Kazem Gharibabadi, the Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the Secretary-General of the HCHR of the I.R of Iran wrote in a letter to "Volker Turk", the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, that, as you know, intellectuals, elites, professors and students throughout the United States universities who are fed up with the blind support by White House leaders of the Zionist regime, have personally come to the scene and by setting up massive assemblies and in the most peaceful way possible, protest against the crime against humanity, genocide and serious and gross violations of human rights in Gaza and the all-round support of their statesmen.
Gharibabadi further drew the attention of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the rapid spread of protests to all U.S. universities and some western countries and added: “The long waves of student protests that started at Columbia University in New York City and quickly spread to other universities in this country, including Yale, New York, Harvard, Texas, Southern California, etc., have reached other western countries including the U.K, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, etc. . Now the protest slogans "No to genocide and crimes against Humanity in Gaza", "Free Palestine", "Immediate ceasefire", "No to arming, supporting and accompanying the Zionist regime in killing the innocent people of Gaza" resonate from New York to Paris, from London to Berlin and from Melbourne to Ottawa.
The Secretary-General of the HCHR stated: “The protesting professors and students in the United States have specific and explicit demands for "establishing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza", "stopping the U.S. military aid to the Israeli regime", "ending the research cooperation of universities with weapons suppliers to the Zionist regime and other companies that profit from the war", and "amnesty for students and faculty members who were punished or expelled due to protesting the support of the Israeli regime". In the most civil way possible and by holding peaceful assemblies in the university environment, they have called for accountability and responsibility and for their demands to be heard by university presidents and the U.S. government officials.
Expressing regret for the U.S. support for the crimes of the occupying regime of Israel, the Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs continued: “Unfortunately, the U.S. government, has stood by the Zionist regime since the start of the blind and all-out invasion of this regime in Gaza, has provided military support and comprehensive intelligence, and has used all its political, financial and media capacities to cover up the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza and to stop international initiatives and efforts in achieving an immediate ceasefire. Instead of listening to the advice and calls of professors and students, the U.S. has dealt with these peaceful protests in the strongest possible way and has tried to suppress the protest movements of students by resorting to extreme force. The answer adopted by other Western governments that support the Zionist regime, including France, England, and Germany, clearly shows that the claims of Western countries in the field of freedom of expression and human rights are false and fraudulent.
Gharibabadi also emphasized: “No doubt, the violent suppression of student movements in the United States and other Western governments is in line with their policy of open support for the killings and war crimes of the Zionist regime and encouraged this regime to continue waging war, genocide and crimes. It will be against humanity in the occupied lands”.
He reminded: “The attempt to suppress and silence the voices of protesting professors and students and intimidate them through arbitrary arrest, getting fired and deprivation of work and education and securing the environment of universities is in clear contradiction with the obligations of these countries in guaranteeing freedom of expression, the freedom of peaceful assembly, the prohibition of arbitrary arrest, and the guarantee of the right to education, etc., under international treaties and conventions, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Secretary General of the HCHR further admitted: “It is obvious that in a situation where student protests have created a wave of happiness and hope for the future of human rights and in the spirit of seeking justice among young people and students in the U.S. and Western countries, and it is considered a pressure lever to prevent the brutal slaughter by the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip, the silence and passivity of human rights mechanisms and bodies, encourages both Western human rights-violating regimes, especially the United States, to suppress more student movements, and also the Zionist regime to continue genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and gross and serious violations of human rights in Gaza.
At the end of this letter it is stated: “In this context, the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully supporting the student protest movements in the U.S. and other western countries, expects you, as the highest human rights official of the United Nations, to professionally and non-selectively fulfill your duties and while condemning and expressing disgust for the suppression of peaceful protests of student movements in the U.S., in a sympathetic and serious manner, support the goals of these protest movements including pursuing "immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the genocide and crime against humanity in Gaza" and "the responsibility of the perpetrators and Western supporters of these crimes", and encourage the international human rights mechanisms in order to achieve these goals. Public opinion is waiting for your appropriate reaction and immediate measures”.