Following the death in custody of a 22 year-old Kurdish woman, Jina (Mahsa) Amini, by the Iranian morality police, Iran witnessed mass protests in hundreds of cities. The response of the government was a bloody crackdown of protesters. Since the start of protests hundreds of people including minors have been arrested or killed in the streets or executed under false charges such as ‘’Moharebeh’’ or “enmity against God’’.

In response to the protests and execution in Iran, the European Parliament passed a resolution on 19 January 2023 highlighting several issues including the severe crackdown in the regions where Kurdish and Baluchi people live, in addition to the  disproportionate use of death penalty  against those belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, notably the Baluch, Kurds, Arabs, Baha’is and Christians. 

The resolution also put a spotlight on the issue of transnational repression and the targeting of diaspora communities in Europe. The resolution reads:

‘’Expresses deep concern over the structural transnational repression carried out by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, which includes espionage, assassinations, attempted bomb attacks, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and other control efforts, in particular by its embassies and the IRGC, against the Iranian diaspora living in the EU, which stifles the freedom of speech and of expression of EU citizens and residents, endangers their safety, and amounts to malign interference; calls on the EU and the Member States to expand protections for the Iranian diaspora against the Islamic Republic’s transnational repression; calls on the EEAS and the Member States to find avenues for providing technical and capacity support to those helping Iranian civil society while ensuring Iranian ownership of these activities;’’

In the context of Compromised Space Europe, UNPO has published two reports: Foreign state reprisals against unrepresented diplomats in Europe, and voices of victims of espionage and reprisals in Europe.

Both these reports shed light on the issue of transnational repression by three main actors, namely Iran, China and Russia on European soil and the extent of the interference of these authoritarian regimes in European countries.

UNPO is glad to witness that its effort in raising the issue of transnational repression on European soil has been successful and is reflected in the European parliament resolution. 

To read the full resolution, click here