Iranian president cancels trip to Switzerland over crimes against humanity

Iran’s president was condemned in a Swiss court this Monday For crimes against humanity Complaints about the crackdown on dissidents in 1988 derailed a planned trip to the European country by the Persian president this week.

Complaint, this Monday and that company AFP Able to consult, the Swiss federal prosecutor asks, Andreas MüllerEnsuring the arrest of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, “For their participation in genocide, torture, extrajudicial executions and other crimes against humanity.”

Raisi had planned to attend the United Nations World Refugee Forum in Geneva, which begins next Wednesday in Switzerland. However, the UN pointed out this Monday that finally, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ameer AbdullahianHe will lead his country’s delegation, which is Raisi’s absence.

Prosecutors have not confirmed receiving a complaint filed by three alleged victims of Iran’s crackdown on dissidents in the 1980s.

As the war with Iraq ended in the summer of 1988, human rights groups have long called for justice for the extrajudicial executions of thousands of people, mainly young people, in Iranian prisons in a matter of months.

The dead were mainly supporters People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK or PMOI)A group considered a terrorist organization by Iran supported Iraq in the conflict.

Complainants say Raisi can be personally identified as a member of the commission that sent thousands of imprisoned opponents to their deaths during the crackdown.

Raisi served as Tehran’s deputy prosecutor at the time. And according to the complaint, he was one of the members of his commission who worked hard to get the prisoners sentenced to death.

The main plaintiff, Reza ShemirianiArrested in 1981 and one of fewer than 150 of the 5,000 prisoners who survived the 1988 purge.

Raisi asked him which group he belonged to, and when he said the MEK, “His death sentence confirmed”, Shemiriani still doesn’t know why his life was spared, the complaint said. Instead, he remained in prison until 1991, subjected to daily torture, according to the complaint.

The other two complainants were in Iranian prisons in 1988, it added Recognize Raisi as a “Member of the Commission of Death”..

Parallel to the judicial complaint, the UN An international campaign is also underway expressing outrage at Raisi’s participation in the refugee forum, and calls for her prosecution for “participation in past and present crimes under international law”.

“Raisi was one of those responsible for the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. “His presence in the UN forum is inconsistent with the fundamental values ​​protected by the UN,” the complaint said.

It has so far collected more than 200 signatures from dignitaries including Nobel laureates, judges, former ministers, members of parliament, academics and UN rights experts.

“We strongly believe that the United Nations, a bastion of human rights and justice, should not compromise its reputation by inviting someone accused of grave human rights abuses,” the UN said without delay in extending his invitation to Raisi.

Asked about the request, the host of the forum, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said: AFP “Iran is a member state of the United Nations and, therefore, has been invited to the World Refugee Council.”

“Iran has been one of the largest hosts of refugees for more than 40 years,” a spokesman said in an email, adding that “the Iranian delegation will be led by the foreign minister.”

(With information from AFP)