{"id":226094,"date":"2020-09-15T17:30:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T16:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=226094"},"modified":"2023-01-20T20:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T19:18:38","slug":"the-west-was-silent-on-irans-1988-massacre-and-it-must-now-correct-the-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/human-rights\/the-west-was-silent-on-irans-1988-massacre-and-it-must-now-correct-the-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"The West Was Silent on Iran\u2019s 1988 Massacre, and It Must Now Correct the Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iran:
Pictures of some victims of 1988 Massacre in Iran in a public photo exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Alejo Vidal-Quadras<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1988, the Iranian regime undertook the systematic massacre of political prisoners<\/a>. Over the course of several months, approximately 30,000 detainees were interrogated over their political views and affiliations, then sentenced to summary execution by \u201cdeath commissions\u201d when they failed to demonstrate complete loyalty to the theocratic regime. The proceedings were primarily focused on affiliates of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK)<\/a>, whose expatriate activists tried to reach the international community with news of the ongoing massacre.<\/p>\n

Numerous policymakers and diplomats in Europe and North America were duly informed of the Iranian regime\u2019s most severe endeavor to stamp out dissent, but nearly all of them turned a blind eye, apparently believing that such dissent was too weak or too disorganized to present a serious challenge to the mullahs. Though misguided, this belief has guided Western policy toward the clerical regime for most of its four decades in power. Specifically, it has guided that policy toward betrayals of core Western principles and the neglect of the 1988 massacre is perhaps the most shameful example.<\/p>\n

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1988 Massacre of political prisoners in Iran<\/div><\/div>
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