Dear Friends,  

I deeply appreciate your attention to the current nationwide uprising of the youth and women, in my motherland Iran. You are in full picture that this nationwide uprising was ignited by the torture and death of a 22-year-young woman, Mahsa Amini. As we meet here thousands of Iranians, led by courageous women, are risking everything in their protests and fighting for their human rights and dignity in front of a brutal system of repression and violence. Above earthing it is a genuine revolt of women and youth for freedom and human rights, and they are the leaders of the protests who shout “woman, life and Freedom”  

It is good if we can observe a minute of silence together for more than 50 peoples and 100s of injuries during last six days. 

The torture and death of Mahsa Amini by the morality police is an example of the violence against women that under a fundamentalist reading of Sharia prevails against the Iranian people during last four decades. From 1979 until now thousands of Iranians who stood against Islamic extremism-in-power have lost their lives and many are deprived of basic human rights because of their protest against a cruel political system that is based on a wide range of discriminatory laws and regulations.  

Mahsa and her brother were visiting family in Tehran, coming from the remote city of Saqqez in the Kurdistan region. On September 13th, 22-year-old Mahsa was arrested by the Iranian regime’s notorious morality police because of her headscarf “that was not sufficiently covering her hair according to the standards of Islamic government”. Mahsa’s brother was told she would be taken to a detention centre to undergo a ‘briefing-guiding session’ and will be released shortly afterwards. However, her unconscious body arrived at Kasra Hospital in Tehran shortly after and announced died on Friday September 16th, after being in a coma for three days. There is no certain story about what exactly happened between the arrest and her arrival at the hospital, but the leaked scans of brain and the testimonies of other arrested girls demonstrate that she has been beaten and tortured in the morality police custody 

The killing of this young Kurdish woman automatically reminded the millions of Iranian women who on a daily basis try to be themselves and stand against the humiliating forced Hijab rules . As a basic human rights Iranian women love to show their individuality by wearing the headscarf in different colours and fashions, a right that is systemically denied by the legal system of Islamic Republic in Iran.  This situation is in fact an everyday struggle of Iranian women who live in a tyrannical system which has lost its popular base, is corrupt and resorts to brutal force to survive. 

In the last few days, Iranian people in more than eighty cities, mostly in evening times, have been demonstrating against Mahsa’s death in custody. There have been 50 reported deaths and many injured in the demonstrations. The demonstrators have tried hard to remain peaceful despite enormous provocations by the regime. However, people are standing together and fighting back if others get arrested or attacked. 

Mahsa’s death has become a symbol of what is wrong with the 40-year rule of the theocracy which turned the 1979 revolution of the Iranian people against tyranny into another dictatorship. This was a coup against the people’s revolution. 

The last forty years has seen this regime violate the human rights of the Iranian people, particularly those of women and minority groups in the name of a application of Sharia. Like all tyrannies before and after, the regime has tried to use any means possible to contain and disempower Iranian people for its own survival. 

What is hopeful amidst the chaos are the chants and the messages on the placards carried by the demonstrators. People are asking for democracy and denouncing dictatorship in all its forms whether that of the shah or the clergy. There has been a great show of unity and solidarity between all ethnic groups. People have come together to object to years of human rights abuses they have all been subjected to. The regime, with its systemic corruption and violence, has tried hard in the first few days of the demos to create disunity amongst ethnic groups but so far it has failed. 

This uprising may be called as a true revolution of women with unique aspects for the whole Muslim world, it is not about a race, religion, sex or ethnic. It is a generational change in attitudes of millions of women living under a theocratic-patriarchal legal and political system. What they ask is nothing but their fundamental rights, freedom, Independency, and dignity. They are not asking for any foreign military interference or outside interventions. Fear is now changing its home, People do not afraid anymore, Government does. Still the protests are overwhelmingly peaceful and the people in the streets are trying to avoid violence and use de-violence methods in reaction to the brutality of security forces. The uprising is deeply connected to the online world and has no central leadership yet.  

We offer our heartfelt condolence and solidarity to Mahsa Amini’s family and the Iranian people. We offer solidarity to all victims of tyranny in Iran and elsewhere in the world.  It is upon us to show solidarity with our Iranian brothers and sisters in whatever way possible. Mahsa’s spirit lives on in all young people fighting for freedom in Iran and elsewhere. She will be a symbol of hope for the Iranian people. Mahsa is forever with us. The Iranian people will continue with their struggle against tyranny. Change is coming. 

We must never forget our collective responsibility within the international community to protect many defenceless women and men who are currently risking their lives for their basic human rights, the right to choose your type of hair dress, in streets of Tehran and dozen other cities. Sadly, The regime in Tehran does everything to prevent the world to know about its crackdown against protesters; it arrests and detain even ordinary people supporting the protests, arrest the lawyers for the people supporting the protests, and arrest the journalists reporting on any of it. 

the regime is cracking down these defenceless peoples using a large amount of its cruel military and security forces. Many are now afraid if the repressive forces continue the crackdown the demonstrators with this level of cruelty the atrocities and crimes cannot be reversed, and consequentially our human solidarity failures cannot be repaired. The dead Iranian girl who just shouts for her basic rights cannot be brought back to life later. So, what can we do?  

First, we must all acknowledge our responsibility to do more to prevent or stop the police violence against demonstrators. In these hours it is critical that the international media pays enough attention to the situation in Iran and take timely action. Very concretely I would like to raise the awareness about this international norm of Responsibility to Protection/R2P which provides a solid basis of international solidarity with Iranians under the violence of the regime. Also we urge/call upon all national (mean Australian) regional and international human rights organisations and actors to stand for human rights protection of Iranians who risk their lives and under a brutal crackdown 

We call on the United Nations/ General Assembly and especially the Human Rights Council and other available human rights protection mechanisms, and each member of the UN, to act responsibly and timely to prevent the regime from restoring to violence and protect protestors from further repression: we urge the international community to request the Human Rights Council of UN to immediately establish The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law leading up and since 16 Sep 2022 in Iran. Such agreed mechanisms can help preventing further atrocities and human rights violations by the regime. 

Human beings are members of a whole, 

In creation of one essence and soul. 

If one member is afflicted with pain, 

Other members uneasy will remain. 

If you have no sympathy for human pain, 

The name of human you cannot retain