UN Urged to Open Query Into Iran's 1988 Killings and Raisi Role

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Reuters file photo
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Reuters file photo
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UN Urged to Open Query Into Iran's 1988 Killings and Raisi Role

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Reuters file photo
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Reuters file photo

Prominent former UN judges and investigators have called on UN human rights boss Michelle Bachelet to investigate the 1988 "massacre" of political prisoners in Iran, including the role of its current president, Ebrahim Raisi, at that time.

The open letter released on Thursday, seen by Reuters, was signed by some 460 people, including a former president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sang-Hyun Song, and Stephen Rapp, a former US ambassador for global criminal justice.

Raisi, who took office in August, is under US sanctions over a past that includes what the United States and activists say was his involvement as one of four judges who oversaw the 1988 killings.

Amnesty International has put the number executed at some 5,000, saying in a 2018 report that "the real number could be higher".

"The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. They include the current Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei," said the open letter. Ejei succeeded Raisi as head of Iran's judiciary.

Raisi, when asked about activists' allegations that he was involved in the killings, told a news conference in June 2021: "If a judge, a prosecutor has defended the security of the people, he should be praised."

He added: "I am proud to have defended human rights in every position I have held so far."

The letter, organized by the British-based group Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran, was also sent to the UN Human Rights Council, whose 47 member states open a five-week session on Feb. 28.

Other signatories include previous UN investigators into torture and former foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium,
Canada, Italy, Kosovo and Poland.

Javaid Rehman, the UN investigator on human rights in Iran who is due to report to the session, called in an interview with Reuters last June for an independent inquiry into the allegations of state-ordered executions in 1988 and the role played by Raisi as Tehran deputy prosecutor.



PKK Disarmament to Take a Few Months in Iraq, Türkiye Ruling Party Says

Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
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PKK Disarmament to Take a Few Months in Iraq, Türkiye Ruling Party Says

Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo

The handover of weapons by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq, following its decision to disband, should be completed within a few months, a spokeperson for Türkiye's ruling AK Party said late on Wednesday.

Speaking to broadcaster NTV, Omer Celik said a confirmation mechanism, including officials from Turkish intelligence and the armed forces, will oversee the handover process.

"The disarmament ... process (in Iraq) needs to be completed within three to five months... If it exceeds this period, it will become vulnerable to provocations," Celik said on NTV, Reuters reported.

The PKK, which has been locked in a bloody conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, decided in May to disband and end its armed struggle.

PKK militants are set to begin handing over weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday as part of the peace process with Türkiye.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency against Türkiye in 1984 - originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state - the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a huge economic burden and fuelled social tensions.