29 May 2024
The United Nations (UN) has announced a commemoration for Ebrahim Raisi on May 30th, 2024. The UN is honouring Raisi, a figure responsible for the abduction, imprisonment, torture, and rape of millions in Iran, and the execution of thousands of political prisoners.
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) condemns the UN’s decision and urges the UN to stand with the people of Iran by cancelling the commemoration, instead of commemorating the death of the mass murderer Raisi.
Ebrahim Raisi, infamously known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” was part of the “death committee” that ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners during the summer of 1988. As president, he ordered a brutal crackdown on the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022. Raisi ordered the arrest of at least 60,000 individuals, murdering over 500 people, including children as young as two years old. He carried out all these atrocities through his security forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Raisi is responsible for the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini and the assault and attack on women in Iran who do not obey Hijab laws. He publicly announced that women must be punished for not wearing Hijab. Following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 by the morality police, thousands, including children, were imprisoned and subjected to rape, pharmacological, psychological, and physical torture.
The UNHRC Fact-Finding Mission has classified the regime’s human rights violations during the crackdown in 2022 as “crimes against humanity,” occurring under Raisi’s presidency.
Under Raisi’s presidency, there was a significant increase in the persecution of ethnic, religious minorities and LGBT and an alarming rise in executions. In 2023 alone, rights organizations documented over 800 executions, including individuals imprisoned under drug-related charges.
Raisi’s crimes against humanity date back to the 1980s, when he played a key role in prosecuting and ordering the arrest, imprisonment, torture and mass execution of dissidents. Notable atrocities include:
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The involvement, as a key member of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, in the shooting down of Flight PS752 in January 2020, where 176 passengers, including 29 children, died.
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The unprecedented abduction and imprisonment of rights activists during his role as the Head of the Judiciary, where many were sentenced to death, including the execution of Iranian national wrestling champion Navid Afkari in 2020.
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The crackdown on protesters in November 2019, under his power as the head of the Judiciary, resulted in the deaths of 1,500 people by security forces, and the arrest, and torture, of over 8,000 individuals.
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His role in the mass execution of over 5,000 political prisoners in just three weeks during the summer of 1988 as a key member of the “Death Committees.”
For these and many other crimes, Ebrahim Raisi should have been arrested and investigated for crimes against humanity. Instead, he was invited to speak at the UN, and now, the UN is planning to commemorate his death.
Despite 44 years of crimes against humanity committed by Raisi, and despite hundreds of letters and petitions from Iranian individuals and organizations to cancel the tribute, the UN has chosen to ignore these atrocities, stand against the people in Iran, and stand shoulder to shoulder with criminals and dictators. The UN, knowing all these atrocities and crimes committed by Raisi, has still decided to commemorate his death and by doing this has become irrelevant to the cause once formed its foundation.
The CFPPI believes that commemorating Raisi by the UN will legitimize and encourage the regime in Iran, and other countries, to continue oppressing and executing their people knowing the UN will support it too. This UN’s action signifies support for the crimes committed by the Islamic regime and completely and deliberately closes its eyes and ignores the suffering of millions of people in Iran.
The CFPPI urges individuals, organizations, and members of parliament to protest the UN’s decision and demand the cancellation of the tribute. Messages can be sent to the addresses below:
Secretary-General: António Guterres
Twitter (X): @antonioguterres @UN
Email: undesa@un.org
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran(CFPPI)
For media inquiries, please contact:
Shiva Mahbobi, Spokeswoman
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com Tel: +447572356661