The Express website published an article on the appalling treatment of political prisoners in Iran. Journalist Sam Stevenson noted some of the brutal torture techniques imposed on prisoners like rape and electrocution. Former political prisoners of the notorious Evin prison have reported 'blood-curdling' screams which can be heard all across the wards. In light of the recent nationwide uprisings which erupted in November 2019 due to 'backlash over a catalogue of regime failures', 12,000 protesters have been arbitrarily detained by the regime because of their political beliefs and participation in the protests.

Members of Anglo-Iranian communities, including the AWYAF held a demonstration in Trafalgar Square to show solidarity with the popular uprisings in Iran and to mark the 1979 anti-monarchic revolution in Iran. Participants expressed their support for the ongoing popular protests against the regime across the country demanding change. They also chanted the popular slogans, such as “Down with Dictator, Down with Khamenei” and “Down with the tyrants, both the Shah and the Leader (referring to the Supreme Leader)”, heard on the Iranian streets during the recent protests in solidarity with the Iranian people.

28th December 2019 - Anglo-Iranian Communities, from across the UK, including AWYAF, attended a rally outside Number 10 Downing Street to commemorate the 40th continuous day of Iran protests and the killing of over 1,500 protestors. They honoured the martyrs who gave their life for freedom and the thousands who have been arrested; many who face torture and imminent execution.

Since mid-November, there have been mass protests in near 200 cities across Iran. The Iranian regimes suppressive forces responded with a brutal crackdown that included live random and indiscriminate shootings of peaceful defenceless protestors.

British lawmakers on Thursday called on the United Kingdom government to focus on human rights in its policy on Iran and to recognize the right of the Iranian people to overthrow their dictators. Cross-party Members of Parliament urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to press the United Nations to hold Iran’s regime accountable human rights abuses, in particular for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.

Speakers at the event included Dr Matthew Offord MP; Bob Blackman MP; Rt Hon David Jones MP; Sir David Amess MP; Steve Pound MP; Steve McCabe MP; Roger Godsiff MP; Lord Clarke of Hampstead CBE; Lord Singh of Wimbledon; Lord Maginnis of Drumglass; Tahar Boumedra, former Director of the United Nations Human Rights Office in Iraq; Jocelyn Scott, Australian Barrister and renowned writer and advocate of women's rights.