by Center for Human Rights in Iran
In response to soaring tensions between Iran and the United States, 116 Iranian human rights defenders and groups based inside and outside the country have signed a statement warning of the “devastating” consequences of a military conflict.
The impact of military action on Iran would “lead to an accelerated human rights and humanitarian crisis and would only serve to destabilize an already troubled region,” said the statement co-organized by United for Iran and the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
The signatories–including activists, lawyers, journalists, and lawyers–have long advocated for the rights of the Iranian people. Those who are based in Iran have done so despite the grave risks of arrest and imprisonment for engaging in peaceful activism.
Following is the letter, which is also available on our Persian-language website.
We, the undersigned Iranian and international human rights organizations and advocates, express grave concerns over the rising tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which risks a military confrontation that would cause massive human rights harms. We urge all parties and international actors to take immediate and clear steps to prevent a conflict.
The impact of any military action in Iran, as we have seen in neighboring countries, would be devastating. It would likely lead to an accelerated human rights and humanitarian crisis and could only serve to destabilize an already troubled region. Only peace-focused policies that prioritize the rights and well-being of ordinary people in Iran and the region can provide meaningful, long-term benefits.
We have a deep understanding of the problems in Iran, including human rights challenges and corruption within some government sectors. We have dedicated our lives to strengthening the rights of women and girls, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, workers, journalists, university students, LGBTQ people, artists, and political prisoners in Iran. We have fought for the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial, socio-economic rights of the Iranian people, and an end to discrimination. We have consistently opposed Iranian authorities in their abuse of power and oppressive policies. It is from this perspective that we warn against the threat posed by military conflict.
We also fear that military action against Iran will be disastrous for millions of ordinary people and could lead to the type of violent sectarian civil conflict seen in neighboring countries. The instability of these conflicts and the extent to which they pit groups of people against each other has led to immeasurable human rights abuses.
Many Iran-based human rights defenders have expressed dismay that broad economic sanctions imposed by the US and the specter of war have already made their work more difficult. Many of them are struggling to make ends meet in a depressed economy, while their activities have become increasingly risky in a heightened security environment. The threat of war has strengthened support for the Iranian state’s security approaches and has been used as a pretext to crack down on activists. Minority communities, who have little space for civic activism, suffer the brunt of crackdowns at such times. Many Iranian human rights defenders fear that an actual military conflict would give the Iranian security forces an opportunity to finally put a complete stop to their advocacy efforts.
These concerns reflect some of the likely outcomes of any military confrontation in Iran, underscoring the need for peaceful and legal solutions to any tensions between states.
We urge all parties to show maximum restraint. We ask that the United Nations Secretary-General, the European Union, and the government of Japan, as well as countries in the region that have stepped in the past to foster peace, to intervene to prevent the outbreak of war and deepening human rights and humanitarian crisis.
Sincerely,
Isa Saharkhiz, Journalist
Mehrangiz Kar, Human Rights Lawyer and Women’s Rights Defender
Zia Nabavi, Student Activist
Mahdiye Golrou, Women’s Rights Activist
Emad Bahavar, Political Activist
Ali Akbar Mousavi, Former member of Iran’s Parliament and Internet Freedom Advocate
Guissou Jahangiri, Women’s Rights Defender and Executive Director at the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)
Mohammad Oliyafard, Human Rights Lawyer
Maedeh Soltani, Human Rights Defender
Majid Dori, Civic Activist
Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran
Sussan Tahmasebi, Women’s Rights Defender and Executive Director at FEMENA
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Nonviolence Initiative for Democracy
Alieh Mottalebzadeh, Women’s Rights Defender and Journalist
Jinous Sobhani, Human Rights, Women’s Rights, and Children’s Rights Activist
Thomas Hughes, Executive Director at ARTICLE 19
Firuzeh Mahmoudi, Executive Director at United for Iran
Masoud Bastani, Journalist
Nahid Mirhaj, Women’s Rights Defender
Amin Ahmadian, Member of the Central Committee of Advar-e Takim-e Vahdat
Niki Akhavan, Associate Professor at the Catholic University of America
Leila Alikarami, Human Rights Lawyer and Women’s Rights Defender
Mahsa Alimardani, Technology and Human Rights Researcher ARTICLE 19
Mehdi Aminzadeh, Human Rights Researcher
Leila Asadi, Women’s Rights Defender and PhD Candidate in Justice Studies
Zeinab Asgharpour, Political Activist and member of the Central Committee of Advar-e Takim-e Vahdat
Kamran Ashtary, Executive Director at Arseh Sevom
Kaveh Azarhoosh, Senior Researcher at Small Media
Arash Azizi, Writer and Scholar PhD Candidate at New York University
Maryam Bahrman, Women’s Rights Defender
Narges Bajoghli, Scholar, Assistant Professor at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
Rudi Bakhtiar, Journalist
Fereidoon Bashar, Executive Director at ASL19
Amir Bayani, Head of MENA Program at ARTICLE 19
Farangis Bayat, Women’s Rights Defender and Researcher
Farhad Davoodi, Translator and Writer
Parastoo Dokouhaki, Women’s Rights Defender
Arefe Elyasi, Women’s Rights Defender
Reza Fani Yazdi, Human Rights Activist
Nima Fatemi, Researcher and Founding Director of Kandoo
Roja Fazaeli, Professor at Trinity College, Dublin
Alireza Firoozi, Former Student Activist
Saghi Ghahraman, Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO)
Reza Ghazinouri, Human Rights Activist
Sourena Hashemi, Project Coordinator at Net Freedom Pioneers
Mo Hosseini, MENA Program Officer at ARTICLE 19
Sirous Hosseinifar, Artist
Maryam Hosseinkhah, Journalist
Mahboube Hosseinzadeh, Women’s Rights Defender
Mehri Jafari, Lawyer and Human Rights Activist
Mahdieh Javid, Human Rights Attorney
Sepideh Jodeyri, Poet and Women’s Rights Defender
Hadi KahalZadeh, Researcher on Public Policy at Brandeis University
Parvin Kahzadi, Journalist and Civic Activist
Parisa Kakaee, Women’s and Children’s Rights Activist
Mina Keshavarz, Film Director
Nooshin Keshavarznia, Women’s Rights Activist
Azam Khatam, Researcher and University Professor
Mostafa Khosravi, Director of Communications at Arseh Sevom
Nasim Khosravi Moghaddam, Writer and Theatre Director
Masoud Ladani, Meli-Mazhabi Activist
Mahtam Mahmoudi, Women’s Rights Defender
Feri Malek-Madani, Women’s Rights Activist
James Marchant, Research Manager at Small Media
Sara Masoumi, Journalist
Maryam Mazrooei, War Photographer and Journalist
Roozbeh MirEbrahimi, Journalist and Researcher
Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Researcher
Manijeh Moazen, Journalist
Azin Mohajerin, Civic Activist and Researcher
Sohrab Mokhtari, Writer and Translator
Zahra Moshtagh, Journalist
Laleh Mostofi, Film Director
Mani Mostofi, Senior Human Rights Advisor at United for Iran
Sarvenaz Mostofi, Artist
Negar Mottahdeh, Professor
Mojtaba Najafi, Researcher
Gissou Nia, Human Rights Lawyer
Shahriar Paknia, Researcher and University Professor
Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, Gender Equality Activist
Mohammad Pourabdollah, Political Activist
Azadeh Pourzand, Executive Director at Siamak Pourzand Foundation
Somaye Qodousi, Civic Researcher
Hossein Raessi, Human Rights Lawyer and Professor at Law
Keyvan Rafie, Director at Human Rights Activists in Iran
Neelam Raina, Associate Professor at Middlesex University
Niloofar Rajaeifar, Actress
Somayeh Rashidi, Women’s Rights Defender
Negar Razavi, Scholar and Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology at William and Mary
Sabra Rezai, Women’s Rights Activist
Afsaneh Rigot, MENA Officer ARTICLE 19
Simin Rouzgard, Human Rights Activist
Touraj Saberivand, Social Activist
Setareh Sabety, Journalist
Aida Sadat, Human and Women’s Rights Activist
Sima Saeedi, Former Journalist
Mousa Saket, Political and Civic Activist and member of Advar Tahkim Vahdat
Afsaneh Salari, Filmmaker
Faraz Sanei, Human Rights Lawyer
Rod Sanjabi, Human Rights Lawyer
Nasim Sarabandi, Women’s Rights Defender
Daisy Schmitt, Women’s Rights Programme Officer at FIDH
Kevin Schumacher, Human Rights Defender
Mahdis Sdeghipouya, Women’s Rights Defender and Gender Researcher
Afshin Shahi, Senior Lecturer at the University of Bradford
Sima Shakhsari, Professor at the University of Minnesota
Mansoureh Shoajee, Researcher and Women’s Rights Activist
Amir Soltania, Author, Zahra’s Paradise
Bita Tahbaz, Women’s Rights Activist
Maziar Tataei, Attorney at Law
Nayereh Tohidi, Professor and Director of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at California State University, Northridge
Soheila Vahdati, Independent Scholar
Adrienne van Heteren, Director at Small Media
Kyra Wigard, Legal Fellow at Armanshahr and OPENASIA
Mitra Zargar, Sociologist and Human Rights Advocate
Parvin Zarrabi, Women’s Rights, Peace, and Environmental Activist
Reprinted, with permission, from Center for Human Rights in Iran
MOJI AGHA
We must agree to disagree.
Self-proclaimed supporters of Human Rights in Iran, in the United States or in Europe, now exposed to be collaborators with the United States against the interests of the Iranian people.
I wish Khamenei were really a despot, in which case his program of autoarkic development would have been promulgated in 1997 and not now, forced by the United States. Had it been so, by now, much of the vulnerabilities of Iran to economic warfare by West would have been eliminated.
But, Khamenei was not and is not a despot and the feeble-minded Iranian men around him as well as inside and outside of the Iranian government who thought that they could appease the West have been exposed to have been damn fools.
This is a war with the same geo-political gravity as that of Vietnam War or Iraq War – I hope we can all make the right moral choices.
The world must help the non-violent regime change in Iran.
Ali Mostofi,
I am a nonviolent reformist (not regime change) activist, in the tradition of Dr. Mossadegh.
The “world” has done enough ” egime change” in our region since the CIA coup of 1953 that killed Iran’s democracy.
The best the “world” can do is to leave the region alone.
Sabz bashid.
Moji Agha