Speaking at the United Nations in Geneva, Christina Blacklaws — former President of the Law Society of England and Wales (July 2019) with more than 28 years’ experience of effective leadership, campaigning and public service — called for urgent international action to halt political executions in Iran and secure genuine accountability.
Photo: Christina Blacklaws, Former President of the Law Society of England and Wales
“The rule of law is not optional. And silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality.
I was honoured to speak at the United Nations in Geneva in support of political prisoners in Iran and to call for urgent international action to stop the executions and secure accountability.
The case of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, the Iranian boxing champion sentenced to death three times for his involvement in pro-democracy protests, is deeply disturbing. As highlighted in The Guardian: https://lnkd.in/exrN5hNh
His is just one of many cases exposing the systematic use of the justice system to crush dissent.
Across Iran, people, like 25 year old, Arghavan Fallahi, face sham trials, torture, the denial of independent legal representation and execution simply for their beliefs and political affiliations.
We must not forget the more than 30,000 political prisoners executed in 1988. The failure to secure accountability then has helped create the conditions for these atrocities to happen again.
The rule of law cannot be selective. A justice system used as an instrument of repression is not justice at all.
At the UN, I urged governments to strengthen the resolution on Iran, demand an immediate halt to political executions and pursue genuine accountability.
My message to those imprisoned in Evin, Ghezel Hesar, Qarchak and elsewhere, and to their families, was simple:
You are not invisible. Your voices have been heard. We will not look away.
The international community was too slow to act in 1988. We must not fail a second time.”- Christina Blacklaws
#Iran#HumanRights#RuleOfLaw#PoliticalPrisoners#UnitedNations#Justice
Source: https://lnkd.in/p/dC_sGXUg
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