Signatories of Open letter to the UN Secretary-General
London, 29 May 2024 – A coalition of 45 distinguished current and former United Nations Ambassadors, Judges, experts, and officials have issued an urgent open letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and General Assembly President Dennis Francis, demanding the cancellation of a planned tribute to former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The tribute, scheduled for 30 May, has sparked outrage due to Raisi’s direct and personal involvement in extensive and egregious human rights violations, chief among them the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners.
Signatories of the letter include former Presidents of the UN Human Rights Council and UN Security Council, distinguished former UN Judges, current and former members of the UN Special Procedures, and eight former Ambassadors to the UN, emphasising the broad international concern over this issue. They argue that honouring Raisi would undermine the UN’s core principles and embolden the culture of impunity in Iran.
Here are the 45 distinguished signatories:
Distinguished Signatories
Ganna Yudkivska
Vice-Chair/Member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (2022-present); former Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – (Ukraine)
Miriam Ekiudoko
Member, UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (2021-present) – (Hungary)
Wolfgang Schomburg
Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2001-2008); former Judge, UN ICTR; Judge, Federal Supreme Court of Germany (1995–2000) – (Germany)
Geoffrey Robertson
First President, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL); ‘Distinguished jurist’ on the UN Internal Justice Council (2008-2012); Founder and Head, Doughty Street Chambers – (Australia)
William A. Schabas
Chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (2014-2015) - (Canada)
Richard J. Goldstone
Chair of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (2009-2010); former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - (South Africa)
Amb. Joachim Rücker
President of the UN Human Rights Council (2015): Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN in Geneva (2014-2016) Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (2006-2008) – (Germany)
Solomon Passy
President of the UN Security Council (2002 and 2003); Former Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE; Former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria – (Bulgaria)
Jan Pronk
Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan (2004-2006); Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (1985-1986); Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (1980-1985) – (The Netherlands)
Amb. Giulio Terzi
Italian Senator; Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN in New York (2008-2009) – (Italy)
Amb. Amanda Ellis
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN in Geneva (2013-2016) – (New Zealand)
Amb. Keith M. Harper
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the US to the UN Human Rights Council (2014-2017) – (United States)
Amb. Zorica Marić-Djordjević
Ambassador of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council and WTO (2013-2018) – (Montenegro)
Amb. Filloreta Kodra
Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania to the UN in Geneva – (Albania)
Amb. Juan Esteban Aguirre Martinez
Foreign Minister of Paraguay (2000-2001); Former Ambassador of Paraguay to the United Nations Office in Geneva; Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council (2015) – (Paraguay)
Amb. Ken Blackwell
Former US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights – (United States)
Alda M. Facio
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls (2014-2020) - (Costa Rica)
Tahar Boumedra
Director, 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)
Robert K. Goldman
UN Independent Expert on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism (2004-2005); President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ); former President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) - (United States)
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)
Sir Geoffrey Nice KC
Lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague; prosecuted the case of Bosnian Croat Dario Kordić at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), successfully prosecuted Goran Jelisić at the ICTY – (United Kingdom)
Jean Ziegler
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2000-2008); former Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee – (Switzerland)
Annalisa Ciampi
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association (2017); Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights – (Italy)
Gabriela Knaul
UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (2009-2015) - (Brazil)
Dainius Pūras
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2014-2020); Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council (2018-2019) - (Lithuania)
Gabor Rona
Chair-Rapporteur/Member of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries (2011-2019); Chief ad interim, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Protection of Civilians Section (2010) - (United States)
Michael Lynk
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories (2016-2022) - (Canada)
Anand Grover
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2008-2014) – (India)
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)
Gerard Quinn
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2020-2023) – (Ireland)
Jelena Aparac
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries (2018-2023) - (Croatia)
Dante Pesce
Chair/Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (2015-2021) - (Chile)
Mark Vlasic KCHS KCEM
Former prosecutor/legal officer on the Srebrenica genocide (Krstic) trial and the Slobodan Milošević trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY) – (United States)
Hiljmnijeta Apuk
Winner, United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2013 – (Kosovo)
Maude Barlow
Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly; Former Chairperson of the Council of Canadians - (Canada)
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)
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)
Sonja Biserko
Member, UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2013-2014) - (Serbia)
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)
Gabrielle Louise Mcintyre
International Consultant, Lex Collective; Former Chef de Cabinet and Principal Legal Advisor to the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) - (Australia/Cyprus)
Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips
Barrister, Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers; Former Lead Prosecutor, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)- (United Kingdom/Nigeria)
John Packer
Former UN Staff Member, Member of the UN's Standby Team of Mediation Experts (2012-2014); Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), University of Ottawa - (Canada)
Charli Carpenter
Director of Human Security Lab and Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; Former UN consultant - (United States)
Pearl Eliadis
OHCHR Senior Consultant, National Unity and Reconciliation Commission of Rwanda (2001); Associate Professor (Professional), McGill University - (Canada)