Human Rights NGO condemns Iran for forty-years of continued violations

Progetto Dreyfus, an Italian-speaking Middle East watchdog, has condemned Iran in protest for their lack of democracy within the government and free speech for the public within Iranian society, following the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

Progetto Dreyfus is a “non-profit association that fights against antisemitism, fundamentalism and any kind of discrimination” and as noted, has recently set its sights on Iran.

The watchdog has focused on Iran’s hostile politics, human rights violations and archaic ideals, claiming that Iran is the “single most aggressive country in international politics” and that normal would-be-allies of the Arab state seek alliances with Israel instead of Iran in order to protect themselves against the ideology of the religious leaders of the Iranian regime.

As a government with a Shia Islam being the designated religion of the country, Iran has faced many occasions where they cause rifts with their Sunni neighbors, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia due to their “aggressive politics.”

“Modern democracies respect human rights. Iran does not!” Progetto Dreyfus explained in a tweet on February 7th.

Le democrazie moderne rispettano i diritti umani.
L’Iran NO!#DEFINISCITUOIVALORI#defineyourvalues #HumanRightsViolations #PolandSummit #40yearfailure #FreeIran #IranRegimeChange #Iran pic.twitter.com/HbwZcBHydm

— Progetto Dreyfus (@ProgDreyfus) February 7, 2019

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his government arrived in the country 40 years ago and “from that moment [on the] theocratic regime has executed thousands of people, women and minorities that are still repressed,” said Progetto Dreyfus.

According to the watchdog, the Iranian government and leadership within the regime have been complicit in human rights violations since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

40anni fa, Khomeini arrivò in #Iran trasformando paese in Repubblica Islamica. Da quel momento regime teocratico ha giustiziato migliaia di persone, le donne e minoranze subiscono ancora repressioni.#defineyourvalues #HumanRightsViolations #PolandSummit#40yearfailure #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/o4gd1gWndE

— Progetto Dreyfus (@ProgDreyfus) February 8, 2019

“Iran is not only the most dangerous threat to Israel’s security, it is also a champion in the state murder of actual or perceived homosexuals,” said Volker Beck, a German Party Green Party politician and a lecturer at the Center for Studies in Religious Sciences (CERES) at the Ruhr University in Bochum. “It would be desirable for the federal government to make Iran’s human rights violations more of an issue.”

A little more than two weeks ago, The Islamic Republic of Iran publicly hanged a 31-year-old Iranian man after he was found guilty of charges related to violations of Iran’s anti-gay laws, according to the state-controlled Iranian Students’ News Agency.

“The LGBT community in Iran has lived in terror for the last 40 years,” said Alireza Nader, CEO of Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization New Iran. “Next time Foreign Minister Zarif speaks in Washington, the host and audience should ask him why his regime is one of the top executioner of gays in the world.”

In 2016, The Jerusalem Post reported Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolescent that year – the first confirmed execution of someone convicted as a juvenile in the Islamic Republic.

Hassan Afshar, 19, was hanged in Arak Prison in Iran’s Markazi Province on July 18, 2016, after he was convicted of “forced male-to-male anal intercourse” in early 2015.

In 2011, Iran’s regime executed three Iranian men after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality.

“In #Iran, Sharia, the Islamic legal system, condemns homosexuality as a crime that provides for the death penalty. The Iranian people suffer daily violations of human rights!” Progetto Dreyfus exclaimed.

In #Iran , la Sharia, il sistema legale islamico, condanna l’omosessualità come un crimine che prevede la pena di morte.
Il popolo Iraniano subisce quotidianamente la violazione dei diritti umani!#defineyourvalues #DefinisciTuoiValori #HumanRightsViolations #40yearfailure pic.twitter.com/d3L2CQYQtZ

— Progetto Dreyfus (@ProgDreyfus) February 8, 2019

In a related instance, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, 57, formerly headed the judiciary in Iran was sanctioned in January 2018 by the US Treasury Department – which accused him of being responsible for, or complicit in, human rights abuses.

“As head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadeq Amoli Larijani has administrative oversight over the carrying out of sentences in contravention of Iran’s international obligation,” the Treasury said. This involved torture and executions, including of juveniles, along with other abuses. Larijani slammed Israel and the US in July, claiming that Iran was “mightier than ever at Israel’s borders,” according to IRNA, Iran’s news agency.

In regards to the economy, unemployment rates rose dramatically in Iran as US sanctions continue to take effect, according to a report on Radio Farda.

The official figures report the rate of unemployment among Iranian youth has surpassed the general unemployment rate more than two-fold.

Benjamin Weinthal is a European correspondent at The Jerusalem Post and a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.