Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since Jina Mahsa Amini's murder in custody six months ago we've seen brave women and allies stand up against the oppressive Iranian government. Hundreds have been killed and thousands have been arrested. Rallies around Australia have called for solidarity. We've chanted 'zan, zendegi, azadi'—women, life, freedom—and we've listened to the Iranian community in Australia. Many fear for their families still in Iran, and they've asked us to be their voice.

Today I want to give voice to members of the Queensland Iranian community by reading their words—of course with their consent and partially anonymized at their request for their own safety. When I met with these formidable and very impressive women recently they were calling for Magnitsky sanctions on those directly affiliated with the Islamic regime. Earlier this week we learnt that the Australian government has issued new Magnitsky sanctions against senior Iranian military, the morality police involved in the death of Jina Mahsa Amini and government officials, entities and individuals involved in human rights abuses. This is important progress and it's welcome, but still more must be done.

Rosa, a university lecturer, told me:

I am committed to the future of my home country, Iran, and its people. As an Iranian-Australian, I want to shed light on the recent developments concerning the Iran revolution from a diversity and inclusion perspective. The brave young Iranians who have taken to the streets are risking their lives to demonstrate to the world that the Islamic Regime does not represent their interests. They demand that the legitimacy of this regime be challenged on a larger scale by the leaders of the free world once and for all. The magnitude of this recent uprising is incomparable to previous nationwide protests in 2019 and 2009, and it is clear that this is a revolution.

For 44 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran … has tried to eliminate the diversity embedded in Iran's history and culture by rewriting Persian history based on Shia ideologies and the gradual physical elimination of ethnic groups. However, the young generation's courageous unity has surmounted the Regime's "divide and conquer" strategy and made the world finally listen to their cry for a free united Iran that celebrates its cultural diversity.

Rosa urged Australia to oppose the Islamic regime and support the work of unified opposition groups working towards a free, secular and democratic Iran. She says that doing this would align with Australia's values and demonstrate that we stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in their fight for freedom, justice and human rights.

Atti, a registered nurse working in allied health, expressed her concerns about the health catastrophe imposed on Iranians by the regime's security forces. She said:

Medical centres have been ordered to refrain from admitting and treating injured protesters. They have been instructed to have a mandatory report to security forces about these injured protesters. On many occasions, injured protesters have been abducted from hospitals and medical centres to unknown locations for investigation and torture.

Ambulances are being misused to transport security forces to the streets to suppress protesters and also to transport abducted protesters from medical centres to prisons and detention centres. Vehicles are seen painted to look like an ambulance bearing a green number plate, which indicates that the vehicle belongs to the military and law enforcement forces. This casts discredit on and makes people lose trust in the medical system.

In any case, the vehicle that is supposed to save lives is currently being used in Iran by forces that shoot directly at protesters, be they children, teenagers, old or young.

Healthcare workers are being assaulted, prohibited and threatened to refrain provision of treatment and medical service to injured protesters. Many have been persecuted. Healthcare workers have been forced to provide false medical statements, including false death certificates, fabricated medical information and coroner's reports on protestors to the media.

Atti also spoke of reports of school students being poisoned. She says:

The first case which was reported in Qom on November 30 affected 18 students at a secondary school who fell ill with symptoms such as nausea, headaches, coughing, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, and lethargy. Some of these students lost movement in their limbs and had to be hospitalized.

Since then, Atti has heard of over 900 young girls being poisoned in 150 schools across Iran, with at least one girl, 11-year-old Fatemeh Rezaei, dying from the exposure. Atti says:

The Islamic Regime is taking revenge on women for their brave resistance. Even parents who were complaining in front of schools over their daughters' safety were crack downed on … Fear, torture, violence are the IR's last tools to survive. What they are peddling to the world as security is nothing more than a deceitful mirage from terrorists who take revenge on schoolgirls in this way for their participation in the women, life, freedom revolution.

These are just several examples from an endless list of the regime's incompetency and inhumane crimes, endangering the health and life of Iranians. These catastrophic human rights violations deserve urgent attention.

The next ladies who shared with me are Zara and Merry—that's not her real name. They talked about their family's experience of political violence and the suppression of any media that tried to tell the truth about what's happening. Zara says:

The current political climate in Iran is marked by a high degree of repression, with the regime censoring the media and cracking down on dissent and civil society groups advocating for reform. Despite efforts by some Iranians to gradually reform the political system, the prevalence of systematic corruption and political suppression has made this extremely difficult, leading to the arrest and suppression of many reformists and their families. It is important to note that the severe crackdowns occurred during the reformist administration in Iran.

My family used to believe that Iran needs a gradual process of reform to address its problems. But, despite being reformists, my brother was kidnapped and tortured by IRGC security forces for several weeks, resulting in ongoing health issues and chronic pain. Another brother was physically attacked multiple times on the street, arrested and tortured. During his arrest, he was subjected to prolonged periods of solitary confinement. My sister was arrested and tortured simply for writing articles for journals and newspapers.

Merry says:

As tax-paying, law-abiding Australian-Iranians, we are constantly living with the horror, we know they are surveilling us and, that we are at risk within Australian borders and also subjecting our family, relatives in Iran to prosecution, detention, forced confessions, and torture to pressure us into submission to IR.

I am so concerned for the rest of my family as they can be taken hostage at any moment to coerce me into submission. My nephew was severely assaulted during the early stages of the protests last September. He lost 8 teeth and had 28 stitches on his forehead.

Despite her experience, Zara remains hopeful. She says:

One of the protesters' greatest achievements is that they have raised a new Iranian political order. They have created solidarity among different social groups and now we have a united opposition for the transition period that represents our voice.

The last lady, who would like to remain anonymous, came to Australia as a student in 2016. She was raised by her grandmother after her mother, father, aunts and uncles were arrested by the Islamic Republic. She describes her childhood as 'travelling from one jail to the others to visit my family members'. For her, the recent protests and arrests have brought back memories of her childhood. She talked to me about the thousands of people being imprisoned and the unpredictability of who would be convicted, who would be hanged and who would be released. She said:

It shows it is not a legitimate system. There is no Rule of Law … Obviously, the community is desperately calling for more to be done to show the Iranian regime that these hateful acts will not be tolerated. Australia is capable of effective action, and it is time for Australia to join the US, Canada, UK, and the Europeans in continuously imposing new tranches of sanctions.

These incredibly brave women and their allies, here and in Iran, continue to battle against oppression to stand up for basic human rights—the right to choose what they wear, what religion they practise, what careers they have and what they do with their bodies. These freedoms must not be denied. The courage and commitment of our sisters in Iran is an inspiration, but they're also a reminder that we must never be complacent and take rights for granted. Until Iran is free, until women all around the world are free and equal and able to go to school without being poisoned, we must raise our voices in this place and be the voices of those who cannot speak. We must raise our voices until we are louder than the oppressors.

To these brave women: I promise you that the Greens hear you and we will keep fighting against oppression and for a world where women everywhere can live with dignity, respect and equality.