Foreign Policy Chief Urges Iran to Hold Perpetrators of Protest Deaths Accountable, Provide Detainees Due Process

December 10, 2019 – The EU should lead calls for the UN to investigate Iranian state forces’ use of lethal means to repress the country’s mid-November 2019 protests which resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

“As an important potential trade and investment partner with substantial leverage over Iran, the EU should take the lead in calling for the UN Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry into the latest massacre,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.

“The immense scale of state violence deployed to crush this round of protests requires the EU and the broader international community to turn words into action, take steps that would lead to the perpetrators of the violence being held accountable, and send a message to the Iranian government that the world is watching,” Ghaemi added.

According to reporting by Amnesty International, at least 208 people died in Iran while protests were ongoing between November 15-December 2. The UN reported that more than 7,000 were arrested, marking one of the bloodiest periods of state repression that the Islamic Republic has seen in decades.

In a declaration published on December 8, 2019, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles said Iranian authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible for the deaths and provide all detainees due process.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union and its 28 member states, Borrell, who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission, also condemned the Iranian government’s “disproportionate use of force against non-violent protesters” and prolonged blockage of internet access. Following is Fontelles’ complete statement.

Declaration by the High Representative Josep Borrell Fontelles on behalf of the EU on the recent protests in Iran