UN Special Rapporteur Calls 1980s Massacres in Iran 'Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide'

Javid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, described the massacre of political prisoners in the 1980s by the Iranian government as 'atrocious crimes against humanity and genocide.' On Wednesday, June 20, during a side event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Rahman also called for accountability from the Iranian government for these crimes and urged the international community to activate 'investigative mechanisms' in addition to taking 'concrete steps' to hold the perpetrators accountable and end their impunity. Regarding the 1980s in Iran, Mr. Rahman stated that thousands of political prisoners were killed without access to a fair trial, and widespread torture of political prisoners occurred as an example of 'crimes against humanity.' According to Javid Rahman's report, these executions included women, some of whom were sexually assaulted before execution, and many were teenagers and children. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran emphasized that many survivors of these executions continue to struggle with the consequences of losing their loved ones. The report also examined violence and physical abuse against women and the repression of minorities during the first decade of the Islamic Republic's establishment in 1979. Mr. Rahman stressed, 'Those who have committed severe and serious human rights violations remain in power, and the international community has been unable or unwilling to hold these individuals accountable.' Thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s, especially in the summer of 1988, were executed due to their support or membership in groups and organizations such as the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran and other parties. The report states that the summer 1988 executions were carried out under a fatwa and approval from Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, through a committee known as the 'Death Committee.' In the summer of 1988, a four-member group, under the command of Ruhollah Khomeini, 're-tried' thousands of political and ideological prisoners who were serving their sentences in prisons and executed them on political charges. The bodies of the executed, many of whom were members of the imprisoned People's Mojahedin Organization and leftist prisoners, were secretly buried in mass graves. More than three decades after these executions, officials of the Islamic Republic continue to destroy the Khavaran cemetery, the most famous burial site of these executed individuals. Ebrahim Raisi, the former president of the thirteenth government, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the current candidate for the Iranian presidential election, were members of this committee.