Families of Executed and Politically Murdered Condemn Mansoureh Behkish's Prison Sentence

Seventy-five families of those executed and politically murdered in the Islamic Republic condemned the prison sentence issued for Mansoureh Behkish, a member of "Mothers and Families of Khavaran," and called for its annulment. The appellate court confirmed a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Ms. Behkish on December 3 of this year, which had been issued a year prior. This sentence was issued on charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "collusion and conspiracy against national security." In recent years, political and labor activists have been sentenced on similar charges, leading to protests from human rights organizations. According to the statement, Mansoureh Behkish was also sentenced to four years in prison in 2012, with six months of that being punitive and three and a half years suspended for five years. The signatories of the statement noted that this suspended period was nearing its end when a new case was opened against her, making the total prison sentence 11 and a half years. According to the "Mothers of Laleh Park" website, the statement signed by 75 members of the families of executed and politically murdered individuals assessed the reasons for these charges as "seeking justice" and her "civil, political, labor, and cultural activities." Mansoureh Behkish is a member of the Mothers and Families of Khavaran, whose children were executed in the 1980s, particularly in the summer of 1988, without legal defense or participation in a formal trial, and were buried in nameless graves. Six members of Ms. Behkish's family were executed during that time. According to the statement, Mansoureh Behkish, whose six family members were executed in the 1980s, is an "active member of the Mothers and Families of Khavaran," who, as she states, have never been willing to give up their rights as seeking justice and forget the injustices done to them. The signatories wrote: "Mansoureh Behkish, along with other families, wanted to know on what charges their loved ones were tried and executed? Why were they not given the opportunity to defend themselves? Why were they deprived of the right to a lawyer and other rights of the accused?" The statement also mentioned that Ms. Behkish and other families "demand clarification of the crimes of the 1980s, especially the summer of 1988. Ms. Behkish, whose two brothers were executed that year, and other families of the 1988 executed ask what crime their loved ones were tried for again? Where were they buried? They want to know what happened in the prisons of the country that summer. They want the members of the death commission, the decision-makers of that mass execution, and those who carried out the death sentences to be held accountable for their actions." According to human rights organizations and opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, between 1980 and 1988, a large number of political prisoners belonging to opposition groups and parties were killed or executed under torture in prisons. Reports indicate that most of those killed in prisons were from 1988. Most of the executed prisoners that year were members of groups like the People's Mujahedin of Iran, the Tudeh Party of Iran, various groups of the Fadaiyan Khalq, and other leftist groups who had been tried before and were serving their sentences. Many of those executed were buried anonymously in mass graves in Khavaran cemetery in Tehran. The exact names and numbers of those executed that year are still not fully known. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights has reported that at least 1,879 political prisoners were executed. However, Ayatollah Montazeri stated in his memoirs that this number was between 2,800 and 3,800, emphasizing that he does not remember the exact figure. Meanwhile, the People's Mujahedin of Iran estimates the number of those executed in the 1980s to be as high as 30,000. The "Mothers of Laleh Park" website states that the 75 signatories of the statement also consider the request for "clarification of the truth, accountability of officials, and the right to a fair trial regarding their loved ones," "holding memorial ceremonies for their loved ones," and "participation in the movement of the Mothers of Laleh Park" as crimes of Ms. Behkish. The Mothers of Laleh Park gathered in 2009 after the Islamic Republic's government confronted protesters against the results of that year's presidential election, protesting what they called "arrests, killings, and suppression of protesters."