{"id":244860,"date":"2021-08-13T07:43:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T12:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=244860"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:46:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:46:50","slug":"putting-pressure-on-iran-regime-ends-decades-of-systematic-impunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/human-rights\/putting-pressure-on-iran-regime-ends-decades-of-systematic-impunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting Pressure on Iran\u2019s Regime Ends Decades of Systematic Impunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iran-human-rights-violation-07012021\"The theocratic regime in Iran has faced a virtually unprecedented challenge from the Iranian people in recent years. In January 2018, more than 100 cities and towns became involved in a series of protests that initially focused on economic issues but then expanded to include chants of \u201cdeath to the dictator<\/a>\u201d and calls for regime change. In November 2019, this same message encompassed nearly 200 localities with another nationwide uprising,\u00a0and the regime officials\u00a0opened\u00a0fire on crowds, killing over\u00a01,500 people.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even this did not bring an end to the unrest, however. Iranians were back out in the streets across more than a dozen provinces the following January, protesting the very institution that had led the way with those killings, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC<\/a>). The coronavirus pandemic finally prompted a downturn in public unrest, but although\u00a0Iran\u00a0is still suffering from some of the worst outbreaks in the world,\u00a0the activist community\u2019s patience appears to be at an end.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Protests have been essentially a constant feature of Iranian society since the mullahs’ regime held a sham election to confirm its next president on June 18. The overwhelming majority of the Iranian people boycotted that election in order to condemn the process itself, as well as the legacy of the pre-selected candidate, Ebrahim Raisi.<\/a> In the summer of 1988<\/a>, he played a leading role in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, and much more recently he led the judiciary both before and after the 2019 uprising and oversaw its systematic torture of pro-democracy activists, which lasted for months after the fact.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Public awareness of these incidents was no doubt a major driving force behind the boycott, and it no doubt remains a driving force behind ongoing protests, even though many of these were sparked by specific issues like water shortages in Khuzestan Province.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In one of three speeches during the three-day\u00a0\u201cFree Iran\u201d\u00a0event,\u00a0the Iranian opposition leader, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi\u00a0said that with Raisi\u2019s inauguration, Iran would enter a \u201cnew era\u201d defined by an unprecedented increase in \u201chostility and enmity between the Iranian regime and Iranian society.\u201d That inauguration was carried out on Thursday\u00a0with the unfortunate presence of a European delegation that helped to legitimize Raisi\u00a0in spite of\u00a0his having been thoroughly rejected<\/a> by the Iranian people themselves. This\u00a0move was at odds and undermined\u00a0the European Union\u2019s commitment to international human rights principles, and it also raises vital questions about what Western powers might do in the face of the predicted increase in\u00a0oppression in Iran.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The first day of Free #Iran<\/a> World Summit 10 July 2021 The clerical regime faces the impasse of impending overthrow; the democratic alternative marches on towards victory. #FreeIran2021<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/Vyk2sE6hou<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 12, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n