1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

1988 execution of political prisoners in Iran
Ebrahim Raisi (right) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (left), two members of "Judges of Death" committee, in 2013
DateJuly–December 1988 (some sources say July–September)[1]
LocationIran
TypeMass execution
TargetIranian political opposition groups, most notably the MEK, OIPFM and the Tudeh Party of Iran
Deaths2,800 to 30,000 people killed[2] (exact number unknown)[3][4][5][6]
AccusedHossein-Ali Nayyeri (who was then a judge), Morteza Eshraqi (then Tehran Prosecutor), Ebrahim Raisi (then deputy prosecutor general) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (then the representative of the Intelligence Ministry in Evin Prison), Hamid Nouri (then the assistant to the deputy prosecutor)[7]
ConvictedTrial of Hamid Nouri

Starting on 19 July 1988 and continuing for approximately five months, a series of mass executions of Iranian political prisoners ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini and carried out by Iranian officials took place across Iran.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Many prisoners were also tortured.[14][15][16] The killings took place in at least 32 cities across the country.[15] The killings were perpetrated without any legislative basis and trials were not concerned with establishing the guilt or innocence of defendants.[17] Great care was taken to conceal the killings.[18]

The exact number of those killed is unknown, with various estimates by human rights organizations up to 5,000 people killed.[19][3] Human Rights Watch puts the estimate at between 2,800 and 30,000 people killed,[2] while Amnesty International and United Nations Human Rights Council estimates at least 30,000 killed.[14]

Reportedly, the majority of those who were killed were supporters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MeK), while supporters of other leftist factions, including the Fedaian and the Tudeh Party of Iran (Communist Party), were also executed.[20][21]: 209–228  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).[21]: 218  Ayatollah Montazeri stated that these executions had been contemplated for several years and that the ministry of intelligence used the MeK's armed incursion as a pretext to carry out the mass killings.[10][17]

Survivors of the massacre have made numerous calls for redress and they have also called for the prosecution of those who perpetrated the attack.[9] The massacres have been called "Iran's greatest crime against humanity",[22] without precedent in modern Iranian history both in terms of scope and cover-up,[21]: 201  and have been denounced by deputy Supreme Leader of Iran at the time Ayatollah Montazeri,[23] the United Nations Human Rights Council,[24] and a number of countries such as Sweden,[25] Canada,[8] and Italy.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Iran: 1988 Mass Executions Evident Crimes Against Humanity". 8 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b Da Silva, Chantal (20 May 2024). "Grief, but also relief for some, after Iran President Raisi dies in helicopter crash". NBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'". The Telegraph. 4 February 2001.
  5. ^ "Iran war crimes verdict looms as opposition seeks justice for 1988 killings". The National News. 13 July 2022.
  6. ^ 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).
  7. ^ "Iranian war criminal freed by Sweden in prisoner swap deal". 16 June 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b "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.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Amnesty2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference hrw-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Families Of Prisoners Killed In 1988 Mass Executions Demand Answers". Radio Farda. 5 October 2020.
  17. ^ a b "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.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "Iran cleric linked to 1988 mass executions to lead judiciary". AP News. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Iranian party demands end to repression". Archived from the original on 24 September 2005.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ "Trend in Prosecution of Human Rights Abusers Should Extend to Iran's President". IntPolicyDigest.
  23. ^ Basmenji, Kaveh (2005). Tehran Blues: Youth Culture in Iran. Saqui Books. ISBN 978-0863565823.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference sweden-jails was invoked but never defined (see the help page).