Global Information1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners information
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar and concision. (December 2023) |
 Ebrahim Raisi (right) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (left), two members of "Judges of Death" committee. | |
| Date | July–December 1988 (some sources say July–September)[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Iran |
| Type | Mass execution |
| Target | Political opposition groups, most notably the MEK |
| Deaths | At least 2,500 to 30,000 (exact number unknown)[2][3][4][5] |
A series of mass executions of political prisoners ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini and carried out by Iranian officials took place across Iran, starting on 19 July 1988 and continuing for approximately five months.[6][7][8][9][10][11] The killings took place in at least 32 cities across the country,[12] and estimates of the number killed range from 2,500 to 30,000,[2][13][4][5] many of whom were also subject to torture.[14][12][15]
The majority of those who were killed were supporters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MeK), but supporters of other leftist factions, including the Fedaian and the Tudeh Party of Iran (Communist Party), were also executed.[16][17]: 209–228
The killings operated outside legislation and trials were not concerned with establishing the guilt or innocence of defendants.[18] Great care was taken to conceal the killings, and the government of Iran currently denies their occurrence.[19] The massacres have been called "Iran's greatest crime against humanity",[20] without precedent in the modern Iranian history both in terms of scope and cover-up,[17]: 201 and have been denounced by deputy Supreme Leader of Iran at the time Ayatollah Montazeri,[21] the United Nations Human Rights Council,[22] and number of countries such as Sweden,[23] Canada,[6] and Italy.
Various motives have been offered for the executions of the victims, including that the victims were executed in retaliation for the 1988 attack on the western borders of Iran by the MeK, (although members of other leftist groups which never supported or took part in the Mujahedin's invasion were also targeted for execution).[17]: 218 Survivors of the massacre have made numerous calls for redress and they have also called for the prosecution of those who perpetrated the massacre.[7]
- ^ "Iran: 1988 Mass Executions Evident Crimes Against Humanity". 8 June 2022.
- ^ a b Smith, Dan (1999). The State of the Middle East, Revised and Updated: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution. University of California Press. ISBN 9781134039227.
- ^ "Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'". The Telegraph. 4 February 2001.
- ^ a b "Iran war crimes verdict looms as opposition seeks justice for 1988 killings". The National News. 13 July 2022.
- ^ a b Ehteshami, Anoushiravan (2017). Iran: Stuck in Transition (The Contemporary Middle East). Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 9781351985451.
It is estimated that as many as 30,000 individuals may have been executed at that time, in response to a religious edict issued by Ayatollah Khomeini that there was no room for apostates in his Islamic republic. Ayatollah Montazeri also alluded to this tragedy in his memoirs (published in 2001) and the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center's detailed report on the executions notes that estimates of those killed range from 1,000 to 30,000. See IHRDC, Deadly Fatwa: Iran's 1988 Prison Massacre (New Haven, CT: IHRDC, 2009). The insider's account is provided by Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Khatirat-i Ayatollah Montazeri, Majmu'iyyih Payvastha va Dastnivisha [Memoir of Ayatollah Montazeri, the Collection of Appendices and Handwritten Notes] (2001).
- ^ a b Akhlaghi, Reza (14 June 2013). "Canada Recognizes Iran's 1988 Massacre as Crime against Humanity". Foreign Policy Blog. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ a b "More Than 100 Prominent Iranians Ask UN to Declare 1988 Massacre 'Crime Against Humanity'". Center for Human Rights in Iran. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity" (PDF). Amnesty International. 4 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ "1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran". National Council of Resistance of Iran. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ Naderi, Mostafa (22 August 2013). "I was lucky to escape with my life. The massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 must now be investigated". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "Iran still seeks to erase the '1988 prison massacre' from memories, 25 years on". Amnesty International. 29 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
hrw-2022was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Christina Lamb (4 February 2001). "Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'". The Telegraph.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Amnesty2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Families Of Prisoners Killed In 1988 Mass Executions Demand Answers". Radio Farda. 5 October 2020.
- ^ "Iranian party demands end to repression". Archived from the original on 24 September 2005.
- ^ a b c Abrahamian, Ervand (1999). Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran. Berkeley: University of California Press. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Iran: Top government officials distorted the truth about 1988 prison massacres". 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ "احمد خاتمی: امام خمینی با اعدامهای ۶۷ خدمت بزرگی به ملت کرد". Deutsche Welle persian. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "Trend in Prosecution of Human Rights Abusers Should Extend to Iran's President". IntPolicyDigest.
- ^ Basmenji, Kaveh (2005). Tehran Blues: Youth Culture in Iran. Saqui Books. ISBN 978-0863565823.
- ^ "United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and NGOs condemned human rights violations in Iran". Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
sweden-jailswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).