Iranian National Solidary Council – Tasmim

12 September 2022

Open Letter to His Excellency António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General

Dear Secretary General,

I am writing on behalf of the Iranian National Solidary Council – Tasmim, to request you to refrain from allowing Ebrahim Raisi to take part in this year’s meetings of the General Assembly.

Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has the blood of thousands of young Iranian prisoners on his hands. He was an active member of one of “Death Commissions” in 1988, which oversaw the mass execution of more than 4000 prisoners between 30 July and 6 September that year. The actual number of those executed is believed to be much higher. Credible sources regard these mass executions as “evident crimes against humanity”.

Ebrahim Raisi’s presence next to the Secretary General of the United Nations and other world leaders will be unacceptable and contrary to the goals of the United Nations. While the General Assembly is open to participation by Member States, permission given to the attendees must take full cognizance of the human rights record of the individual attendee. Ignoring this obvious criterion will bring the United Nations into disrepute.

The Death Commissions were formed after the then ruler of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa for the mass execution of prisoners opposed to Khomeini’s political doctrine. These ominous commissions imposed arbitrary death sentences on thousands of prisoners who had already been tried in grossly unfair trials and who were serving prison sentences. Mass executions of these prisoners followed the death sentences.

Across Iran, groups of prisoners were rounded up, blindfolded and brought before committees involving judicial, prosecution, intelligence and prison officials. These “death commissions” bore no resemblance to a court and their proceedings were summary and arbitrary in the extreme, with no possibility of appeal at any time.

Ebrahim Raisi was one of the four active members the Tehran Death Commission and bears direct responsibility for the mass execution of prisoners he sent to their death.

Details of these heinous crimes are documented worldwide, including by the Swedish public prosecutors on which Hamid Nouri, an active participant in implementing these death sentences, was recently tried and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Swedish court.

Another reason why Ebrahim Raisi must not be allowed to visit the UN premises is that he does not represent the Iranian people. He is not a president elected in free and fair elections. It was his role in the 1988 mass executions that earned him favor from the current leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, who nominated him to be the president. The voters, however, rejected him. Iranian voters boycotted the farcical 2021 presidential elections. Ebrahim Raisi was nonetheless declared President following a low voter turnout.

We wish to impress upon the Secretary General that Ebrahim Raisi’s place should be before a tribunal set up to try him for mass murder, and not as a guest in the premises of the United Nations.

I sincerely hope the Secretary General will appreciate how the attendance of Ebrahim Raisi in the General Assembly meetings will deal a severe blow to the future of human rights in Iran.

Preventing Raisi from taking part in the General Assembly meetings will not only be in line with the principles on which the United Nations is based but will send a clear signal that mass murderers are not welcome at the UN premises.

Yours respectfully,

Massoud Noghrehkar

Spokesperson

Iranian National Solidarity Council – Tasmim

Email: mnoghrekar@hotmail.com

Tel: +1 (407) 693-4842

خانه – شورای ملی تصمیم (shora.org)