Hundreds of Activists Protest Commemoration of Raisi at the United Nations: Would You Hold a Memorial for Hitler if He Had Died?

Hundreds of women's rights and human rights activists, families of victims seeking justice, and several civil society organizations have sent a letter to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, protesting the planned memorial for Ebrahim Raisi at the UN. They described honoring someone accused of crimes against humanity as a violation of human rights. The letter, which was received by Voice of America on Wednesday, June 9, addressed to Dennis Francis, the President of the UN General Assembly, stated: 'We urge you and all those involved in the United Nations to refrain from holding any memorial for the death of Raisi, one of the key decision-makers in the massacre of dissenters and protesters against the Islamic Republic's policies over more than four decades of Islamic rule in Iran.' The letter references Raisi's background since 1980 as the Attorney General of Karaj, his membership in the 'Death Committee' in the summer of 1988, and his 'key role' in the execution of about five thousand prisoners, emphasizing that he should be tried as one of the violators of human rights and perpetrators of 'crimes against humanity.' The signatories of the letter stressed: 'Raisi's name was mentioned in the Death Committee in the trial of Hamid Noury as a senior official, and witness testimonies in this case indicate Raisi's involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1988 massacre.' The letter also stated: 'Throughout the 45 years of the Islamic Republic's history, Raisi has directly participated in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of thousands of political opponents in the 1980s, in the massacre of protesters from the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, in the murder, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture of thousands of protesters, and violent harassment of women and girls who resisted compulsory hijab, among other serious human rights violations.' Families seeking justice, women's rights activists, and human rights advocates asked the President of the UN General Assembly: 'Would you hold a memorial for Hitler if he had died in a plane crash?' The signatories expressed doubt that he was unaware of the UN Human Rights Committee's recent report, which listed 'cases of human rights violations and violence perpetrated' by the Islamic Republic as 'crimes against humanity,' as well as reports by Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, regarding 'widespread human rights violations in Iran.' They emphasized that Ebrahim Raisi is known among the Iranian people by titles such as 'Ayatollah of Massacre,' 'Butcher of Iran,' 'Butcher of Tehran,' and 'the one responsible for the execution of thousands of political and ideological prisoners,' and urged the President of the 78th UN General Assembly to refrain from honoring him. They also stated: 'The United Nations, as the guardian of global human rights, should not endorse or honor any individual in any position accused of crimes against humanity.' Among the signatories of this letter are Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Rezvan Moghadam, women's rights activist, Shohreh Pakrovan, mother of the victim Reyhaneh Jabbari, Fariba Davoodi Mohajer, and Fariba Rad, human rights activists, Ladan Boroumand, a human rights researcher, and Mehrangiz Kar, a lawyer. Previously, some human rights activists, including Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had also protested against the memorial for Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a message from Evin Prison. Also see: Claims of '12 Million Farewell'; Criticism of Raisi's Memorial at the UN: Gaddafi and Saddam Did Not Have Memorials. The UN Human Rights Committee: Raisi's death should not lead to forgetting human rights violations in Iran. The 12th Islamic Council begins its work, recording the lowest voter turnout in the Islamic Republic's elections. Narges Mohammadi: Raisi's memorial at the UN is a commemoration of gallows and mass killings against the Iranian people. Continued reactions to the news of Raisi's death; 14 social media page administrators in Bushehr summoned. The 'caricatured and flawed' narrative of state television about the helicopter 'incident'; a government official: 'It was in the interest of Raisi's martyrdom.'