Open Letter to Nada Al-Nashif: Avoid 'Commissioned Mission' to Iran

A group of Iranian journalists, writers, and human rights activists on Wednesday, February 1, issued an open letter to Nada Al-Nashif, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, urging her to cancel her trip to Iran or postpone it 'until the results of the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding committee investigation are ready in March.' Ms. Al-Nashif's visit to Iran, which has been met with widespread protests, is set to take place from February 1 to 4 with the aim of 'examining the situation of executions and women's rights.' The signatories of the letter described this trip as propaganda and urged Nada Al-Nashif to avoid this 'commissioned mission.' The open letter states, 'You cannot easily discover the truth, uncover reality, and hear the bitter narratives of victims in this oppressive system in just a few days.' They emphasized that the Islamic Republic 'will never take you to see its cramped and filthy solitary confinement cells, execution grounds, torture chambers, and gallows.' The letter further warns the UN official that the Iranian government 'will exploit your visit in its media propaganda machine to normalize and justify its repressive behavior.' The signatories added, 'It is naive to expect to succeed in truth-finding and verification by traveling to Iran, given the nature of such a government.' This letter, published just days before the Deputy High Commissioner's visit, warns that the Islamic Republic 'is a government that has long prevented the entry of UN special rapporteurs on human rights and the access of the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding committee to documents of its crimes.' The Iranian journalists, writers, and human rights activists who signed this open letter also warned Ms. Al-Nashif that Iranian officials 'will never show you the reality of the horrific prisons, torture chambers, and safe houses of their police systems where hundreds of teenage girls and boys were sexually abused and raped last year.' They further protested the Islamic Republic's 'exploitation' of UN human rights platforms, stating, 'UN platforms have been at the disposal of the presidents and officials of this inhumane government to deceitfully praise human rights and justify their brutal behaviors.' Additionally, the letter states that the Iranian government 'has used these human rights platforms as a stylish showcase to cover up its inhumane behaviors and evade responsibility for its repressions and killings.' This open letter has been signed by Asieh Amini, Omid Shams, Jamshid Barzegar, Asad Saif, Sara Sokout, Maryam Raees Dana, Mahin Khadiavi, Mehdi Mousavi, Soroush Mozaffar Moghadam, Atefeh Asadi, Maryam Ghiji, Fatemeh Ekhtesari, Sohrab Mokhtari, Tahmineh Rostami, Beeta Malakouti, Ahmad Khalafani, Ali Abdollahi, Azam Bahrami, Abbas Shakouri, Soheila Mirzaei, Nafis Nia, and a group of writers inside Iran. Meanwhile, in the lead-up to Nada Al-Nashif's visit, the wave of executions in Iran has intensified, with at least six political prisoners executed in Qezel Hesar prison. Previously, several families of the victims of flight PS752 issued an open letter to the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights in Tehran, reminding her that 'the sky over Iran is not safe' and that missiles from the Revolutionary Guards could also hit her aircraft. Shirin Ebadi, head of the Center for Human Rights Defenders and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has also requested that this UN official cancel her trip to Iran, and 25 human rights organizations have warned Nada Al-Nashif that the Islamic Republic will exploit her visit for propaganda purposes. Additionally, Hamed Ismailion reacted to the UN Deputy High Commissioner's trip to Iran, stating that he expects her to 'go directly to Evin Prison upon her arrival in Tehran' and 'visit prisoners who are on death row.'