Human rights activists express disapproval at president’s warm welcome with mock hanging near Eiffel Tower
PARIS — As France’s government welcomed the Iranian president with promises of a new beginning to the relationship between the two countries, several demonstrations took place across Paris in protest against the visit and the warm reception Hassan Rouhani received.
Some 150 people from several Jewish organizations gathered Thursday afternoon near the French Senate under the banner, “A red carpet of blood for Rouhani: don’t sweep human rights under the carpet.”
Mainstream community organizations, including CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jews, did not join the demonstration, though the CRIF website did publish a call by human rights activists to demonstrate against the visit.
“I am sorry that the leading Jewish groups did not join us today,” Edouard Amiach of the UPJF group said. “Every Jew who lives in Paris should oppose the visit of Mr. Rouhani, who endangers the world in general and Israel in particular.”
Kochava, a participant at the demonstration, told The Times of Israel, “Iran, together with Daesh [Islamic State], Hamas and Hezbollah threatens the existence of the state of Israel. I am a proud Jew and I am proud to stand here and say no to Rouhani.”
The feminist group Femen staged a mock hanging on a bridge near the Eiffel Tower, drawing attentions to the high rate of executions in Iran. A topless woman with an Iranian flag painted on her chest was suspended over the Sienne River for over an hour.
A banner on the bridge read, “Welcome Rouhani, executioner of women.”
Femen, an activist group that originated in Ukraine with an emphasis on feminist issues, has won world notoriety for its topless stunts.
A third demonstration took place simultaneously at the 14th arrondissement of Paris, organized by human rights activists and Iranian opponents of the regime.
Some 800 protesters waving Iranian flags joined a four-kilometer (2.5-mile) march to Les Invalides, the military complex that includes Napoleon’s tomb, where Rouhani was feted with military honors earlier in the day.
At a rally to kick off the march, speaker after speaker condemned Rouhani’s human rights record, noting that some 2,000 people have been executed in Iran since he came to power three years ago, as well as Tehran’s alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Maryam Radjavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (CNRI), condemned Rouhani’s “facade of moderation.”
“As a top official for 37 years in the religious dictatorship in Iran, Rouhani is implicated in all the atrocities of this regime and as a result should be brought to justice for crimes against humanity,” she told the crowd.
On Wednesday, 61 lawmakers signed an open letter to Hollande, condemning Iran’s human rights record, with executions on the rise, and what it called its “strategy of chaos” in the Middle East.
As reported by The Times of Israel