Presence of Plaintiffs in Khavaran; 'Plainclothes Officer' Locked the Entrance Against Families

Reports indicate a 'violent confrontation' between agents and several families of political prisoners executed in the 1980s at the Khavaran cemetery in eastern Tehran. The Telegram channel 'Manifesto of Freedom, Welfare, Equality' reported that family members of the executed attempted to enter Khavaran on Friday, September 3, to 'commemorate their loved ones in the Khavaran cemetery.' Khavaran cemetery is the burial site of mass graves of victims of the executions of the 1980s and the summer of 1988. According to reports received by VOA, the entrance to Khavaran was closed to families, and agents identified families and prevented them from bringing bouquets inside, allowing only a few family members to enter the cemetery. The Telegram channel 'Manifesto of Freedom, Welfare, Equality' stated that they 'managed to secretly hide petals, flowers, and short branches in their bags and brought them inside to shower the soil of Khavaran with flowers.' After attendees sang songs in honor of the executed, 'Masoud Momeni, a plainclothes officer who introduced himself as responsible for the Behesht Zahra organization in the Bahai cemetery and Khavaran,' mistreated and insulted the families. He also locked the entrance while forcing attendees to leave Khavaran to prevent other families from entering the cemetery. According to families of executed political prisoners and the global Bahai community, the Islamic Republic has been trying to bury the bodies of Bahais in that location for about two years. The Telegram channel 'Manifesto of Freedom, Welfare, Equality' reported that the latest example of this effort was the burial of deceased Bahai family members in the mass graves of Khavaran, despite the opposition of Bahais. So far, '19 bodies have been buried in this section, and other graves have been dug and prepared for new burials.' Previously, a group of families of political prisoners executed in the 1980s and Bahais condemned the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence's actions to force Bahai families to bury their deceased in the mass graves of executed prisoners from the summer of 1988 during a virtual meeting titled 'The Campaign for the Permanence of Khavaran.' They regarded this action by the Ministry of Intelligence as an attempt by the Islamic Republic 'to erase the evidence of the executions and the massacre of the 1980s.' There have also been previous reports of the destruction of Khavaran cemetery between January 20 and 27, 2009. According to these reports, a large part of Khavaran cemetery was bulldozed, and after fresh soil was laid, trees were planted in that area. This action by the Islamic Republic sparked widespread protests from human rights organizations and families of the executed. The forced burial of deceased Bahais in Khavaran has been described as inhumane by the global Bahai community. A former Bahai community leader in Karaj was arrested; two other Bahais were buried in Khavaran. A group of families of victims of the 1988 massacre urged to stop the efforts to destroy the evidence of the crime in Khavaran. The 'Khavaran Plaintiffs' group condemned the burial of a Bahai citizen in Khavaran. A representative of the global Bahai community stated that the government's inhumane behavior continues 'even after death.' A statement from the Khavaran families was issued in response to the execution of Mohsen Shekari. Amnesty International has called on the global community to investigate the executions of 1988 in Iran.