Iranians awoke on Monday to the information that President Ebrahim Raeshi, Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian, and a number of other different senior authorities officers have been killed in a helicopter crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. How Raeshi’s dying will have an effect on human rights within the nation has already been the topic of a lot commentary.
Raesh is deeply embedded in a historical past of Iranian officers by no means being held accountable for severe human rights abuses for the reason that 1979 revolution, and lots of relations have positioned him on the prime of a listing of senior Iranian officers they wish to see tried for the federal government’s most egregious crimes.
Raeshi was considered one of 4 members of the committees that sentenced 1000’s of political prisoners to dying in 1988. These committees made a mockery of truthful trial requirements and the ensuing mass executions ought to be investigated as crimes in opposition to humanity.
Raesh beforehand headed Iran’s judiciary and, throughout his presidency, additionally headed the manager department. He bears important accountability for a lot of repressive insurance policies, together with the lethal crackdown on widespread protests in 2019 and the 2022 Women, Life and Freedom protests following the dying of Mahsa Zina Amini whereas in morality police custody. Raesh can also be largely chargeable for the execution of protesters after unfair trials, the prosecution of peaceable dissidents, and the implementation of the nation’s abusive obligatory hijab regulation.
However, you will need to acknowledge that Iran’s repressive equipment extends past the president’s authority, and with out elementary change, these violations are anticipated to proceed.
For greater than a decade, Iran’s Guardian Council has been on the forefront of systematically disempowering elected our bodies as venues for influencing authorities coverage, together with narrowing the sector of candidates within the 2021 presidential elections to such an extent that even the speaker of parliament was disqualified from voting.
Absent a significant shift within the political scenario, Raesh’s dying isn’t anticipated to result in any actual change in human rights in Iran.