TO: Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
Members of the United Nations and Freedom Loving People of the World
The White House
United States Congress
Members of European Union
Four years ago, on July 9 (18 of Tir in Persian calendar), the security forces of the Islamic regime in Iran launched a brutal attack against Iranian students in their dormitories and inflicted horrendous bodily injury, death, and property damage to defenseless students. This act of violence was not an exceptional incident and the Islamic regime’s policy of suppressing even the mildest forms of dissent has been of the foundations of its rule since its inception. Thousands of cases of torture, murder and political suppression of journalists, artists and filmmakers are supported by irrefutable evidence and these acts have been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations and recognized internationally as a violation of some of the most basic human rights.
While in any dictatorship reliable information is difficult to obtain, anecdotal evidence and the reports of various human rights activists and human rights organization suggest that the criminal activities of the Islamic regime go far beyond even the documented cases and that the human rights situation in Iran is far worse than is generally known. When Iranians conduct their own investigations and reveal the scale and scope of these crimes, we can only hope that the international community’s inaction in the face of such atrocities will help stir it to action in future crises.
The Islamic regime has not only stifled Iran’s social, cultural and economic development, but its support for international terrorism and groups such as Hizbollah has undermined Iran’s international reputation and become a serious threat to the security of the region and the world. The funds earmarked for terrorist organizations inevitably deprive the Iranian people of much needed improvements in education, health care and basic infrastructure development.
During the past hundred years people of Iran have repeatedly been engaged in a seemingly perpetual struggle for freedom and the basic right, embodied in the principle of national self determination, to choose who governs them and to control the course of their own destinies. But the efforts of Iranian have been always undermined for various reasons. The 1953 British/American backed coup d’etat in Iran is a clear example of such cases that the official documents from both countries confirm it.
Since assuming power, the Islamic regime has continually deceived its people and denied them their basic individual rights. All attempts at either reforming or removing the present government have resulted in the brutal suppression of activists and ultimately failure. Unfortunately, the world community has not made any substantial effort to aid Iranians in establishing democratic institutions in their country and short-term economic and regional interests have always taken precedence over the freedom of the Iranian people. Now the Iranian people, speaking with one voice, ask the international community to abandon their seemingly rational, shortsighted policies in favor of moral support for the grassroots democratic movement now developing in Iran.
Among all the overcast days of the past one hundred years, and in particular the past twenty five years, the anniversary of the Tir-18 has distinguished itself as the day when all freedom-loving Iranians join forces and stand united for the cause of freedom. On this day, Iranian students, activists and workers are planning a series of demonstrations all across Iran, with the hope of bringing needed democratic reforms to Iran and ultimately forcing the regime to recognize the forces arrayed against it and the necessity and wisdom of abandoning power.
Judging from its actions in the past, organizers of the demonstrations foresee that the expected attendance and scale of the protests will lead the regime to believe that only violent suppression of the demonstrations will allow it to maintain its position, resulting in serious injury and loss of life.
At this crucial juncture, the Iranian people expect that the United Nations, the government of United States, the people of the European Union, and other members of the world community to warn the Iranian government that they will not tolerate any act of violence against the demonstrators and that any acts of violence by the Islamic regime will be considered crime against humanity, and the government of Iran must submit to the will of people or the Islamic regime will suffer serious consequences that include its eventual overthrow and the trial of the leaders of the Islamic Republic for the crimes they have committed against their own people.