Amnesty International Calls for Unconditional Release of Rahile Rahimipour

Amnesty International, based in London, issued a statement on Monday, September 11, announcing the arrest of Rahile Rahimipour, a survivor of the 1980s executions in Iran, and called for her unconditional release. Ms. Rahimipour is the sister of a political activist who was reportedly executed around 1984. She is actually searching for her niece, Golroo, who was born in Evin Prison, but apparently there is no information about her fate. According to Amnesty International's statement, Ms. Rahimipour was arrested at her home last Sunday, and currently, there is no news about her. The statement mentions that on Sunday night, 'three security agents with a judicial order issued by the Evin Prosecutor's Office' entered Rahile Rahimipour's home, but did not provide a reason for the arrest. Amnesty International further states that in the winter of 2016, Ms. Rahimipour was sentenced to one year in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of 'propaganda against the regime.' The statement notes that Rahimipour's niece, Golroo, was born in May 1984 but was reportedly separated from her mother under the pretext of medical tests after 15 days. At that time, the Rahimipour family was told that she had died, but officials never provided a death certificate or information about the circumstances of her death or burial. It is reported that during the 1988 executions, more than four thousand political prisoners, most of whom were serving or had completed their sentences, were executed in Iran within two months. This is not the first time a human rights organization has urged the Iranian authorities to treat the survivors of the victims of the 1980s executions legally and humanely. In March 2017, Amnesty International and 19 other organizations issued a joint statement calling on Iranian officials to cease the violations of rights and intimidation of truth-seekers regarding the 1980s executions. The statement said: 'Iranian authorities must end the harassment, intimidation, and prosecution of human rights defenders seeking truth and justice for individuals who have been arbitrarily executed or disappeared.' Various officials of the Islamic Republic continue to defend the mass executions of prisoners in 1988, including Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who recently stated that these executions 'had a jurisprudential discussion.' He remarked: 'Perhaps many of these individuals did not even know what the story was. They were asked if they repent or not? Naturally, with their youthful pride, they would say no, and their sentences would be issued. There may have been extremism, but the main point was the issue of moharebeh (waging war against God).'