Condemn Islamic Republic’s Atrocities in Iran

The Honourable Wab Kinew
Premier of Manitoba

Dear Premier Kinew,

We write as members of the Iranian community in Manitoba to express our profound concern regarding the persistent, systematic, and well-documented human rights violations committed by the governing authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This submission is grounded in humanitarian and human rights principles, independent of partisan affiliation, and firmly rooted in universally recognized norms of international law.

For years—most acutely during nationwide protests—Iranian civilians have been subjected to lethal force, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and executions for exercising fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, conscience, and belief. These violations have been extensively documented by United Nations mechanisms and other credible international bodies. When abuses are widespread, systematic, and directed against a civilian population, they raise grave concerns under international law, including the threshold of crimes against humanity. Ongoing impunity has only entrenched and escalated this violence.

Medical Neutrality and Protection of Health-Care Workers

We draw particular attention to the persecution of medical professionals in Iran, many of whom have been intimidated, arrested, or prosecuted solely for providing care to injured protesters. International law is unequivocal: medical personnel and the wounded are protected under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions; Additional Protocols I and II; the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Health Personnel; and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State Party. Criminalizing medical care and targeting health-care workers constitute serious violations of international law and erode the most basic humanitarian safeguards.

Accountability, Governance, and the Necessity of Regime Change

Decades of experience demonstrate that entrenched, systemic human rights violations do not cease without fundamental political transformation. In Iran, the architecture of governance is designed to suppress accountability, criminalize dissent, and ensure impunity at the highest levels. Under such conditions, reform within the existing system has proven impossible.

International law affirms the right of peoples to self-determination, as articulated in Article 1 of the ICCPR and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). For the Iranian people, this right necessarily entails a peaceful, democratic regime change—a transition away from a system that has structurally failed to protect life, dignity, and basic freedoms, toward a government chosen freely by the people themselves.

Calls by Iranian civil society for regime change are not ideological slogans; they are evidence-based demands arising from decades of repression and the systematic collapse of lawful governance. A peaceful and democratic transition is the most credible path to ending state violence, restoring the rule of law, protecting minorities and religious freedom, and contributing to regional and global stability.

Supporting democratic self-determination and regime change driven by the Iranian people is not foreign interference. It is alignment with international law and with Canada’s long-standing commitment to human rights, accountability, and human dignity.

Requested Actions

• We respectfully urge the Government of Manitoba to:
• Publicly express concern regarding ongoing human rights violations in Iran, including violence against civilians and repression of peaceful dissent;
• Encourage the Government of Canada to strengthen diplomatic and legal efforts aimed at accountability for serious human rights abuses;
• Support international mechanisms that investigate, document, and preserve evidence of violations, including those targeting medical personnel;
• Condemn Internet and communications shutdowns used to conceal abuses and suppress documentation;