Repression in Iran surpasses the arrival of any new president

The political and social upheaval unleashed after the death of the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisihas provoked criticism from defenders of human rights.

They accuse the regime of a long chain of violence and attacks against women and minorities, even attributing these actions to the deceased president. However, the international organization Human Rights Watch noted that Iran’s repressive machinery goes beyond the power of the president and warns that without fundamental changes, these violations can be expected to continue.

Repression

Norway-based Human Rights Watch said Raisi was one of four people who served on a panel that handed down death sentences on thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

Raisi previously headed Iran’s judiciary and, when he was president, the executive branch. He bore great responsibility for many repressive policies, such as the deadly measures against widespread protests in 2019 and the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022, following the death of Mahsa Jina Aminiwhile in the custody of the moral police.

According to the NGORaisi also bore much of the blame for the executions of protesters following unfair trials, the persecution of peaceful dissidents, and the enforcement of the country’s abusive mandatory hijab or “veil” laws.

Choice

According to the Iranian Constitution, presidential election They must be held within a period of 50 days and are expected to take place on June 28. However, he warned that for more than a decade, the Guardian Council of Iran has led the systematic delegitimization of elected bodies as spaces to influence government policy, among other things by reducing the number of eligible candidates, so that even the president of Parliament was disqualified for the 2021 presidential elections.

Due to the above, the organization made it clear that, in the absence of a major change in the political landscape, they do not expect that Raisi’s death will bring real changes in terms of rights. humans in Iran.

In turn, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rightsbased in Norway, also documented that Ebrahim Raisi had a long history within the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

After his appointment as president, he charged that Raisi continued to commit widespread human rights violations.

His background, particularly in the late 1980s, includes documented participation in so-called “death committees” and participation in mass executions of political prisoners. “These actions are widely considered crimes against humanity and have been repeatedly condemned by the international community and human rights organizations,” they revealed.

Justice

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, reflecting the sentiments of the people, especially the bereaved families, states that the best possible outcome would be that the members of these “death committees” and the orchestrators of the Islamic Republic’s extensive crimes of Iran are arrested.

“Without a doubt, the classification and documentation of crimes committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran are an integral part of the search for justice, facilitating litigation in the context of transitional justice and guaranteeing a commitment to future generations,” he revealed.

Regime

In an interview for EL DEBATE, the geopolitics specialist and UNAM academic Jesús Gallegos Olvera considered that the new presidency that arrives in Iran would offer continuity to the Raisi regime, “with that conservative and harsh vision of the Iranian theocracy, and that I observe little can be modified with an empowered vision, eventually of groups that can afford a greater rapprochement with the West led by USA”.

For the expert, the importance that Russia has in the region and the president’s statement should also be highlighted. Vladimir Putin to support Iran as much as possible in these internal events.

THE DATA

Women
Since the beginning of 2024, at least 10 women have been executed in various prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Convictions
15 women from the Bahá’í religious minority have been sentenced by the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran to five years in prison each. These people were also subjected to social deprivation and monetary fines.

Arrests
In April 2024, 134 people were arrested by security forces throughout Iran. Notably, the majority of these arrests, which included 63 people, were Kurdish.