An Open Letter To UN Secretary-General over Iran's Raisi

An Open Letter To UN Secretary-General and US Secretary of State over Irans Raisi — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, September 2022. Photo: president.ir

Dr. Amir Sharifi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

As an advocate of human rights, I am offended and puzzled why Ebrahim Raisi, a close associate of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, a despotic theocrat is permitted to attend the UN 77th General Assembly on the American soil.

Raisi should be banned from the U.S and from addressing the UN General Assembly because of his abominable role in his brutal repression of human rights in Iran.

As both of you know, Raisi is notorious for defying and never acceding to the UN conventions for human rights ; he had internationally been restricted entry into the European Union and the US because of his undeniable links with brutal repression in Iran.

Raisi has been responsible for torturing and executing three thousands of innocent prisoners and protesters in 1980’s; in addition, on September 12, a 22 year old Kurdish girl, Mahsa (Jina, her Kurdish name) Amini from the city of Saghez, was violently arrested on the charge of not abiding by the strict Islamic dress code; in detention, she had been struck so severely on the head by the Morality Police that she had fallen into a three day comma, leading to her tragic death on September 16.

Raisi as a staunch supporter and enforcer of stricter Islamic dress code had reaffirmed the critical importance of carrying out Islamic dress code recently in August; as a result, he is directly implicated . In essence, he has also done everything to defy, cripple, and silence relatives of the victims and human rights activists in his effort to quell internal and international protests.

A litany of human rights abuses has been recorded against Raisi. As Amnesty International has reported recently in 2022 only, between January and June, 251 people had been executed in Iran, far more than any time recorded in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We know that Raisi is pro-capital punishment and pro-torture, with no interest in human rights. Ironically, on the day of his arrival, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would be upheld “to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.”

UN Article 2 would be upheld which explicitly states, “Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination.”

The fact of the matter is Kurds and other ethnicities in Iran are also deprived of any of these rights. The US State Department had identified Raisi as a major human rights abuser.

A visa ban was and should be enforced against Raisi for his role in the summary executions of thousands of prisoners including children, and his reindorsement of strict Islamic code that recently resulted in the savage murder of Mahsi (Jina) Amini, leading to widespread protests throughout Iran including major Kurdish cities such as Sanandaj and Saghez, in particular, where women and men showed their protests against repression and the regime of gender apartheid .

As an exiled Kurdish American, I consider Raisi’s presence in the US and United Nations both an assault on the U.N principles of respect for human rights and the U.S principles of democracy and security. The murder of Mahsa Amini is the latest crime, a crime against the core of our humanity, the humanness of women .

After decades of horrific rule by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the many lives, it has taken from all, it is time to pay homage to those who have lost their lives, You along with wold leaders should condemn this heinous crime. Raisi, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran should not be admitted to New York nor allowed to address the UN General Assembly as he represents the past, present, and future of the brutal repression of human rights in Iran.

Dr Amir Sharifi, Co-Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group ( KHRAG), Los Angeles.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.