After news broke that the United Nations would hold a ceremony for Ebrahim Raisi, the “Butcher of 1988” on Thursday, May 30, a flood of protest messages from around the world was unleashed against this shameful act. On this day, supporters of the Iranian Resistance and freedom-loving Iranians abroad gathered in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York and set up an exhibition of images of the fallen martyrs, expressing the anger and hatred of all Iranians against this disgraceful program.
Freedom-loving Iranians raised placards and banners displaying 43 years of the regime’s crimes, especially those of the “Butcher of 1988,” and with slogans of “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame on this deal!” echoed the voices of millions of Iranians and the bereaved families of the martyrs in the streets of New York.
A day earlier, Iranian Resistance supporters in the streets of New York and in front of the United Nations displayed large images of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre and scenes of the regime’s crimes on the sides of trucks, accompanied by enlightening slogans condemning the United Nations’ disgraceful decision.
Amidst strong protests from compatriots and widespread global outrage against the shameful condolences and the United Nations’ planning to commemorate Raisi, the “Butcher of 1988,” as the President of Iran, 45 current and former UN ambassadors and officials, including senior judges and experts, wrote an open letter to the UN Secretary-General, which read in part, “As current and former United Nations Ambassadors, experts, and officials, we are deeply alarmed by the General Assembly’s planned tribute on 30 May 2024 to the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash on 19 May 2024.
“Over four decades, Raisi participated in or oversaw grave human rights violations, including the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s. He was a key member of the ‘Death Commissions’ responsible for the 1988 massacre of as many as 30,000 political prisoners, earning him the nickname ‘Butcher of Tehran’. In recent years, as Judiciary Chief and later President, he directed deadly crackdowns on anti-government protesters, with 1,500 and 700 killed during the 2019 and 2022 uprisings respectively. He oversaw the violent persecution of women and girls defying compulsory veiling.”
On May 23, during a hearing of the Deputy Secretary of State at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, senior Democratic member Brad Sherman condemned the US condolences and the UN Security Council’s decision for a moment of silence, saying: “Unfortunately, the Security Council decided for a moment of silence in mourning his death… Few have murdered as many thousands of people… I hope you suggest to Linda Thomas-Greenfield (U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) that at an appropriate time, in the Security Council, there be a moment of silence for the families of those whom Ebrahim Raisi sentenced to death, 30,000 of them in 1988, the 1,500 in 2019, the Bloody November, and the many others who are victims of his bloodstained hands.”
Following the intensification of protests, Reuters quoted a US official as saying, “We won’t attend this event in any capacity… Some of the worst human rights abuses on record, especially against the women and girls of Iran, took place during his tenure.”
On the morning of May 30, Australian Senator Claire Chandler issued a statement in which she emphasized that “many of the worst human rights abuses on record occurred during [Raisi’s] tenure in various positions of power, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988” and called on the Australian government to “refuse to participate in memorialising the Butcher of Tehran.”
Irene Victoria Massimino, an international human rights lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur at the Argentine High Criminal Court, also wrote in an article in Townhall, referring to Khomeini’s fatwa for the massacre of all steadfast PMOI members: ” At the time, Ebrahim Raisi, serving as Deputy Tehran Prosecutor, was appointed to the “death commission” tasked with enforcing this fatwa in Evin and Gohardasht Prisons. Along with three colleagues, he systematically interrogated political prisoners, particularly those affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and issued execution orders in as little as one minute… To cooperate in honoring such a man cannot be construed as anything other than collective disrespect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. No member state that respects the UN Charter should participate in a service that memorializes a murderous head of state at the expense of his victims. The democratic nations of the world must boycott the event and impress upon the UN leadership that if they go forward with it, they demonstrate contempt for their own core principles. ”
Thus, the blood of the martyrs and the cries of protests from the rebels, from the streets of Iran to the front of the United Nations headquarters, discredited the ceremony for the “Butcher of 1988” at the UN. This program, with empty seats and widespread condemnation, had the opposite effect, bringing double disgrace to the regime of massacres.