NB : A farsi version is available at http://www.iran-echo.com/echo_pdf/04122023_fa.pdf
The news coming out of Iran is very worrying. Faced with rising social and popular anger linked to the economic crisis, the dictatorial regime is stepping up repression, taking advantage of the detour of world public opinion towards the ongoing war in Gaza.
There has been a marked increase in the number of arrests of workers’ activists under fallacious pretexts: the Iranian authorities are increasingly targeting workers and pensioners, accusing them of organizing peaceful demonstrations against the high cost of living and wage arrears.
The list of arrests and imprisonments continues to grow. Among the most recent victims are: Reyhaneh ANSARINEZHAD (a female worker activist); Osman ESMAILI, Esmail GUERAMI and Kamran SAKHTEMANGAR (retired workers and former detainees); Reza Aghdasi AGHDASI (dismissed worker, invalid and deaf).
Repression has also hit many people supporting the workers, dissidents expressing opinions or convictions opposed to those of the regime, lawyers, women’s rights and human rights defenders, etc.
Women are the first victims of this authoritarian and patriarchal regime, which control over their bodies is one of its pillars. After 28 days in a coma, student Armita GAVARAND died on Saturday October 28. Aged 16 and originally from a Kurdish region, the teenager had been victim of a violent quarrel with the morality police in the Teheran metro because she had not been wearing a headscarf.
The authorities have speed up the death sentences, particularly public executions, in an attempt to terrorize the population: Since October 7, the regime has executed more than 120 people, including dozens of political opponents and social movement activists.
Among these victims is Kurdish political prisoner Qassem ABASTEH, executed after spending 14 years on death row. He had been arrested in 2008 for “propaganda against the regime”. We should also mention Milad ZOHREVAND, a young man who took part in demonstrations as part of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.
International solidarity is essential.
We call on all organizations and individuals defending human and workers’ rights to protest to the Iranian authorities.
The French trade union organizations reaffirm their solidarity with the victims of repression. They strongly condemn this intolerable policy.
They demand:
– The abolition of the death penalty,
– The annulment of all unjust sentences that violate fundamental rights and freedoms;
– The immediate and unconditional release of all activists imprisoned for their opinions or their trade union and associative activities, as well as foreign citizens including Cécile KOHLER and Jacques PARIS; we also calls for all charges against them to be dropped;
– Respect by the Iranian regime for international conventions, notably those of the International Labour Organization (ILO), including those concerning freedom of association, demonstration, strike and collective bargaining.
Confédération française démocratique du travail (CFDT) Confédération générale du travail (CGT)
Fédération syndicale unitaire (FSU)
Union syndicale Solidaires
Union nationale des syndicats autonomes (UNSA)
Paris, 04/12/2023