After reports of systematic torture of children in Iran, the pressure on the German government to fundamentally change its policy towards the regime in Tehran is growing. The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Röttgen (CDU), demanded that the federal government and the EU “finally have to change their entire Iran policy”. In this context, he brought up a closure of the communication channels to Iran and a severing of trade relations.
According to a report by Amnesty International (AI), children and young people are among Iranian demonstrators. They were subjected to beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexual violence by intelligence and security agencies. According to the human rights organization, the violence is aimed at oppressing the country’s youth and breaking their protests.
The regime must be on the terror list
Röttgen told the Tagesspiegel: “The fact that children are tortured and girls are poisoned in schools to intimidate them and their families shows what a brutal injustice regime we are dealing with.” this inhuman procedure would be appropriate”.
It is now about a new, different Iran policy by Germany and the EU. The focus must be on including the Revolutionary Guards on the EU’s terror list. This will make it clear to the regime “that we mean business”. Röttgen continues: “Communication channels and trade relations cannot be maintained with a regime that tortures children, poisons girls and rapes and murders women.”
It is despicable that officials should abuse their powers in this way over vulnerable and frightened children, causing them and their families severe pain and distress and leaving them with severe physical and psychological scars.
Dieter KargIran expert at Amnesty International Germany
The Secretary General of the FDP, Bijan Djir-Sarai, also called for the Revolutionary Guards to be listed as a terrorist. “The fact that the Iranian regime does not even shy away from torturing children and exposing them to sexual violence is absolutely disgusting,” the FDP politician told the Tagesspiegel. The rulers in Iran “showed their disgusting and inhuman face ever more ruthlessly”. The Revolutionary Guards must finally be put on the European terror list. “What else has to happen before this step can be taken at EU level?” asked the liberal politician.
Iran researcher at Amnesty Germany, Dieter Karg, said: “It is abhorrent that officials should abuse their power in this way over vulnerable and frightened children, inflicting severe pain and fear on them and their families and leaving them with severe physical and psychological scars .”
Amnesty had documented violence from the time of arrest, where children and young people were beaten in prison vans and tortured in detention centers. This included electric shocks to the genitals, forced administration of unknown pills and severe threats. Before they were released, state officials often threatened the children with arresting their relatives if they complained.
According to AI, children as young as twelve were also tortured. The human rights activists base their report on testimonies from dozens of detainees and their relatives. Given the predominantly young protesters, Amnesty believes thousands of children were imprisoned.
Just a few days ago, Iran’s judiciary revealed that at least 22,000 demonstrators had been arrested. Most of the protesters are said to have been released in the meantime. There are no exact figures from the state.
The latest wave of protests in Iran was triggered by the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old was arrested by moral guardians in mid-September for violating Islamic dress codes and died in police custody a few days later.
At the beginning, the protests were directed against the headscarf requirement. Later, the demonstrators called for the fall of the Islamic Republic. In the meantime, the political and spiritual leadership has shown itself to be self-confident again. The young generation in particular has recently protested. The majority should not have been older than 25 years.
Since the wave of protests in the fall, Iran’s leadership has been under more pressure than it has ever been since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Months after the uprising, many women continue their protests in other forms, such as demonstratively ignoring the headscarf requirement.
Amnesty called for the detained children to be released and appealed to the international community: “As there is no prospect of effective impartial investigations into the torture of children in Iran, we call on all states, as well as the federal government, to exercise universal jurisdiction over Iranian officials,” it said barren (with dpa)
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Source: Tagesspiegel
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