Amnesty International: Destruction of Mass Graves in Ahvaz Constitutes Torture of Families

On Thursday, July 25, Amnesty International announced in a statement that the destruction of mass and individual graves belonging to political opponents executed in the 1980s in Ahvaz constitutes torture of the victims' families. This international human rights organization has called for a halt to road construction over mass and individual graves in Ahvaz. The statement from Amnesty International reads: 'Iranian authorities, by destroying mass and individual graves belonging to political opponents who were disappeared and extrajudicially executed in Ahvaz during the 1980s, are responsible for inflicting unspeakable pain and suffering on the families of the victims. Such treatment of families constitutes torture or other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment.' The organization states that families fear facing judicial harassment if they publicly protest. In recent days, reports have emerged regarding the destruction of these mass graves in Ahvaz by the city's municipality. According to these reports, municipal agents in Ahvaz completely destroyed the mass grave of the victims of the 1988 massacre and other burial sites of political prisoners under the pretext of constructing a boulevard and green space in the last days of July. Amnesty International also states that it has received photographic evidence of the destruction of this mass grave and several individual graves in Ahvaz. According to the report, 'this mass grave and several individual graves belong to dozens of male and female political opponents who disappeared from the Fajr prison in Ahvaz during the 1980s and were subsequently extrajudicially executed.' The international human rights organization emphasized: 'Photos and videos received by Amnesty International since July 20, 2018, show that the concrete structure that previously marked the mass grave in this area, along with numerous individual graves, has been completely destroyed and all the graves are currently buried under layers of soil and debris. A sign installed at the construction site indicates that the project is titled 'Construction of a Boulevard between Mahdis and Phase 5 of Padadshahr and a 21-hectare Park,' and the contractor is the municipality of Ahvaz.' Amnesty International has urged everyone to write to representatives of Ahvaz in Parliament, the mayor of Ahvaz, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, demanding a halt to these actions. Amnesty International and 'Justice for Iran' warned in a report published in May of this year about the destruction of 'mass graves with the intent to eliminate evidence of the 1988 massacre.' According to reports from these two organizations, officials of the Islamic Republic have 'deliberately' destroyed the mass graves of victims of the political prisoner massacre in 1988 in at least seven cities in Iran. Security agencies of the Islamic Republic have also repeatedly destroyed the Khavaran cemetery in Tehran over the past three decades. Islamic Republic officials rarely speak about the mass executions of prisoners in the summer of 1988, and the burial sites of these prisoners have never been officially announced. Most of the executed prisoners that year were members of groups such as the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the Fedayeen Guerrillas, the Majority Fadaiyan, the Tudeh Party, and other leftist groups who had previously been tried and were serving their sentences. According to Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the then-deputy leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini personally ordered the execution of those who, according to him, 'insist on their hypocrisy in prisons across the country.' Many of those executed were buried anonymously in mass graves in Khavaran.