Dear Ms. Nada Al-Nashif
United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
On behalf of the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), we are writing to you as we believe that your upcoming trip to Iran from 2nd – 5th February is a matter of great sensitivity and responsibility!
Given that the Islamic Republic has not granted permission for the travel of members of the Fact-Finding Mission and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman into Iran, your visit, under the approval of the Islamic Republic at this time, could only serve as a means for the Islamic Republic to engage in manipulative and propagandistic activities.
We would seriously urge that you reconsider your trip to Iran if your visit does not involve close encounters with political prisoners, individuals sentenced to death and the families of the victims seeking justice, and instead consists of formal meetings with regime leaders. Partaking in such visits will no doubt be accompanied by the repetition of the regime’s false reports, used for their own legitimacy and credibility. It is therefore crucial that you are completely aware of the fact that the regime’s intentions behind granting permission for you to visit Iran has been meticulously planned and calculated in order to yield maximum media attention for their own benefit. Failing to consider the sensitive nature of this trip and taking part in this publicity stunt that the regime has laid before you will certainly result in the betrayal of the people of Iran and the undermining of their rights, in addition to adding false credibility to the regime of the Islamic Republic and becoming complicit in the bloodshed of innocent Iranians.
Despite the Islamic Republic preventing the presence of UN Human Rights members within Iran, it discredits the reports primarily by questioning the sources of the research, most of which are outside Iran and labelled as ‘websites of terrorist and hostile organizations.’
We draw your attention to last summer when the representative of the Islamic Republic dismissed your report in its entirety, claiming it to be biased, baseless, unfounded, unprofessional, and unfair, despite all available evidence and reports.
We have addressed the above-mentioned points to make you aware of the devious nature of the Iranian regime in regards to human rights. As the regime will only use and abuse anything it sees in its favour and will deny, reject, or manipulate things that it regards as being against its interests. Therefore, your visit to Iran will likely be managed by the regime within this framework, and this is why we ask you, once again, to cancel your trip to Iran, unless you are granted permission for a full investigation of prison conditions, open dialogue with political prisoners and all the requests made in Professor Rehman’s detailed report.
We truly hope that you know very well the nature of the regime you are talking to, and the enormous responsibility is on your shoulders.
Yours sincerely,
The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR)
London, Brussels, Berlin, Toronto, Washington
30th January 2024