The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported on September 14 that over 400 Iranian-American Scientists, Professors, Physicians, and Professionals have addressed a letter to the United States President Joe Biden, urging him to condemn the President of the Iranian regime Ebrahim Raisi for his crimes against humanity.
The letter began by explaining that as Raisi is set to address world leaders at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)on September 20, the signatories of the letter wanted to express that “Raisi does not represent the people of Iran.”
They urged Biden to condemn Raisi in his address to the UNGA and state that he “should stand trial before international tribunals for crimes against humanity, for his key role in the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners in Iran.”
The signatories said, “Furthermore, we kindly ask that you echo, in your own address to the Assembly, the Iranian people’s rejection of the Iranian regime, as evident in unprecedented boycott of Iran’s sham elections, and the nationwide and continued uprisings of the Iranian people who seek a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran.”
The letter went on to say that following the outcome of the sham presidential elections in Iran in June, Amnesty International gave a statement which outlined that the fact that Raisi has been able to take the presidential role instead of facing prosecution for his past crimes, “is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran.”
They spoke about how back in 2018, Amnesty International had made it widely known that Raisi had been a member of the ‘death commission’ during the 1988 massacre, which was tasked with executing thousands of political prisoners in the Evin and Gohardasht prisons near Tehran.
The signatories said, “Amnesty had stated that the majority of the victims were affiliated with the PMOI [the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, also known as MEK/PMOI], adding, the circumstances surrounding the fate of the victims and the whereabouts of their bodies are, to this day, systematically concealed by the Iranian authorities, amounting to ongoing crimes against humanity.”
They said that under Raisi’s watch, the regime’s judiciary granted immunity to the officials and security forces who were responsible for the “unlawfully killing hundreds of men, women, and children and subjecting thousands of protesters to mass arrests and at least hundreds to enforced disappearance, and torture, and other ill-treatment during and in the aftermath of the nationwide protests of November 2019.”
The signatories said, “There is an abundant of evidence that Ebrahim Raisi is responsible for illegal imprisonment, torture, and murderous execution of as many as 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 and many thousands since then.”
They stated that it will be an insult to humanity, and most importantly, to the families of Raisi’s victims if he is allowed to address the UN Assembly next week. They also expressed their expectation that Biden’s administration will “take the lead at the UN to establish an international investigation to hold Raisi accountable for crimes against humanity.”
Closing the letter, the signatories said, “Furthermore, we ask that your administration develop and implement decisive policies and roadmaps that side with the Iranian people and their legitimate desire for a free, secular, and democratic republic, and will end the Iranian regime’s malign and dangerous expansion of its terrorism globally, and destabilizing activities in the region.”
The original letter:
