by Louise Requin/GICJ
Victims of the president of Iran have requested his arrest if Raisi sets foot in Scotland, at the occasion of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop26). Raisi became president in August 2021 and is known to be a hardline ultra conservative fundamentalist. It appears he is also a genocidal criminal.
President Raisi should arrive in England this month, to attend the COP26 conference starting on October 31st. This would be the occasion for Scottish authorities to arrest him by invoking the universal jurisdiction which allows to prosecute those accused of committing very serious crimes regardless of nationality or country where the crimes were committed.
Raisi was accused of overseeing multiple crimes against humanity. As chief justice in Tehran, Raisi also oversaw the political massacre of 30 000 people in 1988, an event that has cost him his title as the “Butcher of Tehran”. The massacre included deaths by hanging of children, the torture and rape of women, including pregnant women. He also oversaw the mass killing of peaceful demonstrators, extrajudicial killings in prisons, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances. Crimes against humanity fall under universal jurisdiction due to their most serious character, which enables any state to prosecute the accused individual regardless of nationality and country. Victims Ahmad Ebrahim and Farzaneh Majidi filed a complaint under Scottish and English law which could very well lead to the arrest of Raisi, would he reach Great Britain. Ebrahim himself was detained and tortured for ten years under Raisi’s tenure as a judge in Tehran. Among with hundreds of others in the prison, Ahmad Ebrahim was kept awake, tied up, beaten, and eventually survived where over 170 other prisoners were killed.
The plaintiffs have received the support of former member of EU parliament Struan Stevenson, who has sent a formal request to start a criminal investigation into these accusations. Today, on the 13th of October, Stevenson held a press conference in Glasgow to bring attention to the complaint and push for his arrest, were he to arrive in Scotland. Hossein Abedini (National Council of Resistance of Iran) and Tahar Boumedra (former UN Human Rights Officer in Iraq) joined Stevenson at the press conference, along with the plaintiffs. The latter demanded Police Scotland to show its support by arresting Raisi, and offered to talk to the police in more details about the several crimes they have been directly or indirectly affected by. The police has so far only replied that the matter was being reviewed.
GICJ supports the initiative of a criminal investigation into Raisi’s alleged crimes. His crimes cause harm not only to those Iranian victims, but to the international community and international order. All states are responsible to protect human rights and hold those who committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide accountable . The rise of Raisi to the presidency presents a serious threat for the human rights of the Iranian people. Truth and justice is owed to his former and current victims, and the international community has a duty to protect his potential future victims.
Justice, Human rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International For Justice
