By ANSA Agency in Rome
“In the deafening silence of the Italian media, with the exception of Agenzia Nova, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif should now be in Italy for a series of institutional talks, including with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his counterpart Angelino Alfano.
In a note, UNPO and the Nonviolent Radical Party, reiterated the allegations formulated in particular by minorities who denounce increasing militarization, oppression and discrimination in daily life in non-Persian regions of Iran. Many reports have documented that Non-Persian minorities, including Kurds, Baloch, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen and Turkmen ahwazi, are subject to tight oppression and discrimination, which limit their access to work, public offices and that overall hamper the exercise of their cultural, civil and political rights. Members of these minorities, as well as members of the opposition trying to claim their political rights, face arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, unfair trials and death sentences. As shown by the annual report by Hands Off Cain on the death penalty, Iran has the highest number of recorded executions. Under the regime of current President Hassan Rouhani at least 2,983 hangings have taken place.
As Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif’s visits Italy, UNPO and the Nonviolent Radical Party demand that Italian media remove their self-imposed gag and expose the policies that the Iranian regime conducts against all minorities and opponents, and that the subject of the talks be made public, so that Italian citizens can become aware of the decisions being made in their name and with whom.
There is a limit that cannot be overcome, which is the respect for fundamental and universal human rights, starting with our countries, otherwise, diplomacy – the note concludes – becomes an alibi to keep mostly economic relations with the reckless regimes targeting millions of opponents or minority groups whose only is fault to exist.”