H.E. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, and
H.E. Pedro Comissário Afonso, President of the Security Council
United Nations, New York
27 May 2024
Your Excellencies,
We write on behalf of the International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ), which is supported by in excess of 4,000 parliamentarians and dignitaries on both sides of the Atlantic. We are deeply concerned and outraged regarding the United Nations General Assembly’s intended tribute to Ebrahim Raisi on 30 May 2024, as well as the Security Council’s decision last week to hold a minute of silence in his memory and the lowering of the UN flag to half-mast.
We believe these actions are a grave misjudgment and a betrayal of the UN’s core principles of upholding human rights, justice, and the rule of law.
The UN was founded on the principles of promoting and protecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. It is deeply troubling that an institution dedicated to upholding these values would consider paying tribute to a leader with a long history of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
For over four decades, Ebrahim Raisi has been implicated in gross human rights abuses. As one of the key perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, he played a direct role in the extrajudicial executions of thousands of individuals. He has openly boasted about his role in executing tens of thousands of political prisoners, claiming that he should be rewarded for “defending the security of the people.”
During his tenure as Judiciary Chief, he oversaw the systematic suppression of dissidents, lawyers, journalists, and human rights defenders. Most recently, as President of Iran, he has been responsible for the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters during the nationwide uprising, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arbitrary arrests.
Following the murder in custody by the so-called morality police of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in 2022, the event that triggered mass nationwide protests, Raisi ordered a savage crackdown by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the paramilitary Basij, which led to the deaths of more than 750 mostly young demonstrators and over 30,000 arrests. Under Raisi’s watch, many of the detainees have been tortured, raped and executed. He also instructed the morality police to double-down on their patrols and arrests.
Raisi was on the US Treasury blacklist for serial human rights violations. Since assuming the presidency, he has directed the execution of over 2,000 people, with a staggering 48% increase in executions in 2023 alone.
Human rights organizations have called for Raisi to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, yet the UN appears poised to honor him instead. This decision not only undermines the credibility of the UN but also sends a dangerous message to the world that the organization is willing to overlook grave human rights abuses for political expediency.
As representatives of the global community, the UN has a responsibility to ensure accountability and justice in Iran. We urge you to reconsider the General Assembly’s intended tribute to honor Ebrahim Raisi. Instead, we call on the UN to stand with the people of Iran and their struggle for freedom, justice, and human rights.
We ask that you to rescind the planned memorial and instead use your positions to promote the values that the UN was founded upon and to hold those responsible for human rights abuses accountable. The world is watching, and the decisions made by the UN in this matter will have far-reaching consequences for the future of human rights and international justice.
Yours sincerely,
ALEJO VIDAL-QUADRAS
President ISJ, Spanish professor of atomic and nuclear physics, Vice-President of the European Parliament (1999-2014)
STRUAN STEVENSON
Chair ISJ Committee on the Protection of Political Freedoms in Iran, President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-2014), Chairman of Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup (2004-2014)
PAULO CASACA
Member of the European Parliament (1999-2009), Former Chair of European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Founder and Executive Director of the “South Asia Democratic Forum”, Founder of the international co-operation association ARCHumankind, ‘Alliance to Renew Cooperation among Humankind’