DOIW Thanks Sister Organisations for Their Support
DOIW has thanked international sister organisations who signed the Joint Declaration of support for the struggle of women of Iran, the text of which follows.
Dear Sisters and comrades,
The protests in Iran have continued unabated for more than two months now. So far, early December, there are reports of 470 protesters killed, among them more than 60 children and teenagers (according to HRANA-human rights group in Iran). There are reports that around 15,000 protesters have been arrested (some reports put this at a much higher figure) and under pressure in prisons. The regime threatens the families of those killed not to mourn their dead and to lie about the cause of death, citing suicide or accidents, or the regime refuses to let them have the body of their loved one. Despite the atrocities and the pressures, protests continue in many areas in Tehran, and in most large cities.
The regime has conducted trials for some of those arrested already. So far sentences of execution have been meted out to 15 prisoners, 3 of them under 18 years of age. The lives of all political prisoners in Iran is in danger.
The Ministry of Information and the Revolutionary Guards Corp’s Information Organisation have echoed the supreme leader, Khamene’i and declared that USA is involved in creating disturbances in the country and is using this tack to accuse the protesters of colluding with foreign powers against public order and the country’s security.
The Police Special Units, the Basijis, the Revolutionary Guards, and plain clothes thugs, have beaten, maimed, and killed people with complete impunity. The massive fire, explosions, and shootings in the notorious Evin prison, videoed and uploaded on social media by witnesses in the neighbourhood, on Saturday 15th October, is another proof of the complete lack of humanity with which the regime treats those in its custody.
Iran is going through a dangerous and turbulent time. The dictatorship intends to ‘maintain its system’ by sheer violence. It is in the regime’s interest to change the narrative from one of legitimate political-social-civil demands of protests to bloody and violent armed clashes in order to legitimise its suppression of the protests for the pretext of ‘maintaining security’ and ‘preventing the disintegration of Iran’.
There are discredited individuals who are trying to portray themselves as the spokespersons for the people of Iran, meeting various foreign leaders and making pronouncements in favour of increased sanctions or foreign interventions of one form or another. Most of the people in Iran are against any form of foreign intervention and condemn any form of interference by imperialism and any opposition forces that align themselves with it.
The protesters in Iran realise that their just demands may be realised only through the struggle of the women and people of Iran for freedom and social justice and depends on the united action of workers, students, teachers, and the youth of Iran, women, and men. Having lived through the misogynistic laws, and class and gender discrimination that the regime of political Islamic has imposed on them, women have been at the forefront of the struggle for fundamental change that has spread across more than 156 cities and towns in Iran. For the movement to progress, it is essential that we secure the unconditional release of the political prisoners. Their lives are at risk.
We continue to rely on our sisters and comrades for your solidarity and exposing the bankrupt regime of the Islamic Republic for its corruption and brutality.
We would like to thank you sincerely for your support and for signing the joint declaration. The solidarity of progressive women is of great value to the struggle of the women and people of Iran.
5th December 2022
Democratic Organisation of Iranian Women
