After 31 years, the Iran massacre in 1988 - where more than
30,000 political prisoners were sent to the gallows for a few months - based on
a Khomeini fatwa, has once again become a living problem in Iranian society.
The decree of Ayatollah Khomeini called for the execution of
all political prisoners affiliated with the Organization of Mujahideen of the
People of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK Iran) who remained loyal to the
organization. "Death Commissions" were formed throughout Iran,
sending political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs to execution.
Political prisoners affiliated with other groups were executed in a second wave
approximately one month later. The victims were secretly buried in mass graves.
Relatives of the victims testified on a live satellite
television show about the event and revealed new secrets about how families had
been and continue to be harassed by the regime to cover the massacre. They also
feel victims of the regime for more than three decades, and can no longer
remain silent.
Senior regime officials are forced to address and try to
defend one of the most notorious crimes against humanity of our time.
The mullahs wanted to pretend, with little success, that the
matter was already a history. But crimes against humanity never become history.
Those who are responsible must be brought to justice even if they are no longer
in office.
But this has not been the case in Iran.
Mass murderers are still in their positions and direct the
Judiciary of the regime and other forces.
The Chief Judge of Iran "allegedly served on a
committee that had ordered the extrajudicial execution of thousands of
political prisoners in 1988," according to a 2017 report to the UN General
Assembly of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.
An investigation conducted in 2017 by the London NGO Justice
for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), discovered the identities
of 87 members of the Death Commission. Many still hold high positions in the
judiciary or the government. This list includes:
Head of the Judiciary: Ebrahim Raisi was in 1988 Deputy
Prosecutor of Tehran and a member of the Death Commission of Tehran. He became
Chief of the Judiciary in March 2019.
Minister of Justice: Alireza Avaei was Dezful Prosecutor and
member of the Death Commission. He is now the Minister of Justice of Hasan
Rouhani.
Vice President of Parliament: Abdolreza Mesri was a member
of the Kermanshah Death Commission. He became vice president of Majlis in May
2019.
Advisor to the Chief of the Judiciary: Mostafa Pourmohammadi
was a member of the Death Commission of Tehran. Since 2018, he is an advisor to
the judicial chief.
Vice President of the Supreme Court: Hossein-Ali Nayyeri
headed the Death Commission of Tehran. He is currently Chief of the Supreme
Disciplinary Court for Judges and Vice President of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Judge: Ali Razini sat on the Death Commission
of Tehran. He is now the Chief of the 41st Branch of the Supreme Court.
The mullahs know nothing but threats and repression. On July
25, 2019, in an interview with state magazine Mosalas, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
defended the 1988 massacre and said that newly captured Mujahedin-e Khalq (the Iranian Regime’s “Most Potent and Capable Foe”) activists
would face the death penalty.
Ali Razini said on the Jamaran state website on July 29,
2019 that the killings were carried out quickly by order of Khomeini to avoid
"being arrested by the bureaucracy." He recently confessed on state
television that he ordered arbitrary executions of opposition members in
western Iran in 1988.
The previous Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Iran told the General Assembly: “Over the years, a large number of
reports on the massacres of 1988 have been issued. If the number of people who
can dispute they disappeared and were executed, overwhelming evidence shows
that thousands of people were summarily killed.”
Until the whole truth of the 1988 massacre is revealed and
the perpetrators are held accountable, there will be no incentive for the Iran
regime to stop human rights abuses.
While the Human Rights Council is preparing for its
September session, the Diplomatic Missions in Geneva should press the Council
to establish an investigative commission on the 1988 massacre.
The families of the victims in Iran expect the UN Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, and the
Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, Fabian Salvioli, to investigate
the Iran massacre in 1988 as Part of his mandates. And they urge the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to support the launch of an
independent mission to investigate this crime against humanity.
The international community must act urgently to end the
culture of impunity of the regime.
