Raisi After Registering for Elections: Enough Writing on Citizen Rights

Ibrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds, who registered for the Iranian presidential elections on Friday, April 14, told reporters that his government's slogan is "Work and Dignity" and emphasized that writing about citizen rights is "enough" and these rights must be "implemented" in practice. Mr. Raisi, who is exposing himself to public judgment for the first time for an executive position, did not directly attack Hassan Rouhani's government unlike other principlist candidates, but reiterated their criticisms regarding the economic situation and unemployment in Iran, stating that there is a "problem of unemployment throughout the country" and that "the highest demand from the people has been for employment." He introduced himself as a "candidate belonging to all the people of Iran, all groups and currents" and promised to solve economic problems with "cross-factional management and political groups." Ibrahim Raisi, who has worked in various judicial positions over the past 35 years, referred to the issue of "citizen rights" in another part of his speech, stating: "Citizen rights... have been written several times so far, and we must stop writing and implement them in practice." According to him, "the era of writing about citizen rights is over... and we no longer need essays; rather, we must establish the rights of citizens in the field of action and execution." This election candidate speaks of the implementation of human rights in Iran while being one of the experienced judicial and security figures of the Islamic Republic and is accused of being involved in a wave of repression against opponents. Mr. Raisi's name is most closely associated with the massacre of prisoners in the summer of 1988, and he was one of the members of the decision-making group for the executions known as the "Death Committee" that issued widespread executions of political and ideological prisoners at that time. Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a deceased religious authority and critic of the Islamic Republic, described the mass execution of political prisoners as the "greatest crime" in the history of the Islamic Republic in an audio file released late last August from a meeting he had with members of this committee, stating that in the future they would be referred to as "criminals." In that meeting, besides Ayatollah Montazeri, who was then the deputy leader of the Islamic Republic, were Hossein Ali Niri, Morteza Eshraqi, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, and Ibrahim Raisi. The Special Court for Clergy, presided over by Ibrahim Raisi, issued a summons for Ahmad Montazeri after the release of this audio file, sentencing him to 21 years in prison, six of which are enforceable. The execution of this sentence is currently on hold. Ahmad Montazeri described Mr. Raisi's candidacy for the presidential election as "a joke" and "an insult to the Iranian people." Hessameddin Ashna, an advisor to the Iranian president, also tweeted on March 13 without mentioning Ibrahim Raisi that "it is inappropriate to drag the respect of Astan Quds Razavi into the hard and bitter election campaign. It is not advisable to expose a judge to public judgment. We must learn lessons from the past." Mr. Raisi also has a record of being a member of a special three-member committee to address the statements of Mehdi Karroubi, one of the leaders of the protests against the 2009 election results, which was formed to investigate the abuse of detained protesters in Kahrizak. This committee rejected Mr. Karroubi's statements, considering them "an insult to the dignity and credibility of the system." During the 2009 protests against the presidential election results, Mr. Raisi took a strong stance against the Green Movement and called for the prosecution of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. On December 29, 2014, he also stated: "The Islamic Republic has treated the unforgivable oppression of the leaders of the sedition with compassion, and their house arrest has been a precautionary measure."