‘Iranian regime seeking to exploit summit of Non-aligned Movement’

Iran’s opposition Green Movement has warned the leaders of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) of the Iranian regime’s attempts to draw political gains from the organisation’s forthcoming summit meeting in Tehran.

In a letter to the heads of states and governments of the Non-aligned Movement, the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope, the movement’s highest decision-making body, said that Iranian authorities intended to “use the conference to boost its tarnished international image, and buttress its precarious political position at home.”

“Suffering from deeply-entrenched widespread popular discontent, and gripped by mounting economic hardship, emanating from chronic inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption and further worsened by the foreign sanctions related to the nuclear issue, the ruling clique has pinned its hopes on the NAM Summit. They expect to draw political capital from the presence and supportive political statements of the leaders of the fellow Non-aligned countries.”

The Council described the international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme as “unjust,” saying that the military threats against the country were “unacceptable.”

“Equally, we are also of the position that opportunistic misuse of the occasion for domestic political purposes represents sheer hypocrisy and is absolutely unjustified,” the statement added.

“Three years after the ruthless suppression” of The Green Movement, the letter continued, “the ruling apparatus has turned the whole country into a huge prison and systematically intensified all forms of political suppression and blatant violation of the basic and fundamental human rights of the Iranian people.”

In their letter, the Council members also recalled the ongoing illegal detention of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Zahra Ranhavard, who have been under house arrest since February 2011.

They called on member state leaders “to be cognizant of the negative implications involved while considering their participation at the conference in Tehran, or its level.”

“The Iranian people justifiably expect the high-level participants to express, in their official statements at the Conference, interviews with the Iranian and foreign press, as well as in the course of the meeting with the Supreme Leader, their disapproval and objection to the current anti-democratic and repressive policies in Iran.”

The Council called on the body to utilise this opportunity to promote the “democratic aspirations and just demands of the Iranian people, including the release of all political prisoners and the leaders of the Green Movement under illegal house arrest.” It warned of the governing elite’s plans to “misuse the office of the Movement’s [NAM] chairmanship for illegitimate political purposes and as a ploy to perpetuate further repression.”

“A democratic Iran,” the statement stressed, “would be a better member for the Movement and can serve uphold the true message and mission of genuine non-alignment.”

Full text of the letter:

Special Appeal

to the

Heads of State and Government of the Non-aligned Movement

The 16th Summit of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) will be held in Tehran, Iran, from 26-30 August 2012. The ruling authoritarian apparatus expects to use the conference to boost its tarnished international image, and buttress its precarious political position at home. Suffering from deeply-entrenched widespread popular discontent, and gripped by mounting economic hardship, emanating from chronic inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption and further worsened by the foreign sanctions related to the nuclear issue, the ruling clique has pinned its hopes on the NAM Summit. They expect to draw political capital from the presence and supportive political statements of the leaders of the fellow Non-aligned countries.

While we disapprove of the propagandistic and short-sighted policies that have led the country into the current impasse on the nuclear issue, we oppose as a matter of principle the increasing unjust sanctions against the country and unacceptable military threats against its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Equally, we are also of the position that opportunistic misuse of the occasion for domestic political purposes represents sheer hypocrisy and is absolutely unjustified.

Three years after the ruthless suppression of the popular peaceful, civic movement – The Green Movement – the ruling apparatus has turned the whole country into a huge prison and systematically intensified all forms of political suppression and blatant violation of the basic and fundamental human rights of the Iranian people. Continued detention since February 2010 of Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, his wife Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, and Mr. Mehdi Karrubi under illegal house arrest without any indictment or legal procedure vividly reflects the state of political suppression in Iran today. Daily reports of open repression of all kinds of political and civil activity and systematic abuse of the rights of detainees, inclusive of pervasive and organized threats and intimidation of different kinds, illegal detention, mistreatment and torture, and denial of urgently needed medical care and treatment paint a very grim picture of the actual political situation in the country. Periodic reports on the gravity of human rights situation in Iran by independent sources, including the report by Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur, and also by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, provide ample evidence for the on-going brutal violations in Iran.

Sadly, however, the international community’s preoccupation with the nuclear negotiations has totally eclipsed any serious concern with the human rights situation. On-going civil strife across the region and the tragic repression and ever-worsening blood-letting in Syria have also helped to allow the authoritarian clique in Iran escape a more robust international scrutiny.

The official policy of brutal political repression in Iran, and concomitant hypocritical defense of the popular, democratic demands of other people in the area – with the glaring exception of Syria – needs to be exposed and its perpetrators called to account.

We call on the esteemed Heads of State and Government of the countries members of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) to be cognizant of the negative implications involved while considering their participation at the conference in Tehran, or its level. The Iranian people justifiably expect the high-level participants to express, in their official statements at the Conference, interviews with the Iranian and foreign press, as well as in the course of the meeting with the Supreme Leader, their disapproval and objection to the current anti-democratic and repressive policies in Iran.

The community of non-aligned countries should utilize this unique opportunity to lend its collective support to the democratic aspirations and just demands of the Iranian people, including the release of all political prisoners and the leaders of the Green Movement under illegal house arrest. The leaders and representatives of the Non-aligned Movement should not allow an unpopular, authoritarian apparatus dominating Iran today misuse the office of the Movement’s chairmanship for illegitimate political purposes and as a ploy to perpetuate further repression.  A democratic Iran, as anywhere else across the developing world, would be a better member for the Movement and can serve uphold the true message and mission of genuine non-alignment.

The Coordinating Council of the Green Path of Hope of Iran
11.8.2012

Source: Iran Green Voice

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