More than 30,000 Iranians of all walks of life have signed a petition addressed to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres calling for an independent investigation into the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners in Iran.

30,000 Iranians sign UN petition seeking inquiry into 1988 massacre

The signatories to the petition are all based inside Iran, according to the organisers of the signature campaign, the 1988 Truth group.
“The 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran is the most extensive killing of political prisoners since World War II”, 1988 Truth said in a statement on 10 December 2017, coinciding with International Human Rights Day. It added that the majority of the victims were affiliated to the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK).

The petition text added: “Most of those executed were youths imprisoned for taking part in peaceful street demonstrations and/or reading the opposition’s political publications, and many had already served their time behind bars. These prisoners were executed in groups and then buried in mass graves”.

“From the first day of the Islamic Republic’s establishment, the perpetrators of this massacre have served in the highest political, judicial and security posts. While defending this crime against humanity, they are continuing such killings and executions as we speak”.

“We the signatories are asking you, through the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly to establish an ‘independent committee’ to fully investigate this massacre. This entity should be obligated to collect all documents related to this crime against humanity, along with the names of all the perpetrators, in order to have justice served in this regard”, the petition added.