LONDON, 18 May 2026 — More than 300 prominent international legal experts, human rights defenders, and Nobel laureates have issued a joint open letter to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, raising alarm over a sharp escalation in executions in Iran and warning of an emerging pattern of atrocity crimes.
The signatories—including former UN officials, international court presidents, and leading global jurists—warn that Iranian authorities are exploiting recent regional instability to carry out a coordinated, bloody campaign of political repression.
Key Highlights from the Letter:
- Unprecedented Surge: The scale of executions has reached levels not witnessed in nearly forty years.
- Targeting Dissidents: At least eight political prisoners have been executed solely due to their affiliation with the opposition PMOI, with dozens more arbitrarily put to death or currently facing execution on similar vaguely defined “national security” charges.
- Crushing Dissent: Protesters and political prisoners face arbitrary execution following summary trials that completely disregard international standards of due process.
- Systemic Impunity: The current wave of killings is directly linked to Iran’s long-standing culture of impunity, echoing the notorious 1988 massacres.
- A Call to Action: Signatories are urging UN Member States to set up an international accountability mechanism and to condition diplomatic and economic engagement with Iran on a verifiable halt to executions.
The letter has been shared widely across the UN system, including with High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Dr Mai Sato, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, as well as Member States and key international stakeholders.
Resources & Navigation
- View Signatory Profiles & Photographs — Meet the Nobel laureates, jurists, and human rights experts backing this call.
- View PDF Copy of the Open Letter
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Note: Signatories’ academic affiliations are provided for identification purposes only.
Open Letter Regarding Systematic Executions and Escalation of Atrocity Crimes in Iran
18 May 2026
H.E. António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NY 10017, USA
Your Excellency,
We write to express grave concern over the accelerating use of the death penalty in Iran as an instrument of political repression. Since the outbreak of regional hostilities on 28 February 2026, the Iranian authorities have exploited heightened instability to intensify a coordinated campaign of mass arrests, torture, and state sanctioned killing, in flagrant breach of international human rights law, and have simultaneously cut off internet access for the general population.
The scale of executions has reached levels not seen in nearly four decades. Of particular concern is the targeted execution of political prisoners and protesters. Since 19 March 2026, dozens have been arbitrarily executed following proceedings that manifestly fail to meet even minimal standards of due process. Many were convicted under vaguely defined “national security” charges. At least eight political prisoners have been executed solely due to affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK), while at least 11 others currently face execution on similar grounds. Others have been put to death for taking part in protests on charges such as baghi (“armed rebellion”) after summary trials.
Senior officials have openly incited this climate of repression. As documented by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (A/HRC/61/60, 11 March 2026), the Prosecutor General declared that all protesters had committed moharebeh (“enmity against God”), a capital offence, while the Head of the Judiciary instructed judges to show “no mercy” in protest-related cases. The FFMI has estimated that more than 50,000 protesters have been arrested.
This wave of executions cannot be separated from Iran’s long-standing culture of impunity, rooted in the 1988 massacre, during which some 30,000 political prisoners were extrajudicially executed or forcibly disappeared. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran concluded in 2024 that these crimes constitute ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide.
We announce our solidarity with the ‘No to Executions’ campaign in Iran’s prisons and with the ‘No to Rule of Executioners, Yes to a Democratic Republic in Iran’ campaign.
In light of the urgency of the situation, we ask that you call on Iran to halt executions, immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, and restore access to the internet. We urge UN Member States to heed the recommendations contained in the Special Rapporteur’s 2024 Atrocity Crimes report in establishing an international accountability mechanism to enable effective investigations into crimes under international law and using universal jurisdiction to hold perpetrators accountable, as well as to condition diplomatic and economic engagement with Iran on a verifiable halt to executions and measurable human rights improvements.
Silence in the face of these atrocities only reinforces impunity. We look to your leadership to ensure that the United Nations acts decisively to prevent further loss of life.
Yours sincerely,
SIGNED:
- Mark Ellis – Executive Director, International Bar Association
- Lord Alton of Liverpool – Chair, UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights
- Joachim Rücker – Former President of the UN Human Rights Council
- Sang-Hyun Song – Former President of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Mogens Lykketoft – Former President of the UN General Assembly
- Solomon Passy – Former President of the UN Security Council
- Stephen Rapp – Former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice
- Ruth Dreifuss – Former President of Switzerland
- Javaid Rehman – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Kirsty Brimelow – Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales
- Anne Ramberg – Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights
- Oleksandra Matviichuk – 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
- Baroness Helena Kennedy – Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- Maud De Boer-Buquicchio – Former Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe
- Gareth Evans – Former Foreign Minister of Australia; President Emeritus, International Crisis Group
- Jody Williams – 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
- Heiner Bielefeldt – Former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
- Christina Blacklaws – Former President of the Law Society of England and Wales
- Richard Goldstone – Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
- David Crane – Founding Chief Prosecutor, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone
- Robert Goldman – Former President, International Commission of Jurists
- Leila Nadya Sadat – Former Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor
- Irwin Cotler – Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- Cherie Blair – Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
- Barbara Lochbihler – Former Member of the European Parliament
- Rowan Williams – Former Archbishop of Canterbury
- Pierre Sané – Former Secretary General, Amnesty International
- Irmgard Griss – Former President of the Supreme Court of Austria
- Marc Bossuyt – Former President of the Constitutional Court of Belgium
- Rui Manuel Gens Moura Ramos – Former President of the Constitutional Court of Portugal
- Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen – Former President of the Constitutional Court of Andorra
- Jan Pronk – Former UN Assistant Secretary-General
- Jens Modvig – Former Chair, UN Committee Against Torture (CAT)
- Ana Brian Nougrères – UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy
- Mike Smith – Former Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights
- José Luís da Cruz Vilaça – Former President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
- Oscar Arias Sánchez – Former President, Costa Rica; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
- Mantas Adomenas – Secretary General, Community of Democracies
- Stephanie Wolfe – President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
- Patrick Kennedy – Former Member of the US House of Representatives
- Liv Tørres – Former Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center
- Michael Cooper – Executive Director, American Society of International Law
- James Goldston – Executive Director, Open Society Justice Initiative
- Erkki Tuomioja – Former Foreign Minister of Finland
- Diane Orentlicher – Former UN Independent Expert on Combating Impunity
- Anders Wijkman – Former UN Assistant Secretary General
- Elisabeth Rasmusson – Former Secretary General of Norwegian Refugee Council
- Chris Sidoti – Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner
- Geoffrey Robertson – First President, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
- Gerald Staberock – Secretary General, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
- Wolfgang Schomburg – Former Judge, International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
- Yakin Erturk – Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
- Monika Płatek – UN Expert, OHCHR Examination of the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
- William Schabas – Former Chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict
- Morten Kjaerum – Former Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
- Hans Corell – Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations
- Helen Keller – Former Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
- Tahar Boumedra – President, Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI)
- Karen Smith – Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect
- Catherine Van de Heyning – Member, UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
- Christian Tomuschat – Former Chairman of the UN International Law Commission
- Claudio Grossman – President, Inter-American Institute of Human Rights
- Manfred Nowak – Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights
- Alex Neve – Former Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
- José Alvarez – Former President, American Society of International Law
- Michael Lynk – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories
- Melissa Upreti – Former Chair Rapporteur, UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls
- Lincoln Bloomfield, Jr. – Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs
- Vânia Costa Ramos – Chair, European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
- Rebecca Niblock – Vice Chair, European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
- Alexis Anagnostakis – Human Rights Officer, European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)
- John Mather – 2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Bianca Jagger – Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador for the Abolition of the Death Penalty
- Veronica Undurraga – Former President of the Expert Commission of the Constitutional Council of Chile
- Kate Mackintosh – Executive Director, Promise Institute Europe, UCLA School of Law
- Susan Akram – Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law
- Lindsay Harris – Director, International Human Rights Clinic, University of San Francisco School of Law
- Richard Wilson – Professor and Co-Director, Human Rights Initiative, Princeton University
- Betsy Popken – Executive Director, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- David Simon – Director, Yale University Genocide Studies Program
- William Schulz – Former Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
- Paul Nurse – President, The Royal Society; 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Cecilia Medina Quiroga – Former President, Inter-American Court of Human Rights
- Elisabeth Ward – Executive Director, International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI), DePaul University College of Law
- Hannah Garry – Faculty Director, Gilbert Global Justice and Human Rights Center, USC Gould School of Law
- John Torpey – Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York
- Josef Azizi – Former Judge, General Court of the European Union
- Ralf Michaels – Director, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
- Richard Wilson – Founding Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic, American University Washington College of Law
- James Silk – Binger Clinical Professor Emeritus of Human Rights, Yale Law School
- Elizabeth Brundige – Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Gender Justice Clinic, Cornell Law School
- Michael Lysander Fremuth – Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights, University of Vienna; Director Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
- Rachel VanLandingham – Lt Col, USAF (ret.); Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles
- Sharron Davies – Member of UK House of Lords, Swimmer, Olympic medallist
- Madeleine Rees – Former Secretary General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
- Ken Blackwell – Former US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights
- Kevin Jon Heller – Professor of International Law and Security, University of Copenhagen
- Klaus Rackwitz – Former Director, International Nuremberg Principles Academy
- Juan Garces – Winner of the 1999 Right Livelihood Award
- Sandy Pappas – Former President of the Minnesota Senate
- Zorica Marić-Djordjević – Former Ambassador of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council
- Tracy Edwards – Founder, The Maiden Factor
- Joanna Cherry – Former Chair of UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights
- Jessica Peake – Director, International & Comparative Law Program, UCLA School of Law
- Jerry White – Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Western University
- Jeremy Sarkin – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Jennifer Rasmussen – Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA)
- Ingrid Betancourt – Former Member of the Senate of Colombia
- Howard Morrison – Former President of the Appeals Division of the International Criminal Court
- Abbé Jolles – International Human Rights Litigator
- Abraham Cooper – Former Chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
- Achille Campagna – Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court
- Adil Haque – Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
- Alastair Logan – Chair, Solicitors International Human Rights Group
- Alastair McEwin – Former Disability Discrimination Commissioner of Australia
- Alda Facio – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls
- Alec von Graffenried – Former Mayor of Bern
- Alexander Motyl – Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University
- Alexandro Álvarez – Former UN Expert, Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua
- Alia Brahimi – Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
- Alma Lama – Former Ambassador of Kosovo to Italy, Malta and San Marino
- Amanda Ellis – Prime Minister’s Special Envoy and inaugural Ambassador for Women and Girls, New Zealand
- Amos Waldman – Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers
- Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría – Former Vice-President of Costa Rica
- Anand Grover – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
- Andrea Shemberg – Chair, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights
- Andrew Hall – Former Chair of the Criminal Bar Association of England and Wales
- Andrew Woolford – Former President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)
- Anna Adamska-Gallant – Judge of the European Court of Human Rights
- Anna Wyrozumska – Former Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights
- Anthony Chase – Professor, Diplomacy & World Affairs, Occidental College
- Arbana Xharra – Recipient of US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award 2015
- Ariel Dorfman – Novelist, playwright, and human rights activist
- Ariel Dulitzky – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Avidan Cover – Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
- Baher Azmy – Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Barend van Leeuwen – Professor of European Union Law, Durham Law School
- Benjamin Davis – Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Toledo College of Law
- Bill Shipsey – Executive Director, Art for Human Rights
- Blaine Bookey – Legal Director, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
- Brice Dickson – Former Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
- Bruce McColm – President, Institute for Democratic Strategies
- Carmela Pérez Bernárdez – Senior Professor of International and European Law, University of Granada
- Caroline Bennett – Assistant Professor in Social Anthropology and International Development, Sussex University
- Charles Adeogun-Phillips – Barrister
- Christian Roth – Founder and Honorary President, European Lawyers’ Union
- Christoph Degenhart – Former Judge of the Constitutional Court State of Saxony
- Christopher Kutz – Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
- Claire Mahon – Executive Director, Global Human Rights Group
- Claude Nicati – Former Deputy Prosecutor General of Switzerland
- Colm O’Cinneide – Professor of Constitutional and Human Rights Law, Vice-Dean, UCL Faculty of Laws
- Dainius Pūras – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
- Daniel Rothenberg – Professor of Practice; Co-Director, Future Security Initiative, Arizona State University
- Dante Pesce González – Former Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
- David Hunter – Professor Emeritus, American University Washington College of Law
- David Russell – UK Coordinator, Survivors Fund (SURF)
- David Wineland – 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Debórah Dwork – Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at The Graduate Center—CUNY
- Deena Hurwitz – Human Rights Attorney and Educator
- Denis Jivaga – Director, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR)
- Dianne Post – International Human Rights Attorney
- Dick Spring – Former Foreign Minister of Ireland
- Dominique Attias – Former President of the European Bars Federation
- Edvard Moser – 2014 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Eleonora Mongelli – Vice President, Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU)
- Elfriede Jelinek – 2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature
- Elias Corey – 1990 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Elisa von Joeden-Forgey – Executive Director, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
- Elisabeth Rabesandratana – Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court
- Ellen Kennedy – Executive Director, World Without Genocide
- Eric Schwartz – Professor of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
- Eric Sottas – Founder and former Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
- Errol Mendes – President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Canadian Section
- Eugene Fidell – Visiting Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School
- Eve Zucker – Lecturer at Yale University
- Fernand de Varennes – Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues
- Fernanda Pirie – Professor of the Anthropology of Law, University of Oxford
- Filloreta Kodra – Former Ambassador of Albania to the UN Office at Geneva
- Flavia Lattanzi – Former Ad Litem Judge, International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia
- Francisca Pou Giménez – Professor of Constitutional Law, UNAM
- François Audet – Director of the Montreal Institute of International Studies (IEIM)
- Frank Chalk – Founding Co-director, The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Concordia University
- Franklin Dehousse – Former Judge, General Court of the European Union
- Frédéric Mégret – Professor and Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University
- Frederik Harhoff – Former Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- Frej Fenniche – Former Chief of Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch of the OHCHR
- Gabor Rona – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
- Gerard Quinn – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Giovanni Grasso – Former International Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Gregory Stanton – Founding President, Genocide Watch
- Gulnara Shahinian – Former UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Including Its Causes and Consequences
- Habib Nassar – Attorney and Transitional Justice Expert
- Hans Noot – Director, Gerard Noodt Foundation for Freedom of Religion or Belief
- Hans-Christof von Sponeck – Former UN Assistant Secretary-General
- Hansdeep Singh – Co-Founder, International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)
- Haun Saussy – Professor, University of Chicago
- Henrikas Mickevičius – Former Member, UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Hiljmnijeta Apuk – Winner, United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2013
- Houria Esslami – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Hurst Hannum – Professor Emeritus of International Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
- Irene Victoria Massimino – Former High Criminal Court Rapporteur of Buenos Aires
- James Mehigan – Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Canterbury
- Jamil Dakwar – International Human Rights Lawyer and Adjunct Professor, New York University and Hunter College
- Jasper Krommendijk – Professor of Human Rights Law, Radboud University
- Jaspreet Singh – Co-Founder, Director of Policy & Advocacy, International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)
- Jeanne Sarson – Co-founder, Persons Against Non-State Torture (NST)
- Jean-Pierre Mignard – Lawyer
- Jean-Pierre Sauvage – 2016 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Jeff Kaufman – Director, writer, producer of the documentary about Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh “Nasrin”
- Jennifer Trahan – Clinical Professor; Director, Concentration in International Law and Human Rights, NYU Center for Global Affairs
- Joachim Savelsberg – Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Law, Former Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair, University of Minnesota
- Jocelyn Getgen – Director, Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic
- Jocelynne Scutt – Former Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of Tasmania
- John Dugard – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories
- John Hendy – Member of the UK House of Lords
- John Packer – Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
- Josef Drexl – Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
- Joseph DiMento – Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law
- Juan Esteban Aguirre Martinez – Former Foreign Minister of Paraguay
- Karen Gomez Dumpit – Former Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR)
- Karen Musalo – Director, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies UC Law, San Francisco
- Katherine Spillar – Executive Director, Feminist Majority Foundation
- Kermit Roosevelt – Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Kerry Kennedy – President, Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
- Kirsten Ainley – Professor and Director of Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University
- Leilani Farha – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
- Lia Tsuladze – Executive Director, Center for Social Sciences (CSS)
- Linda MacDonald – Co-founder, Persons Against Non-State Torture (NST)
- Lisa Hajjar – Professor of Sociology, University of California – Santa Barbara
- Livingstone Sewanyana – Former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order
- Loveday Hodson – Professor of International Human Rights Law, University of Leicester
- Lucia Serena Rossi – Former Judge, Court of Justice of the European Union
- Luciano Hazan – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Lucius Caflisch – Former Judge, European Court of Human Rights
- Luis Miguel Hinojosa Martínez – Former President of the European Society of International Law (ESIL)
- Lysa John – Expert on civil society and collective action
- Marek Antoni Nowicki – Former President of the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo
- Marion Böker – Director, Consultancy for Human Rights & Gender Issues
- Mark Kersten – Assistant Professor, Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley
- Mark Klamberg – Deputy Director, Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice
- Martin Flaherty – Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
- Martti Koskenniemi – Former Member of the UN International Law Commission
- Mary O’Connell – Chair in Law and Professor of International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
- Maude Barlow – Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly
- Maxim Pensky – Co-Director, Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), Binghamton University
- May-Britt Moser – 2014 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Melissa Parke – Former Minister for International Development of Australia (AusAID)
- Michael Newton – Professor of the Practice of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
- Michael Schmitt – Professor of International Law, University of Reading School of Law
- Michel Mayor – 2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Miloon Kothari – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
- Mostafa Fouad – Executive Director, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- Nicholas Grief – Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Kent and Honorary Associate Tenant, Doughty Street Chambers
- Nicholas Vineall – Former Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales
- Nicola Macbean – Executive Director, The Rights Practice
- Noanne Tenneson – Executive Director, Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH)
- Ole von Uexkull – Executive Director, Right Livelihood
- Oliver Hart – 2016 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences
- Param Cumaraswamy – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
- Paul Milgrom – 2020 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences
- Paul Rink – Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School
- Pearl Eliadis – Human rights lawyer and Associate Professor, Max Bell School of Public Policy
- Peter Ratcliffe – 2019 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Peter Stafverfeldt – Chief Judge, Skaraborg District Court
- Predrag Dojčinović – Former War Crimes Expert at the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICTY
- Ray Murphy – Professor, Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, University of Galway
- Rebecca Cook – Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto
- Rebecca Shoot – Co-Convener, Washington Working Group for the International Criminal Court
- Reinhard Genzel – 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Rhoda Howard-Hassmann – Former Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights
- Ricardo Sunga – Former Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
- Richard Dieter – Former Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center
- Richard Henderson – 2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Richard Roberts – 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Roald Hoffmann – 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Robert Huber – 1988 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Roger Clark – Former Member, UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Control
- Roger Kornberg – 2006 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Roland Adjovi – Former Member, UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- Ronald Slye – Professor of Law, Seattle University
- Rudolf Mellinghoff – Former President of Federal Fiscal Court of Germany
- Saeed Mokbil – Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
- Saira Mohamed – Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
- Samuel Townend – Former Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales
- Sandra Coyle – Former Executive Director, World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP)
- Sara Chandler – Secretary to the Human Rights Commission of the European Bars Federation (FBE)
- Scott Roehm – Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Law School; Senior Director for Justice and Accountability, Center for Victims of Torture
- Sheldon Glashow – 1979 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Siobhan Wills – Director, Transitional Justice Institute (TJI), Ulster University
- Sonja Biserko – Former Member, UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK
- Stanislav Pavlovschi – Former Judge, European Court of Human Rights
- Stephen Rosenbaum – Frank C. Newman Lecturer, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
- Stuart Russell – Co-chair, Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL)
- Suliman Baldo – Former UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Mali
- Susan Bazilli – Member, UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
- Susana SáCouto – Director, War Crimes Research Office (WCRO), American University Washington College of Law
- Takaaki Kajita – 2015 Nobel Laureate in Physics
- Tali Nates – Recipient of the 2023 US Secretary of State Religious Freedom Award
- Toby Cadman – Barrister and Head of Outline Chambers
- Tom Dannenbaum – Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
- Tom Rawlings – Former Judge of the US Juvenile Courts
- Tomas Manguel – Professor of International Criminal Law, Universidad de Buenos Aires
- Tudor Ulianovschi – Former Foreign Minister of Moldova
- Valeriu Ciucă – Former Judge, General Court of the European Union
- Victoria Sanford – Founding Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies at Lehman College-City University of New York (CUNI)
- Vilenas Vadapalas – Former Judge, General Court of the European Union
- Vojislav Šuc – Former President of the UN Human Rights Council
- Waad Al-Kateab – Oscar-nominated film director
- William Bourdon – International human rights lawyer
- Yevgeniy Zhovtis – Member of the Board of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
- Aurora Ciucă – President, “Vespasian V. Pella” Association; Faculty of Law and Public Administration, University “Ștefan cel Mare”
- Nenad Stojanović – Professor, University of Geneva
- Neus Torbisco-Casals – Adjunct Professor; Senior Research Fellow, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute
- David Edward – Former Judge, European Court of Justice
- Balakrishnan Rajagopal – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
- Stephanie Farrior – Former Legal Director, Amnesty International
- Kathya Dawe – Adjunct Professor and International Human Rights Specialist, University of St. Thomas School of Law
- Timothy Christian – Former Chief Federal Negotiator of the Government of Canada
- Patrick Baudouin – Honorary President, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH); Honorary President, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH)
- Cesare Romano – Director, International Human Rights Center, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
CC:
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Volker Türk
- President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Annalena Baerbock
- President of the UN Human Rights Council, H.E. Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro
- Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council
- President of the European Council, H.E. António Costa
- UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Dr Mai Sato
- Chair and Members of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran
- Other relevant UN Special Procedures