Families of Victims of the 1988 Massacre: Stop Efforts to Erase Evidence of Crimes in Khavaran

A group of families of victims of the 1988 massacres in Khavaran cemetery criticized the Iranian government's renewed efforts to 'cleanse' the evidence of 'crimes in Khavaran' and called for a halt to any burials in this cemetery. About thirty family members of the victims wrote in a letter, a copy of which was provided to Voice of America, that in mid-April, the Islamic Republic allowed the burial of a Baha'i citizen in Khavaran cemetery. According to these families, this action by the Iranian government is similar to last year's attempt that led to the burial of four other Baha'i citizens. The families of the victims of the 1980s massacre stated: 'The burial of deceased members of the Baha'i community in Khavaran continues the trend that the Islamic Republic has pursued for 42 years to destroy Khavaran and erase the evidence and remains of the massacre of political prisoners in the 1980s, especially the summer of 1988.' They emphasized in their letter: 'Khavaran is the resting place of our pure loved ones whose cries for freedom were choked in their throats. Khavaran is a historical document of the massacre of political prisoners in the 1980s, especially the mass execution of the summer of 1988, which must not be forgotten. We, the families of the political prisoners executed in the 1980s and the summer of 1988, condemn any disrespect, assault, destruction, and alteration in Khavaran.' At the end of their letter, they stated: 'We are the seekers of justice for the unjustly shed blood of our loved ones and will not rest until the truth about all the executions of the 1980s, especially the mass execution of the summer of 1988, is revealed and the perpetrators of those crimes are tried and punished in a competent court.' In the summer of 1988, over four thousand political opponents of the Islamic Republic were sentenced to death in short trials by a committee known as the Death Committee, and after the massacre, they were collectively buried in Khavaran cemetery. According to Hossein Ali Montazeri, Ebrahim Raisi was one of the members of this committee. The Islamic Republic has not provided information about the buried individuals in Khavaran for three decades and even does not allow families to place gravestones or hold ceremonies there. The names of the signatories of this letter are kept confidential by Voice of America.