Three Significant Events in the 1988 Executions Case in Less Than a Month

Thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s, especially in the summer of 1988, were executed in Evin and Gohardasht prisons in Tehran, as well as in prisons in Mashhad, Shiraz, Ahvaz, and other cities in Iran, under the direct orders of Ruhollah Khomeini and executed by committees known as "death committees." Many of those executed were supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and some belonged to other leftist groups that had been imprisoned in the early years of the 1980s. The case of the political executions of 1988 remains open, and those responsible for these executions continue to be immune from punishment. Over the past month, three events have occurred regarding this case that somewhat clarify the prospects for a fair trial process. The death of Ebrahim Raisi freed him from being tried in the important case of the 1988 executions. Raisi was a member of the death committee, which met with Hossein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini's then-deputy who protested these executions, to obtain permission for more executions. In 2016, Montazeri's website published an audio file from this meeting that took place on August 15, 1988. In this audio, Montazeri described the summer 1988 executions as "the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic" and stated that history would condemn us for this crime. Human rights activists expressed regret over Raisi's "pre-trial death." After winning the presidential election, Raisi responded to a question about his role in the death committee by saying, "If a prosecutor defends the rights of the people and the security of society, he should be praised and encouraged. I take pride in having defended security and comfort wherever I was in the capacity of a prosecutor." Following Raisi's death, human rights activists and the Iranian opposition in exile expressed regret over his pre-trial death for "crimes against humanity." Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, stated: "Ebrahim Raisi was a symbol of judicial immunity for criminals and institutionalized impunity in the Islamic Republic. In addition to his direct responsibility for the execution of thousands of political prisoners as one of the four members of the death committee in the summer of 1988, he held positions such as prosecutor in Karaj and Hamadan and revolutionary prosecutor in Tehran during the early 1980s, responsible for crimes whose dimensions are still not clear to everyone." However, Raisi's death does not mean the closure of his criminal case, and the families of the victims and human rights activists hope that one day his record will be addressed in a competent court alongside the records of other officials of the Islamic Republic and perpetrators of crimes against humanity. The second event was the confirmation of the candidacy of Mostafa Pourmohammadi, another member of the "death committee," by the Guardian Council during the current presidential election campaign. Pourmohammadi has repeatedly expressed pride in carrying out Khomeini's orders for the mass execution of government opponents in the past years. For example, in 2019, in an interview published in both video and text formats by the principlist weekly "Mosalaseh," he explicitly defended his role in the 1988 executions. Pourmohammadi, rejecting leniency towards those imprisoned at that time, stated: "We [should not be naive in those circumstances and tell the members of the Mojahedin] that you were not on the front lines, you were in support, you were listening, you were repairing cars... Anyone on the enemy's side is an enemy... We must hold each of the hypocrites accountable." In the propaganda and rhetoric of Islamic Republic officials, members of the Mojahedin Organization are referred to as "hypocrites." He made these statements with a smile, joking, and conveying a sense of intelligence and security dominance. Pourmohammadi is currently also making statements against members of the Mojahedin Organization, including imprisoned members, during his election campaign. This presidential candidate stated on a television program on June 15 that the Mojahedin Organization intended to establish a government with the participation of those he called "prisoners and others and their supporters" after the operation known as Eternal Light. These statements indicate that the Islamic Republic executed political prisoners without any new charges and solely based on their prejudices. However, he did not provide new details regarding the execution of these prisoners and did not take responsibility in this regard. In 2012, a court was held with the presence of witnesses and family members of the victims, as well as international judges, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, where the international judges labeled the 1988 executions as "crimes against humanity." Despite repeated protests from human rights organizations, Islamic Republic officials reject the judicial flaws in this case. Pourmohammadi previously stated in an interview with the weekly Mosalaseh: "At that time, we were at war, and in such circumstances, there is no need for legal explanation and examination of the actions of this judge and that judge." The third event in the past month regarding the 1988 executions case was the release of Hamid Nouri, which provoked widespread reactions. Nouri, under the alias Hamid Abbasi, was the former deputy prosecutor of Gohardasht prison at the time of the 1988 executions. Based on complaints from human rights activists and opponents of the Iranian government to the Swedish police, he was arrested on November 9, 2019, upon arrival at Stockholm Airport on a direct flight from Iran. The Swedish prosecution's case against Hamid Nouri was based on evidence related to the secret massacre of several thousand political prisoners in the summer of 1988 in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. A witness in Nouri's trial stated: "I heard the sound of bodies being thrown into the truck." In a case that lasted 93 sessions in the Swedish judiciary, at least 60 plaintiffs and witnesses and 12 experts in Islamic jurisprudence and international law spoke about Hamid Nouri's case. After a lengthy trial, a court in Sweden sentenced him to life imprisonment for "gross violations of international humanitarian law and murder" in July 2022. An appeals court also confirmed the life sentence for Mr. Nouri on December 19. In March 2023, the Swedish Supreme Court announced that it would not review the appeal against Hamid Nouri's life sentence, which was imposed due to his participation in the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, thus upholding his life sentence. Nouri's release primarily provoked protests from the families of the victims of the 1980s executions. Ismat Vatankhah, known as "Mother Ismat," whose 11 family members were executed in the 1980s, told Radio Farda that she trembled at the news of Nouri's return to Iran. She said: "It is true that my heart broke today, tears came to my eyes, but I have hope in you, the people of Iran." Shirin Ebadi, Reza Pahlavi, Nazanin Boniadi, Hamid Ismailioun, Alireza Akhoundi, Abdollah Mohtadi, and some family members of dual-national prisoners in Iran were among those who condemned Nouri's release. Ghazaleh Sharmeh, daughter of Jamshid Sharmeh, a dual-national Iranian-German citizen facing the death penalty in the Islamic Republic's prison, announced that with Nouri's release, the "legal claims" and "justice" of these families were stolen. However, some political and civil figures emphasized that such a release cannot diminish the human rights value of Nouri's condemnation, and this "great achievement" for the justice-seeking movement is not "reversible." Reza Moieni, one of the founders of the "Kahrizak Campaign" also reacted to this prisoner exchange between Iran and Sweden, stating: "Hamid Nouri was not acquitted in a fair and just court with the benefit of a lawyer and the right of defense, and his punishment was not reduced in the appeals court either. The exchange of Hamid Nouri with foreign hostages is not that important." He added: "The Stockholm court, relying on the principles of universal justice, condemned Hamid Nouri for the mass killing of political prisoners in 1988, and this judicial precedent in the world is a significant document for justice-seeking and for truth and justice."