What follows are remarks by Ms. Maryam Sama, member of the International Relations Committee of the Parliament of Afghanistan, after Afghan refugees were thrown into a river by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Text of her remarks:
Can we close our eyes and not see that our people are being insulted, humiliated, tortured, and eventually killed in Iran, every day?
How can we turn a blind eye on this?
We don’t want mercy from the regime in Iran, as Taleban said.
We want humanity; we want good neighborly relations; we want respect for human rights principles and for principles of international relations.
However, when we see what the Iranian regime does to their own people inside their own country, responding to the protests of their youth with bullets, may be it is too much to expect from Iran to be humanitarian towards us.
So, what we want and what matters to us, is that our government be serious in this case. We want our officials and the Foreign Ministry to deal with this issue, seriously. We want them to act decisively in this case.
When there is specific evidence in this regard, I think there should not be any delay. And this is not the first time.
This is why this case must be raised with international tribunals.
An official complaint must be filed with the Court of The Hague.
It must be specifically raised in the UN Committee Against Torture.
How much longer must we stay silent towards the oppression the Iranian regime inflicts upon us in every matter?
Yes, we know our country’s dependence on our neighboring countries. We know our obligations.
We know that a number of our Afghans who live in Iran are living in terrible conditions.
But we also know how much our neighboring countries, including Iran, have been meddling in our country’s affairs.
We know to what extent they are responsible for many of our problems today.
For this reason, remaining silent in this regard will place us beside the same criminals who have oppressed our citizens.
