Excellency Mr. Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr.Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran to UN Human Rights Council.

Ms. Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to UN Human Rights Council

It is with deep concern and anguish that we are bringing to your attention the confirmed report that at least seven members of Iran’s Baha’i community were recently buried in Khavaran.

As you are well informed, Khavaran is Burial site of individuals as well as mass graves of political prisoners executed in the 1980s.

Khavaran is one of the most compelling evidence of the Islamic Republic’s crimes against humanity. This cemetery is the sole memorial site for the grief-stricken families who are still inquiring as to why, how and when their loved ones were massacred.

We would like to remind you that on the 5th and the 8th of May 2021, a number of grieved families and advocates affiliated with Bidaran website expressed their concerns regarding the destruction of Khavarn and requested authoritative and immediate action in preventing this looming disaster.

After a district court in Stockholm, Sweden sentenced Hamid Nouri to life in prison for his role in the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran increased pressure on the victims’ families. Concurrently, by erecting a wall around Khavaran, its destruction became a pressing matter for the regime.

It is worth remembering that the current president of the Islamic Republic, Ebrahim Raisi, was one of the five members of the death commission that issued death sentences for thousands of political prisoners in the [inquisition-like courts held in the summer and fall 1988.

In addition to the two members of the Baha’i faith who were buried in mass graves in Khavaran last year, in the period between April 4 and May 4 of 2023, 7 more Bahais were buried at this site without the knowledge or presence of their families. This is a known ploy by the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security to pit the victims’ families against one another, and to destroy the incriminating evidence.

This tragic situation, the desecration of graves and trampling on the dignity of victims’ families, has made an immediate intervention by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, a humanitarian and historical necessity.

We urgently request that, on behalf of the international community, you demand that the officials of the Islamic Republic comply with The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic is a signatory.

Mai 19, 2023

Bidaran :
Monireh Baradaran
Parsto Forohar
Asgar Izadi
Naser Mahajer
Mihan Rousta
Reza Moini