IMHRO Letter to President Obama

The Honourable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)

Ref.IMHRO.37

2009-01-20

Dear Mr. President

I am writing to you as a representative of the Iranian Minorities Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO). We are a small non-governmental organisation who campaign to raise awareness of and change the government-sanctioned deprivation of minorities’ human rights that occurs in Iran. In recent years the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran (including Arabs, Kurds, Baluch, Turkmen, Turks, Bahá’í, Christian, Sunnis and Jews) has increased. We believe that this needs to be rectified. We are the only solely English-medium human rights organisation that concentrates on minorities’ human rights in Iran, and feel that much work needs to be done to highlight within the Western world the lamentable state of affairs that currently exists in this area.

We would like to extend our congratulations to you regarding your recent success in the US presidential elections. It was a campaign well-fought on both sides, and one that is a testament to the high standard of democracy that exists within the USA.

However, we at IMHRO would like to highlight the need for change in Iran, and ask that you keep in mind, when shaping foreign policy, just how important the fundamental human rights really are. In the case of minorities in Iran we would like to see the United States, as always, continue with their uncompromising stance on the upkeep of human rights. We will continue to keep you up-to-date with our work where possible, and highlight the areas most in need of attention.

Yours sincerely and God bless America,

Reza Washahi
IMHRO Director