Iranian Activists Urge U.N. on Political Prisoners

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Ahead of the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Tehran, more than 400 Iranian political and social activists have written a letter to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to urge him to visit Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest in Iran for more than 18 months. The letter calls on the Secretary General to “assess the dire conditions of human rights in Iran first hand,” and says “this exposure shall be an important and a necessary step in the right direction.” It adds that 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.” Elliott Abrams writes that “Given that Iran is under U.N. Security Council sanctions, Mr. Ban should have skipped this meeting entirely. He can salvage something out of this visit if he does what those who wrote [the letter] suggest and demonstrates solidarity with the people of Iran.”

On a related note, Reporters Without Borders released a statement, saying, “The conditions of [Mir Hussein] Mousavi’s house arrest have damaged his health and he must be released at once. We urge the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to act quickly to avoid exposing him to further danger. We will hold Khamenei responsible for anything that happens to Mousavi or to the many other journalists who are being kept in detention despite their poor health.”

Additionally, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi opened the Non-Aligned Movement summit by saying the United Nations needs to undergo major reform in order to accommodate the “new global developments.” He said,”If we accept that the United Nations is based on multilateralism, this organization must be regarded as an inter-governmental organization led and guided by all its members, which is reflected in the methods of the current assembly.”