Exhibition Outside U.S. Congress Remembers Victims of Iran's 1988 Massacre
Rep. Eliot Engel at tribute to victims of Iran's 1988 massacre
Iranian-Americans participated in a rally, vigil, and photo exhibition on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to remember the 30,000 victims of Iran's 1988 massacre of political prisoners.
Among the speakers at the event were Democratic Representatives Eliot Engel, the Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Steve Cohen, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
The event, sponsored by the Organization of Iranian American Communities, described the 1988 massacre as "ongoing human rights violations.”
Iran Human Rights Exhibition, US Capital Grounds Thu 12Sep 11am #1988IranMassacre we thank Chairman of the @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel for joining us at this memorable event.@USAdarFarsi @MEastMatters @FRANCE24 pic.twitter.com/th3NAW0TEt
— OIAC (@OrgIAC) September 12, 2019
— OIAC (@OrgIAC) September 12, 2019
- More than 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in Iran in the summer of 1988.
- The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by Khomeini.
- The vast majority of the victims were activists of the opposition People's Mojahedin (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK).
- Death Commissions approved all the death sentences.
- Alireza Avaei, a member of the Death Commissions, is today Hassan Rouhani’s Justice Minister.
- The perpetrators of the 1988 massacre have never been brought to justice.
- On August 9, 2016, an audiotape was published for the first time of Khomeini’s former heir acknowledging that that massacre took place and had been ordered at the highest levels.
- It's time for the UN to investigate Iran's 1988 massacre.
Participants called on U.S. lawmakers to hold accountable the religious despots who are committing these atrocities. They urged the U.S. to raise the need to hold perpetrators of the 1988 massacre accountable at the United Nations.
Various international media organizations covered the event, including Voice of America.
Some 30,000 political prisoners, mainly affiliated to the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, were executed in 1988 based on a fatwa by Khomeini.
Background on Iran's 1988 Massacre:
