The killing of protester and wrestler Navid Afkari by Iran’s Islamic Republic has further discredited and disgraced the Islamic Republic internationally. They made up a bogus case against Navid, made and broadcast a preposterous ‘documentary’ and then murdered him, despite widespread protests in Iran and around the world. This crime must receive a resounding response.
The Iranian society will honour the memory of Navid Afkari and countless other victims of this regime by stepping up the fight to abolish the death penalty and for the release of all political prisoners, and by widening the protests and the strikes against this murderous regime. The murder of Navid has only added to the public’s anger and disgust for this regime of execution and killing, making the people of Iran even more determined in their resolve to overthrow the Islamic Republic. This battle must be extended to the level of the world. The Islamic Republic must be rejected and isolated globally.
The Islamic Republic has now come under pressure as a criminal regime by the international media and public opinion more than any other time before. In a detailed and well-documented report, published earlier this month, Amnesty International* drew attention to the Islamic Republic’s atrocities against protesters during the November 2019 uprising, calling on all member states of the UN Human Rights Council to mandate a UN-led enquiry into the atrocities. Also, following the execution of Navid Afkari, Amnesty called on governments to take a firm stand against this crime.
Over the past few days, prominent athletes and various sports bodies have also condemned Navid’s execution and called for the removal of the Islamic Republic from international competitions. In a statement, five UN human rights experts have described the execution of Navid Afkari an attempt to intimidate the protesting people of Iran and called on the international community to react strongly to the Islamic Republic’s crime.** Many celebrities and sports and artistic figures in Iran and around the world have also condemned the execution of Navid Afkari. The German and French governments also cancelled the planned visit of the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to those countries, and the European Union issued a statement strongly condemning the execution of Navid Afkari.
This wave of protest against the Islamic Republic must not be allowed to subside. These condemnations should not be allowed to remain at the level of stance, and governments must not be allowed to continue their policy of appeasement of the Islamic Republic. The Islamic regime should not be allowed to participate in international sports competitions or in international film festivals and similar events.
The brutal massacre of the people in the November 2019 uprising, followed by the deliberate shooting down of a passenger plane, killing all the 176 passengers and crew onboard, disgraced the Islamic Republic in the eyes of the world. And now the execution of young protesters and the arrests, tortures and atrocities, some of which have been documented in Amnesty’s report, have once again drawn the world’s attention to the tragedies that are taking place in Iran. Now, in the context of these atrocities and on the eve of the anniversary of the November 2019 uprising, it must be announced loudly and clearly that “The Islamic Republic is not the representative of the Iranian people. It is their murderer. Do not recognise it!”
We have always called for the political-diplomatic isolation and boycott of the Islamic Republic on a global scale. Today, the time has come for this to happen. We call on all governments, and all political, sports and artistic institutions that claim to defend human rights, to sever their ties with the Islamic Republic, and to call for the prosecution of the heads and officials of the Islamic Republic for crimes against humanity. Just as the racial Apartheid regime in South Africa was boycotted by governments and international institutions, the gender Apartheid regime in Iran can and must face international sanctions. The Worker-communist Party of Iran is actively and with all its means fighting for a global political-sports-artistic boycott of the murderous regime of Iran and calls on all opposition forces to fight for this objective.
Worker-communist Party of Iran
15 September 2020
* Iran: Trampling Humanity – Mass Arrests, Disappearances and Torture since Iran’s 2019 November Protests (2 September 2020)
** Execution of Iran athlete sends deeply disturbing message to protesters, say UN experts (14 September 2020)
Statement by the Worker-communist Party of Iran
15 September 2020
Links in this post: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/12/iranian-champion-wrestler-navid-afkari-executed-despite-global-outcry
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