Iran Seeks to Contain Anger of Palestinian Authority
Ramallah-An official from the Fatah Movement headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are requesting an apology from Tehran after some Iranian officials had offended Abbas who had met with leading Iranian opposition figure Maryam Rajavi last Saturday. Read more Maryam Rajavi met with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas Saturday evening,
July 30, 2016, and discussed the crises in the region.
President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated the need to combat fundamentalism and terrorism in the region and informed Maryam Rajavi of the latest developments in the Middle East, in particular with regard to Palestine and France's initiative.
Maryam Rajavi expressed gratitude for the solidarity of the Palestinian movement and its leader with the Iranian people and Resistance. She congratulated the Palestinian government on its victories and expressed hope that the goal of the Palestinian people would be achieved. She reiterated that the Iranian regime is the main instigator of sectarian discord, fundamentalism and terrorism in the entire region, in particular in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestine, but she added that today the mullahs' regime is in its weakest and most fragile and vulnerable state. This reality can be seen clearly in the hysteric reaction of the regime's officials and state media to the Iranian Resistance's July 9 gathering.
UN Must Act Against Iran Regime for Its Role in 1988 Massacre
Juan E. Garcés, the Spanish lawyer who brought a case against Chilean General Augusto Pinochet for his war crimes under the principles of universal jurisdiction, wrote: “It is my hope that newfound attention for the 1988 massacre and the subsequent crimes of Iran’s political/religious system will help to reiterate the message that was previously sent by my colleagues and me through our prosecution of the Pinochet crimes. The essence of that message is that, while some officers may enjoy impunity as they commit human rights violations and misuse the instruments of the state, this impunity need not continue forever, much less be accepted by human rights advocates and foreign observers who have the legal mandate to investigate such crimes.”
Throughout the world, many leaders have failed to act against human rights abusers, which has led to continued and worsening human rights abuses.
Consultative Counsel of Human Rights member speaks out against 1988 massacre in Iran
Merinews- 15 Feb 2018- On February 1, a Civil Society hearing was held in Geneva, with the purpose of drawing attention to not only the massacre in 1988 of 30,000 political prisoners, but also to draw attention to the actions of the Iranian regime against those involved in the latest protests.
Concern for the well-being of those protesters who have been taken into custody is mounting among NGOs and other international leaders, many of whom can point to the previous violent actions of the regime throughout its nearly forty years in power.
One of the key speakers was Professor Jean Ziegler, who is a member of the Consultative Committee of the Council for Human Rights, which is a subsidiary organ of the Council for Human Rights in the United Nations .
he Vice-President of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations Human Rights Council has said that a commission of enquiry into the 1988 massacre in Iran needs to be set up. Jean Ziegler said that a special tribunal needs to be established so that Iran’s impunity with regards to this crime against humanity is put to an end. His comments came during a civil society hearing in Geneva on 1st February in Geneva.
Witnesses and experts spoke at the hearing and presented testimonies, statements and advice. They said that it is up to the United Nations to intervene and take action so that Iran’s impunity does not continue any longer. As well as Iran’s impunity with regards to the horrific 1988 massacre, the Iranian regime is still continuing to commit other crimes against humanity. The speakers mentioned in particular the current wave of arrests and torturing to death of protesters in jail in the aftermath of the widespread protests and anti-government demonstrations that started at the end of December last year.
He said that his committee has been called, on numerous occasions, to act following the crimes committed by the regime in Iran for the past 39 years. He said that the hearing was to remember and commemorate the 33,000 Iranians that lost their lives during the 1988 massacre. He said that they were also gathered on this day to discuss how to put an end to the impunity that it is still benefiting from. He wants to bring the regime to justice and described its impunity as "scandalous".
He offered his condolences to the families of those who died in 1988, to the survivors of the massacre and to all those that have been victims of the Iranian regime over the years.
Ziegler indicated that the situation in Iran has changed because the people have spoken out again in a popular uprising. He also pointed to the young people of Iran - a new generation - that has bravely risked their lives, torture and arrest to speak out against the rising prices, against the economic misery and against the corruption of the mullahs. What has sparked their discontent is the injustice of the 1988 massacre. The people are calling for freedom, democracy, respect of human rights, and they are spurred on by the heroic example of the 1988 martyrs.
Ziegler spoke about Dr. Kazem Rajavi - the renowned human rights advocate that made it his life’s mission to defend human rights in Iran. He was Iran's first Ambassador to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva after the 1979 Iranian Revolution but soon resigned as an act of protest to the terrorist and repressive actions of the Iranian regime. After this, his campaign against the Iranian regime’s executions, torture and arbitrary arrests intensified. Ziegler said it was impossible for him to speak at such an event and omit to mention the bravery of Rajavi who was assassinated by the cruel regime only a few dozen kilometres from Geneva.
Speaking about how the regime's impunity can be put to an end, Ziegler said that the West must mobilise and call for it. It must stop putting commercial and economic motives before human rights.
In order for there to be a commission of inquiry, he explained, those who were involved and responsible for the crime against humanity must be identified - on all three levels. Firstly, those who were members of the so-called death committees that the Supreme Leader set up. Secondly, those that actually carried out the hangings and executions, and finally, those that ordered the mass murders who are still in positions of authority today.
He concluded his speech by saying that the United Nations must ensure that a special tribunal is created so that the regime's impunity ends.
Civil society urges UN to launch fact-finding mission to investigate Iran’s 1988 massacre in order to end impunity and prevent the same fate for detained protesters today
On 1 February 2018, a civil society hearing in Geneva heard witnesses and legal experts and offered an adjudication of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran. The hearing was the first of its kind by NGOs in Geneva, and it urged immediate action by the United Nations to address the current wave of mass arrests and killings in Iranian jails following the recent anti-government protests.
International civil society and NGOs urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate the months-long massacre during which the Islamic Republic of Iran executed an estimated 30,000 political prisoners, mostly activists of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
During the Geneva hearing, former UN Judges, senior human rights officials and human rights experts and advocates stressed that such an inquiry, long overdue, is now especially crucial in light of the arrest of thousands of peaceful anti-government protesters at the turn of the year, after which numerous protesters died while in authorities’ custody.
Beginning on December 28, two weeks of nationwide protests sent shock waves through the Iranian regime. Thousands of Iranians have been arrested and upwards of 50 killed, at least 12 of them under torture. Many more are at risk of a similar fate.
Participants in the hearing expressed consensus that the 1988 massacre clearly constitutes a crime against humanity. They stressed that the international community and in particular the UN are obliged to take all necessary measures to end impunity in this case and they warned that failure to hold Tehran accountable has simply emboldened the ruling theocracy to continue its gross human rights violations. According to the indictment presented at the hearing, many of the leading perpetrators of the 1988 massacre remain alive today and even continue to hold positions of prominence in Iranian politics and law.
The indictment was presented by the distinguished British lawyer, Kirsty Brimelow QC. She presented ample evidence establishing that the 1988 massacre constitutes a crime against humanity and referring to the current situation in Iran, particularly, the recent mass arrest and killing of protestors in custody, concluded that the crime against humanity in Iran perpetrated by the same officials continues today.
The day-long event was organized by Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI). It was sponsored by four NGOs with Consultative Status at the UN.
The hearing was broken down into four sessions:
The first presented an indictment related to the 1988 massacre. Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of the Bar of England and Wales, made the presentation.
The second session heard opinions from preeminent international human rights experts:
Prof Jean Ziegler, vice president of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations Human Rights Council, said it is high time for the UN to end the impunity for the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre.
Dr Juan Garcés, Chief Lawyer in the Spanish case against General Pinochet, explained that under international law these crimes must be investigated.
Tahar Boumedra, a former UN official on human rights, who has written two books on the 1988 massacre provided a full picture of the 1988 massacre and the failure of the UN to take appropriate action. He called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up a fact-finding mission to investigate the crime.
Eric Sottas, former Secretary-General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), also spoke about the need for the international community to investigate the crimes committed in 1988 in Iran.
The third session heard oral testimony from survivors and eye-witnesses to the massacre. Mostafa Naderi, who was incarcerated from 1981 to 1992 for being a supporter of the PMOI and miraculously survived the 1988 massacre recounted the 11 years he spent in prison, including five in solitary confinement.
The presiding panel of adjudicators included Geoffrey Robertson QC, head of Doughty Street Chambers in the UK and former appeal judge at the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Prof Eric David, Professor emeritus of international law at the Université libre de Bruxelles. The adjudicators of the civil society hearing presented their concluding remarks at the final session of the day. Both of them, based on the evidence provided, concluded that the UN has an obligation to investigate the 1988 massacre in Iran.
News Week- 30 Jan. 2018- The United Nations (U.N.) is often criticized for not acting or not intervening promptly to rescue victims of gross violations of human rights. This is an observation I came to register when I was in the field as chief of the U.N. Human Rights Office in Iraq.
This week, I will attend a civil society hearing in Geneva for the purpose of investigating the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, yet another case where the global body of nations failed to act in a timely manner.
Nearly 30 years after the massacre of as many as 30,000 political prisoners, a group of NGOs are holding a civil society hearing to investigate this atrocity for the first time, next door to the U.N. headquarters in Geneva. Survivors of the massacre, relatives of victims and human rights experts will present testimonies and reflect on the way forward.
LEADING OFFICIALS OF IRANIAN REGIME ADMIT THE MASSACRE OF MEK MEMBERS
Iranian regime massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in summer of 1988, and kept silent about this atrocity for three decades. Most of the victims were members and supports of the main opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). This year in the presidential election as conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisie, one of the perpetrators of the massacre, was selected as one of the main candidates, the issue surfaced, forcing regime officials, one after another, to confess about the carnage.
Last week in an unprecedented interview, Ali Fallahian, the former Iranian intelligence Minister, revealed the mindset behind the mass execution of summer of 1988. Ali Fallahian, who was called as “the most feared mullah in Iran” by the News Week is wanted by Interpol for his involvement in the AMIA bombing that killed 85 people on July 18, 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Political Prisoner Writes a Letter Addressing Iranian Regime's Official's Confessions on Massacre of PMOI Members
NCRI - Pointing to remarks made by Iranian regime’s former Intelligence Minister ‘Ali Fallahian’, who confessed in a recent TV interview to parts of regime’s crimes during the ‘80s including the 1988 massacre, political prisoner ‘Ali Moezzi’ has penned a letter titled ‘inevitable confessions of an executioner’ to Iranian people, saying:
“As pointed out in Fallahian’s interview and also previously stated by Ahmad Khomeini, anyone who supported PMOI in the ‘80s, including minors, adults, teenagers, pregnant women, and those who used to read PMOI papers or even buy them bread, was subject to execution. The fact is, however, that even before there was any speaking of PMOI safe houses or anyone buying them bread, regime had declared war against them, by attacking PMOI’s offices and their gatherings while chanting ‘no party but Hezbollah, no leader but Rouhollah (Khomeini)’.
Those who massacred MEK members should be rewarded, senior Iranian official says
Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts Board of Chairs, used the Tehran Friday prayer to express his anger over the ever increasing scope of the 1988 massacre justice movement, and actually called for those involved in the atrocity of executing over 30,000 political prisoners to be awarded medals.
“Then we see some people, in their websites, change the place of martyrs and murders. It was a divine move by [Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini] to force the [MEK] out of the country. All those who acted based on these orders, they should be rewarded with medals…
By Heshmat AlaviAl Arabiya, 22 July 2017 - Ali Fallahian, Iran’s intelligence minister during the tenure of Rafsanjani’s presidency back in the early 90s, is a name most notoriously known for his role in a series of chain murders across the country that saw the elimination of many dissidents.
Fallahian has recently been heard making shocking revelations in reference to mass executions, especially targeting members and supporter of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Read more
Mr. Mousavi (Tabrizi) who was the Revolution’s general prosecutor used to say that there is no need for trial at all ... it makes no sense that we try them ... Imam repeatedly insisted that you should be careful not to let them go... Imam continuously stressed that you should always be cautious of this matter ... Their ruling is always execution. This was his (Khomeini’s) verdict as the supreme leader, both before and after this event of 1988 (massacre of political prisoners).”
Fallahian's remarks are made while the new revelations regarding the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988 and the ensued Justice-Seeking movement concerning this carnage have appeared as a mounting problem for the entire regime of the mullahs in recent months.
Expressing his warning against the progression of the Justice-Seeking movement, Ali Khamenei, the leader of the regime, personally entered the scene on June 4, and stated, "... those who are contemplating and judging about the 80s, must be aware not to replace victim with the hangman.”
Fallahian further responded to a question about the victims of the massacres of 1988 who were serving their sentences by saying: " First, you should bear in mind that their (MEK’s) ruling was death punishment; and if the religious judge did not sentence them to death, his ruling has been illegal ... so all of us should acknowledge that the verdict for a Monafeq [the term used by the regime to call a MEK member or sympathizer] is death sentence, this was both Imam’s fatwa and his verdict... there was a discussion about those who were supposed to be executed, but the executions did not carry out, and those who were to be executed but didn’t get a verdict. ‘Nonetheless’ why they were kept alive against Imam’s (Khomeini) will? »
This criminal also acknowledged that many of the detainees were executed solely for the purpose of distributing newspaper or providing supplies and food for the supporters of the Resistance and stated: "When someone is a member of a military group, and that group is fighting with us, regardless of whether that person is armed or not, he is one of them (and should be executed).”
Fallahian, with a disgusting mockery, revealed that many of the intelligence ministry's agents are acting under the cover of journalist and stated: " For information gathering both inside and outside the country the Ministry of Intelligence needs coverage,for instance, we do not dispatch an intelligence officer, let’s say to Germany, the United States or Russia, and there he would say “ well, I am from the Ministry of Intelligence, please provide me your information. (They would do it) under the cover of business or media jobs. Many journalists are the intelligence agents ... A journalist is not paid well, so he needs to work with an intelligence service. "
Ali Fallahian is a criminal who used to work as the head of the Ministry of Intelligence for the entire eight years of the Rafsanjani presidency (1989-1997), and, in addition to conducting chain murders and killing many Iranian opponents and intellectuals, he is under international prosecution due to his direct role in assassinations outside the country.
Fallahian was placed under prosecution by the German court for direct involvement in the killing of leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran at the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin (September 1992), and an international arrest warrant was issued to him. In 2007, Interpol placed Fallahian on the list of the most wanted internationally due to his role in the bombing of the Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.
Jacques Antenen, the Swiss investigating judge issued an arrest warrant for him on 20 March 2006 for his plotting and direct involvement in the assassination of Dr. Kazem Rajavi, representative of the Iranian Resistance in Geneva, who was assassinated on 24 April 1990, in the outskirts of Geneva by the mullahs' regime.
Iran's Desperate Deed Against, Increasing Popularity of MEK
Iran Focus-London, 27 Jun - What happened 29 years ago in Iran, and why after all these years, we are witnessing a crisis and a rising conflict among rival factions in the ruling class over that in Iran?
Throughout the summer of 1988 in Iran, some 30,000 political prisoners, the bulk of whom were MEK members or sympathizers, were executed. This year marks the 29th anniversary of that horrible Crime Against Humanity.
Last summer, an audio tape was revealed by the son of Hossein-Ali Montazeri. On August 9, 2016, the recording was heard for the first time, and thereon Khomeini’s former heir can be heard telling a gathering of members of the “Death Committee” that they're winding up a crime against humanity, 28 years ago, on august 15, 1988. Wrote M. Hakamian in INU on June 24, 2017 and the following are excerpts of the article.
The tape sent shockwaves through Iran, as it adds new knowledge of the breadth and scope of the massacre and confirms that it involved the highest levels of leadership. For more than two decades silence has been imposed in regards to the massacre because, you see, Iranian leaders who held positions of power at that time, members of the notorious Death Commission, are still in leadership positions today.
They have never faced justice for committing this horrific crime against humanity.
Iranian Regime Terrified of Widespread Social Welcoming of Iranian Resistance Justice Movement
Repressive measures increasing in Tehran & various provincesTwo weeks after failing to engineer Iran’s farce presidential election, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is terrified of the two slogans, “No to murderer, no to demagogue, and “My vote is regime change,” and the subject of seeking justice for the 1988 massacre victims.“Those who judge the 1980s are changing the place of martyrs and murderers,” he said on June 4. Following these remarks the mullahs’ regime has resorted to repressive measures to quell social unrests, and campaigned its media to repeat Khamenei’s remarks along with a wave of repulsive remarks against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).READ MORE
U.N. Human Rights Sessions, Accountability of Perpetrators of 1988 Massacre of 30,000 Political Prisoners in Iran
NCRI - During the thirty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, which is already underway, the association of international women representative for human rights, speaking at the meeting, counting increasing cases of executions and human rights violations in Iran, called for a comprehensive investigation of the UN’s scrutiny of the perpetrators of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
The international women association representative for human rights reckoning criminal executions in Iran, especially, for those who at the alleged crime time were under the age of 18, and also, highlighting the flogging of 20 people in the public for breaking fasting in the month of Ramadan by Iranian regime stated that: It is essential to hold accountable those, who exploited their power for the execution of thousands of political opponents. And further asked for revoking the immunity privileges of the regime officials who have escaped punishment.
Al Arabiya, 9 June 2017-By Tony Duheaume ince the early days of the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s prisons and legal systems have been frequently used by the regime as a method to eradicate all its outspoken political opponents, as well as to instil terror into the population.
At the time of the 1988 massacre, many of those being hung, had been held in custody for several years, suffering under a horrific regime of torture and abuse… READ MORE
THE U.S. RESOLUTION 188 PASSED TO CONDEMN THE 1988 MASSACRE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN US Congress Resolution Condemns Iran Atrocities and Calls for Actions By: Dr. Majid Rafizadeh
Huffington post , Jun 9, 2017-
A resolution was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, condemning an atrocity that most Americans, and indeed most westerners, have never heard of: the 1988 killings of approximately 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. READ MOR
Conference in Italy Welcomes Resolution in Support of Iranian Opposition
Following the adoption of a resolution condemning the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran by the Piemonte provincial council, the city of Kivasu held a session with the mayor taking part.Officials from the municipality and the Amnesty International representative in Piemonte participated in this conference.“There is no doubt the crimes committed by the religious dictatorship in Iran, leaving so many lives lost, will not go unanswered,” Mayor Libero Chuferdo said in his speed while welcoming the resolution. Read more
London Gathering in Solidarity With Families of 1988 Massacre Victims in Iran Thursday, 06 April 2017 NCRI - A street rally was held in London’s Trafelgar Square in solidarity with the families of Iran’s 1988 massacre victims. This gathering included an exhibition of mass graves and images of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre, during which more than 30,000 were sent to the gallows by the Iranian regime.Read more
Geneva – UN European HQ: Condemning Executions in Iran
call to hold perpetrators of 1988 massacre accountable
Speakers at a conference held in the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva by the international Radical Party condemned widespread human rights violations and increasing executions in Iran, and discussed the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran.
Repression of those seeking truth and justice for 1980s killings needs to stop
Amnesty International, March 8, 2017 - The Iranian authorities should stop the harassment, intimidation and prosecution of human rights defenders seeking truth and justice on behalf of individuals who were summarily executed or forcibly disappeared during the 1980s and their families, said 20 human rights groups.
Over the past few months, several human rights defenders, including Mansoureh Behkish, Maryam Akbari-Monfared and Raheleh Rahemipour, have been subjected to harassment, reprisals or prosecution on vague national security-related charges for their peaceful efforts to learn the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. The persecution signals renewed efforts by the authorities to suppress the struggle that has been ongoing for over three decades to reveal the truth about the gross human rights violations that were perpetrated by the Iranian authorities during the 1980s, including the extrajudicial executions of several thousands in 1988 and their burial in unmarked mass graves.
Mayor Dirk Claes : Human Rights in Iran cannot be compromised for Trade and Big Economic Contracts
On Friday- 21 October 2016 Mr Dirk Claes mayor of Rotselaar city in Netherland presided over a meeting of Belgian Committee of Parliamentarians and Mayors for a Democratic Iran, following is the text of the speech.
On the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in IranThe 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners in Iranhas been described as the worst crime against humanity since World War II. [1]28 years after this genocide, the Iranian regime still refuses to acknowledge the executions, or provide any information as to how many prisoners were killed. Read more
The summer of 1988 is truly the darkest times in modern Iranian history. Some 30,000 political prisoners were executed under the direct and written order or Fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini. The massacre is described as a political purge without precedent in modern Iranian history, both in terms of scope and cover up. Many of the prisoners were serving their prison terms and many were near the end of their sentences and were supposed to be freed. The massacre of political prisoners lasted a few weeks and their lifeless bodies were left inside unmarked mass graves in different cities and towns.
The majority of the victims belonged to the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran or PMOI. Number of individuals who belonged to lefties and other groups were also executed. The PMOI exposed this political genocide for the first time in the same year just a few months after the massacre.
Every year the Iranian dissidents around the world commemorate those brave souls for they were taken from somebody's parents, sister, brother, son and daughter, aunt, uncle, classmate, colleague or teacher....
The wave of massacre of political prisoners began in late July and continued unabated for a few months. Anniversary of Khomeini’s fatwa which led to 1988 massacre in Iran
On the 27th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners,Maryam Rajavi pays tribute to the martyrs of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran Text of the speech
Amnesty International:Iran Desecrating mass grave site would destroy crucial forensic evidence
In other report Amnesty International on 1 June 2017 mentioned:
The desecration of a mass grave site in Ahvaz, southern Iran that contains the remains of at least 44 people who were extrajudicially executed would destroy vital forensic evidence and scupper opportunities for justice for the mass prisoner killings that took place across the country in 1988, said Amnesty International and Justice for Iran.
Photo and video evidence obtained by the NGO Justice for Iran and reviewed by Amnesty International shows bulldozers working on a construction project directly alongside the mass grave site at Ahvaz, as well as piles of dirt and construction debris surrounding the grave. Although the Iranian authorities have made no official announcements about Ahvaz, families learned through a construction worker that the plan is to ultimately raze the concrete block marking the grave site and build over the area.
