Signatories of Open letter to the Council on Foreign Relations
LONDON, 18 September 2023 – JVMI is among 180 international human rights and legal experts and organisations, Nobel laureates and individuals of conscience that have sent an open letter to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), urging it to cancel its upcoming event with the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, who stands accused of crimes against humanity during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners.
Click here to read the text of the letter.
Here are the 180 distinguished signatories:
Co-Signatory NGOs
Distinguished Signatories
Amb. Stephen J. Rapp
US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (2009-2015); Prosecutor of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (2007-2009) – (United States)
Amb. Zorica Marić-Djordjević
Ambassador of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council and World Trade Organization (2013-2018) – (Montenegro)
Dr. Rowan Williams
Former Archbishop of Canterbury; former Master of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge – (United Kingdom)
Karen Smith
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect (2019-2021) – (South Africa)
John Baird
Former Foreign Minister of Canada – (Canada)
Sir Howard Morrison KC
President of the Appeals Division of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (2012-2018 & 2020-2021); Former Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) - (United Kingdom)
Oleksandra Matviichuk
2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Head of Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) – (Ukraine)
Jody Williams
1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate – (United States)
Houria Esslami
Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) - (Morocco)
Ariel E. Dulitzky
Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID); Director, Human Rights Clinic of the School of Law, University of Texas – (Argentina)
Morten Kjaerum
Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden; Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) (2008-2015) - (Denmark)
Stanislav Pavlovschi
Minister of Justice of Moldova (2019); Judge, European Court of Human Rights (2001-2008) - (Moldova)
Robert K. Goldman
President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ); Former UN Independent Expert on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Former President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University – (United States)
José Luís da Cruz Vilaça
President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (1989-1995); Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union (2012-2018); Professor of EU Law – (Portugal)
Claudio Grossman
Member, UN International Law Commission; Chair, ILC’s Drafting Committee (2019); President, Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (2014-present); Former President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Former Chair, UN Committee against Torture; Chair, UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (2013) – (Chile)
Christian Tomuschat
President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (2013-2019); Former Member of the UN Human Rights Committee; Former Chairman, UN International Law Commission; Professor em. Humboldt University Berlin – (Germany)
Amb. Jorge Lomonaco
Ambassador of Mexico to UN Geneva and the UN Human Rights Council (2013-2017), Vice-President, Assembly of States Parties of the ICC (2008-2011); Member of PILPG Circle of Former Ambassadors to the UN Human Rights Council – (Mexico)
Sir David Edward KCMG KC
Judge, European Court of Justice (1992-2004); Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh – (United Kingdom)
Anne Ramberg
Co-Chair, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI); Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR); Board Member, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA); Chair, Board of Uppsala University; Former Secretary General, Swedish Bar Association – (Sweden)
Hon. Richard J. Goldstone
Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; Honorary President of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute – (South Africa)
Tahar Boumedra
Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI); former Chief of UNAMI Human Rights Office and Representative of the HCHR in Iraq – (United Kingdom)
Mark Ellis
Executive Director, International Bar Association (IBA); former Chair of the UN Advisory Panel on Matters Relating to Defence Counsel of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals – (United Kingdom)
Amb. Hans Corell
Former Judge of Appeal; Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the UN; Former Co-Chair of the Council of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute – (Sweden)
Kumi Naidoo
Secretary General, Amnesty International (2018-2020); Global Ambassador, Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity – (South Africa)
David M. Crane
Founding Chief Prosecutor, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone; Founder, Global Accountability Network – (United States)
Susan Bazilli
UN Expert in the OHCHR examination of the human rights situation in Belarus; Director, International Women’s Rights Project (IWRP) – (Canada)
Valeriu M. Ciucă
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2007-2010) – (Romania)
Vilenas Vadapalas
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2004-2013) – (Lithuania)
Franklin Dehousse
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2003-2016); Legal Adviser to the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium (1981-1990); Professor, University of Liège – (Belgium)
Josef Azizi
Judge, General Court of the European Union (1995-2013) - (Austria)
Irwin Cotler
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Founder and Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Emeritus Professor of Law McGill University - (Canada)
Wolfgang Schomburg
Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2001-2008); former Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); Judge, Federal Supreme Court of Germany (1995–2000) - (Germany)
Amb. Filloreta Kodra
Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations in Geneva - (Albania)
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)
Andrzej Rzepliński
President of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland (2010-2016); Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2004-2008) – (Poland)
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)
François Crépeau
UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (2011-2017); Professor of Public International Law, McGill University – (Canada)
Anand Grover
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2008-2014); Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Law Center, Georgetown University – (India)
Pierre Sané
Secretary General, Amnesty International (1992-2001); Assistant Director-General, UNESCO (2001-2010) – (Senegal)
Michel Mayor
2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics – (Switzerland)
Joachim Frank
2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry – (United States)
Jacques Dubochet
2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry - (Switzerland)
Jean-Pierre Sauvage
2016 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry - (France)
Roger Kornberg
2006 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry – (United States)
Elfriede Jelinek
2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature – (Austria)
Finn E. Kydland
2004 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences – (Norway)
Sir Richard J. Roberts
1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine – (United Kingdom)
Sheldon Glashow
1979 Nobel Laureate in Physics – (United States)
Juan E. Garcés
Lawyer and former advisor to Chilean President Salvador Allende; Winner of the 1999 Right Livelihood Award (Sweden); Director of “Garcés y Prada Abogados”, Madrid; President of the Spanish Foundation “President Allende” - (Spain)
Ingrid Betancourt
Former Senator and Presidential candidate – (Colombia)
Bianca Jagger
President and Chief Executive, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation (BJHRF) – (Nicaragua)
Sareta Ashraph
Barrister, Garden Court Chambers; Chair of the International Bar Association’s War Crimes Committee; Chief Legal Analyst on the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria (2012-2016) – (Trinidad and Tobago)
Senator Leo Housakos
Senator; Former Chair, Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs & International Trade; Former Speaker, Senate of Canada (2015) – (Canada)
Lord Alton of Liverpool
Member of the House of Lords – (United Kingdom)
Senator Orry Van de Wauwer
Senator – (Belgium)
Uffe Elbæk MP
Member of Parliament; Minister of Culture in Denmark (2011-2012); Leader of the Green Party - The Alternative (2013-2020)– (Denmark)
Milan Zver MEP
Member of the European Parliament – (Slovenia)
Melanie O'Brien
President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS); Associate Professor of International Law, University of Western Australia – (Australia)
Maude Barlow
Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly; Former Chairperson of the Council of Canadians – (Canada)
David J. Simon
Director, Genocide Studies Program at Yale University – (United States)
Maxim Pensky
Co-Director, Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), Binghamton University – (United States)
Kerry Whigham
Co-Director, Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), Binghamton University – (United States)
Arbana Xharra
Recipient of US Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award 2015; Journalist – (Kosovo)
Tracy Edwards MBE
Founder, The Maiden Factor – (United Kingdom)
Hiljmnijeta Apuk
Winner, United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2013; Director, Little People of Kosova; Member, Ad Hoc Committee of the UN General Assembly on drafting of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – (Kosovo)
György Tatár
Director, Budapest Centre for Mass Atrocities Prevention (BCMAP); Head of EU Task Force for Conflict Prevention/Emerging Horizontal Security Issues (2004-2010) – (Hungary)
Brice Dickson
Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (1999-2005); Professor of International and Comparative Law, Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) – (United Kingdom)
Gabrielle McIntyre
Chairperson, Seychelles' Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission; Former Chef de Cabinet and Principal Legal Advisor to the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) – (Australia)
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)
Sara Chandler KC (Hon)
Secretary to the Human Rights Commission of the European Bars Federation (FBE) and Former President of the FBE; Former Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Law Society of England & Wales – (United Kingdom)
Felipe Gómez Isa
Professor of International Law; Researcher at the Institute of Human Rights of the University of Deusto; Vice-Dean for International Relations, Deusto Law School – (Spain)
Debórah Dwork
Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at The Graduate Center—City University of New York (CUNY) – (United States)
Victoria Sanford
Founding Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies at Lehman College-City University of New York (CUNI); Lehman Professor of Excellence, 2021-2024 – (United States)
Ellen J. Kennedy
Executive Director, World Without Genocide – (United States)
Eric Sottas
Founder and former Secretary General of Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture - World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) – (Switzerland)
Errol P. Mendes
President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Canadian Section; Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa – (Canada)
Timothy J. Christian KC
Chief Federal Negotiator of the Government of Canada (1996–2010); Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta (1985-1995) – (Canada)
James Silk
Director, Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School; Binger Clinical Professor of Human Rights, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School – (United States)
Hans Noot
Director, Gerard Noodt Foundation for Freedom of Religion or Belief - (The Netherlands)
Susana SáCouto
Director, War Crimes Research Office (WCRO), American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) - (United States)
Ezechia Paolo Reale
Secretary General, The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - (Italy)
Kjell Anderson
Assistant Professor of Law, and Director of Master of Human Rights program, University of Manitoba - (Canada)
R. Bruce McColm
President, Institute for Democratic Strategies; former Executive Director, Freedom House – (United States)
Aurora Ciucă
President, “Vespasian V. Pella” Association; Faculty of Law and Public Administration, University “Ștefan cel Mare” - (Romania)
Toby Cadman
Co-founder of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers – (United Kingdom)
David Russell
UK Coordinator, Survivors Fund (SURF) – (United Kingdom)
Steven M. Schneebaum
International Law and Organizations Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University – (United States)
Predrag Dojčinović
Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate at the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut; War Crimes expert at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (1998-2017) – (United States)
Anila Ali
President and CEO, American Muslim and Multifaith Women's Empowerment Council - (United States)
Jerry P. White
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Western University; Director, Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium – (Canada)
Clair Duffy
Former Prosecution Appeals Counsel, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) – (Australia)
Rebecca Cook
Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto – (Canada)
Steven Leonard Jacobs
Professor of Religious Studies, University of Alabama; former First Vice-President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) – (United States)
Alastair Logan OBE
Chair, Solicitors International Human Rights Group; Council Member of The Law Society of England and Wales – (United Kingdom)
Nicholas Grief
Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Kent – (United Kingdom)
Eve Zucker
Lecturer at Yale University; Member, Steering Committee, Genocide Studies Program at Yale University - (United States)
Antonia Benfield
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers - (United Kingdom)
Jennifer Wright Knust
Professor of Religious Studies, Duke University; Director, Elizabeth A. Clark Center for Late Ancient Studies; Co-Director, Franklin Humanities Institute Manuscript Migration Lab – (United Kingdom)
Hilary Earl
Professor of European History and Genocide Studies, Nipissing University; former Member of the Advisory Board, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) – (Canada)
Irene Victoria Massimino
Co-President of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention; Professor of Jurisprudence and Human Rights; Former High Criminal Court Rapporteur of Buenos Aires, Argentina (2016-2020) – (Argentina)
Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann
Member of the Order of Canada; Professor Emerita, Wilfrid Laurier University; Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights (2003-2016); Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada – (Canada)
Elisa von Joeden-Forgey
Executive Director, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention; Endowed Chair, Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Keene State College – (United States)
Greg Boos
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) – (United States)
Robin Kirk
Faculty Co-Director, Duke Human Rights Center; Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University - (United States)
Susanne Brandtstädter
Professor and Chair of the Anthropology of Globalization at the University of Cologne - (Germany)
Jessica Finelle
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - (France)
Alan Mendoza
Executive Director, The Henry Jackson Society - (United Kingdom)
Kyle Matthews
Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University – (Canada)
David Matas
Human rights lawyer and Co-Founder of International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse In China – (Canada)
Lyndall Ryan
Emeritus Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia; Head of the School of Humanities, University of Newcastle (1999-2003) - (Australia)
Haun Saussy
Professor, University of Chicago - (United States)
Mélanie Sonhaye-Kombate
Executive Director, West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN / ROADDH) – (Togo)
James Mehigan
Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Canterbury; Barrister, Garden Court Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) – (Ireland / United States)
Malcolm Fowler
Solicitor, member of JVMI, and formerly of the Council and Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales – (United Kingdom)
Sarah Magill
Barrister, Lincoln House Chambers - (United Kingdom)
Jocelynne A. Scutt
Senior Fellow at the University of Buckingham, former Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of Tasmania, and former judge on the High Court of Fiji - (United Kingdom)
Denakpon L. Tchobo
President, Global Justice Intelligence Eyes (GJIE) - (United States)
Eleonora Mongelli
Vice President, FIDU - Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani (Italian Federation for Human Rights) - (Italy)
David Palumbo-Liu
Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford University - (United States)
Ben Cooper KC
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers - (United Kingdom)
Marion Böker
Director, Consultancy for Human Rights & Gender Issues - (Germany)
Nicoletta Montefusco
Founder and Senior Legal Counsel, Lex Et Iura - (United States)
Phil Scraton
Emeritus Professor, School of Law, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast (QUB) - (United Kingdom / Ireland)
Leto Cariolou
Barrister, Garden Court Chambers; Former Legal Officer, UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals - (Cyprus / United Kingdom)
Timothy Patrick McCarthy
Lecturer on Education, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Public Leadership and Carr Center for Human Rights Policy – (United States)
Abbas Lakha KC
Barrister, 9BR Chambers - (United Kingdom)
Fiona McGaughey
Associate Professor of International Human Rights Law, University of Western Australia - (Australia)
Ahmet Cemil Yildirim
Associate Professor of Comparative Law, Gulf University for Science and Technology - (Kuwait)
Amos Waldman
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) – (United Kingdom)
Jennifer Leaning
Former FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights and former Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; Senior Research Fellow at the FXB Center and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School - (United States)
Caroline Bennett
Lecturer in Social Anthropology and International Development, University of Sussex School of Global Studies - (New Zealand)
Elisabeth Rabesandratana
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) – (France)
Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips
Barrister, Guerinca37 International Justice Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - (United Kingdom & Nigeria)
Alexander Motyl
Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University - (United States)
Birgitta Jonsdottir
Former Member of Parliament; former WikiLeaks officer - (Iceland)
Antonio Stango
President, Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) - (Italy)
Elisabetta Zamparutti
Co-founder and Treasurer of Hands Off Cain, former Member of Parliament - (Italy)
Simona Voicescu
Executive Director, Asociația Necuvinte (Necuvinte Association) - (Romania)
Tali Nates
Founder and Executive Director, Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center - (South Africa)
Ronita Ghosh
President, World Chamber for Social Business (WCSB) - (India)
Natasha Lindstaedt
Faculty Dean of Education (Social Sciences UG), Department of Government, University of Essex - (United Kingdom)
Anja Matwijkiw
Professor of Ethics & Human Rights at the Indiana University Graduate School & Department of Philosophy, Indiana University Northwest; 2019-2020 Chair of Public International Law, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law & Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden - (Denmark)
Carmen Márquez-Carrasco
Professor of Public International Law and International Relations, University of Sevilla - (Spain)
Juan Carlos Manriquez
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC); Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Proceedings and International Criminal Law - (Chile)
Thom Dyke
Barrister at Deka Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - (United Kingdom)
Tarazi Mohammed Sheikh
Lawyer - (Bangladesh)
Paulo Ilich Bacca
Deputy Director, Center for Law, Justice and Society, Dejusticia; Lecturer in Legal Theory, Javeriana University - (Colombia)
Pearl Eliadis
Law Office of Pearl Eliadis (practice in human rights); Associate Professor (Professional), McGill University - (Canada)
Eyal Mayroz
Senior Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney - (Australia)
Joe Holmes
Barrister, 9BR Chambers - (United Kingdom)
Theo Huckle KC
Barrister, Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn and Visiting Professor at King’s College London; Counsel General for Wales 2011-16 - (United Kingdom)
David E. Pettigrew
Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University; Member, Steering Committee, Genocide Studies Program at Yale University - (United States)
Érick Sullivan
Deputy Director, International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic, Université Laval (Québec, Canada); Coordinator, Canadian Partnership for International Justice - (Canada)
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Chair, US Commission on International Religious Freedom; Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, Simon Wiesenthal Center - (United States)
Felicity Gerry KC
Barrister, Libertas Chambers; Professor of Legal Practice, Deakin University; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - (United Kingdom)
Tom Shakespeare
Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - (United Kingdom)