A Charter for Accountability and Justice In Iran

Five months after the start of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement calling for the overthrow of Iran's clerical regime and demanding greater social and political freedoms, civil and political activists, and survivors of government massacres have come together to publish a Charter for Accountability and Justice.

The signatories state that the aim of the "progressive and equalitarian” movement that is sweeping Iran is to achieve justice and uphold people’s rights.

They demand “unquestioning adherence to human rights and human dignity for everyone” and an end to torture, capital punishment and executions, even for the perpetrators and orchestrators of the killings committed by the Islamic Republic.

The signatories call for cooperation with national and international institutions to investigate gross violations of human rights, ending impunity for the perpetrators, and rebuilding the judicial system to ensure its complete independence.

They also insist on the need to form “accurate historical memories” that are free from any bias.

The ongoing nationwide protests are the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic in decades.

The authorities have responded by waging a bloody crackdown in which more than 520 have been killed and over 19,000 others have been illegally arrested, activists say.

Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. Four protesters have been executed so far amid international condemnation.

"Seeking Justice rather than Bloodshed"

Monireh Baradaran, one of the signatories of the Charter, told IranWire that Iranian society must prepare now, before any transition process to a new political system, to prevent a repeat of the violence that Iran witnessed after the 1979 revolution that established the Islamic Republic.

The slogan of "Woman, Life, Freedom" reflects the people's desire for life and rejection of executions, which was not the case in 1979, Baradaran says.

"Woman, in this sense means that this movement fights against gender discrimination...Freedom means the acceptance of the other and the acceptance of different groups."

Another signatory, lawyer and human rights activist Saeed Dehghan, says the anger of the demonstrators in the face of the government’s brutal repression and violence is normal.

But he stressed that the protest movement is centered on human rights and on "seeking justice rather than bloodshed."

The new Charter comes amid growing calls for political change in Iran after more than four decades of clerical rule.

Earlier this month, 20 independent Iranian trade unions, feminist groups and student organizations inside Iran shared proposals that would transform or even replace the current theocratic system with a democracy.