![\"khavaran-S-e1473318927376\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/khavaran-S-e1473318927376.jpg\" "\\"khavaran-S-e1473318927376\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
An article in the Huffington Post<\/a> has highlighted a new resolution in the United States Congress on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran.<\/p>\n Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, President of the International American Council, wrote: \u201cA\u00a0resolution<\/a>\u00a0(H.Res. 159) was recently introduced in the U.S. Congress in reference to one of the worst\u00a0mass<\/a>\u00a0executions<\/a>\u00a0of political prisoners\u00a0since<\/a>\u00a0WWII by the\u00a0Islamic Republic\u00a0<\/a>of Iran. The House Homeland Security Chair, Mike McCaul, introduced<\/a>\u00a0the resolution, which was cosponsored by the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ed Royce, Ranking Member Eliot Engel, and Rules Committee Chair Rep. Peter Sessions. The resolution came as Hassan Rouhani, president of a government that\u00a0ranked<\/a>\u00a0as the world\u2019s top executioner per capita, was addressing the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n In the run-up to Rouhani\u2019s speech, the\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0reported that thousands of protesters gathered outside the United Nations protesting Iran\u2019s human rights abuses, executions, and the\u00a01988<\/a>\u00a0massacre of more than 30,000 prisoners. The speakers\u00a0included<\/a>\u00a0former Democratic vice presidential candidate and Senator Joe Lieberman, and Geoffrey Robertson, former Head of the UN war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone who\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0a report on Iran 1988 massacre published on the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>\u00a0Arts Initiative.<\/p>\n The\u00a0resolution<\/a>\u00a0introduced in Congress \u201ccondemns the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and [calls] for justice for the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n Rafizadeh pointed out that the resolution\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cover a 4-month period in 1988, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out the barbaric mass executions of thousands of political prisoners and many unrelated political groups. … [A]ccording to a report by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, the massacre was carried out pursuant to a fatwa, or religious decree, issued by then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that targeted the People\u2019s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK);\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0resolution<\/a>\u00a0quotes one of Iran\u2019s own senior former officials, who said the 1988 massacre was \u2018\u2019the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us.\u201d\u00a0Accordingly<\/a>, in 1988, the Islamic Republic executed the thousands of prisoners, primarily affiliated with the main opposition movement Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), due to their political beliefs. The victims were buried in mass graves in Iran after they were shot or hung in matter of a few months.<\/p>\n According\u00a0to a November 2, 2007, report by Amnesty International, \u2018\u2019between 27 July 1988 and the end of that year, thousands of political prisoners [in Iran], including prisoners of conscience, were executed in prisons nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n The resolution\u00a0adds\u00a0that \u201cThose personally responsible for these mass executions include senior officials serving in the current Government of Iran; … [P]risoners were reportedly brought before the commissions and briefly questioned about their political affiliation, and any prisoner who refused to renounce his or her affiliation with groups perceived as enemies by the regime was then taken away for execution,\u201d H.Res. 159 noted.<\/p>\n Accordingly, the victims included \u201cthousands of people, including teenagers and pregnant women, imprisoned merely for participating in peaceful street protests and for possessing political reading material, many of whom had already served or were currently serving prison sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n The congressional resolution\u00a0states<\/a>, \u201c[P]risoners were executed in groups, some in mass hangings and others by firing squad, with their bodies disposed of in mass graves.\u201d<\/p>\n According<\/a>\u00a0to Amnesty International, \u2018\u2019the majority of those killed were supporters of the PMOI [MEK], but hundreds of members and supporters of other political groups . . . were also among the execution victims.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Based on the Congressional\u00a0resolution<\/a>, \u201cThe later waves of executions targeted religious minorities, such as members of the Baha\u2019i faith, many of whom were often subjected to brutal torture before they were killed.\u201d It\u00a0add<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThe families of the executed were denied information about their loved ones and were prohibited from mourning them in public\u201d.<\/p>\n The resolution\u00a0mentions<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cin a recently disclosed audiotape, the late Hussein Ali Montazeri, a grand ayatollah who served as Khomeini\u2019s chief deputy, noted the regime\u2019s efforts to target the MEK and said that the 1988 mass killings were \u2018\u2019the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n A report by\u00a0Amnesty<\/a>\u00a0International has concluded \u2018\u2019there should be no impunity for human rights violations, no matter where or when they took place. The 1988 executions should be subject to an independent impartial investigation, and all those responsible should be brought to justice, and receive appropriate penalties\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0resolution<\/a>, \u201cThe current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was reportedly aware of, and later publicly condoned the massacre.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0Montazeri\u00a0audiotape was disclosed by Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri\u2019s son, Ahmad, a moderate cleric, who posted the confidential audio of his father on his website but was ordered by the intelligence to\u00a0remove<\/a>\u00a0it,\u201d Rafizadeh writes.<\/p>\n Montazeri\u00a0states\u00a0in the tape, \u201cYou [Iranian officials] will be in the future etched in the annals of history as criminals. The greatest crime committed under the Islamic Republic, from the beginning of the Revolution until now, which will be condemned by history, is this crime [mass executions] committed by you.\u201d<\/p>\n Rafizadeh adds: \u201cIronically, all those people to whom Montazri is addressing and warning in the audio, all of those who were involved in these crimes, appear to enjoy high positions currently. Mostafa\u00a0Pourmohammadi\u00a0was a representative of the intelligence ministry to the notorious Evin prison, and he was\u00a0appointed<\/a>\u00a0by the so-called moderate president Hassan Rowhani to be justice minister. Ebrahim Raeisi was a public prosecutor and is appointed to be the head of\u00a0Astan\u00a0Quds Razavi, which has billions of dollars in revenues.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Iran\u2019s current officials is Rouhani\u2019s\u00a0justice<\/a>\u00a0minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Recently, after the\u00a0release\u00a0of a tape in which the Islamic Republic\u2019s no. 2 official was heard condemning the crime,\u00a0Pourmohammadi<\/a> defended the commission of the massacre and said he is \u201cproud<\/a>\u201c to have carried out \u201cGod\u2019s commandments\u201d in killing the political opponents.<\/p>\n Hussein Ali\u00a0Nayeri<\/a>\u00a0was a judge and is now the deputy of the Supreme Court of Iran. In his memoir,\u00a0Montzari<\/a>\u00a0writes that he told Nayeri to stop the executions at least in the month of Moharram religious holidays, but Nayeri said\u00a0according\u00a0to BBC: \u201cWe have executed so far 750 people in Tehran… we get the job done with [executing] another 200 people and then we will listen to whatever you say.\u201d<\/p>\n What is crucial to point out is that realistically speaking, these people are only few of those who were involved in such large scale crimes against humanity. They have been awarded more senior positions, power, and money.<\/p>\n Montazeri\u00a0advised\u00a0the ruling politicians that \u201cBeware of 50 years from now, when people will pass judgment on the leader (Khomeini) and will say he was a bloodthirsty, brutal and murderous leader.\u201d It\u2019s worth noting that the revelation of this mass execution was pointing to only one summer of the 37-year history of the Islamic Republic. What else is hidden there that we are not aware of?<\/p>\n The writings, messages and audio\u00a0from\u00a0Iran\u2019s ex-heir Supreme Leader highlight the systematic methods that the officials of the Islamic Republic use to oppress the opposition. Executions or brutal punishments against the opposition have become the cornerstone of Iran\u2019s political establishment as Iran ranks top in the world when it comes to executions per capita.<\/p>\n The Islamic Republic\u2019s 1988 massacre and\u00a0Montazeri\u2019s\u00a0audio point to one of the worst crimes against humanity committed in modern history and it continues to occur. It points to the means that the government uses to control the population and silence the opposition. It points to the interconnectedness of the government and repression, and it points to the dominance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), intelligence, Khamenei and their loyalists.<\/p>\n It is incumbent on human rights organizations, the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct rigorous investigations and bring those who have committed and continue to commit these crimes – and more likely who currently serve in high positions in Iran – to justice. Calls to bring these people to justice are increasing. No individual or institution that commits crimes against humanity should live comfortably without being held accountable.<\/p>\n