This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
The United Nations has announced plans to hold a memorial ceremony for the late Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, this week, sparking sharp criticism from rights activists, who decried a move to honor a man they refer to as the “Butcher of Tehran.”
UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis said he will convene the tribute on May 30, with member states “encouraged” to deliver statements at the meeting “to pay tribute” to Raisi, who along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials, died in a helicopter crash on May 19.
The tribute has sparked a wave of criticism from activists who refer to Raisi’s alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, when he was Tehran’s deputy prosecutor.
In addition, they said that as president he oversaw a brutal, and sometimes deadly, crackdown on dissent during protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was in police custody for an alleged head-scarf violation when she died.
“When the governments of the world elevate a blatant human rights violator and butcher from Iran’s history to a position of honor, as if mourning a peace-loving and democratic figure, they set a dangerous precedent,” Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi wrote from her prison cell in Tehran.
The UN has already been sharply rebuked by rights groups for observing a moment of silence for Raisi on May 22, and for flying its flag at half-mast in honor of the Iranian president.
Monica Grayley, the spokeswoman for Francis, said paying tribute to the memory of a deceased head of state is a diplomatic practice.
But Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi argued that the UN’s decision flies in the face of its own protocols, as Raisi was not Iran’s highest-ranking official, while pointing out that a UN fact-finding mission recently said that “crimes against humanity” were committed by the Iranian regime during the crackdown on protesters in 2022.
“[Supreme Leader Ayatollah] Ali Khamenei is the highest political and military official in the Islamic republic. Whenever they die, the United Nations can hold a quadruple memorial ceremony for them along with Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Hitler,” Ebadi said in a post on Instagram.
“I want the respected Secretary General and President of the General Assembly to recognize Ebrahim Raisi as the people of Iran called him, the ‘Executioner of Iran’ and the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ after his death.”
The UN has also implicated Iranian officials in the “physical violence” that lead to Amini’s death, raising further questions over honoring Raisi at the United Nations.
A group of 23 LGBTQ+ rights organizations also issued a statement condemning the UN’s actions, describing them as a “disgrace to the body of the global community.”
The group said Raisi played a role in the execution and killing of members of their community and that many Iranians “consider the likes of Ebrahim Raisi among the murderers, torturers, and violators of their loved ones.”
