ترجمه نامه سرگشاده مادران پارک لاله و حامیانشان به زبان انگلیسی

Open letter of The Mothers of Laleh Park and
supporters to the Secretary General of the United Nations and attendees of the sixteen Nonaligned Movement summit

Dear United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and attendees of the sixteen Nonaligned Movement Summit in Tehran;

 In the Iranian tradition of honoring guests, we, The Mothers of Laleh Park and supporters, welcome you and all the heads of Nonaligned countries to Iran. At the same time, let us clearly express our disappointment with you acceptance of the invitation of the host country, The Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite the Islamic Republic’s effort to prevent you from witnessing firsthand the horrible condition in Iran, we hope that you, with your long experience in defending human rights, find the opportunity to observe some of the numerous instances of human rights abuse and breach of international commitments.

None of us, the mourning mothers and members of The Mothers of Laleh Park, have been able to have a moment of peace, since the moment our children and loved ones have lost their lives only because of thinking differently, in prisons, under tortures or by individual or mass executions more than thirty years ago. Not only we are still mourning our children, we are also concerned for the youth of our country, who is either suffering in jails, living as refugees in foreign lands or suffering under a brutal repression, increasing unemployment, a hopeless future and lack of equality and freedom.

The Islamic regime has posted armed militias and security personnel in civilian clothes all over the city and evacuated the streets, in order to prevent you from encountering ordinary people who have been deprived from a dignified and peaceful life for more than thirty years. The people of Iran have been enduring pressures, discriminations and injustices for years and their voices have time to time reached the outside world and the United Nation’s rapporteurs. One example of the injustices is the mass killing of the political prisoners exactly twenty four years ago, which the regime has kept quiet about and tried to silence the protests of the families and others looking for justice. But the families have never stayed silent and have tried to keep the memory of their loved ones alive with their presence at the Khavaran and other cemeteries and holding memorial services, often in secrets.

The secret massacre of the political prisoners in the summer of 1988, their mass burials in unmarked locations in outskirts of Tehran and other cities and later on, finding unearthed pieces of their clothing is a terrible chapter in the history of Iran; a chapter that has not been yet probed and will not be forgotten and will forever remain as a shameful stain in the history of the Islamic Republic.

1. We and our supporters have expressed our sufferings during the last thirty three years in many letters and petitions sent to your office and maybe if attention had been paid to us earlier, the injustices of the Islamic regime have had ended already. Maybe if the complains about the mass killings of 1988 had been listened to, the best of our youth, who came out to protest the result of the rigged election of May 2009, had not been kidnaped in broad daylight or shot at by the mercenaries and plain clothed security forces, hundreds of political-civil activists had not been sent to Kahrizak prison, tortured and sexually assaulted or hanged in public. Right now, tens of human rights defense lawyers are in prisons under physical and psychological intimidations, only for upholding their professional ethics in defending their clients. Tens of political prisoners are in hunger strike and a lot of them at this moment are in urgent need of medical attention or the allowed temporary leave. A lot of them are activist women and mothers, who are kept away from their families with vague and fabricated accusations of action against national security and their children are growing without them.

The duty of every regime which claims to be democratically elected by the vote of the people is to provide its citizens with a relative welfare and be an instrument for their happiness; but the Islamic Republic, fully armed, is acting against its own people like a foreign and hostile government. The foundations of the regime is so corrupt and about to crumble that its heads who are scared and suspicious of everything and everybody, even prevented the normally expected delivery of aid to the victims of the recent earthquake in Azerbaijan, intimidated and arrested the aid workers, but were forced to release them after a few days with heavy bails, after the aid workers threatened to go on hunger strike. The authorities of the regime have no respect for anybody and anything anymore.

1. Do you see any glimpse of justice and respect for human rights in this short report which only depicts the conditions of the Islamic regime briefly? Do all these crimes and discriminations match the regimes religious pretentiousness?

Although we are not able to list every instance of human rights abuse in Iran, which is happening under the auspicious of religion, culture or tradition, systematically and in a calculated way every day, we are happy and hopeful that you’ve mentioned the question of human rights abuse as one of the subjects of your discussions with the Islamic republic. As mentioned above, it is obvious that the response of the ruthless rulers will never contain the truth and the depth of the catastrophe to you. Therefore, permit us to respectfully ask you and other heads of the states not let the Islamic republic make you believe the myth of a “secure and safe” Iran. We demand that you use this brief and exceptional opportunity to meet with the mothers and family members of those killed, talk to political prisoners. For them, that maybe a ray of hope that they are not yet forgotten and there are others who know or want to know about their sufferings.

Mothers of Laleh Park in Iran

International  Solidarity with Mothers of Laleh Park

August 28-2012

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Mothers of Laleh Park were formed after the rigged presidential election of 2009, nonviolent public protests and street killings, to seek justice for the mothers and family members of the political prisoners and those killed. Mothers of Laleh Park demand freedom of all political- consciousness prisoners, abolishment of the death penalty and open and fair trial of all those ordered and carried out the crimes of The Islamic Republic of Iran since its beginning. Their supporters abroad, which include people with different beliefs and ideologies, consider this as their human responsibility to echo their voices.

Copy:

-        United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, Mr. Ahmad Shaheed

-        The office of the Heads of Nonaligned Countries