathy with the victims of this catastrophe and call on all human rights bodies and women rights defenders to condemn these cruel atrocities. The silence of the international community in the face of these brutalities under whatever pretext is tantamount to encouraging the mullahs’ regime and leaving the path open for it to continue these crimes in Iran.

These brutal actions against women alongside the rising number of executions (over 1000 after Rouhani became president last year) make it even more vital to refer the dossier of savage and systematic violation of human rights in Iran to the UN Security Council. Those responsible for these crimes including splashing acid on innocent and defenceless women and young girls must be put on trial and punished.

Gérard Deprez MEP
Chair of Friends of a Free Iran, European Parliament
Strasbourg