Human Rights Activists Express Regret Over Ibrahim Raisi's 'Death Before Trial'

Human rights activists and exiled opposition figures in Iran have expressed regret over the death of Ibrahim Raisi and his companions following the helicopter crash that led to their fatalities, referring to Raisi's death before trial as a consequence of 'crimes against humanity.' The Iran Human Rights Organization, in a statement honoring the memory of thousands of men and women who have been victims of Raisi's 'crimes' and the Islamic Republic over the past four decades, emphasized that Raisi's death does not mean the closure of 'his criminal case' and expressed hope that one day his record, alongside that of other officials of the Islamic Republic and perpetrators of crimes against humanity, will be addressed in a competent court. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, the director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stated: 'Ibrahim Raisi was a symbol of judicial immunity for criminals and the institutionalized lack of accountability in the Islamic Republic. In addition to his direct responsibility for the execution of thousands of political prisoners as one of the four members of the Death Commission in the summer of 1988, he held positions such as prosecutor in Karaj and Hamadan and revolutionary prosecutor in Tehran, where he was responsible for crimes whose dimensions are still not clear to everyone.' Amiri-Moghaddam added that Raisi, in the following decades, climbed the ranks in the judicial system, holding key positions such as Deputy Chief Justice and Attorney General, and played a direct role in further crimes, including the suppression of the 2009 protests and the execution of opponents thereafter, as well as hundreds of other executions. The statement adds that Raisi was responsible for the execution of over 400 individuals during his two-year presidency of the judiciary, including the execution of political opponents and protesters such as Navid Afkari, Mostafa Salehi, Rouhollah Zam, and Hedayat Abdollahpour, the execution of at least seven child offenders and 25 women, and the execution of a man for consuming alcohol. Shadi Sadr, one of the founders of the 'Justice for Iran' organization, which works for accountability of Islamic Republic officials regarding human rights violations, criticized and condemned condolences from some Western figures, including Charles Michel, President of the European Council, regarding the death of Raisi and his foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. She told AFP, 'Such actions are seen by countless victims of human rights violations as betrayal and deepen the despair among the Iranian people towards the international community.' Prince Reza Pahlavi also stated in a message: 'Sympathy for Raisi's death is an insult to his victims and the Iranian people, whose only regret is that he did not live long enough to witness the fall of the Islamic Republic and be tried for his crimes.' Pahlavi referred to Raisi as 'one of the most ruthless and infamous leaders of the Islamic Republic regime' and a 'criminal against humanity.' Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, based in New York, also stated: 'Raisi was a pillar of a system that imprisoned, tortured, and killed people for daring to criticize government policies.' He further emphasized that Raisi's death allowed him to escape accountability for his 'numerous crimes.' Raisi, who was seen as a potential successor to Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, while praising the decision to continue executions, explicitly denied his personal involvement in the executions. A group of seven UN special rapporteurs emphasized in a letter to the Iranian government in September 2020 that the situation regarding the executions of the 1980s 'could amount to crimes against humanity.' An independent UN fact-finding mission also announced earlier this year that Raisi's government had committed crimes against humanity through 'violent suppression' of the protests known as 'Women, Life, Freedom' and discrimination against women.