London, 4 December 2024 – Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) has joined more than 150 distinguished international experts, Nobel laureates and NGOs in an urgent letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, requesting swift action to prevent the execution of six political prisoners in Iran. The following is the full text of the letter:
Text of letter:
URGENT
Dr. Mai Sato
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva, Switzerland
3 December 2024
Dear Dr. Sato,
We, the undersigned experts and NGOs, write to you with an urgent appeal regarding a deeply concerning development in Iran. It has just been announced that the Iranian authorities have sentenced six political prisoners to death. These individuals face imminent execution. They include:
- Abolhassan Montazer (65): An architect and long-time political prisoner, suffering from severe health conditions.
- Pouya Ghobadi (32): An electrical engineer, arrested in March 2024, with a history of prior detentions.
- Vahid Bani-Amrian (32): A management graduate with repeated arrests since 2017.
- Babak Alipour (33): A law graduate, detained multiple times, most recently in January 2024.
- Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar (57): A civil engineer arrested in January 2024.
- Mohammad Taghavi (58): A political prisoner from the 1980s and 1990s, subjected to further imprisonment and torture.
In addition, Mojtaba and Ali Taghavi, the brothers of Mohammad Taghavi, were sentenced to imprisonment and exile purely due to their familial ties.
These sentences, handed down on 25 November 2024 by Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, are part of a broader campaign to suppress dissent and instil fear among Iranians, particularly targeting individuals advocating for democratic freedoms and human rights.
The charges against these individuals — including “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK)”, “armed rebellion against the government”, and “conspiracy against national security” — are politically motivated. This constitutes a blatant violation of international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party.
In September 2024, Judge Afshari sentenced two other PMOI supporters – Behrouz Ehsani (69) and Mehdi Hassani (48) – to death on charges of “rebellion”, “waging war against God”, “corruption on earth”, “membership in the PMOI”, and “conspiracy against national security”.
On 18 September 2024, the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad sentenced political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafai Sani (29), a local boxing champion and supporter of the PMOI, to death for the third time.
As highlighted in the landmark Atrocity Crimes report by your predecessor in July 2024, the ongoing atrocities in Iran are a result of the culture of impunity that exists, and thus urgent international action is needed to tackle this issue.
We urge you to publicly condemn these death sentences, demanding their immediate reversal and the protection of these political prisoners.
Sincerely,
CC:
- Hon. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Prof. Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
SIGNED:
- Amb. Joachim Rücker – (Germany)
President of the UN Human Rights Council (2015) - Dr. Mark Ellis – (United Kingdom)
Executive Director, International Bar Association (IBA) - Prof. Jan Pronk – (The Netherlands)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan (2004-2006); Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (1985-1986) - Tahar Boumedra – (United Kingdom)
President, 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 - Sonja Biserko – (Serbia)
Member, UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2013-2014) - Frej Fenniche – (Switzerland)
Chief of Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch (APMENAB), OHCHR (2015-2017) - Hiljmnijeta Apuk – (Kosovo)
Winner, United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2013 - Prof. Monika Płatek – (Poland)
UN Expert, OHCHR Examination of the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (2023-present) - Morten Kjaerum – (Denmark)
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) - Geoffrey Robertson AO KC – (Australia)
First President, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) - Hon. Richard J. Goldstone – (South Africa)
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; Chair of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (2009-2010) - Prof. Wolfgang Schomburg – (Germany)
Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2001-2008); Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (2003-2008) - Prof. Giovanni Grasso – (Italy)
Former International Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina; former Judge of the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina - Prof. Sir Geoffrey Nice KC – (United Kingdom)
Chair Uyghur Tribunal; Chair China Tribunal; Lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague - Prof. Christian Tomuschat – (Germany)
President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (2013-2019); Member of the UN Human Rights Committee (1977-1986); Member and Chairman of the UN International Law Commission (1985-1996) - Judge Flavia Lattanzi – (Italy)
Ad Litem Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (2003-2007); Ad Litem Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2007-2016) - Prof. Lucia Serena Rossi – (Italy)
Judge, Court of Justice of the European Union (2018-present) - Anne Ramberg – (Sweden)
Co-Chair, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI); Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR); Former Secretary General, Swedish Bar Association - Prof. José Luís da Cruz Vilaça – (Portugal)
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) - Prof. Helen Keller – (Switzerland)
Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) (2011-2020) - Prof. Josef Azizi – (Austria)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (1995-2013) - Prof. Franklin Dehousse – (Belgium)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2003-2016) - Prof. Valeriu M. Ciucă – (Romania)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2007-2010) - Klaus U. Rackwitz – (Germany)
Former Director, International Nuremberg Principles Academy - Stanislav Pavlovschi – (Moldova)
Judge, European Court of Human Rights (2001-2008) - Prof. Robert K. Goldman – (United States)
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) - Prof. Jean Ziegler – (Switzerland)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2000-2008); former Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee - Anand Grover – (India)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2008-2014); Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington; Member, Global Commission on Drug Policy; Director, Lawyers Collective - Prof. Ariel E. Dulitzky – (Argentina)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2010-2017); Director of the Human Rights Clinic of the School of Law at University of Texas at Austin - Dainius Pūras – (Lithuania)
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) - Dr. Livingstone Sewanyana – (Uganda)
UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (2018-2024) - Prof. Yanghee Lee – (South Korea)
Former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (2014-2020); Former Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child - Maud De Boer-Buquicchio – (The Netherlands)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children (2014-2020); former Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe - Alda M. Facio – (Costa Rica)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls (2014-2020) - Dr. Rowan Williams – (United Kingdom)
Former Archbishop of Canterbury - Amb. Juan Esteban Aguirre Martinez – (Paraguay)
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) - Dick Spring – (Ireland)
Foreign Minister of Ireland (1994-1997) - Dr. Péter Balázs – (Hungary)
Foreign Minister of Hungary (2009-2010) - Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría – (Costa Rica)
Second Vice-President of Costa Rica (2014-2018); Costa Rican Ambassador to Spain (2018-2022) - Amb. Zorica Marić-Djordjević – (Montenegro)
Ambassador of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council and World Trade Organization (2013-2018) - Jeppe Kofod – (Denmark)
Foreign Minister of Denmark (2019-2022) - Amb. Amanda Ellis – (New Zealand)
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN in Geneva (2013-2016) - Amb. Filloreta Kodra – (Albania)
Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania to the UN in Geneva - Amb. Kip Tom – (United States)
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture (2019-2021) - Ingrid Betancourt – (Colombia)
Former Senator and Presidential candidate - Jody Williams – (United States)
1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate - Sir Richard J. Roberts Ph.D. F.R.S. – (United Kingdom)
1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine - Elfriede Jelinek – (Austria)
2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature - Prof. Michel Mayor – (Switzerland)
2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics - Sir Gregory P. Winter – (United Kingdom)
2018 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry - Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage – (France)
2016 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry - Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy – (United States)
Founder, The Kennedy Forum; Former Member of the US House of Representatives - Amb. Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. – (United States)
US Special Envoy (2008-2009); US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs (2001-2005); Chairman Emeritus, Stimson Center - Amb. Ken Blackwell – (United States)
Former US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights - The Hon. Tony Clement PC – (Canada)
Former Member of Parliament from Canada; former Canadian Minister of Industry, Minister of Health and President of the Treasury Board - Prof. Dr. Christoph Degenhart – (Germany)
Former judge of the Constitutional Court State of Saxony - Prof. Tonio Borg – (Malta)
European Commissioner for Health (2012-2014); Foreign Minister of Malta (2008-2012); Justice Minister of Malta (2003-2008) - Prof. Timothy J. Christian KC – (Canada)
Chief Federal Negotiator of the Government of Canada (1996–2010); Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta (1985-1995) - Sheila Paylan – (Armenia/Canada)
Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Legal Consultant with the United Nations - Gabrielle Louise McIntyre – (Australia/Cyprus)
International Consultant, Lex Collective - Prof. Roger S. Clark – (New Zealand)
Board of Governors Professor Emeritus, Rutgers Law School; Member, UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (1987-1990) - Dr. Juan E. Garcés – (Spain)
Winner of the 1999 Right Livelihood Award (Sweden); Lawyer and former advisor to Chilean President Salvador Allende - Irene Victoria Massimino – (Argentina)
High Criminal Court Rapporteur of Buenos Aires, Argentina (2016-2020) - Prof. Sara Chandler KC (Hon) – (United Kingdom)
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 - Prof. Rebecca Cook – (Canada)
Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto - Prof. Brice Dickson – (United Kingdom)
Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (1999-2005) - Prof. Nicholas Grief – (United Kingdom)
Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Kent - Amos Waldman – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Marion Böker – (Germany)
Director, Consultancy for Human Rights & Gender Issues - Dominique Attias – (France)
Former President, European Bars Federation / Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe (FBE) - Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy – (United States)
Executive Director, World Without Genocide - Prof. Errol P. Mendes – (Canada)
President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Canadian Section; Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa - David Russell – (United Kingdom)
UK Coordinator, Survivors Fund (SURF) - Prof. Predrag Dojčinović – (United States)
Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate at the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut - Prof. Jerry P. White – (Canada)
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Western University - Prof. Steven Leonard Jacobs – (United States)
Professor of Religious Studies, University of Alabama - Elisabeth Rabesandratana – (France)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Thom Dyke – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Deka Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Eleonora Mongelli – (Italy)
Vice President, FIDU – Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani (Italian Federation for Human Rights) - Prof. Dr. Susanne Brandtstädter – (Germany)
Professor and Chair of the Anthropology of Globalization at the University of Cologne - Malcolm Fowler – (United Kingdom)
Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate - Achille Campagna – (San Marino)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Arbana Xharra – (Kosovo)
Recipient of US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award 2015 - Prof. Caroline Bennett – (New Zealand)
Lecturer in Social Anthropology and International Development, School of Global Studies, Sussex University - Anila Ali – (United States)
President and CEO, American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council - Prof. Maria Neus Torbisco-Casals – (Switzerland)
Senior Research Fellow, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute - Prof. Ben Kiernan – (United States)
Founding Director, Cambodian Genocide Program, Yale University - Dr. Anja Matwijkiw – (Denmark)
Professor of Ethics & Human Rights & 2024-2025 Indiana University Presidential Fellow of Arts and Humanities, Indiana University Northwest - Tomas Manguel – (Argentina)
Professor of International Criminal Law, Universidad de Buenos Aires; Visiting Fellow, Guernica37 Centre - Jonathan Arkush – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Enterprise Chambers - Paulo Casaca – (Portugal)
Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum; Former Member of the European Parliament - Prof. Paul H. Robinson – (United States)
Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School - Prof. Siri Gloppen – (Norway)
Professor, University of Bergen; Director, Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen - Prof. Stephen Eric Bronner – (United States)
Co-Director, International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue (ICDD); Board of Governors Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Rutgers University - Lord Hendy KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister; Member of the UK House of Lords - Richard C. Dieter – (United States)
Former Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center; Adjunct Professor of Law, Catholic University of America - Prof. Max du Plessis – (South Africa)
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers; Senior Counsel; Adjunct Professor, University of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela University - Prof. Rosa Ana Alija Fernández – (Spain)
Associate Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona - Joan Francesca Quint – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Radcliffe Chambers - Eoin McGonigal – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel - Daniele Vecchi – (Italy)
Partner, Gianni & Origoni - Filippo Cesaris – (Italy)
Vice President of FDU – Fondazione Diritti Umani (Human Rights Foundation) - Nick Brown – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers - Greg Boos – (United States)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Sharron Davies MBE – (United Kingdom)
Swimmer, Olympic medalist - Prof. Debórah Dwork – (United States)
Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at The Graduate Center—City University of New York (CUNY) - Prof. Tom Shakespeare – (United Kingdom)
Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - Stephanie Barwise KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister - Christina Cushen – (Australia)
Human Rights and Gender Equality Activist; Research Assistant to Philip Hayes - Prof. Baden Offord AO – (Australia)
Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies and Human Rights, Curtin University - Jane E. Durgom-Powers – (United States)
CEO & Founder, Families of the Missing (FOM) - Denis Jivaga – (Kazakhstan)
Director, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR) - Omar Soliman – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Guernica 37 Chambers - Prof. Ray Murphy – (Ireland)
Professor, Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, University of Galway - Dr. Katerina Hatzikidi – (United Kingdom)
Postdoctoral Researcher, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany) - Prof. Eric Heinze – (United Kingdom)
Executive Director, Centre for Law, Democracy, and Society (CLDS), Queen Mary University of London; Professor of Law & Humanities, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London - Prof. Aurora Ciucă – (Romania)
President, “Vespasian V. Pella” Association; Faculty of Law and Public Administration, University “Ștefan cel Mare” - Mélanie Sonhaye-Kombate – (Togo)
Programmes and Advocacy Director, West African Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN / ROADDH) - Dr. Maude Barlow – (Canada)
Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly; Former Chairperson of the Council of Canadians - Prof. Alex Neve – (Canada)
Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa; Former Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada - Dr. Mireille Rebeiz – (United States)
Chair of Middle East Studies & Associate Professor, Dickinson College - Prof. Alexander Motyl – (United States)
Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University - Dr. Denakpon L. Tchobo – (United States)
Adjunct Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law; President, Global Justice Intelligence Eyes (GJIE) - Tarazi Mohammed Sheikh – (Bangladesh)
Human Rights Defender - Prof. Alexander Alvarez – (United States)
Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University - Karen Gomez Dumpit – (Philippines)
Former Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) - Prof. Gill H. Boehringer – (Australia)
Dean (ret.), Macquarie University Law School, Sydney; Co-Chair, Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of Peoples Lawyers - Oleksandr Humirov – (Ukraine)
Lawyer; Former Projects Officer, IBA War Crimes Committee - Vincent Heneghan – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel - Dato’ Shyamala Alagendra – (Malaysia)
Gender Advisor to the OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability project; Former Gender and Child Rights Advisor to the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) - Prof. David E. Guinn – (United States)
Public Service Professor, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany – State University of New York - Prof. Josef Drexl – (Germany)
Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition - Prof. Hilary Earl – (Canada)
Professor of European History and Genocide Studies, Nipissing University - Hon. Dr. Jocelynne A. Scutt – (United Kingdom / Australia)
Senior Fellow at the University of Buckingham; former Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of Tasmania; former judge on the High Court of Fiji - Prof. Pierre Sané – (Senegal)
Secretary General, Amnesty International (1992-2001) - Prof. Jeremy Sarkin – (South Africa)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2008-2014) - Prof. Luz E. Nagle – (United States)
Professor of Law Emeritus, Stetson University College of Law - Melinda Taylor – (Australia)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - Tracy Edwards MBE – (United Kingdom)
Founder, The Maiden Factor - Bob Blackman MP – (United Kingdom)
Member of Parliament - Lord Alton of Liverpool – (United Kingdom)
Chair, UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights; Member of the House of Lords - Michel Forst – (France)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders (2014-2020); UN Independent Expert on Haiti (2008-2013) - Dr. Elina Šteinerte – (Latvia)
Member and Chair-Rapporteur, UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) (2016-2022) - Prof. Hannah R. Garry – (United States)
Professor from Practice and Executive Director of The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law - Madasamy Ravi – (Singapore)
International human rights lawyer - Prof. Sébastien Touzé – (France)
Member and Vice-President, UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) (2016-2023); Director, Fondation René Cassin - Prof. Antonietta Elia – (Italy)
International Legal Adviser, Council of Europe - Prof. Eve Zucker – (United States)
Lecturer at Yale University; Member, Steering Committee, Genocide Studies Program at Yale University
Co-signatory organisations: - Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) – (United Kingdom)
- World Without Genocide – (United States)
- Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia – (Serbia)
- Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity, The Graduate Center—City University of New York (CUNY) – (United States)
- Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR) – (Kazakhstan)
- NGO Little People of Kosova – (Kosovo)
- Families of the Missing (FOM) – (United States)
- American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council – (United States)
- International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue (ICDD) – (France)
- West African Human Rights Defenders Network / Réseau Ouest Africain des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (WAHRDN/ROADDH) – (Togo)
- Global Justice Intelligence Eyes (GJIE) – (United States)
- Comité de soutien aux droits de l’homme en Iran (CSDHI) – (France)