Political Sponsorship: A Symbolic or Effective Move to Halt Executions
What is Political Sponsorship?
Political sponsorship is a concept that means moral support for someone and does not include a legal obligation. This concept is a legal one that was initially approved in 2003 at the suggestion of the German government in the Human Rights Commission of the country’s parliament. According to this law, members of this parliament can politically support members of parliaments in other countries who are under pressure or persecution.
Although a political sponsor cannot act like a legal attorney for the person under sponsorship, they can use their political position to bring the person’s voice to legal and international channels.
A political sponsor follows the news and situation of the person under sponsorship, uses social networks and official media to speak about the person, and can pressure the offending government’s embassy for the release of the person under sponsorship. At the same time, they can also pressure their own government to negotiate about the person’s situation. However, political sponsorship is not a guarantee to prevent the execution of sentences like the death penalty, but it can be used as a method to apply pressure on the government.
Our Movement and Political Sponsorship
During the Women, Life, Freedom protest movement, three members of the German parliament took on the political sponsorship of Toomaj Salehi, Saman Yasin, and Mohammad Boroghni, who were sentenced to death on charges of ‘moharebeh’ (waging war against God).
Martin Diedenhofen, a member of the German parliament, stated in a declaration that he is concerned about the situation of Mohammad Boroghni and all political prisoners who have been unjustly detained and tortured and are at risk of execution.
Carlos Casper, a representative and member of the Social Democratic Party, also accepted the political sponsorship of Saman Seydi, stating that Saman was in solitary confinement with Mohsen Shekari and another detainee, and Shekari’s execution has increased the risk for Saman.
Yehon Ri Ki, a member of the SPD party from the city of Aachen in the German parliament, took on the political sponsorship of Toomaj Salehi. Omid Nouripour, the head of the German Green Party and a representative of the Bundestag, also announced in a video that he has taken on the political sponsorship of Toomaj Salehi.
Jytte Guteland, a member of the Swedish parliament, took on the political sponsorship of Milad Armon. Katja Leikert, a member of the German parliament, and Mahmoud Farahmand, a member of the Norwegian parliament, took on the political sponsorship of Sonia Sharifi. Helge Limburg, a member of the Bundestag, announced that he has taken on the political sponsorship of Mahmoud Farahmand. Additionally, Ardalan Shekarabi, a Swedish parliament member, announced via a tweet that he has taken on the political sponsorship of Mohammad Mehdi Karami.
Halting Executions After Global Community Protests
The executions of Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard faced widespread reactions inside and outside Iran, with officials and political figures from various countries, academic figures, civil and human rights organizations expressing their strong protest to the Islamic Republic following these executions.
Among these reactions was a statement by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) on Tuesday, December 13, urging governments worldwide, especially European Union member states, to recall their ambassadors and highest-ranking diplomats from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The statement emphasized that the presence of diplomats from other countries in Iran amid brutal repression and the execution of two protesters in less than a week without signs of change in the Tehran regime’s behavior is unjustifiable. The International Federation for Human Rights and the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran also called on all United Nations member countries to condemn the execution of protesters and demand the immediate halt of the death penalty in Iran. It seems these reactions from organizations and NGOs, alongside the support of politicians and parliament members from European countries, have been effective in stopping or at least temporarily halting the execution sentences.
In another reaction, a group of academics wrote a letter to Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and the UN Human Rights Commission’s fact-finding committee, calling for immediate action regarding the following: the cancellation of unjust and indefensible death sentences of detainees; the cessation of various forms of torture, abuse, and inhumane confessions of detainees in temporary detention centers and prisons; and the formation of an independent non-governmental fact-finding group to impartially investigate the conditions of prisoners, including issues of torture, rape, and sexual abuse in prisons.
The judicial processes of detainee trials should be transparent and public, and they should be able to enjoy all human rights to defend themselves, including the free choice of a defense attorney. The UN Human Rights Commission’s fact-finding committee should immediately place the investigation of detainee trials, especially death sentences, on its agenda.
The large volume of global reactions seems to have significantly increased the cost of executing detained protesters in our movement on the international stage, to the extent that even the possibility of severing or reducing diplomatic relations might be on the agenda of major Western governments due to public pressure. It remains to be seen what approach the Iranian political system will take, whether it will continue to adhere to the policy of ‘victory through terror’ or make a tactical retreat in pursuit of relative calm in the realm of diplomatic relations and somewhat in its domestic policy.