UN Fact-Finding Mission: Raisi’s Death Should Not Overshadow Iran’s “Crimes Against Humanity”

Amid calls by Iranian human rights activists urging the UN General Assembly to cancel a planned tribute this week to recently deceased President Ebrahim Raisi, the UN’s independent, international Fact-Finding Mission on Iran has released an open letter calling on the Islamic Republic to not use Raisi’s death as another reason to “deny victims of serious human rights violations and crimes under international law found by the FFM on Iran their right to truth, justice, and reparations.”

Sara Hossain, chairperson of the mission, highlighted the mission’s inaugural report, released in March 2024, showing that the state’s suppression of nationwide, anti-state protests in 2022 were classified as “crimes under international law” and “crimes against humanity” and called on Iranian authorities to withdraw pending parliamentary bills, namely the “Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill” and “the Chastity and Hijab Bill,” which would further restrict internet freedom and women’s rights in the country to “prevent further breaches of Iran’s international human rights law obligations.” The letter specifically addressed Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the temporary Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, on the occasion of the opening of its 12th session, on May 27, 2024.

Established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 to investigate the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on the 2022 protests, which came to be known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, the Fact-Finding Mission continues to amass extensive evidence of state atrocities, including mass murder, widespread blinding, arbitrary arrests of over 20,000, and torture of detainees, including children.

Read the mission’s complete letter here, and visit its website for regularly updated information and detailed findings on the human rights situation in Iran.