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Statement by British MPs, on the1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran

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NCRI Staff

NCRI – The British Liberal Democratic Party’s annual conference was held in Bournemouth in late September. A delegation from the Iranian Resistance participated in the conference and met with the Representatives of the House of Commons and British Lords of the Liberal Democratic Party and a number of its leaders and discussed the perpetuation of human rights violations in Iran and continued executions, in particular the execution of women and youths.

More than 30 representatives from the Liberal Democrats in both houses in British parliament issued a statement supporting the call by the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, calling for an end to the immunity of the Iranian authorities responsible for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.

They also called on the Government and Foreign office of the United Kingdom to recognize the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 as crimes against humanity, to support the actions taken by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, and to request the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations to order an investigation into the 1988 massacre and place the masterminds and perpetrators of this crime before justice.

The following is the full text of this statement:

 

Statement on Iran

Call on UN to investigate the 1988 massacre of 30.000 political prisoners

We are deeply concerned over the deterioration of human rights situation in Iran and in particular the increasing number of executions which has surpassed 3200 during Rouhani’s tenure with over 200 reported executions since July 2017.

The report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran on August 14, 2017 documents these violations as well as highlights the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 including men, women and teenagers, and all political prisoners who supported the main opposition movement, the PMOI. Whereas the report:

states that these mass executions started pursuant to a fatwa issued by the then Supreme Leader, Khomeini;

confirms previous revelations that high ranking officials of the regime were responsible for this massacre, including the Minister of Justice, a high court judge, and the head of one of the largest religious foundations in the country and candidate in the May presidential elections;

states that “some clerical authorities and the chief of the judiciary admitted that the executions had taken place and, in some instances, defended them”; and documents “… intimidation and prosecution of human rights defenders seeking truth and justice”.

We, the undersigned, support the call by President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, for actions by the UN and Western democracies to end impunity enjoyed by the authorities in Iran and urge HM Government and FCO to:

recognize and condemn this massacre as a crime against humanity in accordance with UK’s support for the work done by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran;

ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to order an investigative inquiry into these mass executions with the purpose of bringing the perpetrators to justice.