Interview
Maria Arena, chair of the parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, speaks to Rudaw on July 8, 2021. Photo: Rudaw
The European Parliament on Thursday called on Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi to halt the execution of a Swedish-Iranian national, Dr. Ahmedreza Djalali, and release him unconditionally.
Djalali was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death on charges of espionage the following year, a charge he denied. He has said his confession was extracted under torture. He was granted a reprieve in December when his execution was postponed at the last minute.
The parliamentary resolution urged Raisi to allow Djalali to return to Sweden and called on Tehran to stop threatening his family members in Sweden and Iran.
In the resolution also called on Tehran to drop charges against 10 other European nationals detained in Iran and said the European Union should consider “further targeted sanctions” of those involved in the detention of EU citizens.
Maria Arena, chair of the parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, speaking to Rudaw’s Znar Shino the day the parliament voted on the resolution, said that human rights should be the priority in discussions with Iran, including in ongoing negotiations to revive the nuclear deal.
“We have to put human rights at the first priority of our discussion. So for us it’s not to say that we have to choose between a partnership with Iran and forget about human rights. It is to make both,” she said, worried that the human rights situation in Iran could worsen with the election of hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi.
The following interview with Maria Arena has been lightly edited for clarity.
Rudaw: What's your expectation for the human rights in Iran after the presidential election?
Maria Arena: You know that we are working a lot on the human rights situation in Iran, in the human rights subcommittee here at the European Parliament. And today we have a discussion about the Djalali situation in Iran, he is a prisoner in Iran, human rights defender. And we are just fearing that the situation will be worse in the future in the country, because we have had a lot of concern about the human rights situation in Iran. And with this election, that has been really restrictive, not having an inclusive approach from all the communities in Iran, having the possibility for everyone to speak about the situation in the country freely, we are just fearing that the situation will be worse than it is, that is has been before.
There were talks between the EU and Iran about human rights. The foreign minister said that these talks will be suspended. Is there any result from this?
You know, it’s very difficult when it comes to human rights in the country. We have a lot of defenders being jailed, defenders of human rights and specifically women, for example, in the country. So we have a lot of concerns about the situation of women and human rights in the country. We also have concerns about the death penalty in the country. As you know, it is possible in the country to make the execution, death penalty for minors, for example. And so it is also a concern for us, at the European level. You know that we are really making a plea for abolition of the death penalty. Not only in Iran, in a lot of other countries. But it is important also to have this commitment not to have the death penalty for minors in the country. And it is not the fact now in Iran. We have seen that there is some improvement, but not really is it decided not to execute people being under the death penalty when they are minors.
Are there any improvements regarding the death penalty?
Regarding the minors being under death penalty, it’s the only one that we can say that there is a kind of commitment, saying that there will not be so many executions. And what we have seen, for example, in Iran, is the fact that it is more the families that are asking not to have this death penalty for these minors, and not really the government.
There's lots of minorities, ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. Are you aware of human rights of minorities?
Of course. And it is a problem also in the country, not having these people being protected as such, in the country. And so for us it is also important that everybody in the country can be protected in their dignity, living in the country. And it is not the fact. So when I said that we have a lot of concerns from the past, but also for the future in the country and for the future of human rights in the country.
There are Kurds in Iran and Balochis and other minorities. They cannot study in their mother tongue. Are working on that as well?
Of course. So when we are dealing with the human rights in the country, here at the European Commission, we are hearing a lot of people speaking about human rights in Iran. And we know that the minorities are not respected as such in the country. And so it is why, when we are dealing with the deal with Iran, it is important for us here, from the European Parliament, to say to the high commissioner, the European high commissioner, but also to the member states, that it is important to put on the agenda the question of human rights. It is not because we have an interest to work at the geopolitical side, to work with Iran, with this Iranian deal, that we are not speaking about human rights. For me, human rights are the first thing that we have to speak about, and after we can speak about the rest. So human rights must be at the very high priority of the discussion that we will have with the future government in Iran.
There are talks that if the JCPOA [nuclear deal] is revived by Iran and the US, maybe the EU will ignore human rights issues in Iran. Is that true?
What we have to do here at the European Parliament is to push for human rights. We know that sometimes at the Council, so the member states, the question of human rights is the second priority, not the first one. For us, and it is what we are saying in the resolution that we have today at the European parliament, is to say, if we have to discuss with Iran, and it is important to discuss with Iran as a geopolitical player it’s really important, we have to put human rights at the first priority of our discussion. So for us it’s not to say that we have to choose between a partnership with Iran and forget about human rights. It is to make both. It is to have a partnership and at the same time to discuss about human rights.
You get lots of letters from different parties in Iran. Can you tell us what was the last letter you got?
I think it’s really difficult because we really work with human rights defenders in the country. And we know that it is dangerous for them, because the risk that they have is not only to be put in jail, but to be submitted to torture, to be killed. And so we have to protect them. And for us it’s important to maintain this link, especially with women in the country and women defending human rights in the country. So for me, it’s really something that I want to continue to work on here at the European Parliament and the sub-committee of droits [human rights].
Do I understand you exactly, that you're working with human rights defenders inside Iran?
Of course. We have people working on this and having link with us here at the European Parliament, of course.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Djalali was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death on charges of espionage the following year, a charge he denied. He has said his confession was extracted under torture. He was granted a reprieve in December when his execution was postponed at the last minute.
The parliamentary resolution urged Raisi to allow Djalali to return to Sweden and called on Tehran to stop threatening his family members in Sweden and Iran.
In the resolution also called on Tehran to drop charges against 10 other European nationals detained in Iran and said the European Union should consider “further targeted sanctions” of those involved in the detention of EU citizens.
Maria Arena, chair of the parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, speaking to Rudaw’s Znar Shino the day the parliament voted on the resolution, said that human rights should be the priority in discussions with Iran, including in ongoing negotiations to revive the nuclear deal.
“We have to put human rights at the first priority of our discussion. So for us it’s not to say that we have to choose between a partnership with Iran and forget about human rights. It is to make both,” she said, worried that the human rights situation in Iran could worsen with the election of hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi.
The following interview with Maria Arena has been lightly edited for clarity.
Rudaw: What's your expectation for the human rights in Iran after the presidential election?
Maria Arena: You know that we are working a lot on the human rights situation in Iran, in the human rights subcommittee here at the European Parliament. And today we have a discussion about the Djalali situation in Iran, he is a prisoner in Iran, human rights defender. And we are just fearing that the situation will be worse in the future in the country, because we have had a lot of concern about the human rights situation in Iran. And with this election, that has been really restrictive, not having an inclusive approach from all the communities in Iran, having the possibility for everyone to speak about the situation in the country freely, we are just fearing that the situation will be worse than it is, that is has been before.
There were talks between the EU and Iran about human rights. The foreign minister said that these talks will be suspended. Is there any result from this?
You know, it’s very difficult when it comes to human rights in the country. We have a lot of defenders being jailed, defenders of human rights and specifically women, for example, in the country. So we have a lot of concerns about the situation of women and human rights in the country. We also have concerns about the death penalty in the country. As you know, it is possible in the country to make the execution, death penalty for minors, for example. And so it is also a concern for us, at the European level. You know that we are really making a plea for abolition of the death penalty. Not only in Iran, in a lot of other countries. But it is important also to have this commitment not to have the death penalty for minors in the country. And it is not the fact now in Iran. We have seen that there is some improvement, but not really is it decided not to execute people being under the death penalty when they are minors.
Are there any improvements regarding the death penalty?
Regarding the minors being under death penalty, it’s the only one that we can say that there is a kind of commitment, saying that there will not be so many executions. And what we have seen, for example, in Iran, is the fact that it is more the families that are asking not to have this death penalty for these minors, and not really the government.
There's lots of minorities, ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. Are you aware of human rights of minorities?
Of course. And it is a problem also in the country, not having these people being protected as such, in the country. And so for us it is also important that everybody in the country can be protected in their dignity, living in the country. And it is not the fact. So when I said that we have a lot of concerns from the past, but also for the future in the country and for the future of human rights in the country.
There are Kurds in Iran and Balochis and other minorities. They cannot study in their mother tongue. Are working on that as well?
Of course. So when we are dealing with the human rights in the country, here at the European Commission, we are hearing a lot of people speaking about human rights in Iran. And we know that the minorities are not respected as such in the country. And so it is why, when we are dealing with the deal with Iran, it is important for us here, from the European Parliament, to say to the high commissioner, the European high commissioner, but also to the member states, that it is important to put on the agenda the question of human rights. It is not because we have an interest to work at the geopolitical side, to work with Iran, with this Iranian deal, that we are not speaking about human rights. For me, human rights are the first thing that we have to speak about, and after we can speak about the rest. So human rights must be at the very high priority of the discussion that we will have with the future government in Iran.
There are talks that if the JCPOA [nuclear deal] is revived by Iran and the US, maybe the EU will ignore human rights issues in Iran. Is that true?
What we have to do here at the European Parliament is to push for human rights. We know that sometimes at the Council, so the member states, the question of human rights is the second priority, not the first one. For us, and it is what we are saying in the resolution that we have today at the European parliament, is to say, if we have to discuss with Iran, and it is important to discuss with Iran as a geopolitical player it’s really important, we have to put human rights at the first priority of our discussion. So for us it’s not to say that we have to choose between a partnership with Iran and forget about human rights. It is to make both. It is to have a partnership and at the same time to discuss about human rights.
You get lots of letters from different parties in Iran. Can you tell us what was the last letter you got?
I think it’s really difficult because we really work with human rights defenders in the country. And we know that it is dangerous for them, because the risk that they have is not only to be put in jail, but to be submitted to torture, to be killed. And so we have to protect them. And for us it’s important to maintain this link, especially with women in the country and women defending human rights in the country. So for me, it’s really something that I want to continue to work on here at the European Parliament and the sub-committee of droits [human rights].
Do I understand you exactly, that you're working with human rights defenders inside Iran?
Of course. We have people working on this and having link with us here at the European Parliament, of course.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
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