Open letter from CIHRS/IFEX:

We, the undersigned human rights organizations and advocates from the Arab region, express our utter condemnation of all forms of brutal repression undertaken by the Iranian authorities against large masses of the Iranian people involved in peaceful demonstrations and protests against the course and outcome of the Iranian presidential elections.

The repressive acts led to the death of dozens and the detention of thousands, including members of the political opposition, journalists, workers, people involved in civil society organizations, as well as human rights defenders. The detainees have been subject to different forms of maltreatment and torture intended to force them to make condemning confessions or to give statements to be broadcast by the state media to distort the image of the popular uprising. The Iranian government has used the latter statements to support its fallacious claim that any dissonance or upheaval around the elections is merely the result of a foreign ploy to target Iran.

In this statement, the undersigned organizations emphasize their deep concern that "show trials" of detainees may lead to unjust death sentences issued against them. The recent uprising, sparked by what is widely accepted as an engineered and fraudulent election, may be the greatest challenge to the thirty-year ruling regime in Iran. This theocratic-styled government is based on the rule of the jurisprudent, where all power remains in the hand of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Thus, all his judgments and acts are deemed holy, unquestionable and unchallengeable. In light of the widespread opposition to the actions of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameneí, and the threat this popular uprising poses to the current Iranian government, we fear that the punishment for the alleged dissidents will be particularly cruel and unjust.