UN urged to open inquiry into Iran’s 1988 killings, Raisi’s role
Prominent former U.N. judges and investigators have called on the U.N. human rights boss, Michelle Bachelet, to investigate the 1988 “massacre” of political prisoners in Iran.
The judges added that the alleged role of Iran’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi, at that time should also be investigated.
The open letter released on Thursday was signed by some 460 people, including a former president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sang-Hyun Song, and Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador for global criminal justice.
Raisi, who took office in August, was under U.S. sanctions over a past that included what the United States and activists say was his involvement, as one of four judges who oversaw the 1988 killings. His office in Tehran had no comment on Thursday.
Iran has never acknowledged that mass executions took place under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolutionary leader who died in 1989.
Amnesty International has put the number executed at some 5,000, saying in a 2018 report that “the real number could be higher”.
“The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. They include the current Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi and judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei,” said the open letter. Ejei succeeded Raisi as head of Iran’s judiciary.
Raisi, when asked about activists’ allegations that he was involved in the killings, told a news conference in June 2021 that “if a judge, a prosecutor has defended the security of the people, he should be praised.
A/Ibom 2023: CLO set up 27-member team for good governance
“I am proud to have defended human rights in every position I have held so far.”
The letter, organised by the British-based group Justice for victims of the 1988 massacre in Iran, was also sent to the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose 47-member states open a five-week session on Feb. 28.
Other signatories include previous U.N. investigators into torture and former foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Kosovo and Poland.
Javaid Rehman, the U.N. investigator on human rights in Iran, was due to report to the session. (Reuters/NAN)
