Northern Ireland joins global day of action for Iran

Northern Ireland campaigners will be joining activists from throughout the world this Saturday (25 July) to hold a Global Day of Action for Iran.

Activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire - recently released from detention in Israel - will be meeting at Belfast City Hall at 12pm to raise awareness of the violent crackdown on dissent within Iran and to collect petitions of support.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, which is staging the demonstration, said:

"We are joining with people from around the world by gathering in Belfast to demand respect for the human rights of the Iranian people. The political questions facing Iran can only be resolved by the Iranian people themselves, but the violent repression of their internationally guaranteed human rights are of concern to people the world over. With the round-ups showing no sign of ending, we are deeply concerned for the fate of hundreds of people now detained in Iran, many in secret locations."

Amnesty International has compiled a list of names or identities of hundreds of those arrested following the post-election crackdown. Some of those detained have since been released but may face prosecution in the future. 

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire said:

"The violence by Iranian Government against peaceful demonstrators following recent controversial election results in Iran is unacceptable.  I call on the Iranian Government to immediately restore civil liberties, release all political prisoners, and respect the fundamental rights of the Iranian people."
ENDS.
Notes to the editor:
Campaigners will be meeting with protest sign at Belfast City Hall from 12pm on Saturday 25 July.

The global day of action is organized around the following core demands:
1. That member states and civil society organizations of the international community give sustained attention to the Iranian people's human rights as a matter of international concern, and that the UN should immediately initiate an investigation into grave and systematic human rights violations in Iran, including the fate of prisoners and disappeared persons, unlawful killings, and torture and other ill-treatment;
2. An end to state-sponsored violence, accountability for crimes committed by the authorities and no recourse to the death penalty.
3. The immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience, including politicians, journalists, students, and civil society activists;
4. Freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression (including freedom of the press) as guaranteed by the Iranian constitution and Iran's obligations under international covenants that it has signed.
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