Villagers: Letters To The Editor 2005-02-12
Around 30 community activists from North and West Belfast took part in a major demonstration in Berlin on Thursday (10 February) to demonstrate against human rights' abuses in Iran. We were rerouted from Paris after the French government banned the demonstration at the behest of the Iranian regime.
We voiced opposition to the US and European governments' appeasement policy towards the fundamentalist regime in Iran. This policy has encouraged gross human rights' abuses by the regime against its own people.
In the past month alone, the UN General Assembly and the European Parliament condemned flagrant violations of human rights in Iran, including summary arrests, torture, inhumane punishments and public executions. In particular, the world was shocked by the hanging of a 16-year-old girl for "acts incompatible with chastity".
The Iranian regime knows that Europe (mainly Britain, France and Germany) turns a blind eye to these abuses in order to protect their commercial interests. Human rights are abused in a way we in Ireland can only begin to understand.
The 120,000 executions so far declared and the 500,000 political prisoners indicate the unpopularity of this government and the manner in which the Iranian people are rejecting the regime.
Equally the extent of opposition activities in Iran and abroad shows popular support for the secular form of government, and respect for human rights and justice for all sectors of the Iranian community.
As a people who have suffered human rights' abuses and the denial of national self-determination, there is a natural sympathy and solidarity in the North of Ireland with the suffering of the people of Iran.
There have been recent noises from the American administration regarding possible military actions against Iran. The demonstrators firmly rejected such threats, which add only to the suffering of the Iranian people.
This demonstration highlighted the third option available to the international community – the recognition of the right of the Iranian people to overthrow the tyranny of the Iranian regime in the manner and form they see fit. Such action is only possible when the Iranian resistance is recognised as legitimate by the international community.
The present government in Iran does not represent the aspirations of the Iranian people for democracy and freedom. Internationally, it exacerbates tension in an already volatile region of the world, that invites outside military intervention, which doesn't serve the interests of the Iranian people.
Una Gillespie
West Belfast Economic Forum