Hundreds of Human Rights Activists Criticize Raisi Memorial Program at the United Nations

Dozens of families of victims, Iranian women's rights activists, and human rights advocates have expressed their objection in an open letter to Dennis Francis, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, regarding the international body's program to commemorate Ebrahim Raisi, the former President of Iran. This letter, signed by approximately 600 individuals and published on Wednesday, June 9, states that according to a notice released by the United Nations, the organization plans to hold a ceremony in memory of Ebrahim Raisi on June 10: 'We, a group of families of victims, Iranian women's rights activists, and human rights advocates, urge you and all stakeholders at the United Nations to refrain from holding any ceremony for the death of one of the key figures responsible for the massacre of dissenters and protesters against the Islamic Republic's policies over more than four decades of Islamic rule.' The letter references Raisi's history from his tenure as the Prosecutor General of Karaj in 1980 to his membership in the 'Death Committee' responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, and his presidency over the judiciary and the suppression of opponents during his presidency, stating, 'He should have been prosecuted as one of the violators of human rights and crimes against humanity.' Human rights activists and families of victims further asserted that Raisi has directly participated in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of thousands of political opponents during the 1980s, in the massacre of protesters from the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, in the murder, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture of thousands of protesters, and in the violent harassment of women and girls who defied compulsory hijab, among other serious human rights violations. Previously, Narges Mohammadi, a jailed activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, condemned the UN's program to honor Raisi, describing it as 'a day to commemorate gallows, executions, and mass killings against the people of Iran.' Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and the first Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, also criticized the memorial program for Raisi on Friday, June 4, deeming it contrary to UN protocols. The families of victims and women's rights activists have requested that the UN refrain from paying tribute to Ebrahim Raisi, who is known among the Iranian people by titles such as 'Ayatollah of Massacre,' 'The Butcher of Iran,' 'The Butcher of Tehran,' and as the executor of thousands of political and ideological prisoners.