Signatories of the letter stated Iran 1988 massacre amounts to “Crimes Against Humanity” and “Genocide”
Ambassador Giulio Terzi, Minister of Foreign Affairs- Italy (2011-2013), Chairman of ISJ Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Justice in Iran is among the signatories.
In an open letter sent to the UN HRC and High Commission for Human Rights on January 24, 2022, 464 UN officials and international experts called for a long overdue international investigation into the 1988 massacre in Iran. They urged for the establishment of an international inquiry to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 prisoners in Iran which amount to “crime against humanity” and “genocide”.
“We must send the clearest possible message to Ebrahim Raisi. His crimes will not be forgotten or forgiven. His victims and their families demand justice. He will be held to account for crimes against humanity, murder, human rights violations and genocide. The UN must launch a full investigation into these crimes and hold accountable all those involved. There must be no impunity for genocide and crimes against humanity.”
Struan Stevenson
They argued in the letter: “We are concerned that lack of accountability for the perpetrators by the international community could embolden the Iranian authorities to commit further atrocities against dissident protesters and political prisoners, as was witnessed during the deadly crackdown on the nationwide protests of 2019.”
This initiative was organized by Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) and the open letter was introduced at a press conference in London on January 27 where Mr. Struan Stevenson, Chairman of the ISJ Committee on the Protection of Political Freedoms in Iran joined as a panel speaker. He said: “We must send the clearest possible message to Ebrahim Raisi. His crimes will not be forgotten or forgiven. His victims and their families demand justice. He will be held to account for crimes against humanity, murder, human rights violations and genocide. The UN must launch a full investigation into these crimes and hold accountable all those involved. There must be no impunity for genocide and crimes against humanity.”
JVMI Director Tahar Boumedra said at the press conference in London: “The appeal to the Human Rights Council and High Commissioner for Human Rights represents the largest international call on the UN in history by the international expert and human rights community to hold Iranian officials accountable over the 1988 massacre.”
“The appeal to the Human Rights Council and High Commissioner for Human Rights represents the largest international call on the UN in history by the international expert and human rights community to hold Iranian officials accountable over the 1988 massacre.”
Taher Boumedra
The other panelist at Thursday’s press conference was former UK government minister Baroness Verma who said: “In so far as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned, there is no legal barrier to an international inquiry into the 1988 massacre, not least following the support of the world’s most preeminent human rights and legal experts whose letter calling for an inquiry has been unveiled today,” Baroness Verma stated.
In the summer of 1988, more than 30,000 political prisoners were extra-judicially executed or forcibly disappeared based on a fatwa issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. Ninety percent of the victims were from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).
“In so far as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned, there is no legal barrier to an international inquiry into the 1988 massacre, not least following the support of the world’s most preeminent human rights and legal experts whose letter calling for an inquiry has been unveiled today,”
Baroness Verma
The signatories include a former President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a former President of the UN Human Rights Council, a former President of the UN Security Council, a former President of the European Commission, three former Presidents of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a former President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, a former President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, a former NATO Commander, a former President of the Appeals Division of the ICC, a former President of the Council of the European Union, a former President of the European Commission of Human Rights, a former Chairman of the UN International Law Commission, 19 Nobel laureates, 106 current and former UN officials, including 37 former UN Special Rapporteurs.
Other notable signatories include a former Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide, two former Special Advisers to the UN Secretary General on the Responsibility to Protect, two current members of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, a former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the current and former chairs of UN inquiries, and dozens of international judges and prosecutors, including two current Judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the first President of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, the former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, a former Special Prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague. The Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor and the Special Adviser on War Crimes to the ICC Prosecutor are among a number of current Special Advisers to the ICC Prosecutor who have signed the letter. Other esteemed signatories include the former Presidents of Chile and Timor-Leste, the former Prime Ministers of Belgium and Luxembourg, and the former Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Italy, Kosovo, and Poland.
About the 1988 Massacre: