Maria Candida Almeida, President of the General Assembly of the Portuguese Association of Jurist Women; Attorney General of Portugal until 2015, the deputy Attorney General until 2019.
Message to the IWD 2022 conference in Berlin
Women, Force for Change in Iran, Global Peace and Stability
Excerpts of message by Maria Candida Almeida:
We are joining you on the occasion of the International Women’s Day because it is important to send a strong message to the women of Iran that although your struggle is very hard but you are being supported by people around the world. Your determination to establish a free and democratic country, respecting the rule of law, is a source of inspiration to me, too.
I joined 470 current and former UN officials, human rights and legal experts in writing to the UN Human Rights Council calling for international inquiry into the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners in Iran. We asked to end the Iranian regime’s impunity and asked for an international investigation into the 1988 mass executions and enforced disappearances.
Mrs. Rajavi, your efforts and your view to continue this struggle until the Iranian people are free are admirable. As you have said, a free and democratic Iran is within reach. This is why we must stand on the right side of the history and recognize Maryam Rajavi as the representative of the Iranian people and the NCRI as the alternative to the current regime so the people of Iran can be given a chance to choose their future in an open, free and democratic society.
