INTERNATIONAL. COMMITTEE FOR' THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN
61 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10006
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1981
10:00 A.M.
(New:York, N.Y. ...) A group of Americans who have worked
extensively for the cause of' human', rights during theirpublic
careers announced today (Monday, December i4, 1981) at-a New York
press conference the formation :of the.international Committee
for th&Defense of Human Rights inlran.-. The Committee is being
organized ‘to bring to the attention -Qf appropriate international.
organizations and Member States'of the-United Nations'cofltiflUiflg
reports of alleged human rights violations in Iran. . .... .: ‘ -
‘The spokesman for the gràup, former- AnibassadOr William J.
‘vanden Heuvel, said, “None of us can be silent in the face
• of the continuing, reports of arbitrary executions, torture and .
destruction of Individual rights as reported from'Iran. ‘More
than 3,350 Iranians have been executed since the 1979 Revolution..
The reports indicate that not even women and children are
spared the brutairepresSioflof the Khomeini çeqi ne.. We believe
there are international standards clearly set ‘forth in the.
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which compel ‘us
to do everything possible to cause the United Nations and
its Member States to assume responsibility, hopefully to bring -
an end to the terror and bloodshed which are now part of Iran's
daily. existence.” . ‘ . -
At its first public meeting, members of the International
Committee spoke about reported human rights violations in Iran -
and the steps the Committee intends to undertake.
Apart from Ambassador vanden Heuvel , who is the former,
Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United
Nations, Committee members ‘include': - Hon. Morris B Abram ,
‘former US. Representative of the United Nations Human Rights Commission;
- MORE - . .
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lion. Rita Hauser , former U.S. Representative of theUnited Nations
• Human Rights Commission; Hon. Phi1ip Hoffman , Former U.S.
Representative of the United Nations Human Rights Commission;
• Professor' Richard B. Lillich , Chairman of the Human Rights
Committee of the International Law Association; Professor Leland Miles ,
President of the. International Association of University Presidents;
Hon. David A Norse , Director—General of the International Labor
Organization (1948—1970); Professor Oscar Schachter , Professor
of International Law at Columbia University; Hon. Jerome J. Shestack ,
former U..S..Representative of the United Nations Human Rights
Comrnission.;.:..Hon. Marietta Tree , former U.S. Representative
of the United Nations Human Rights Commission; Professor Tom J. Farer ,
Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers university;and .
Professor Amry.. Vandenbosch , ProfessOr Emeritus, ‘Patterson School.
of. Diplomacy,. University of Kentucky. . . . .
Also, on Monday, December 14, 1981, an . announcement was made
in Geneva Switzerland, by Professor Jacques Freymond, DirectOr
- Centre d'Etudes Pratiques de la Negotiation Internati na1e, of
the formation of the International Committee for the Defense of
Human Rights in Iran; 1 mong the organizers of the efforts are
Professor Georges Fischer , Director -of Re earc of the .National
Center for Scientific Research, Paris, France; Professor
Johan Galtung , Distinguished International Law Professor, Norway;
John Humphrey , Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario,.
London, Ontario and formerStaff Director of the United Nations.
Human Rights Commission; and Professor Salvator P. Lopez , former
Member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and
former President of, the University of the Philippines..
For-Further Information call William J. vanden Heuvel, 425-5200
or Maureen Berman, 972—9554
PRESS CONFERENCE NOTICE
Date: ‘l4onday, December14, 1981
3.0:30 A.N. .
Place: ... Church Center for the. Unjthd Nations, 2nd Floor
• : 777, U.N. P1az (44th St.. nd First Avenue)
Subject:. ‘ ouricemant of the fOrmatiO i o the Intérnational
• • . Committee for the Defense fHu an Rights in'. Iran
A group of Americaxis who have worked ‘extenslifely for the
defense.of human rights' during their public careers tqi]..1 announce
their participation in organizing the International Couui ittee
for ‘the D9fense of Human Rights Ln Iran. ‘ ‘ .. • ‘..
Among those expected to participatein the .:pr ss conference are:
Hon. William J. vanden Heuve'l, Former Deputy Permanent
Representative of the United States to the Unit d Nations; .
jf . . ‘
Hon. Morris Abram, Former U.S. Representative of ‘the United
Nations Human Rights Commission; . ‘
Hon. Rita Hauser, FormerU.S. Representative of the
United Nations Human Rights Commission; . •,•, ‘ .
Hon. Philip Hoffman, Former U.S.Represenative of the
United Nations Human Rights Commission ‘
Neinbers of the Committee will supply information regarding
reported human rights violations in Iran and outline the actions
‘the Committee •intends to undertake to bring to the attention of
appropriate international organizations and Members States of
the United Nations alleged human rights violations in Iran.
• For further information contact Maureen Berman, 972—9554
or William vanden Heuvel, 425—5200. •
j 4 4L4L
it it it it i i it it it I T it it
r
—— The intellectual and literary community
• of Iran' is being threatened, as indicated ,••
• by the execution on June 22nd of Saeed
• Sullan ybur, one of Iran's leading poets
and olavwriteS.
Khilil Razai, one of the founders of the
Iranian Human Rights Committee and an
early supporter of the Iranian Revolution,
• ‘ has fled to Paris and is quoted in France
• Soire as statiflg:”throughout his long rule,
the Shah's regime executed several hundred
• people. But under Khomeini they have killed
several thousands in a matter of months.
• The.Shah's regime never executed persons
• under 18 years old, but under Khomeini they
are executing even 9 year old girls.”
Razai told newspaper reporters: “with my
• . . own eyes I have seen Revolutionary Guards
imprint the words ‘long live Khomeini' on
• the chest of a prisoner with a lighted
• cigarette. I saw with my own eyes how
they forced twelve year old children in
prison to be present during the execution
• . . of other children. .1 personally •took. three
pregnant . women who had miscarriages as a
• . result of being tortured.in prison to
hospitals. 4 . .
From every part of Iran, pleas and cries for assistance
are being made which Humanity ‘cannot ignor e. The: great Iranian
ooet, Saadi, said: “Two mistakes are irrevocable -.— speaking
when the times require silence and sileiice when it is time to
speak.” The International Committee for the Defense of Human
Rights in Iran is being organized because each of us, as individ-
uals who have been involved in the struggle for human rights
throughout our lifetimes, know that we cannot be silent in the.
face of these terrible reports. We intend to seek a meeting with
the Secretary General of the United Nations to present this cause.
We will ask the United Nations Commission for Human Rights to
place the' Iranian crisis on its Agenda. We will ask the govern-
ments of as many Member States as. possible to instruct ‘their
representatives in every UN agency, including the Commission
for Human Rights, to demand an investigation into these allega-
tions of brutality in Iran. We hope to hold public hearings
where testimony regarding conditions in Iran can be presented
-— so that such testimony can then be relayed to appropriate
international organizations. ‘ .
We speak to. thè'conscience of the world, asking that the
United Nations, its Member States and eachof us as individuals
in the Family of Man be' re ared to. accept and act.UpOfl our
responsibility to hear and respond to those voices crying in
terror in the darkness of Iran's night.
