Nobel Women's Initiative

A group of Iranian political and social activists signed a letter of appeal this month demanding that UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay urgently dispatch Special Rapporteurs on human rights to the country.

The letter followed news of the execution of five political prisoners earlier this month. The individuals were accused of membership in "anti-Revolutionary" organizations.  Since the June presidential elections, over 80 opposition activists sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years, and a dozen face death sentences.  

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi joined the call, urging Pillay to send Rapporteurs to investigate instances of torture, arbitrary detention and execution in the post-election period. The signatories argued that a visit by UN experts was a "matter of urgency," and that their presence may "prevent more tragic life losses."

After having rejected earlier calls for UN officials be permitted to enter the country, the government took an about turn in February, inviting Pillay to visit Iran. A spokesperson for Pillay has said, however, that the Commissioner will not be able to make the visit until 2011. 

According to Ebadi, the recent executions indicate that more executions are likely for prisoners indicted with death sentences. She has insisted that the government make good on its promise of allowing Rapporteurs to arrive in Iran, and provide them with unimpeded access to the case files and families of executed individuals and other political prisoners. 

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Iranian Activists Call for More Urgency in UN Observers' Trip to Iran, Eurasia Review, 15 May 2010.

Read statement by Shirin Ebadi on the Deterioration of Judiciary and the Need for UN Rapporteurs, 19 May 2010.

Read Shirin Ebadi's Open Letter Navanthem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 08 February 2010.