Iran: Human Rights Organisations Demand Justice for 1988 Massacre

A joint statement has been sent to the current session of the Human Rights Council by six human rights organisations regarding justice for the summer of 1988 massacre of political prisoners by the Iranian regime.

During that summer, more than 30,000 political prisoners (most of whom were members or activists of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – PMOI / MEK, were killed by the Iranian regime on the orders of the then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini who had issued a fatwa.
The statement was entitled “The 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran constitutes a crime against humanity” and was submitted by the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty, a non-governmental organization in general consultative status, Women’s Human Rights International Association, Edmund Rice International Limited, France Libertes : Fondation Danielle Mitterrand, non-governmental organizations in special consultative status, International Educational Development, Inc., Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples, non-governmental organizations on the roster.
It started with a history of the 1988 massacre and mentioned the evidence against the perpetrators – a voice recording of the late Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri condemning the “death committee” for its participation in the executions.
The fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini issued was quoted: “As the treacherous Monafeqin (PMOI) do not believe in Islam and what they say is out of deception and hypocrisy, and as their leaders have admitted that they have become renegades, and as they are waging war on God, … it is decreed that those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin (PMOI), are waging war on God and are condemned to execution. In Tehran, Mr. HojatolIslam Nayyeri, Sharia judge, and Mr. Eshraqi (Tehran’s prosecutor) and a representative of the Intelligence Ministry will decide on the fate with a majority vote. In prisons located in provincial capitals the Sharia judge, revolutionary prosecutor, and member of the intelligence ministry will be making the ruling. Those responsible for the rulings should not be hesitant or doubtful and should be most ferocious in the face of infidels. (…) In all the above cases, if the person at any stage or at any time maintains their support for the hypocrites (PMOI), the sentence is execution. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately. As regards to the cases, use whichever criterion that speeds up the implementation of the verdict.”
The report mentioned how many of the people who were executed had completed their sentences in full or were re-arrested just to be executed.