Irene Victoria Massimino Kjarsgaard, the former Rapporteur of the High Criminal Court of Buenos Aires and co-founder and director of legal affairs at the Lincoln Institute for Genocide Prevention, delivered an impactful speech at a recent conference discussing the 1988 mass killings in Iran.
Kjarsgaard drew parallels between the systemic human rights violations committed under the junta’s regime in Argentina and the Iranian massacre.
Expressing solidarity with the victims and their relatives, Kjarsgaard stated, “The barbaric acts of today have concerning similarities with the 1988 massacre, which started with Ayatollah Khomeini’s order to execute an estimated 30,000 people, political prisoners, in Iranian jails.”
Kjarsgaard argued that both Argentina’s junta regime and Iran’s 1988 massacre shared common characteristics. Each autocratic regime utilized laws to legitimize institutional violence, enforced mass disappearances, and targeted youth and political dissidents.
She also noted the troubling involvement of the current president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, as a member of the ‘Death Committee’ responsible for the 1988 atrocity.
Emphasizing the ongoing nature of the crime of forced disappearances, Kjarsgaard explained, “The crime of enforced disappearance has no closure and allows for no closure. The sufferings of the relatives exist for as long as the disappearing exists.” She highlighted how the absence of the victims – the uncertainty about their fate – continues to affect those left behind, calling it “one of the most insidious forms of violence.”
Despite the atrocities, Kjarsgaard noted that impunity remains a major issue. “The lack of accountability for the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre and of justice and recognition for the victims is directly linked to the institutional crimes committed today. Impunity is a crime by itself,” she said.
Kjarsgaard stressed the importance of judicial accountability as a form of justice and the beginning of the healing process. “Reports and statements by international organizations and countries are insufficient and they fill the desks of bureaucrats. True judicial accountability is the only way to provide help in the construction of a free, peaceful, and democratic Iran,” she emphasized.
In conclusion, Kjarsgaard expressed her hope for a peaceful and free Iran and her readiness to support the journey towards it. She stressed that without justice, we live in a state of denial, which underscores the urgent need for accountability in Iran’s 1988 massacre.
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