Open Letter to UN seeking Commission of Inquiry into Iran’s 1988 extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners

Signatories of Open Letter to UN - 3 May 2021

More than 150 former United Nations officials and renowned international human rights and legal experts have written to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet calling for an international Commission of Inquiry into the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners in Iran. Read the full text of the letter.

The JVMI issued a press release about the open letter on 5 May. Read our statement here.

Here are the 152 signatories:

Individuals (NOTE: All Signatories Have Signed In Their Personal Capacity)

Former UN-affiliated officials

Mary Robinson

Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin, former President of Ireland, and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – (Ireland)

Mark Malloch-Brown

Former UN Deputy Secretary General and former Administrator of UNDP – (United Kingdom)

Theo van Boven

Director of the UN Division of Human Rights (1977-1982), UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2001-2004) – (The Netherlands)

Manfred Nowak

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2004-2010), former member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), and former judge at the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina – (Austria)

Jean Ziegler

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2000-2008), former Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee – (Switzerland)

Michael Kirby

Former Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in North Korea (DPRK), UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia (1993-1996), former Justice of the High Court of Australia – (Australia)

Michel Forst

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders (2014-2020) – (France)

Gabriela Knaul

UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (2009-2015) – (Brazil)

Param Cumaraswamy

UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (1994-2003) – (Malaysia)

Heiner Bielefeldt

UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2010-2016), former Director of the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) – (Germany)

Maud De Boer-Buquicchio

UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children (2014-2020), former Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe – (The Netherlands)

Gulnara Shahinian

UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (2008-2014) – (Armenia)

Urmila Bhoola

UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (2014-2020) – (South Africa)

Dainius Pūras

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2014 - 2020), Director of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute – (Lithuania)

Baskut Tuncak

UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights (2014-2020) – (Turkey)

Okechukwu Ibeanu

UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights (2004-2010) – (Nigeria)

Yakin Ertürk

UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (2003-2009) – (Turkey)

Catarina de Albuquerque

UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (2008-2014), Chair of the UN Working Group in charge of drafting an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2004-2008) – (Portugal)

John H. Knox

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment (2012-2018) – (United States)

François Crépeau

UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (2011-2017) – (Canada)

Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona

UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (2008-2014) – (Chile)

Fantu Cheru

Former UN Special Rapporteur on Foreign Debt and Structural Adjustment – (Ethiopia/United States)

Santiago Corcuera-Cabezut

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), former Chair of the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances, former Chair of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council – (Mexico)

Ariel E Dulitzky

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) – (Argentina)

Houria Esslami

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) – (Morocco)

Jeremy Sarkin

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) – (South Africa)

José Luis Gómez del Prado

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries – (Spain)

Gabor Rona

Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries, former International Legal Director of Human Rights First – (United States)

Farida Shaheed

UN Independent Expert and Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights (2009-2015) – (Pakistan)

Alfred De Zayas

UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (2012-2018) – (United States)

Soledad Villagra de Biedermann

Member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (2002-2008) – (Paraguay)

Hans Corell

Former Judge of Appeal, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the UN (1994-2004), and former Co-Chair of the Council of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute – (Sweden)

Mike Smith

Former Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN in New York and Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (2007-2013) – (Australia)

Hon. Richard J. Goldstone

Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Honorary President of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) – (South Africa)

Geoffrey Robertson QC

First President, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, author ‘Crimes Against Humanity,’ ‘Mullahs without Mercy’ and ‘The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988’ – (Australia)

Marek Antoni Nowicki

Former President of the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo, UN-appointed International Ombudsperson in Kosovo (2000-2005), member of the European Commission of Human Rights (1993-1999) – (Poland)

Ad Melkert

Former Special Representative for Iraq of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), former UN Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) – (The Netherlands)

Tahar Boumedra

Former Chief of UNAMI Human Rights Office and Representative of the HCHR in Iraq – (United Kingdom)

Sonja Biserko

Former Member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in North Korea (DPRK), founder and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia – (Serbia)

Mark Ellis

Executive Director, International Bar Association, former Chair of the UN Advisory Panel on Matters Relating to Defence Counsel of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals – (United Kingdom)

Giovanni Grasso

Former International Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Judge of the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina – (Italy)

Ken Scott

Former member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, former Special Prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (1998-2011), Assistant US Attorney and Chief of the Complex Prosecutions Section in the prosecution office (1985-1997) – (United States)

Eric David

Member of the UN-affiliated International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (2006-2016) – (Belgium)

Françoise Tulkens

Former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, former member of the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel for Kosovo – (Belgium)

Andrzej Rzepliński

Member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (1994-2004), Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2004-2008), President of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland (2010-2016), Member of the Advisory Board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (2013- ) – (Poland)

Other distinguished signatories

Rt. Hon. Sir David Edward

Judge, European Court of Justice (1992-2004) – (United Kingdom)

Valeriu M. Ciucă

Judge, General Court of the European Union (2007-2010) – (Romania)

Josef Azizi

Judge, General Court of the European Union (1995-2013) – (Austria)

Ledi Bianku

Judge, European Court of Human Rights (2008-2019) – (Albania)

Amb. Edmundo Vargas Carreño

Former Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) – (Chile)

Rt. Revd. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams

Former Archbishop of Canterbury – (United Kingdom)

Jose Ramos-Horta

Winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, former President of Timor-Leste, and President of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy – (Timor-Leste)

Elfriede Jelinek

2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature – (Austria)

Sir Richard J. Roberts

1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine – (United Kingdom)

Randy W. Schekman

2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine – (United States)

Dudley R. Herschbach

1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry – (United States)

Sheldon Glashow

1979 Nobel Laureate in Physics – (United States)

Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell

Former Prime Minister of Canada, former Minister of Justice of Canada – (Canada)

Irwin Cotler

Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Founder and Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights – (Canada)

John Baird

Former Foreign Minister of Canada – (Canada)

Rama Yade

Former Human Rights Minister of France – (France)

Giulio Terzi

Former Foreign Minister of Italy, former Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, former Ambassador of Italy to the US – (Italy)

Radosław Sikorski

Member of the European Parliament, former Foreign Minister of Poland – (Poland)

Maria Candida Almeida

Former Attorney General of Portugal, first female magistrate of Portugal – (Portugal)

Baroness Boothroyd

Former Speaker of the House of Commons – (United Kingdom)

Amb. Ken Blackwell

Former US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights – (United States)

Baroness Verma

Former UK Energy & Climate Change Minister and former International Development Minister – (United Kingdom)

Rt Hon David Jones

Member of Parliament, former UK Secretary of State for Wales – (United Kingdom)

Tony Clement

Former Member of Parliament, former Canadian Minister of Industry, Minister of Health and President of the Treasury Board – (Canada)

Michał Kamiński

Vice President of the Senate of Poland – (Poland)

Morten Wold

Member of Parliament (Second Vice President of the Storting) – (Norway)

Christian Tybring-Gjedde

Member of Parliament (Second Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence) – (Norway)

Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius

Member of Parliament, Chair of the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee – (Lithuania)

Ellen Samyn

Member of Parliament, Vice President of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee – (Belgium)

Leo Housakos

Senator from Canada, former Speaker of the Senate – (Canada)

Linda Frum

Senator from Canada – (Canada)

Uffe Elbæk

Member of Parliament – (Denmark)

Hanna Sarkkinen

Member of Parliament – (Finland)

Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam

Senator from France, Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly – (France)

Martin Patzelt

Member of Parliament, Member of the Bundestag's Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid – (Germany)

Bob Blackman

Member of Parliament – (United Kingdom)

Sir David Amess

Member of Parliament – (United Kingdom)

Lord Alton of Liverpool

Member of the House of Lords – (United Kingdom)

Milan Zver

Member of the European Parliament – (Slovenia)

Hermann Tertsch

Member of the European Parliament – (Spain)

Patrick Kennedy

Former Member of the US House of Representatives – (United States)

David Kilgour

Former Canadian Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, and for Asia-Pacific – (Canada)

Thor Halvorssen

President, Human Rights Foundation – (United States)

Dominique Attias

President, European Bars Federation / Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe (FBE) – (France)

Andreas Bummel

Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders – (Germany)

Jago Russell

Chief Executive, Fair Trials – (United Kingdom)

Tibi Galis

Executive Director, Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (AIPG) – (United States)

Toby Cadman

Co-founder of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers – (United Kingdom)

Uriel Epshtein

Executive Director of Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) – (United States)

Beatriz Borges

Executive Director, Center for Justice and Peace - Centro de Justicia y Paz (CEPAZ) – (Venezuela)

Jan Diedrichsen

President, Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) / Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (GfbV) – (Germany)

William Bourdon

International human rights lawyer – (France)

Ranjana Kumari

Director, Centre for Social Research (CSR) – (India)

Juan Garcés

Spanish lawyer and former advisor to Chilean President Salvador Allende – (Spain)

Eric Sottas

Founder and former Secretary General of World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) – (Switzerland)

Ingrid Betancourt

Former Senator and Presidential candidate – (Colombia)

Pierre Bercis

President, Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme (NDH) – (France)

Rabbi Abraham Cooper

Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center – (United States)

Maxim Pensky

Co-director of the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Birmingham University, NY – (United States)

Nadia Rubaii

Co-director of the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Birmingham University, NY – (United States)

Sandra M. Coyle

Consulting Executive Director of World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP) – (United States)

Rafael Uzcategui

General Coordinator, Venezuelan Program for Education and Action on Human Rights (Provea) – (Venezuela)

R. Bruce McColm

President, Institute for Democratic Strategies, former Executive Director of Freedom House – (United States)

Jocelynne Scutt

Former Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of Tasmania, and former judge on the High Court of Fiji – (Australia)

Rebecca Cook

Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto – (Canada)

Steven M. Schneebaum

Interim Director, International Law and Organizations Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University – (United States)

David Matas

Human rights lawyer and Co-Founder of International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse In China – (Canada)

Antonio Stango

President, Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) – (Italy)

Göran Sluiter

Professor of international criminal law, University of Amsterdam – (The Netherlands)

Max du Plessis

Senior Counsel, Adjunct Professor at Nelson Mandela University, Senior Research Associate at Institute for Security Studies – (South Africa)

Sergio D’Elia

Secretary General, Hands Off Cain – (Italy)

Princess Nwabueze Nwokolo

Council member of The Law Society of England and Wales, Chair of the UK’s Black Solicitors Network (BSN) – (Nigeria)

Elisabetta Zamparutti

Co-founder and Treasurer of Hands Off Cain, former Member of Parliament – (Italy)

Allison Pearson

Author and journalist (Columnist and the chief interviewer of the Daily Telegraph) – (United Kingdom)

Sara Chandler QC

Council Member of the Law Society of England and Wales, former Chair of the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee, former President of the European Bars Federation (FBE) – (United Kingdom)

Alastair Logan

Council member of The Law Society of England and Wales, Chair of the Solicitors International Human Rights Group – (United Kingdom)

Richard C. Dieter

Former Executive Director of Death Penalty Information Center – (United States)

Kirsty Brimelow QC

Former Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) – (United Kingdom)

Malcolm Fowler

Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate, member of JVMI, and formerly of the Council and Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales – (United Kingdom)

Roger Lyons

Former President of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – (United Kingdom)

Sir Alan Meale

Former Member of Parliament, former Vice-Chairperson of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe – (United Kingdom)

Joe Benton

Former Member of Parliament – (United Kingdom)

Gary Weiss

Journalist and author – (United States)