The 1988 massacre may have taken place a long time ago, but this hasn’t stopped U.N. human rights experts from conveying a document to Iranian government officials explaining that the crimes committed over the last few years were crimes against humanity and the regime which is allegedly responsible for these crimes should be held accountable as it is never too late. The U.N. is waiting for a response which it thinks it will never get. The earliest evidence of the mass killings was when thousands of political prisoners mysteriously disappeared after it was known that the regime had been interrogating them on a large scale.
The justice movement is bearing fruit on the international front. The era of silence and ignoring of the clerical regime's vast crimes is over. #1988Massacre #Iranhttps://t.co/mwaCaGEwly pic.twitter.com/SgA1Hzdn5b
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 12, 2020
When asked about the whereabouts of these missing prisoners the regime said their presence was all lies and such prisoners never existed.
Today, the U.N. has sufficient evidence to claim that there were thousands of people massacred many of whom were buried in concealed burial sites known to no one. Some of these sites have been found but the U.N. believes there are still many who are yet to be discovered.
It is only because the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has kept a watchful eye on the regime and knows that the 1988 massacre involved 30,000 people, many of who had firm ties with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran).
A group of human rights experts published a letter to the Iranian regime regarding the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in which 30,000 people were killed – most of whom were members or supporters of the (#MEK #Iran). pic.twitter.com/Xj2hi9AJBr
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 12, 2020
The NCRI revealed that death commissions were set up to pick out the political prisoners who were to be executed. Ali Hossein Montazeri, who was at one time the Iranian regime’s supreme leader, Khomeini’s heir, condemned the “death commissions” because many young people and pregnant women were massacred. It wasn’t just these two groups that were set upon by the death commissions and earmarked for executions but elderly political prisoners in their 70s were slaughtered too.
Those who signed the statement presented to the regime seemed to acknowledge Tehran’s dismissal of previous appeals and the U.N.’s failure to follow up on any appeals. Even when the massacre was reported and included in the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution on Iran’s human rights abuses at the end of 1988, “the situation was not referred to the Security Council, the U.N. General Assembly did not follow up on the resolution and the U.N. Commission on Human Rights did not take any action.”
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the 1988 Massacre for many years, and it has conducted a number of its own investigations into the massacre and the regime’s targeting of the (#PMOI /#MEK #Iran). https://t.co/IZU5T25uPc pic.twitter.com/eECUEPWz46
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 12, 2020
Those who are involved in monitoring human rights abuses have made it clear that the 1988 massacre profoundly affected the families who lost loved ones as well as those who managed to escape the death commission’s atrocities. Because nothing has been done to hold the regime accountable it has just continued with its human rights abuses. This has led to internal uprisings taking place as the regime shaves off inch by inch the wealth of the poorest. For example, the November 2019 uprising followed on from the nationwide protests in January 2018, which the regime said was encouraged by the (PMOI / MEK Iran). However, unfortunately for the peaceful protesters, more than 1,500 were shot down in a crackdown by the regime.
It is now time for the international community to transmit a message to Tehran that what it is doing will no longer be ignored. Any serious and thorough investigation should lead to charges laid against current Iranian officials at the International Criminal Court. This will ultimately weaken the rein the regime has tied to the people for so long.
Killing 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 resulted in no action from the international community. Nor did the killing of 1,500 protesters last year. So what next? Hopefully, the international community will put a stop to this before we find out what atrocity of #Iran regime.#MEK pic.twitter.com/sMXDoL5SDJ
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 12, 2020
and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube