The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, is scheduled to speak during the high-level segment of a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Tuesday, February 23. In light of the Islamic Republic’s massacre of thousands of protesters on January 8 and 9, we urge all diplomats present to take a moral stand and walk out during his address. This action will send a powerful message against the mass killings and crimes against humanity perpetuated by the Islamic Republic.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is not qualified to speak to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva after overseeing the largest mass killing in the country’s modern history and one of the largest single day massacres globally. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a group that has been closely documenting protests in Iran for more than a decade, more than 7,000 people have been verified as killed during the protest violence, with an additional more than 11,000 under review. Two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health told TIME Magazine that as many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on January 8 and 9 alone, and stated that the state’s capacity to dispose of the dead was overwhelmed and that supply of body bags were depleted. Thousands more are imprisoned and facing custodial torture and even possible execution. The problem of enforced disappearances is rampant—with families having no news of their loved ones since they left for the protests on January 8 and 9.

The regime responded to its own people’s calls for freedom with bullets and bloodshed on an unprecedented scale. This is beyond shameful—it is a crime against humanity.

It is rare for a government to kill so many of its own citizens in such a short period and then seek to address the very body tasked with protecting human rights. Allowing the Islamic Republic to speak unchallenged at the UN Human Rights Council would set a dangerous precedent, signaling that regimes can commit atrocities of this magnitude without consequence on the world stage.

We are calling on all diplomats to walk out if Gharibabadi or any Islamic Republic official speaks. Representatives of a regime responsible for the slaughter of tens of thousands of its own citizens have no authority to lecture anyone on human rights.

Diplomatic walkouts at the United Nations are an established and powerful form of protest. In 2009, dozens of diplomats staged a walkout during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at the UN Durban Review Conference over his antisemitic remarks. More recently, in 2022, diplomats walked out during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s address to the UN Human Rights Council following the invasion of Ukraine. These precedents demonstrate that the international community has the will and the means to confront representatives of abusive regimes—and the current situation demands nothing less.

Diplomats who choose to walk out will uphold the founding principles of the United Nations to promote and protect human rights globally. This symbolic gesture will not only spotlight the Islamic Republic’s mass atrocities and systematic human rights abuses, but inspire hope and solidarity with the victims’ families and the millions of activists resisting oppression within the country.

By staging this walkout, we emphasize the importance of accountability and the need for diplomatic representatives to take concrete actions in defense of human dignity. A regime that has carried out the largest mass killing in its modern history cannot be allowed to stand before the world’s foremost human rights body unchallenged. This effort seeks to confront oppressive regimes and make it clear that the international community refuses to ignore or condone the Islamic Republic’s conduct.

Join us in calling on diplomats to demonstrate their commitment to justice and human rights. Your support is crucial in amplifying this message and urging all nations to prioritize human rights at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council meeting. Sign this petition to make a difference—for the lives lost and for the millions still fighting for freedom.