{"id":239240,"date":"2021-05-07T09:48:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T14:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=239240"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:56:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:56:37","slug":"evidence-of-irans-worst-crime-against-humanity-still-awaits-collection-not-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/human-rights\/evidence-of-irans-worst-crime-against-humanity-still-awaits-collection-not-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Evidence of Iran\u2019s Worst Crime Against Humanity Still Awaits Collection \u2013 not Destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_231117\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-231117\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-231117\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1.jpg\" alt=\"Pictures of political prisoners who were massacred in 1988 in Iran.\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Iran-1988-massacre-13122020-1-696x435.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-231117\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pictures of political prisoners who were massacred in 1988 in Iran.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">More than <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/iran1988.org\/open-letter-to-un-seeking-commission-of-inquiry-into-irans-1988-extrajudicial-executions-of-thousands-of-political-prisoners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">150 legal and human rights experts<\/a>, including 45 former United Nations officials, recently signed their names to a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/iran1988.org\/open-letter-to-un-seeking-commission-of-inquiry-into-irans-1988-massacre\/\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> prepared by an organization called Justice for the Victims of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners-in-iran\/\" rel=\"noopener\">1988 Massacre<\/a> in Iran. The document appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to \u201c<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">end the culture of impunity that exists in Iran by establishing a Commission of Inquiry into the 1988 mass extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Scores of ex-UN officials, experts demand UN probe of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/1988massacre?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#1988massacre<\/a> of political prisoners in Iran <\/p>\n<p>Read the AFP&#39;s coverage of our joint Open Letter to the UN seeking a Commission of Inquiry<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I12cBS6fgh\">https:\/\/t.co\/I12cBS6fgh<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FRANCE24?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FRANCE24<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; JVMI (@jvmifoundation) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jvmifoundation\/status\/1390292836273246221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This statement emerged only about a week after the families of that massacre\u2019s victims sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging action to prevent Iranian authorities from implementing plans to demolish and build upon the sites of mass graves that have been informally identified by Iranian activists and human rights defenders. The letter highlighted recent news of efforts to destroy one such site at Khavaran Cemetery in Tehran, and it noted that the Iranian regime had previously \u201c<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">destroyed or damaged the mass graves of the 1988 victims in Ahvaz, Tabriz, Mashhad, and elsewhere<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/stats.sender.net\/forms\/dGYVLa\/view\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Weekly-Signe-up-logo-1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-219239 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Weekly-Signe-up-logo-1.png\" alt=\"Weekly-Signe-up-logo-1\" width=\"250\" height=\"83\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">All told, similar gravesites have reportedly been identified in at least 36 cities by the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/about-iranian-opposition-pmoi-mek\" rel=\"noopener\">People\u2019s\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Mojahedin<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Organization of Iran<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0(PMOI\/MEK),\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the main target of the massacre itself, which took place\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">in<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> the\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">summer of 1988<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, in the face of serious challenges to the theocratic regime\u2019s hold on power. At that time,\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the regime\u2019s then supreme leader Ruhollah<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Khomeini <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iran-1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners\/iran-1988-massacre\/\" rel=\"noopener\">issued<\/a> a fatwa declaring that\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">members and supporters of MEK<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">who<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0opposed the system were enemies of God and therefore subject to summary execution.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"UN Must Investigate Iran&amp;#039;s 1988 Massacre\" style=\"width:853px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_bU1w4xr9nMA\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FbU1w4xr9nMA%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bU1w4xr9nMA\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT58S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2019-09-01T19:00:31Z\" \/><\/div><div id=\"lyte_bU1w4xr9nMA\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FbU1w4xr9nMA%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">UN Must Investigate Iran&#039;s 1988 Massacre<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/bU1w4xr9nMA\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FbU1w4xr9nMA%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"UN Must Investigate Iran&amp;#039;s 1988 Massacre\" width=\"853\" height=\"460\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In the summer of 1988, the Iranian regime summarily and extra-judicially executed tens of thousands of political prisoners held in jails across Iran. The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime\u2019s then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. The facts: \u2022 More than 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in Iran in the summer of 1988. \u2022 The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by Khomeini. \u2022 The vast majority of the victims were activists of the opposition People&#039;s Mojahedin (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK). \u2022 Death Commissions approved all the death sentences. \u2022 Alireza Avaei, a member of the Death Commissions, is today Hassan Rouhani\u2019s Justice Minister. \u2022 The perpetrators of the 1988 massacre have never been brought to justice. \u2022 On August 9, 2016, an audio tape was published for the first time of Khomeini\u2019s former heir acknowledging that that massacre took place and had been ordered at the highest levels. \u2022 It&#039;s time for the UN to investigate Iran&#039;s 1988 massacre.\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:853px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In response, prison facilities throughout\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Iran<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> convened tribunals that came to be known as the \u201cdeath commission,\u201d which interrogated political prisoners, focusing on known and suspected members of the\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">MEK<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, and ordered the hanging of all those who failed to demonstrate fealty to the supreme leader and the theocratic system. In many cases, the prisoners were hanged in groups and then taken away in refrigerator trucks for burial in the mass graves. The diverse array of those graves\u2019 locations is a testament to the breadth and scale of the massacre, which is believed to have claimed upwards of 30,000 lives.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This death toll naturally left behind a wealth of evidence in the form of bodies, records, and eyewitness testimony. However, that evidence was never collected or examined by international authorities, even though Iranian activists sought to bring the killings to the attention of policymakers across the globe.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This effort succeeded in prompting the United Nations to mention the massacre in a contemporary resolution condemning Iran\u2019s human rights abuses, but leading UN member states declined to take further action in the face of policies that prioritized relationships with so-called moderate Iranian officials, rather than the confrontation of those deemed most responsible for such abuses.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"UN experts call for investigation of 1988 Massacre in Iran - December 2020\" style=\"width:853px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_fTQGUHGsUCQ\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FfTQGUHGsUCQ%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fTQGUHGsUCQ\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M10S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2020-12-12T17:03:11Z\" \/><\/div><div id=\"lyte_fTQGUHGsUCQ\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FfTQGUHGsUCQ%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">UN experts call for investigation of 1988 Massacre in Iran - December 2020<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fTQGUHGsUCQ\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FfTQGUHGsUCQ%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"UN experts call for investigation of 1988 Massacre in Iran - December 2020\" width=\"853\" height=\"460\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"December 2020 - Seven United Nations human rights experts have written a letter to Iran\u2019s regime describing the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners as \u201ccrimes against humanity.\u201d Iran\u2019s regime carried out the massacre in the summer of 1988 based on a fatwa by then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. More than 30,000 political prisoners were massacred. The vast majority of the victims were activists of the opposition People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK). The letter by the Special Rapporteurs, dated September 3, 2020, has only just been made public by the UN. It calls on the Iranian regime to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre. It adds that if Tehran continues to refuse to uphold its obligations under international human rights law, the UN experts call on the international community to launch its own investigation into the massacre \u201cincluding through the establishment of an international investigation.\u201d The UN experts wrote: \u201cIn 1988, the Iranian authorities forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed thousands of imprisoned political dissidents affiliated with political opposition groups\u201d President-elect of the NCRI called the report \u201ca major and qualitative step in the advancement of the movement for justice for the victims of that massacre.\u201c Mrs. Rajavi noted that the report, which emphasizes the regime\u2019s non-compliance with its \u201cobligations under international human rights law,\u201d including the non-disclosure of the fate and burial place of those executed, heightens the need to refer this dossier on the ongoing crime against humanity to the UN Security Council, and to bring to account the officials and perpetrators of this great crime of the century. Read More: https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IranNCR\/ https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy Subscribe to NCRI weekly newsletter t.ly\/MybJ #Iran #1988Massacre #UN\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:853px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The consequences of this situation were outlined in a letter sent to Iranian officials by seven UN human rights experts in September of last year. The document noted that after the 1988 resolution, the matter of mass executions \u201cwas not referred to the Security Council, the UN General Assembly did not follow up on the resolution and the UN Commission on Human Rights did not take any action.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The letter continued: \u201cThe failure of these bodies to act had a devastating impact on the survivors and families as well as on the general situation of human rights in Iran and emboldened Iran to continue to conceal the fate of the victims and to continue to maintain a strategy of deflection and denial that continue to date.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The destruction of mass graves is a prime example of that strategy, and the persistent absence of a global response to it has reinforced a sense of impunity among Iranian authorities. This is the very thing that Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre was<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0responding to with its latest call to action by the Human Rights Council. That appeal was seemingly\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">endorsed<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0in advance by last year\u2019s letter, which initially urged Iranian authorities to address the matter on their own but also expressed serious skepticism about the prospect of a response from Tehran.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">When the letter was published in December, it signaled that no such response had been made and that the UN experts now believe the responsibility to address this situation must fall to the international community. The letter\u2019s statement to this effect was embraced by Amnesty International as a \u201cmomentous breakthrough\u201d and a \u201cturning point\u201d in matters related to Iran\u2019s human rights record. However, the significance of that development will only be established once leading Western powers, the Human Rights Council, the UN Security Council, or other relevant bodies actually respond to the appeal with action.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As to what that action might look like, the statement from Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre provides some insight not just through its outline for the \u201cestablishment of an international investigation\u201d but also through its observation that \u201cmany<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0of the officials involved\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">[in the killings]\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">continue to hold positions of power including in key judicial, prosecutorial and government bodies<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This fact was acknowledged in the UN experts\u2019 letter and in countless other statements that emphasize the Iranian regime\u2019s ongoing exercise of impunity in matters related to this and other human rights abus<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">es and crimes against humanity. It is well established that figures like Iranian Minister of Justice Alireza\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Avaei<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and judiciary head Ebrahim\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Raisi<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0were leading members of the 1988 death commissions and that there are therefore guilty of crimes that are plainly worthy of prosecution in the International Criminal Court.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Such prosecution should be the expressed goal of any serious inquiry into the 1988 massacre. Meanwhile, it should be made clear to anyone who participates in the destruction of Iran\u2019s mass graves that they are making themselves accessories to an ongoing crime against humanity and that they will be held similarly accountable before the file on this matter is closed at long last.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 150 legal and human rights experts, including 45 former United Nations officials, recently signed their names to a statement prepared by an organization called Justice for the Victims [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":231117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[129,142,197,198],"class_list":{"0":"post-239240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-human-rights","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-1988-massacre","10":"tag-mek-iran","11":"tag-ncri"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Evidence of Iran Regime&#039;s Worst Crime Against Humanity Awaits Collection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than 150 legal and human rights experts, including 45 former United Nations officials, recently signed their names to a statement prepared by an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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