![\"Iran_1988_massacre_26092020\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Iran_1988_massacre_26092020.jpg\" "\\"Iran_1988_massacre_26092020\\"")
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It was recently reported that the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are planning to summon Iranian ambassadors to hear a coordinated diplomatic protest over the baseless arrest and mistreatment of political prisoners, including dual nationals. It is a rare step in the right direction for Western policy toward the Iranian regime, but it will be of little value unless it promptly leads to other, even more assertive steps.<\/p>\n
The international community has much work to do if it is to compensate for the effects of a decades-long strategy of appeasing the Iranian regime and hoping for its policies and behaviors to shift toward moderation. That hope has been dashed on many occasions since the mullahs took power in 1979. And the only recognizable effect has been the increasing entrenchment of a sense of impunity among the regime\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n
The ever-growing population of Iranian political prisoners has borne the brunt of that effect, as made clear by the recently intensified crackdown on dissent in the wake of two nationwide uprisings against the theocratic system. During the first of these uprisings in January 2018, dozens of peaceful protesters were killed and several thousand were arrested. When anti-government slogans like \u201cdeath to the dictator\u201d re-emerged across roughly 200 cities and towns in November 2019<\/a>, the death toll very quickly mounted to 1,500<\/a>, and the number of arrests came to exceed 12,000.<\/p>\n Detainees from both uprisings are still facing the prospect of execution, as are participants in the intervening protests. It was one of these protests that ultimately led to the execution of renowned champion wrestler Navid Afkari<\/a> earlier this month. That execution was carried out just weeks after his dual death sentences were confirmed, and in defiance of a growing chorus of international appeals for Tehran to spare his life.<\/p>\n Afkari\u2019s execution highlighted the extent of the regime\u2019s resistance to reform or moderation. It was presumably a major contributing factor in European policymakers\u2019 decision to issue a more formal condemnation of the underlying crackdown. But it should also lead those same policymakers to be prepared for the regime\u2019s dismissal of the warnings their diplomats will soon receive.<\/p>\n It will take much more than a series of summons for the regime to conclude that its assumption of impunity is mistaken. Tehran will not change its ways simply because the international community has voiced disapproval. It will only respond to coordinated pressure that is unmistakably tied to the regime\u2019s human rights record. In fact, leading Iranian opposition groups have long sought to convince the international community that with regard to human rights and all other matters, a \u201clanguage of strength\u201d is all that the clerical regime understands.<\/p>\n Representatives of those groups were present in recent days at a number of rallies organized in Washington D.C. and various European cities by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)<\/a>. Their message went further than any Western government including the United States, in that it urged not only the re-imposition of UN sanctions that have been suspended since 2016, but also the re-examination of human rights violations and terrorist incidents from the regime\u2019s 41-year history.<\/p>\n The expatriate activists were joined in many cases by politicians who have previously expressed support for the NCRI and the activist movement behind the two recent uprisings. More than 250 lawmakers from across Europe and the Arab world also joined in signing a statement<\/a> that embraced the US\u2019s decision to declare that UN sanctions had \u201csnapped back\u201d following violations of the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The statement went on to highlight further demands voiced by Iranian activists, including the coordinated blacklisting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a>, and a formal investigation into the \u201cworst crime of the Islamic Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n In the summer of 1988, \u201cdeath commissions<\/a>\u201d in numerous Iranian prisons began hauling political detainees from their cells to answer questions about their affiliations and their views toward the theocratic system. Those who failed to demonstrate fealty to the clerical regime were declared guilty of \u201cenmity against God\u201d and summarily executed. During a period of just a few months, 30,000 people were killed<\/a> by hanging or firing squad, then buried in secret mass graves.<\/p>\n No one has ever been held accountable for this crime against humanity, arguably the worst to be carried out anywhere in the world during the latter half of the 20th century. That has led Amnesty International to describe the 1988 massacre as an \u201congoing<\/a>\u201d violation of international laws and human rights principles. And many critics of current Western policy toward the regime have identified it as a principal foundation of the regime\u2019s sense of impunity.<\/p>\n In 1988, Iran's authorities forcibly disappeared and secretly executed thousands of political dissidents. For more than 30 years, their families have not know when, how and why their loved ones were killed They seek #truthandjusticenow<\/a> for these crimes against humanity. pic.twitter.com\/DWzetNLzUR<\/a><\/p>\n — Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) August 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"navid](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Navid-Afkari-1.jpg\" "\\"Navid-Afkari-1\\"")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Khomeini_fatwa_26092020\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Khomeini_fatwa_26092020.jpg\" "\\"Khomeini_fatwa_26092020\\"")
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