With New Appointments, Iran's Human Rights Atrocities Continue

One of the accusations leveled against the Iranian regime by the ‎international community, including the United Nations (UN), for years ‎has been human rights violations. The UN General Assembly has so ‎far condemned the Iranian government 67 times for gross human ‎rights abuses and violations.‎

However, the Iranian regime has not paid attention to any of these ‎accusations and condemnations. The Iranian regime continues to ‎violate the rights of Iranian citizens and has not accepted membership ‎of the International Criminal Court in Hague to escape the ‎consequences of this. It is fearful for its leaders to be brought to trial ‎in international courts.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, the Iranian ‎regime’s leaders, who have been the main perpetrators of human ‎rights violations, have so far been able to avoid being tried by ‎international courts and have not yet been brought to justice. ‎

Recently, the appointment of Ebrahim Raessi as president, and ‎Mohseni Ejei as head of the judiciary by Khamenei took place. ‎Although both have been sanctioned by the European Union and the ‎US Treasury for several years due to their role in the 1988 massacre ‎of political prisoners and their involvement in human rights abuses, ‎and have been banned from traveling to Europe and the United ‎States, they now enjoy international diplomatic immunity.‎

Javid Rahman, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, ‎following the election of a new president has called for an ‎independent inquiry into allegations made against Raessi in ‎connection with his role in the 1988 execution of thousands of political ‎prisoners. ‎ Rahman in an interview with Reuters on June 28, 2021, said, over the ‎years his office has gathered a great deal of testimony and evidence ‎regarding the role of Ibrahim Raessi in the massacre of political ‎prisoners. Whether the UN Human Rights Council or another ‎institution will start a neutral investigation, he is ready to share the ‎gathered evidence. Rahman continued, “I think the time has come ‎and now it is very important that we start an investigation into what ‎happened in 1988 and the role of Mr. Ebrahim Raessi, the president-elect of Iran. We have very serious concerns about this president and ‎his role in these executions.”‎

Of course, the crimes that Ebrahim Raessi and Mohseni Ejei are ‎accused of are not limited to the ones in 1988 or others in recent ‎years. As the head and deputy head of the judiciary, they have also ‎played an important role in the death sentences handed down to ‎Iranian youth. Like the death sentence of Navid Afkari, a national ‎Iranian champion wrestler who, despite many evidence of his ‎innocence and a global campaign to prevent his execution. Ebrahim ‎Raessi as head of the judiciary and Mohseni Ejei as his deputy hastily ‎upheld his death sentence and did not stop his execution, for political ‎and security reasons. Or the killing of more than 1,500 demonstrators ‎by the regime security forces in November 2019 uprising protesting a ‎threefold increase in gasoline prices.‎

Or arbitrarily arresting and beating two elite students from Amir Kabir ‎University of Tehran. The students are Amir Hossein Moradi, winner of ‎the silver medal of the National Astronomy Olympiad in 2017 and Ali ‎Younesi, winner of the silver medal of the National Astronomy ‎Olympiad in 2016 and the gold medals of the 2017 Astronomy ‎Olympiad and of the 12th World Astronomy and Astrophysics ‎Olympiad in China. They were accused of collaborating with the ‎Mojahedin Khalq Organization in March 2020 as corruptors on earth ‎‎(a term that regime uses for opposing the regime, that carries the ‎death penalty). The two students have been under intense physical ‎and psychological pressure in solitary confinement for 14 months to ‎force them to make false confessions and express remorse. ‎According to the lawyers of these two students, they have been ‎deprived of their most basic rights during this period.‎

It should be noted that in May 2020, Amnesty International issued a ‎statement expressing concern over the torture of these students and ‎calling for their release. But the Iranian regime has not paid any attention ‎to these international concerns.‎

Given all these facts, with the assumption of the presidency by Ebrahim ‎Raessi and the appointment of Gholam Hossein Ejei as the head of the ‎judiciary, both of whom have played a key role in most human rights ‎violations in Iran, not only should we not expect an improvement of the ‎human rights situation in Iran. We can imagine, though, that the situation ‎will be much worse than before unless the international community ‎resolutely opposes these actions of the Iranian regime without political or ‎economic considerations.‎