Amnesty International Calls for Immediate Halt to Destruction of Mass Grave of 1988 Executions in Ahvaz

On Tuesday, Amnesty International urged Iranian authorities to immediately stop the destruction of a mass grave in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province. Amnesty states that dozens of victims of the 1988 executions are buried at this site. The human rights organization reports that construction operations around this mass grave began earlier this year. According to the report, a campaign has been launched to prevent the destruction of this mass grave, and videos have been published regarding this issue. Amnesty International is concerned that the destruction of this mass grave would erase evidence of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 in Ahvaz. Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa section of Amnesty International, stated that the destruction of this mass grave in Ahvaz would eliminate important evidence regarding the 1988 executions, evidence that could be used against those responsible for these executions. He added that the destruction of this mass grave would deprive the families of these victims of their rights to discover the truth and justice, including conducting dignified burials for their loved ones. Luther further emphasized that instead of disrespecting these victims and covering their graves with garbage while tormenting families who have been suppressed for protecting the memory of their loved ones, Iranian authorities should fulfill their duties to protect these mass graves to facilitate investigations into extrajudicial executions in 1988. According to the report, this mass grave is located three kilometers east of the Behesht Abad cemetery in Ahvaz. Amnesty International states that at the time of the executions in 1988, this mass grave was covered with concrete and cement, seemingly to prevent families of the victims from excavating it. Earlier in June of this year, Amnesty International reported on attempts to destroy another mass grave in Mashhad, where approximately 170 political prisoners are buried. According to some reports, during the 1988 executions, more than four thousand political prisoners, most of whom were serving their sentences or had completed them, were executed within two months. Opponents of the Islamic Republic believe the number of executions in 1988 was much higher than four thousand. Last year, an audio file belonging to Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the dismissed deputy of Ayatollah Khomeini, was released, in which Montazeri refers to the 1988 executions in Iran as 'the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic.' Ayatollah Montazeri held the judicial officials present at the meeting responsible for these executions and labeled them as 'criminals.'