APPEAL TO THE PRIME MINISTER, MATTEO RENZI, VISITING THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

April 6, 2016: In the recent visit in Italy of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, and his meetings with top representatives of the Italian Republic, it has clearly emerged the formal desire to establish more regular political and diplomatic relations. Even more evident was the substantial interest to establish more favorable relationships of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Instead, the indecent situation of human rights in the mullahs' regime remained completely covered by a veil of reticence (such as that laid on the naked statues of the Capitoline Museums).
To indicate a part for the whole, it is from decades that Iran is atop the sad list of "Executioner countries" of the world, and Iran has reached the record number of hangings at the time when the "moderate" Rouhani became President.
We want the Prime Minister to be aware also of this side of the reality that characterizes the Islamic Republic that he prepares to visit.
We ask the head of the government of a country that the world recognizes as the champion of the battle for Universal Moratorium on Capital Punishment and for the establishment of the International Criminal Court to put at the center of every meeting with top Iranian officials the issue of respecting the universally recognized human rights, and to use this important opportunity to denounce the most serious violations.
Among which:
- The alarming use of the death penalty, also applied against juvenile offenders, in violation of international agreements and conventions that Iran has ratified;
- The discrimination of religious minorities, with particular reference to the suffering of the Baha'is and Christians;
- The persecution of sexual minorities and, in particular, of homosexuals, even punished by death;
- The invocation to the destruction of the State of Israel and the denial of the Holocaust, promoted above all by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and reaffirmed recently when Iran made yet another missile test, in complete violation of the UN Resolution 2231 (on missiles launched it was written in Hebrew and Arabic: "Israel will be wiped off the maps”);
- The arrests of human rights activists and political opponents, of whom the prime Minister should demand the immediate release;
- Legal discrimination against women, whose testimony during trials is worth half the value of a man’s testimony, and whose value as victims of homicides is as well half of the value of a male victim;
We are convinced that asserting one’s own values is right when it is to have a dialogue with persons having opposite values. It is also convenient for the maximum respect and highest consideration, which always earns one who proves to be demanding, consistent and strong in his convictions, compared to those who instead show of being indulgent, indifferent and, in the end, powerless. (Sources: HOC, 06/04/2016)