THE REGIME OF FLOGGING, EXECUTION AND REPRESSION MUST BE BOYCOTTED WORLDWIDE, Whipping Davood Rafiei is outrageous and disgusting!

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On November 26, the Islamic Republic of Iran flogged Mr Davood Rafiei, a fired worker from the Pars Khodro Company (car manufacturing), 74 times for protesting against dismissal, unemployment and poverty. The Islamic Republic, this regime of flogging, imprisonment and execution; must be politically boycotted worldwide.

Davood Rafiei is one of the well-known workers. He was prosecuted for defending his colleagues during Pars Khodro workers’ protests against dismissals. Due to his great popularity among the workers, he was repeatedly offered a bribe of several million tomans by the corrupt managers of Pars Khodro, as well as the Minister of Labour in order to withdraw his support for the workers’ protests, but Davood Rafiei did not accept it and  stood by the workers. He was arrested several times under various pretexts, including for participating in an International Workers’ Day gathering, and was later released on bail. In protest of his dismissal from the factory, Davood Rafiei staged several sit-ins in front of the Ministry of Labour building in Tehran. In these protests, he took a placard and revealed that Ali Rabiee had offered him a bribe of 200 million Tomans to encourage him to remain silent. He intensified his protest against the attack on his life and livelihood with another placard that read, “Death to Rabie, Minister of Labour.” 

This is the crime of Davood Rafiei! He was flogged for exposing the Minister of Labour, protesting his dismissal, and defending workers’ rights. This is how the Islamic government behaves.

Flogging, this heinous form of Islamic punishment, is a part of the Islamic Republic’s judicial system. Earlier, floggings were carried out by the regime against three workers at the Aq Dareh mine in north-west Iran, and this arrogant act by the regime sparked a wave of protests in the society, in the extent that they were forced to dismiss the director general of the Labour Department of West Azerbaijan Province who had directly ordered this punishment. In addition, we have witnessed several cases in which protesting women and youths who stood up against the regime’s Islamic reactionary laws and removed their compulsory hijabs were punished with floggings.

The Campaign to free jailed workers in Iran (Free Them Now!), expresses its disgust with this barbarism and brutality and calls on everyone to join the campaign against the flogging of Davood Rafiei by signing this statement. In this campaign, welay emphasis on the following urgent demands:

1-The Islamic Regime is absolutely not the representative of the Iranian people, rather their suppressor and murderer. This regime of flogging, torture, imprisonment and execution must be boycotted worldwide. This regime, which violates the most basic civil rights of the people, must be expelled from all international institutions, including the International Labour Organization.

2- Flogging, this heinous punishment of the age of savagery, should be banned altogether.

3- All prison sentences and floggings for workers, teachers and social activists should be overturned and the security files against them should be annulled. Political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally.

4- We declare our full support and sympathy for Davood Rafiei, and state that he must return to work immediately.

Campaign to free jailed workers in Iran (Free Them Now)!

November 27, 2020, https://free-them-now.com

Signatures:

1-Shahla Daneshfar, Spokesperson of Free Them Now

2-Tahmi Sadeghi, Member of International Solidarity Commitee of CUPE BC and contact person for “Free Them Now”

3-John Clarke, OCAP Organizer

4- Kazem Nik khah head of International relations of Free Them Now

5-Abdollah Asadi, Secretary of the Federation of Iranian Refugees

6-Babak Yazdi, one of the founders of Khavaran Association

7-Hormoz Raha, Secretary of the International Committee Against Execution (ICAE)

8-Nima Sarvestani, Iranian documentary filmmaker

9- Maria Rashidi, women’s rights activist and chair of women’s rights

10-Saber Rahimi, Member of Free Them Now in Norway

11-Abbas Mandegar, Member of Free Them Now in, western Canada

12-Siamak Zare, Member of Free Them Now in Germany

13-Taha Azadi, Member of Free Them Now in Germany

14-Amineh kakabaveh Member of the parliament in Sweden

15-Mina Ahadi, Founder of  the International Committee Against Execution (ICAE), women rights activist

16- Parisa Pouyande Coordinator of CFPPI (Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran)

17-Morad Shaikhi, political activist and International Wrestling Instructor

18- Shiva Mahbobi, Spokesperson for the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran  (CFPPI)

19-Sholeh Pakravan, Reyhaneh Jabbari’s mother, from the justice movement

20-Sima Bahari, People’s Taskforce to Combat Covid-19 in Iran

21-Hasan Salehi, Spokeperson of  the International Committee Against Execution (ICAE)

22-Mitra Babak, psychoanalyst and researcher, activist against the death penalty. Human rights and animal rights activist

23- Dariush Memar (poet-journalist)

24- Amir Nilo, union activist

25- Goran Gustavsson, member of the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union

26- Hossein Afsahi, Writer and theater director

27- Hassan Pouya, one of the founders of Khavaran Association

28- Sepehrdad Gorgin, a committed poet and writer

29- Devin Rexvid, researcher of issues related to honor violence

30- Behnam Ebrahim zadeh, Workers and children’s rights activist

31-Masoud Arzhang, head of public relations of Free Them Now in Canada

32- Fariba Rad Human Rights activist  

33- Mehrdad Amiri, political activist

34- Reza Moridi, former Minister of Colleges and Universities of Ontario

35- Ata Hoodshatian, University Professor in Toronto

36-  Ezat Mosala Nezhad, Senior Counsellor and Policy  Analyst, Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture

37-Farideh Arman, Head of the woman’s right organisation

38-Shirin Shams, Women’s Revolution Founder 

39-Saied Chobak, head of Bamdad Cultural Institute

40-Shirin Mehrbod Popular singer and artist

41-Shahnaz moratab, Member of the executive board of the Association of  of  Families of  Flight PS752 Victims

42- Farzad Seifikaran, Journalist and Writer

43-Shahram Najafi Author

44-Banafsheh Zand, Human rights defender & Researcher 

45-Celia Stubbs, member of  Amnesty International
46-Christian L. Wade،, human rights defender 

47-Masoud Rad, political activist

48-Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner and director of Peter Tatchell Foundation

49-Chris Morley, human rights supporter

50-Keyvan Javid,  New Channel Tv CEO

51-Shaparak Shajarizadeh , Member of Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and Iran Transition Council

52- Damon Noorani Khojasteh (violinist and photographer)

53- Arash Ashrafzadeh (political activist)

54- Javad Neyshabourian (political activist)

55- Reza Kahkesh (political activist)

56-Hans Hopliger (Secretary of the Geneva Retirees Union)

57-Samir Noory, Chair person /Organization for abolition death penalty in Iraq

58-Rez Rashidi, Workers and children rights activist

59-Fati Mohammadi Artiest

60-peyman Shajirati, Former worker of Ahvaz Steel

61-Lila Faraji a member of the justice seeking families and women’s rights activist

62-Farrokh Zandi, University Professor in Toronto

63-Siamak Bahari, Children First Now, International Campaign for Children’s Rights

64-Nozad Baban, worker and Communist Activist / Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

65-Stephanie Smith, President, on behalf of the BCGEU, BC Government and Service Employees’ Union (80000 members)

66- Joseph Dhaher of  Swiss Left Party, Solidarity

67-Stephen von sychowski, President of Vancouver and District Labour Council, 6000 members

68- Saed Neama : president of General Federation of trade union and employee of Iraq

69-Arsalan Nazeri, member of Free Them Now in Australia

70-Susan Williams Amnesty International Brighton and Hove Group

71- David Aram, a member of the ferry ship in Canada
72-. Shahla Abqari, university professor and political activist
73- Siavash Abqari, university professor and political activist
74- Asghar Fattahi … Activist of the Workers’ Council

Most recent list of supports:

1- Azar Pouya
2- Navid Mohammadi
3- Mohammad Hooshmand
4- Mona Kashif
5- Amir Hooshmand Mumtaz

6-Amir Zahedi

7-Azim Mattor

8-Ali Motmaen , worker activist and a member of the board of trustees of the Verdi Union

9- the International Network for the freedom of the political prisoners of the world 

10-Nasim Khaksar, writer / Netherlands
11-Khalil Keyvan

12-Shahla Khabazzadeh

13-Akbar Karimian

14-Andrew Wallis, human rights defender 

link of petition, Please sign and join:

http://chng.it/7fHbrpT4kq