Outrage and Demands: Calls for Arrest of Iranian President Raisi at UN Forum over Alleged Crimes Against Humanity
Switzerland faces demands to arrest Iranian President Raisi for crimes against humanity as he attends the UN Global Refugee Forum. Victims accuse Raisi of participating in genocide and torture. An international campaign supports his prosecution and criticizes the UN for inviting him.
Switzerland is facing calls to arrest and charge Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with crimes against humanity upon his arrival for the United Nations Global Refugee Forum in Geneva this week. A legal complaint filed by three alleged victims of Iran's crackdown on dissidents in the 1980s accuses Raisi of participating in acts of genocide, torture, extrajudicial executions, and other crimes against humanity. The victims claim that Raisi played a prominent role in a commission that ordered the deaths of thousands of jailed opponents during the summer of 1988.
The majority of those killed were supporters of the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK or PMOI), a banned group that had supported Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Raisi, who was serving as deputy prosecutor general of Tehran at the time, allegedly showed great enthusiasm for sentencing prisoners to death. The legal complaint seeks the arrest and prosecution of Raisi, who is expected to attend the UN forum. In addition to the legal complaint, an international campaign has been launched to express outrage at Raisi's participation in the forum and to demand his prosecution.
The campaign has garnered support from over 200 signatories, including Nobel laureates, judges, former ministers, parliamentarians, academics, and UN rights experts. These individuals argue that the United Nations should not extend an invitation to an individual accused of grave human rights violations, and call on the UN to rescind its invitation to Raisi.
While the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, argues that Iran, as a member state of the United Nations, has the right to participate in the forum, critics maintain that Raisi's presence contradicts the fundamental values of the UN. They firmly believe that the UN, as a defender of human rights and justice, should not compromise its reputation by welcoming an individual accused of serious human rights abuses. The international campaign also supports the investigation and prosecution of Raisi for his involvement in past and ongoing crimes under international law.
