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Mothers of the Iranian Martyrs Demand Trial of the Regime Leaders for the 1988 Massacre

 

By NCRI Staff

NCRI – Mothers of Laleh Park which include mothers of the martyrs of 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran and mothers of the martyrs of 2009 uprising and political prisoners who were executed in recent years have issued a statement on Thursday 31 August 2017 calling for trial of the Iranian regime’s leaders for the massacre of the political prisoners in the summer of 1988.

They emphasized in the statement that to achieve freedom and democracy in Iran, there is no way other than putting on trial and bringing to justice the masterminds and perpetrators of the mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s and all other crimes committed by the leaders of the mullahs’ regime.

Mothers of Laleh Park also supported in their statement the legitimate demands of the hunger striking political prisoners in Gohardasht prison.

The statement reads in part:

On the 29th anniversary of the mass killings of the political prisoners in the summer of 1988, we step into a phase that we are almost able to clarify part of the truth about the killing of political prisoners during the 1980s, especially the massacre of prisoners in the summer of 1988; these prisoners had been sentenced to prison terms but later were sentenced to death following trials that lasted a few minutes behind closed doors and then were executed…

The recent lawsuit to international organizations and institutions by fifty mothers and families of martyrs buried in Khavaran in Iran regarding the massacre of political prisoners during the 1980s is a turning point in this direction that families of political prisoners are seriously following the issue of clarifying the facts and the reason as why these political prisoners were massacred.

We are independent currents that aim to raise the voice of the plaintiffs who seek justice in Iran, and we are also seriously following why and how these crimes occurred.

We know very well that some groups from the very first years intended to conceal and keep silent these crimes for various excuses, and only when their interests are tied to this issue, they pose the question of why the killing of political prisoners in 1988 occurred not for the clarifying the facts, but also to stay in power. They even try to exploit the families to reach their goals, but by no means try to pursuit the true about these crimes because they themselves, directly or indirectly, have been and are involved in the perpetration of these crimes.

We also know well that some of these groups and affiliated currents of intellectual power or under the influence of the government agents, on the premise that we need national reconciliation, have been promoting the slogans for a while “forgiving but not forgetting,” on the grounds that pursuing these crimes would undermine the development and spread of democracy, while we have witnessed that the cover up of the killing of political activists in the 1980s resulted in continuation of imprisonment, torture and execution of political and social activists, and there is not a single day that we do not witness the silencing of the voice of libertarians in prisons and outside prisons in Iran and even guild and civil activists are struggling for their simplest rights.

The closest example is the risk to the lives of a number of political prisoners in Gohardasht prison in Karaj who are on hunger strike to achieve their most obvious rights and protesting their compulsory transfer to the max-security hall that the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for and respond.

We have a deep belief in the achievement of freedom and democracy, but there is no way other than putting on fair and public trials and bringing to justice the masterminds and perpetrators of the killing of political prisoners in the 1980s and all other crimes committed by the officials of the Islamic Republic that were decided in unfair trials and often behind closed doors. We must make clear to the people why and how these crimes were perpetrated so that we can gain freedom and pave the way for justice.