European Parliament Photo Exhibition in Support of Human Rights in Iran

Written by
Shamsi Saadati

From October 24 to 27, A photo exhibition was held in the European Parliament with the initiative of Giana Gancia, a member of the European Parliament from Italy.

The exhibition features photos of some of the 400 martyrs of the nationwide Iran protests, the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners, and those of the major Iran protest martyrs in 2019. This photo exhibition also presented a chronology of the Iranian regime’s crimes against humanity since 1981 and shared the record of the world’s top executioner per capita. The exhibition also featured pictures and statistics of political prisoners and ethnic and religious minorities executed by the mullahs’ regime. The information presented in this exhibition underlined how Iran’s ruling theocracy has been using human rights violations as a tool to control Iran’s volatile society.

In this regard, the organizers of this exhibition shared information about the rising trend of executions since Ebrahim Raisi became the regime’s president in June 2021. They also highlighted Raisi’s role in the 1988 massacre as a member of Tehran’s “death commission.”

This exhibition was organized on the World Day against Executions and coinciding with the ongoing nationwide Iran uprising, the photo exhibition was widely welcomed by MEPs from different political tendencies. Many MEPs visited this exhibition and expressed their support for the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising and the organized resistance movement.

“It was a pleasure and an honor to host the exhibition at the European Parliament entitled ‘Let’s stop executions in Iran.’ To date, the Islamist regime has killed more than 400 civilians and imprisoned more than 20,000 innocent people,” MEP Giana Gancia, who hosted this event, wrote on her Twitter account.

“Moved by thousands of tragic stories at the exhibition on the death penalty in Iran, a country with one of the world’s highest execution rates. The Iranian regime has to be held accountable for all the atrocities it commits against its own people,” MEP and former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Fotyga, wrote on her Twitter account.

It is worth noting that Iran’s ruling theocracy recently imposed sanctions on some MEPs and other renowned European politicians for supporting the Iranian people’s uprising and the Iranian opposition. This ridiculous and pathetic move was called out by many MEPs, who considered Tehran’s blacklisting them as a badge of honor.

“Iran’s decision to sanction Members of the European Parliament for speaking out against human rights abuses is absurd. No threats will stop us from standing up for freedom, dignity, and equality. I know MEPs will wear this as a badge of honor. We will not be silenced,” Ms. Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, wrote in this regard on Twitter.

MEP Milan Zver from Slovenia also visited this exhibition and expressed his utter support for the Iranian people while condemning the regime’s mounting violence.

Initially sparked in September over the tragic murder of a young Kurdish girl in Police custody, Iran’s nationwide protests have entered their second month. People from all walks of life have expressed their desire for regime change. The continuity of these demonstrations has prompted many spectators to highlight that a revolution is in the making.

Since the beginning of the nationwide uprising, the Iranian regime has resorted to a brutal crackdown. According to reports tallied by the Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), at least 450 individuals were killed, and over 20,000 protesters were arrested during the uprising.

Iran’s democratic revolution has received broad international support, with most Western democracies condemning the regime’s brutalities. As protests continue, the world community should also go beyond condemnations and recognize the Iranian people’s right to self-defense, allowing them to topple the regime and establish a democratic Iran.

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