The Iranian Resistance seeks to establish freedom, equality, and democracy in Iran, as well as  a republic based on the separation of religion and state. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) underscores its commitment to restoring human rights in Iran and abolishing the death penalty  following the clerical regime’s overthrow.
The NCRI fully adheres to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the “Convention against Torture,” and the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.” It also aims to establish a modern legal system based on the principles of the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, effective judicial protection, the right to a public trial, and the full independence of the judiciary.

● The Assault on Human Rights in Iran

The religious dictatorship ruling Iran has carried out a sustained assault on the Iranian people’s right to life. From its inception, the regime has built the foundations of its rule on the systematic suppression of human rights. It waged war on the people of Kurdistan, executed young people and massacred Kurdish villagers, targeted the Arabs of Khuzestan, killed and or imprisoned members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) across the country.

These human rights violations continued with the mass executions of PMOI members and other political prisoners in the 1980s, at times numbering in the hundreds per day, and subsequently culminated in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. Since then, numerous cases of political killings have remained unaddressed. These include the so-called “chain murders”, the mutilation of Christian priests in the 1990s, and the slaughter of protesters in an uprising in Qazvin in 1993, the murder of Zahra Kazemi in 2003, and the crimes committed in Kahrizak prison in 2009, and the murders and massacres carried out in Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq by the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force and Khamenei’s proxies in Iraq.

● Mass Executions

The number of political executions is estimated to be 120,000. It is impossible, however, to provide reliable estimates on the number of executions of people convicted of ordinary offenses.
The execution of juvenile offenders is another atrocity the clerical regime continues to commit, which is why Amnesty International has criticized the regime as “the last executioner of children.”

● Prohibition of Political Activity and Opposition

The mullahs’ religious dictatorship has deprived the people of Iran of the right to determine their political and national future. Any form of political activity, including the formation of associations and public gatherings, as well as the publication of newspapers and dissemination of information by outlets not affiliated with the ruling regime, is prohibited.
No party can operate unless “it explicitly declares its allegiance to the Constitution and the principle of the absolute rule of the Velayat-e Faqih.”

Opposition to the regime is considered a crime and any contact with the PMOI is subject to heavy punishment.
The people of Iran are deprived of the right to free elections. Notorious torturers, members of the death commissions involved in the 1988 massacre, and IRGC commanders have become presidents and members of the mullahs’ parliament (Majlis) or the Assembly of Experts.

● The Absence of Rule of Law in Iran

The mullahs’ religious tyranny has deprived the people of Iran of the right to enjoy the rule of law, replacing it with an absolute totalitarian state instead. Article 57 of the regime’s Constitution has added the word, “absolute” to the “rule of the jurisprudent,” granting unlimited powers and authority to the mullahs’ supreme leader. In practice, all public powers in Iran emanate from this person. The arbitrary use of power is a permanent principle in Iran under the mullahs’ rule and various principles of the clerical regime’s Constitution have sanctioned it.

● Denial of Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion

The ruling theocracy has denied the Iranian people “the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.” Since the onset of its rule, the Iranian regime has harassed, arrested, and purged dissidents and adherents of other religions, including Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Sunnis, Ahl-e Haq, and Gonabadi dervishes, as well as Shiites who have opposed the principle of the Velayat-e Faqih. Inquisition has become an institutionalized procedure for employment and educational opportunities. Religious excommunication and charges of apostasy are important tools used by the regime for suppression.

● Lack of Access to Fair Trials and Legal Remedies

The people of Iran are denied “the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals” (article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). No such courts exist in Iran. The courts do not observe due process and act at the whim of religious judgesand, at times, under the influence of security and intelligence agents.
Article 167 of the regime’s Constitution subjects the fate and the rights of the accused and plaintiffs to the personal whims and intentions of judges appointed by the mullahs’ supreme leader. Every judge can make a decision based on his own interpretation of the so-called “credible fatwas” —a term often used to refer to Khomeini’s book, Tahrir Al-Vasileh.

Many defendants do not have lawyers or must rely on court-appointed lawyers who often act against the interests of their clients. In some cases, lawyers are denied access to their clients’ case files, and if they insist, they may be prosecuted and sometimes sentenced to long prison terms.

● Gender Discrimination and Inhumane Punishments

The regime’s civil laws are based on gender discrimination.
The regime’s Penal Code – the Islamic Punishment Act – has been drafted largely around corporal punishments such as execution, torture, and flogging. In addition to stipulating inhumane punishments such as crucifixion, pushing from cliffs, limb amputation, etc., the Act prescribes the death penalty for more than 100 offenses and flogging for 50 other offenses.

In the case of political opponents, the regime has developed and employed 74 forms of torture in its prisons. The rape of female prisoners has been reported as a systematic method of torture in the regime’s prisons. Denying access to medical treatment has led to death by attrition among sick prisoners. Political prisoners are often subjected to this form of punishment.

● Censorship and Control of Information

The clerical regime has eliminated the Iranian people’s right to free access to information and the free dissemination of ideas.

-Online publications and websites not affiliated with the regime are not permitted to operate. All books are subject to censorship. Telephone conversations are monitored, and satellite television broadcasts are systematically jammed. Blogs, websites, emails, and social media activity are under extensive surveillance.
The presidential directorate and several other institutions are involved in filtering websites and controlling social media activities.

● Marginalization of Iran’s National Minorities

While Iran is a multi-ethnic country, the clerical regime has deprived Iran’s national minorities, including the Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Turkmens, Baluchis, Ghasghaiis, Lors, and Bakhtiaris of equal rights, including access to welfare, healthcare, education, urban and rural services, adequate housing, and the ability to communicate in their mother tongue.

● Women’s Rights: Systematic Control and Discrimination

Iran’s women are deprived of equal rights in all political, economic, educational, judicial, and family arenas. They are prohibited from holding positions such as judgeships, pursuing dozens of fields of study at the university level, entering sports stadiums to watch games, and participating in certain athletic activities.
The regime actively controls and humiliates women, particularly under the pretext of improper veiling. Twenty-seven government agencies monitor women’s compulsory veiling. State-backed gangs have been reported to carry out acid attacks against women.

● Violations of Property Rights

Human rights violations in Iran, intended to consolidate the mullahs’ repressive rule, are accompanied by flagrant violations of property rights. This is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 17.

The confiscation of houses and property belonging to political opponents; the exploitation of public lands, pastures, forests, and mountains; the seizure of numerous properties and real estate assets by the “Setad Ejraii” (Executive Headquarter) of the mullahs’ supreme leader (often without any reason or pretext); and the appropriation of many state-owned profit-making companies and institutions are among the examples of the clerical regime’s flagrant violations of property rights in Iran. This has enabled Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to control more than half of the country’s gross national product.

● No Workers’ Syndicates and Student Associations

Under the mullahs’ rule, the people of Iran are deprived of the right to form independent blue- and white-collar workers’ syndicates and trade unions, as well as independent student associations.

● The Tragedy of Unmarked Mass Graves in Iran

The Iranian people are deprived of the right to know the names of their relatives who were massacred in 1988, or in the executions that took place in the 1980s. They are also deprived of knowing where their mass graves are located.

Since the 1988 massacre, whenever the families have discovered any trace of these mass graves, the clerical regime has either desecrated them, or covered them with concrete, or constructed buildings over them.