On Friday, October 21, 2022 Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) is hosting a Virtual Congressional Briefing in Support of the Ongoing Uprising for a Secular, Democratic Republic in Iran. Bipartisan members of the United States Congress will address the event to express support for the Iranian people’s right to self determination and freedom.
For more than a month, the streets of Iran have been the site of unprecedented confrontation between the oppressive forces of Iran’s clerical regime and pro-democracy protesters who are seeking to overthrow the medieval religious theocracy. Sparked initially by brutal murders of a young woman named Mahsa Amini, the protests now include over 190 cities in all 31 provinces of Iran.
Unable to meet people’s democratic demands, the regime has used deadly force from the outset, killing over 400 innocent protesters. The regime has arrested over 20,000 people. Videos and images from across Iran continue to depict gruesome examples of extrajudicial killings, intentional prison fires, torture, but nevertheless, persistent and widespread pro-democracy protests.
Amidst widespread protest in Iran, a budding Revolution is indeed maturing. Along the way, the longstanding U.S. Congressional support for Iranian people’s democratic demands is inspiring. In the last 2 sessions of Congress alone, a number of House and Senate Resolutions have highlighted and encouraged the Iranian people’s right to resist oppression and seek freedom. In the current session of Congress, H.Res.118 with 257 bipartisan cosponsors explicitly expresses, “support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran.” Other bills include H.Res.1397, H.Con.Res.110, H.Res.752, and H.Res.374.
Women are at the forefront of the ongoing protests in Iran. They are inspired by 4 decades women leadership in the ranks of the Iranian resistance. Of the tens of thousands killed in Iran over these four decades, almost half are female. In perpetrating the 1988 Massacre, Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, current president Ebrahim Raisi, and their cohorts killed thousands of brave Iranian patriots, among them thousands of women and girls. This brutality exemplifies their hatred towards women enshrined in their laws and actions. Yet, the women of Iran rebelled against erosion of their choices. They rejected forced removal of the hijab, dubbed by the former monarch as “modernization” of Iran, for example. Women’s sacrifices over the past four decades of religious tyranny testify to the fact that women of Iran also reject compulsory practice of religion and curtailing of freedoms, including the decision to choose or reject hijab.
At the core of people’s grievances, is the illegitimacy of the regime itself – both in the years leading up to the 1988 Massacre, till today. Accordingly, the chants of “death to dictator, be it shah or [supreme] leader,” best encapsulate people’s aspiration for a secular, democratic republic Iran.
@amnesty and 42 other organizations call on the @UN_HRC to urgently holding a special session on Iran and establish an independent mechanism with investigative, reporting & accountability functions to address the most serious crimes under international law https://twitter.com/AmnestyIran/status/1581999541876056065
Latest Sanctions Are Not Enough to Show U.S. Support of Iranian Protesters https://www.newsweek.com/latest-sanctions-are-not-enough-show-us-support-iranian-protesters-opinion-1751661?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1665751998
Iran’s Uprising: Precursor to a New Revolution https://merionwest.com/2022/10/12/irans-uprising-precursor-to-a-new-revolution/
https://oiac.org/oiac-human-rights-update-october-15-2022/
