Open Letter to Ban Ki Moon to meet with Mir Hussein Mousavi upon his visit to Iran

More than 400 human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, and academics have written a letter to Ban Ki Moon asking him to visit Mir Hussein Mousavi when in Iran for the Non-Aligned Movement Summit. The text is published here in its entirety.

Open Letter to Ban Ki Moon to meet with Mir Hussein Mousavi upon his visit to Iran

August 25, 2012

Dear Mr. Ban Ki Moon,
Secretary General of the United Nations

Your imminent visit to Tehran to participate in the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference shall provide a unique opportunity to assess the dire conditions of human rights in Iran first hand. Although your brief visit will not allow a thorough examination of the criticality of the human rights violations in the Islamic Republic, nonetheless this exposure shall be an important and a necessary step in the right direction.

Dialogue and scrutiny have an important role in reducing tension and helping to improve the status quo. It is vital that you meet up with Mr. Mir Hossein Moussavi, former Prime Minister, and the opposition candidate of the rigged 10th Presidential election in 2009. Mr Moussavi the de facto leader of the Iranian Green movement who had been admitted to the cardiology department of a hospital due to heart problems, now has been returned to an unknown location, effectively under house arrest again after treatment. Many Iranians inside and outside of Iran are concerned about his current condition. For the last 32 months Mr. Moussavi and his wife Dr. Zahra Rahnavard have been under house arrest with minimal access imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your meeting with them could defuse the existing threats against Mr. Mousavi and his family’s lives.

Your meeting with Mr. Mousavi is a humanitarian act which is inline with the United Nations ethos. To visit Mr. Mousavi and also Hojat-ul-Islam Mehdi Karubi, former speaker of Majlis and the other Presidential candidate for the 2009 rigged election (still under house arrest) as well as other prisoners of conscience in the infamous Evin Prison will have a positive effect on the establishment of human rights and respect for human dignity in Iran.

The UN , your excellency, and your many colleagues have been instrumental in creating a sanctuary for universal justice around the world. Therefore all governments must abide by the charter of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights and all of its addendums over their own laws and be accountable for any human rights abuses against its own citizens.

For more than 3 decades, the people of Iran have suffered from a systematic , continual and orchestrated human rights violations. Based on the mandates of UN Charter, the expectation from you is to defend peoples basic human rights. Your continued efforts will help to revive the failed attempts by the Special Human Rights Rapporteur on Iran, Dr. Ahmad Shahid to investigate claims of human right violations.

We the undersigned, in the name of humanity and the United Nations Charter, appeal to you to intervene for ending the deteriorating conditions of human rights, state sponsored violence, and prejudice in Iran. The top priority in dealing with the Islamist regime is to demand the release of all political prisoners and the temporary release of all prisoners who have acute health problems.

We hope you will insist on demanding a private meeting with Mir-Hossein Moussavi , his wife Mrs Zahra Rahnavard and Hojat-ul-Islam Mehdi Karubi without the presence of the customary official intimidation.

The signatories list:
Arash Abad Pour, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, Gholam Abbasi,Mohammad Saber Abbasian, Mazdak Abdipour, Arash Abedi, Zia Abedi, Behrouz Adel, Ali Afshari, Reza Afshari, Saeed Aganji, Abdorreza Ahamdi, Mehrdad Ahamdzadeh, Maryam Ahari, Ahmad Ahmadian, Amin Ahmadian, Behzad Ahmadnia, Mohammad Javad Akbareyn, Maryam Akbari, Kazem Alamdari, Hossein Alavi, Shahed Alavi, Tayyebeh Alirezaei, Arya Alizadehfar, Khosro Allaf Akbari, Ayda Amidi, Marzieh Amini,Mahdi Amini, Asieh Amini, Ehsan Amini, Mahdi aminizadeh, Kamran Amiri, Manouchehr Amiri, Manaf Ammari, Shahab Amoupour, Vahab Ansari, Maryam Ansari, Shahin Anzali, Soheil Arabi, Mahdi Arabshahi, Vahid Arbab, Peyman Aref, Jamshid Asadi, Azadeh Asadi, Mir Ardavan Asadi,Shohreh Asemi, Ardavan Ashabi, Farid Ashakan, Alireza Ashkiani, Arsalan Ashour, Darioush Ashouri, Roshanak Astarki, Ayandeh Azad, Ahamd Azad, Shabnam Azar, Masoud Azari, Farshid Azarinoush, Nazi Azima, Seyyed Hadi Azimi, Farzaneh Azimi, Jamshid Babaei, Hadi Babaei, Human Bagheri, Iraj Bagherzadeh, Hossein Bagherzadeh, Shahla Bahar Dust, Arezoo Baher, Siavash Bahman, Mohammad Bahmani, Khosro Bandari, Ali Bani Jamali, Mahrokh Baniani, Negin Bank, Mehran Barati, Sara Barkhordari, Farya Barlas, Aref Bastami, Ahmad Batebi, Behrouz Bayat, Abdolali Bazargan, Kamyar Behrang, Abbas Bidar,Amir Biglari, Mohammad Borghaei, Nasim Chalaki, Reza Charandabi, Masoud Chenasi, Ali Chikav, Mehrdad Darvishpour, Azadeh Davachi, Kamal Davoudi, Fariba Davoodi Mohajer, Fatemeh Delavarian, Akram Doaeizadeh, Hutan Dolati, Mohmmad Javad Dord Keshan, Hamed Ebrahimi Nejad, Goudarz Eghtedari, Mehrdad Ehsani Pour, Babak Ejlali, Mohsen Emadi, Nasir Emami, Bahram Emami, Maryam Emamollahi Darcheh, Ardavan Ershad, Morteza Eslahchi, Javad Esmaeili, Seyyed Kouhzad Esmaeili, Zinat EsmaeilZadeh, Asal EsmaeilZadeh, Amir Etedali, Amir Hossein Etemadi, Shirin Famili, Ali Farahani, Siamak Farid, Farhad Farjad, Ghafour Farrokhian, Mahmoud Farrokhian, Farshid Faryabi, Mahdi Fatapour, Masoud Fathi, Shervin Fekri, Hasan Fereshtian, Shahab Feyzi, Keyvan Forouzan, Ali Forozandeh, Amir Hossein Fotouhi, Ali Fotovvati, Firuzeh Fouladi, Amir Hossein Ganjbakhsh, Jafar Ghadimkhani, Hadi Ghaemi, Mohsen Ghaemi Nik, Abtin Ghaffari, Ayda Ghajar, Hossein Ghasemi, Kobra Ghasemi, Reza Ghazinouri, Sanam Ghiabi, Mohammad Gholikhani, Mahdi Gholizadeh Aghdam, Maryam Ghorbanifar, Reza Goharzad, Katayoun Golrokh, Fardad Golshani, Saeed Habibi, Omid Haghighat Jou, Abbas Hakimzadeh, Vahak Hakoupian, Nasrin Hamidi, hamid Hamidi, ,Mehrdad Hariri,Sourena Hashemi, Nader Hashemi, Emad Hashemi, Mohammad Hedayati, Biajn Hekmat, Ali Hekmat, Nahid Hemmati, Rahim Hemmati, Aram Hesami, Mohsen Heydarian, Reza Hiva, Nahid Hosseini, Seyyed Reza Hosseini, Ali Hosseini, Soulmaz Ikdar, Alimohammad Jadali, Hasan Jafari, Atefeh Jafari, Reza Jafarian, Pouya Jahandar, Gisou Jahangiri, Mohammad Jalali Cjimeh, Mahdi Jami, Ali Jamshidi, Arash Jannati Ataei, Farzad Javaheri, Rahil Javdani, Jahanshah Javid, Behieh Jilani, Reza Joshani, Naeimeh Kafshdouz, Hadi Kahalzadeh, Arsalan Kahanamaeipour, Ali Kalaei, Hasan Kalantari, Amir Kalhar, Alireza Kan’anrou, Mehrangiz Kar, Aziz Karalou, Babi Karami, Majid Karbala Beheshti, Amir Karbala Beheshti, Behzad Karimi, Reza Karimi, Mahmoud Karimi Hakkak, Morteza Kazemian, Vaeik Keshishzadeh, Behrouz Khaligh, Mahdi Khanbaba Tehrani, Amin Khojastehfar, Aliasghar Khorsand, Mostafa Khosravi, Esmaeil Khotaei, Azadeh Kian, Alireza Kiani, Taghi Kimiaei Asadi, Parvin Kohzadi, Kazem Kordavani, Saeedeh Kordinejad, Hamid Kosari, Omid Kouhi, Masoud Lavasani, Hamid Mafi, Samira Maghami, Manouchehr Maghsoudnia, Maziar Mahboubi, Akbar Mahdi, Pouyan Mahmoudian, Sara Mahrouian, Darioush Majlesi, Hasan Makaremi, Morteza Malak Mohammadi, Noushin Manouchehri, Meysam Mashayekh, Abdolhamid Masoumi Tehrani, Parastou Matinzadeh, Hanif Mazrouei, Ahmad Medaadi, Behzad Mehrani, Amir Memarian, Yaser Mirdamadi, Mehran Mirfakhraei, Ziba Mirhosseini, Anvar Mirsattari, Mansour Moaddel, Reza Mobin, Hossein Moghaddam, Majid Mohammadi, Maliheh Mohammadi, Farahnaz Mohammadi, Amin Mohammadi Rad, Ali Mohtadi, Hamid Mokhtari, Peyman Molaz, Ahmad Montazeri, Reza Mosouli, Nariman Mostafavi, Mahdi Motamedimehr, Meysam Motamednia, Majid Movahhed, Mahdi Mozaffari, Seyyed Ali Akbar Musavi Khoeini. Ebrahim Nabavi. Fereydoun Naghibi, Roja Najafi, Youhanna Najdi, Hojjat Narenji, Roya Naseri, Mazdak Nasiri, Dawoud Navaeian, Mohammad Navvab, Hasan Nayeb Hashem, Ali Nazari, Farrokh Negahdar, Morteza Negahi, Shervin Nekouei, Razieh Neshat, Bourgan Nezami Narjabad, Sajjad Nikaein, Mohammad Reza Nikfar, Majid Niknam, Hossein Niknam Amini, Shavon Noakhtar, Shiva Nojou, Manouchehr Norouzian, Mohammad Reza Nosrati, Amir Nourafkan, Mahdi Nourbakhsh, Shahin Nourbakhsh, Farhad Nouri, Mohammad Nourizad, Mahdi Nozar. Maryam Oghlidi, Hamid Omrani, Mohammad Orsi, Kamran Oshtori, Nikrouz Oulad Azami, Mohammad , uliaei Fard, Mohammad Panahi, Mahnaz Parakand, Soheil Parhizi, Darioush Parsa, Misagh Parsa, Ali Parsan, Saeed Peyvandi, Katayun Pezeshki, Bijan Pirzadeh, Asal Pirzadeh, Saeed Pour Heidari, Omid Pour Mohammadali, Ahmad Pourmandi. Leily Pourzand,Sudeh Rad, Alireza Raeisi, Ahmad Rafat, Hassan Rahi, Mojtaba Rahimi, Kamal Rahmanian, Mohammad Rajabi, Aliasghar Ramezanpour, Nima Rashedan, Amir Rashidi, Arman Reza Khani, Shideh Rezaei, Sahar Rezazadeh, Azita Rezvan, Amin Riahi, Akbar Rohani, Anahita Rostampour, Meysam Roudaki, Farhad Rouhi, Maryam Rouzbehani, Setareh Sabeti, Mohammad Sadeghi, Amin Sadeghi, Mahmoud Sadri, Karen Sadri, Mahdi Saeedpour, Maryam Safaei, Siavash Safavi, Zohreh Saffarian, Amir Saffarian, Ramin Safizadeh, Bijan Safsari, Mohammad Sahimi, Mehrzad Salamat Farmad, Misagh Salamat Farmad, Mahshad Salamat Farmad, Mahbod Salamat Farmad, Arash Saleh,Shida Salari, Hamid Salek, Ali Samad, Farrokh Saniei Far, Reza Saniei Far, Nasim Sarabandi, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Mehdi Savalanpour, Bali Sedaghat, Kourosh Sehhati, Sadra Semnani Rahbar, Amir Hossein Seraji, Masoud Shabafrouz, Darab Shabahang, Rouhi Shafiei, Shahnaz Shahini, Sajjad Shahmoradi, Gholamreza Shahmoradi, Ali Shakeri, Rahim Shambayani, Karim Shambayani, Seyyed Ahmad Shams, Fateme Shams, Mohammad Javad Sharifi Navid, Parvin Shatti, Farzaneh Shervin, Annas Shirazi, Hamid Shirazi, Arman Shirazi, Sadegh Shojaei, Mansoureh Shojaei, Ardalan Shokrabi, Salman Sima, Reza Siavoshi, Hossein Sobhanollahi, Saeedeh Sohrabi, Gholamreza Sojoudi, Hamid Reza Soleimani, Amin Sorkhabi, Behrouz Sotoudeh, Behzad Sotoudeh, Laleh Sotoudeh, Farhad Soufi, Ali Tabatabaei, Habib Tabrizian, Maryam Tahmasbi, Khosro Tajrobeh Kar, Arefeh Sadat Tajzadeh, Ashkbous Talebi, Majid Tamjidi, Ali Tarokh., Majid Tavallaei, Shahram Tehrani, Nayyereh Tohidi, Roya Tolouei, Mohammad Torabi, Hossein Torkashvand, Farshad Toumaj, Farzin Vahdat, Alireza Vakili, Sajjad Veismoradi, Darioush Vosoughi, Mahdi Yarmohammadi, Hamideh Yazdani, Ashakn Yazdchi, Hadi Yousefi, Yousefzadeh Yousefzadeh, Hasan Zahtab, Mohsen Zamani, Saman Zamanzadeh, Mihan Zandi, Hamid Zanganeh, Isa Zargarian, Esmaeil Zargarian, Hamid Reza Zarifinia, Fathieh Zarkesh Yazdi, Masoumeh Zia