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Twenty Years of Silence
22-Jul-2008
This summer, thousands of bereaved families will defy the Iranian government and gather at the mass graves in Tehran’s Khavaran cemetery to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 1988 (1) massacre of Iranian political prisoners. If you have forgotten this grim anniversary, then you are not alone. In fact, you are not alone if you did not even know that such a massacre ever occurred.
In scale and brutality, the 1988 massacre is unparalleled in contemporary Iranian history. It is the darkest irony of this very dark episode, that of all its human rights violations the Iranian government has been most successful at keeping the 1988 killings a secret from the international community and from many Iranians. By now, virtually everyone knows of the reign of terror that immediately followed the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian government’s assassination campaign abroad, and the “Chain Murders” that targeted opposition intellectuals and activists in the late 1990s. Tragically, however, there is very little public awareness of the 1988 executions. Not only has there been no prosecution of the criminals who orchestrated and carried out that summer’s gruesome murders, but the government continues to deny that they even occurred.
In this article, I want to do three things. First, I want to tell, in a condensed form, the story of the 1988 massacre. This story needs to be told repeatedly because many simply do not know it. Such repetition is also important, because in its retelling we commemorate the victims and ensure that their deaths were not in vain. Secondly, I want to discuss why this twenty year-old crime matters. Finally, I want to briefly outline a blueprint for future action.
There is also one approach that I specifically want to avoid in this piece. I do not wish to delve into the reasons why, for two decades, little has been done to pursue justice in this case. That is not to say that past failures are unimportant. They teach us a great deal about the difficulties ahead and the pitfalls to avoid. What I mean is that devoting energy to blaming the actions of this political party or the omissions of that human rights organization distracts from the real and difficult tasks now at hand: Making the world aware of the crime, investigating the massacre, and preparing for future prosecutions.
What happened in 1988?
Throughout the 1980’s, Iranian prisons were filled with political prisoners of every age, gender, and ideological affiliation. As has been noted by Amnesty International, the vast majority of these political prisoners had been sentenced to prison—in trials that fell far short of international standards—for non-violent political activity. While in prison, they had endured appalling torture and other forms of brutality.
In late 1987 and early 1988, prison officials began the unusual process of interrogating political prisoners again and separating them according to their party affiliations, religiosity, and length of sentence. In Tehran, this meant that some prisoners were moved between Evin and Gohar-Dasht prisons. This preliminary segregation of prisoners strongly indicates that there were pre-existing plans for mass killings. Furthermore, the filtering process belies the notion that the 1988 executions were in response to armed attacks on Iranian territory.
At the end of July 1998, shortly after Iran had accepted a cease-fire in the war with Iraq, and days after its military had soundly repelled an attack by the Mojahedin-e Khalq on Iran’s western border, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gave two unprecedented secret orders(2) to begin the re-trial of all political prisoners across the country and to execute those who remained steadfast in their opposition to the Islamic regime. To give effect to Khomeini’s order, a commission was assembled—called the “Death Commission” by the prisoners—consisting of a representative from the Judiciary, the office of the Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Intelligence. In Tehran’s Death Commission, those government agencies were represented by Jaafar Nayyeri, Morteza Eshraghi and Mostafa Pourmohammadi respectively, although others also played a role. The task of the Death Commission was to determine whether a prisoner was a Mohareb(3) or Mortad-(4)and to execute both groups. In the case of most Mojahedin prisoners, that determination was often made after only a single question about their party affiliation. Those who said “Mojahedin” rather than the derogatory “Monafeqin”(5) were sent to be hanged. In the case of various leftist prisoners, the Death Commission asked about religious belief and willingness to cooperate with the authorities. Sample questions included: “are you a Muslim?”, “do you pray?”, and “are you willing to clear minefields for the military of the Islamic Republic?” If a plurality of judges felt that the prisoner was a Mohareb or Mortad, the prisoner was sent to hang immediately.
Several thousand political prisoners were killed in a matter of two months. Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri estimates that the number killed was somewhere between 2,800 and 3,800. Others believe the number is higher. Even those who survived the questioning of the Death Commission did not always fare well. Some could not bear the emotional pain of what they had witnessed, or the physical pain of the regular floggings they received, and simply committed suicide. The prison guards are said to have encouraged that decision.
To add insult to injury, the Iranian government did not inform the victims’ families about the re-trials until the executions had been carried out and the bodies had been buried in mass graves. Once informed, the families were not told of their loved ones’ burial spots and were ordered not to erect any monument or hold any ceremony. When asked about the killings by the Western press, representatives of the Iranian government—Abdollah Nouri, Ali Khamene’i, and Hashemi Rafsanjani—flatly denied them. The Iranian government continues to deny the 1988 elimanation of opposition prisoners.
Why Does 1988 matter?
Even after reading the story above, it is fair to ask why, in a world of finite activist resources and limited attention spans, it is worth focusing on a case from two decades ago. Why not instead focus on something more immediate and pressing?
There are two answers. The first is that—while one does not want to be in the business of comparing suffering—the scale of the crimes committed in 1988 makes the case qualitatively different from the Iranian government’s other human rights violations. As mentioned at the outset, the murder campaign of that summer is a crime without parallel in Iran’s tumultuous modern history. In fact, the executions have all the elements required by international law to be labeled as crimes against humanity: The murders were widespread and systematic, they were directed at a civilian population, and, as made clear by Ayatollah Montazeri in his memoirs, they were a policy preconceived at the highest ranks of the Iranian government. The sheer magnitude of the 1988 massacre makes it too large to ignore, even after twenty years.
The second reason to focus on 1988 is that the absence of accountability for those crimes has led to the culture of impunity so rampant in today’s Iran. Why would Iranian officials hesitate to murder intellectuals, torture students, or kill an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist? After all, they know that their colleagues (i.e. Ismail Shooshtari or Mostafa Pourmohammadi) who bear immense criminal responsibility for the same types of acts in 1988 have been rewarded with cabinet posts under the Khatami and Ahmadinejad administrations? A focus on 1988 sends a strong signal to Iranian officials that the human rights community has a long memory and that, like Milosevic, Pinochet, and numerous Rwandan genocidaires(6), they will one day have to account for their crimes. A campaign to widely identify the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre may also shame future Iranian administrations into marginalizing those individuals. A publicity campaign will alert the Iranian government that giving public roles to known criminals will further isolate it from the international community.
What is to be Done about 1988?
On this sad anniversary, it is important to hold gatherings, lay flowers, and observe moments of silence. But remembrance is not enough. What we need now, after twenty years of silence, is to map out a strategy for demanding accountability. To decide on such a strategy, we will need input from survivors, victims’ families, lawyers, human rights activists, and journalists. To start this important conversation, I outline below a few preliminary thoughts on the course of action. The list below is not exhaustive and the steps outlined are intertwined:
* Telling the world: I began this article by mentioning that the vast majority of people simply do not know that the crimes of 1988 ever occurred. Our failure to publicize this crime is the most shameful disservice to the victims and their families. It is also the single greatest obstacle to the pursuit for justice since we cannot expect an international outcry over a crime about which the world simply does not know. To rectify the situation, we need to begin a thoughtful information campaign; a campaign that goes beyond insular gatherings of former prisoners and a small group of devoted activists; a campaign that vividly presents the 1988 case as a human rights issue that matters to all Iranians rather than a political issue that benefits only those opposition groups whose members were executed. We need to write op-eds in newspapers, both local and national, in Persian and in the major languages of the world, without hyperbole or generalizations. We need to have professional-looking websites that disseminate information on this topic. We need to talk to the journalists we know and ask them to cover this story, and if the journalists ask us for information, we need to have well-written resources to provide. We need to blog about 1988. Our academics need to write scholarly papers on the topic. We need to host conferences on the issue. In short, we need to make sure that we shatter the pervasive silence of the past twenty years.
* Telling our representatives: An important part of our information campaign needs to focus on our elected representatives at every level of government. Through meetings with representatives and candidates, letter writing, and through the use of our emerging diaspora lobby groups, we first need to inform the leaders of the countries in which we live about the atrocity that occurred in 1988 and its importance to the Iranian community. We then need to demand action from these governments, letting them know that they will only have our votes if they seriously address our concerns in this regard. Government action can come in many forms. For example, we can request that our governments formally recognize the 1988 massacre as crimes against humanity. The mere act of recognition by a foreign government will surely get Tehran’s attention. We can ask that our governments insist on tough human rights pre-conditions in all future dealings with Iran, namely an independent investigation of the 1988 massacre. We can also demand that our governments use any legal mechanism available to them, be it through the exercise of “universal jurisdiction” or other means, to threaten the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre with arrest and prosecution.
* Pressuring the human rights organizations: It is baffling that two of the world’s most powerful human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have simply never written full reports on a crime as widespread as the 1988 extermination campaign. To give credibility to our cause, this needs to change. What is needed here is public pressure on these organizations and their Iran researchers in the form of letters, emails, and phone calls, asking them take up the case more seriously. Instead of blaming and condemning them for their failure up until now, it is important to convince them that their investigation would alleviate some the suffering of the victims’ families and would have a positive impact on Iran’s political culture. If they are unwilling to pursue the case, we need to ask for clear reasons. If they say that they will consider it, we need to follow up. Persistence is the key in this regard.
* Consulting with other communities and learning from their experience: There is a wealth of knowledge and experience among various communities about how to deal with human rights atrocities. Those of us in the Iranian human rights community should form alliances with such groups and learn about their successes and failures. For example, we may attempt to learn from the Chilean example, where brave activists began documenting the atrocities of the Pinochet regime back in the bleak days of the 1970’s when there was little hope for change. Though the Chileans were never successful in obtaining a conviction against Pinochet while he was still alive, they scored a major victory in 1998 when Pinochet was arrested in England on a Spanish warrant for human rights crimes. With their tireless efforts, the lawyers and activists ensured that the former dictator’s last days were spent in real fear of prosecution. A different yet equally instructive example is to be found in neighboring Argentina. There, the famed “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” began their struggle in the 1970’s against the military junta that had abducted their children in the brutal Dirty War. Their protests continue to this day, though the Dirty War is long over and the military junta is gone. The Mothers have had many successes and some failures. Their model is also one that we ought to study in closer depth.
* Gathering the evidence and preparing for prosecution: Even if we had ready access to the 1988 culprits, the prospects of prosecutions in the near future are slim. Simply put, at the moment, with the Islamic government firmly in control of Iran, it is not clear where any claim against the perpetrators of the 1988 crimes could be brought. The Iranian Judiciary, itself a tool of Iranian government repression, will not pursue this case. The newly-established International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction to address the issue for a variety of legal reasons. Moreover, the national courts around the world are reluctant to make use of the notion of universal jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for crimes committed in another country.
* We should not be deterred, however, by the current absence of a proper venue. For now, we should focus on preparing a case, with an eye towards a future opportunity to present the evidence in an Iranian, foreign, or international court. What is currently needed is for an organization to compile all documents and testimony from all survivors, victims’ families, any perpetrator who is willing to speak (perhaps with the hope of future amnesty), any current or former official who may have inside knowledge of the massacre (such as Ayatollah Montazeri), and any other person willing to come forward with relevant information. We will need to hold meetings between lawyers who have expertise in various jurisdictions to discuss possible legal theories. The preparation of documents and evidence will of course facilitate any future prosecution. But it will also assist in the information campaign and lobbying efforts I have outlined above.
Obtaining justice in the 1988 case will require a sustained and serious effort from the human rights community. Much groundwork needs to be laid before we can even seriously begin the project of prosecuting the responsible parties. Two decades have already passed without any serious action on these crimes against humanity. In these two decades, memories have faded and evidence has been lost. We need to get to work. There is no time to waste.
This article was originally published in gozaar.net.
NOTES
(1) 1367 in the Iranian calendar.
(2) A copy of the order pertaining to the Mojahedin is now widely available.
(3) Combatant against God.
(4) Apostate.
(5) Hypocrite.
(6) Those responsible for mass killings.
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History of violence
by Mehdi on Wed Jul 23, 2008 01:33 PM PDTIt seems to me that a group of people killed another group of people and now the friends or relatives of that group are trying to muster support and power in order to kill the first group. What a great world we are having. It is not really easy to see a difference between the first group and the second. They both feel the other needs to be erased from the face of Earth! They both have their reasons and are very sure of them! Is it possible to get these two groups to some day see each other and not an image of each other they have created in their own minds?
Too sad to see a lot of you
by KavehV (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:50 PM PDTToo sad to see a lot of you good people are wasting your energy responding to nonsense comments and clutter the site even more. I was looking forward to more suggestions and/or expansion on Kaveh's points about the different approaches we can take on exposing these atrocities to the public. Please ignore the nonsense and focus on the suggestions in the article and expand on what is stated. Otherwise, it would be business as usual; several well deserved anti-IRI comments and then nothing. This has already been a shame on all of us for not willing to do anything about it, other than stating the obvious by condemning the regime.
A lot of language used by
by Fossil (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:34 PM PDTA lot of language used by Fair and other commentators are really so familiar with the old Muhjahedeen language used during the early and mid 80s. Same language now in other disguises such as PMOI, NCRI, United Front, United airlines! and other "united" junk.
They also accuse other commentators of being terrorists! Terrorists?! Don't terrorists have better things to do than spend time here?!
Now watch these Mujahedeen in disguise blame me for blaming the massacare on Mujahadeen and being an apologist. Who is up in arms with this article?
Fair YOUR truth hurts YOU,
by Holocaust survivor (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:01 PM PDTFair YOUR truth hurts YOU, it doesn't hurt me. Truth doesn't hurt me. I know the truth. You are speaking of popping veins. You are speaking of the same rhetoric we hear in media evey day. You are just bowing to those who seek to discredit Iran, with or without this 1988 massacre. The TRUTH is hurting you, I am having a balmy day!
Who would excuse the 1988 mass murder of Iranians?
by Navid_III (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:59 AM PDTWhat ideology do you have that excuses the 1988 mass murder of Iranians?
To all mass murder apologists: You hit upon all readers as idiot and sheep minded. Go on and vindicate the 1988 Islamists/Khominist’s mass murder of Iranians and all ill doings and slaughters of this barbaric and non-Iranian regime.
Your words of agreeing to murderous acts for the readers to read are the best testimony to the essence of this well written article on a dissater in Iranian modern history.
I hope more of apologists for murder and mass murder of non-Islamists come to this site and read and make comments. Our sufferrings and pains will eventually inflame your blackened soul and might open your heart.
Every year for the past 20
by sickofiriandmalekeh (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:39 AM PDTEvery year for the past 20 years, families of the victims of 1987-88 bloody massacre (mostly young girls and boys) of Iran's political prisoners, ordered by genocidal Khomeini , have gathered around an arid and desolate piece of land near Khavaron district in Tehran to pay homage to their loved ones.
These heroes were unflappable in their quest for justice and liberty. They did not cower or shrink from their ideals at the hands Khomeini's psychopathic religious thugs. Make no mistake, they did not die in vain. Their stories are yet to be told and discovered by future generations.
Mothers and fathers who lost their sons and daughters weep at unknown graves. Children who never got to know their parents, place flowers and sing the anthems their parents sang before they were executed. Below, Watch the video clip from.
Last year the parents and relatives of these viticms were threatned by the IRI thugs not to attend the anniversary...but they still did.
//www.khavaran.com/Films/Khavaranweb.wmv
How was this grave site discovered?
The public became alerted of the mass graves only when they noticed large gathering of over enthusiastic stray dogs, scavenging for bones. The exact number of those who were executed is unknown. The estimates are around 30,000.
//www.asre-nou.net/1386/shahrivar/6/koshtar/m...
You can find some of the victims names --the list is still being compiled since the whereabouts of many others are still unknown.
Holocaust survivor- the truth hurts...
by Fair on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:38 AM PDT..doesn't it? :)
People are not stupid and see perfectly the crap you are up to.
I don't accuse anybody. I say facts. Do you dispute any of them?
...I didn't think so.
You may now resume banging your head against the wall.
Don't dance around the subject....
by Anonymous abc (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:18 AM PDTIt does not matter who these people were. The only thing that matters is that they were mass murdered without any due process, by the same islamists who had been screaming for decades for petty crimes of the shah (in comparison). There were only very few Glosorkhi's, and he was accused of kidnapping and put up no defense except that he was a leninist-islamist, and islamists turned that into "piraahane osman" for years, but they can easily justify IRI crimes.
Let's face it. This was totally legal in Shia islam as this has always been the norm since the days of Caliphs. Omar did the same with iranians, Emam Ali did the same with people of Fars, and all subsequent religious leaders, likes of shah shaja, were among the worst in committing mass crimes with ease.
The problem is what makes this possible, you like it or not, it is the islamic ideology that takes one's mind and sense of morality away from the created and hands it over to a mulla like khomeini or khalkhali who can make the life and death decisions with ease on behalf of their corrupt god.
The problem is islam and this will persist as long as we do not challenge the old ideas and up-root this religion of death, or at least get to know its true nature without any fanaticism of the faith.
Islam was forced down iranian throats by the exact same tactics of intimidation and murder and will not leave us alone except by force. Face the fact, only a reza shah can deal with islamists the way they deserve, otherwise they will totally destroy iran or whatever is left of her. They know no civility and morality at all.
Malakeh: Who is the
by sickofIRI (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:16 AM PDTMalakeh: Who is the opposition? I don't belong to any opposition. You don't have to be a member of an opposition group to condemn despicable and horrific treatment of other human beings. These are crimes committed against all humanity...They just arrested Karadiz,You should be very afraid...
Malakeh, you have to meet your creator one day and I'm sure he will turn up the heat in you know where for you.. Stop fooling yourself and ask for forgivness...
In fact, I suggest all those who support the IRI think about the morality of their stance...You can't fool anyone on this site and certainly you can't fool God!
Fair I can see the veins
by Holocaust survivor (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:13 AM PDTFair I can see the veins popping out of your neck. Calm down. Stop accusing every one. The more you do the more convinced people become that you are way out there. And you know who were and still are way out there.
Rashidian = sickofflies = sickofIRI = ....
by Malekeh_ on Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:58 AM PDTMr / Mrs Rshidian,
You don't need to go "anonymous" to make your point. And you know what, that has been the problem with the "opposition" to IRI. They don't want to face the facts, or start with the facts and get themselves accepted by the iranian nation. They always want short cuts (like quick money!!!) ,and want to go in from the backdoor when they cannot make it from the front door! , or like the MKO, after they are rejected by the iranian nation, they openly collaborate with iranian nation's enemies. Why is it that when you don't find support among iranians, you try to imagine that there is support for you and the likes of you? If IRI opposition has a bankrupt view, and it is not accepted by the MAJORITY of iranians, then why fake as if irnains are supporting you, or why try to find refuge with the enemies of the iranian nation? Rejecting some of the bankrupt ideas of "IRI opposition" does not mean we accept IRI itself. What is wrong with saying: You know I have a wonderful idea, but either iranian people are stupid or they just don't want to accept my idea. Therefore, I did my share, and let someone else pick up the mantel from here, and i will join them may be later. What is wrong with this sort of an attitude? You Mr / Mrs Rashidian are not above any other Iranian outside or inside Iran. We are all EQUALLY IRANIANS. If we don't like your idea, hey hit the sack!
Get real man!
TERRORISTS
by Fair on Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:41 AM PDTTypical terrorist supporters of IRI crimes- when you are faced with a crime of the IRI, you quickly point to your foreign enemies and change the subject. Well there is no escape from mass murder and mass rape. You are no different than Saddam, Karadzic, Hitler, and other monsters. It is clear what you are up to on this site, and you are doomed to fail. As usual.
You are TERRORISTS because when you feel you are a victim, you take revenge on defenseless people- like those who are in jail. And you give yourselves the right to rape a few virgins in the process. Why? Because in your eyes, the only sufferring that matters is yours, and if people who have nothing to do with your predicament (except maybe share the same label as those who attacked you) and are innocent have to pay, so be it. You can take revenge on whoever and whenver and however you want.
You don't even need to answer, because your answer will be a cheap trick and is so predictable, here let me give it for you. "You call us terrorists? What about the zionist imperialists who attack innocent people and occupy other lands and kill civilians and use chemical weapons and depleted uranium and commit war crimes"? But this cheap trick will get you nowhere. Because you are CHANGING THE SUBJECT. If you want to discuss these crimes, go and open a new article and discuss it (and I will agree with it). Don't go hiding behind whichever stone you can find to escape the pressure. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CRIMES LIKE ALL CRIMINALS. THE EXISTENCE OF OTHER CRIMINALS DOES NOT EXONERATE YOU. THERE IS NO ESCAPE.
A criminal is a criminal. And a terrorist is a terrorist. Just because you don't like the others in your terrorist club doesn't mean you are different.
Stop lying. Stop running away. Stand up and answer for your actions.
In other words, be FAIR.
Shameful
by Anonymous-today (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:34 AM PDTYou don’t' have to be a member or sympathizer of MKO or Fedayian Khalgh, or Peykar and other left wing and progressive groups who were massacred in this shameful and disgusting event to condemn it. This is one of the most despicable episodes in Iran's modern history. It matters not an iota of what Mujahedeen were doing against Iran's army. You do not massacre your prisoners, period. This is not the middle-ages. If we condemn the actions of American occupation army in Iraq or the IDF in the Occupied Territories, we can't be silent on this despicable episode. The c’est la guerre cut both ways. You either respect human rights or you should shut up on the actions of the others. You can’t white wash history. I’m not advocating revenge necessarily, but accountability has to happen and all those who have been responsible have to answer. Remember, folks, they just arrested Karadic, and he was the mastermind of massacres of thousands of Bosnian Muslems.
Apologies for absence
by basijizadeh (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 09:47 AM PDTare hereby given by Q and Mehdi who are busy defending the Islamic regime on other treads. This time they are deuptized by Malekeh_
Basijizadeh
Tragedy on this site is
by sickofIRI (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 09:33 AM PDTTragedy on this site is Malekh, Mostaghel, anon1500 et al; the likes of which rule over 70 million people.
These characters epitomize the criminally insane and the immoral mindset of those who hijacked the revolution and are dragging Iran into a cesspool of indecency and inhumanity.
It is appalling to see that
by sickoflies (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 09:21 AM PDTIt is appalling to see that Islamists on this site advocate mass murders.
I don't believe for a minute the fabricated story of Islamic Republic's criminal apologists. None of those who were in prison had anything to do with Saadam and were detained perhaps before the war. Stop your shameless lies.
The treasonous Khomeini decided to extend the war shamelessly and enrich the pockets of the owners of the Military Industrial Complex because he was collaborating with the US, Germany, Israel, hoping that he could take over Karbala and eventually the Quods.
Khomeini should be postumously tried in a court of law for
1. killing thousands of Iranians and extending the war for his egomaniacal aspirations in the Iran-Iraq war.
2. For deceiving the Iranian people.
3. For the attempted coup against the democratically elected Bani-Sadr
4. For enriching the Western arms dealers
5. For the diabolical Fatwa to please his masters in the West.
6. For legalizing pedophilia
7. For Misogyny and rape of young female prisoners
Please feel free to add to the list.
Rashidian - "holocaust-like"
by holocaust survivor (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 09:15 AM PDTRashidian - "holocaust-like" massacre??????!!!!!! Compare holocaust with this massacre of 1988.
Re: Tragedy on This Site (to: Rashidian)
by Malekeh_ on Wed Jul 23, 2008 08:49 AM PDTMr or Mrs Rashidian,
as usual you are going overboard. If someone says something you don't like, then like your nemis Mollahs you don't think they have the right to say it. You spread all sort of crazy concepts whichare not in line with Iran's history or culture and expect people to follow your thoughts. Practically like everyone else, I am not happy to have mollahs in power in iran. I think iranians deserve better. But when I am faced with "oppositions" like you who act even worse than mollahs, I say thanks god the likes of this "opposition" is not in power in Iran. We would be in a much worse shape than we currently are!.
Have a nice cold beer (made in germany of course)
what makes you trust ....
by ./. (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 07:51 AM PDTwhat makes you trust Abramanian. As you know we now have a lot of phony reports circulated by the iranian enemies (zios, etc.) on various grounds. Not to defend mollahs, but we need FACTS not made up reports by iran's enemies to start another war. One needs to be careful what he/she reads nowadays. You say:
Indeed, Abrahamian's work is the only thorough report published on the mass executions of 1988. Former prisoners and opposition groups put the death toll between 5,000 and 6,000. Amnesty International estimates the total to be more than 2,500, the vast majority "'prisoners of conscience' as they had not been charged with actual deeds or plans of deeds against the state." Abrahamian provides an insightful portrayal of how and why medieval inquisition reappeared in modern Iran. Evidence leads him to conclude that the horrors of 1988 were "the product, not of fearful panic, but of calculated planning."
Tragedy on This Site
by Jahanshah Rashidian on Wed Jul 23, 2008 07:04 AM PDTDear Kaveh:
Thank you for your great piece, as you mentioned, this massacre must not fall into collative oblivion, what IRI's supporters or lobby groups attempt to do. We must sign petitions, demand interrogations and do all judicial measures to bring the international judicial and political authorities to recognise the crime. The Hague Court must be demanded to follow the case, as it has done against other criminals.
Masoud Jan:
Khomeini's death- fatwa was initially targeted at MOK who turned the back on their ex-brothers in power, but was soon rectified to massacre any political prisoner who refused to repent and cooperate with the regime. From August to September of 1988, the executions continued in Evin prison in Tehran and other prisons of Iranian cities with all atrocity.
To those murderers who justify the massacre as a rightful revenge to MOK:
According to Mr. Abrahamian, the collective massacre was planned after the end of Iran-Iraq war and short before the MOK's failed military attack on Iran called Forough Javidan in 1988. So, the massacre was not due to this operation, in accordance to "eye-for-eye", law of retribution, otherwise called "Ghissas", but an inspiration of killing-concept of Islamism, which legitimates such a massacre. Furthermore, many of them were jailed about eight years earlier, when they were 12 to 14 years old and were captured when MOK was not set up in Iraq.
Although, many of those prisoners had already finished their prison sentences, they were further kept in captivity. Some of them were even recaptured after being once released. The prisoners were from all segments of society--included teenagers, whole families, men and women
To all readers:
As I previously pointed out, there are some IRI's supporters on this site.
The first group is an Islamist thuggish group, which with different names and avatars, are given the audacity to directly approve such a massacre or any IRI's crime on this site. They attack,slander and threaten any opposite voice. Their immoral, vulgar, defamatory and disgusting comments rarely get deleted on this site. Normally, those who justify such a Holcaust-like massacre or defend a fascist ideology are not allowed to express themselves on any democratic media elsewhere.
A second group, IRI's ex-followers, are reluctant on such topics, in which they might have been involved.
A third group who show off "opposition" ignore or water down such crimes because they are not supposed to implicitly put under question the illegitimacy and "quasi democracy" of the regime. They attempt to prolong IRI's parasitic life even though at the costs of such a massacre of 88.
These three groups abuse the floppy concept of "Nothing is sacred" of this site to defend directly or indirectly the criminal IRI. This is a tragedy on this site.
Masoud, do you know of
by sadegh on Wed Jul 23, 2008 05:33 AM PDTMasoud, do you know of anymore credible sources (not affliated with dodgy opposition organizations) apart from the ones I mentioned?
Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh
Masoud jan, thanks for the
by sadegh on Wed Jul 23, 2008 05:31 AM PDTMasoud jan, thanks for the link to the Nation review...appreciate it...
Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh
What a non sense BS
by Anonymous1005 (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 04:01 AM PDTI am amazed you provide one side of the story and leave the other side intentionally out. Let me summarize this for you:
I have relatives who where drafted to war (Iran & Iraq).
Two members were killed in battle with MKO who chose Iraq over Iran
Before the end of the war, MKO launched one of the largest attacks on Iranian military. Of course they were defeated.
Those who were part of MKO militia were all former prisoners or members of MKO.
How can you tell the readers to feel sorry for bunch of vatan-forosh who intentionally killed innocent young Iranian men who were forced to go to war?
How can you defend a group of traitor who have been selling their home to west?
There are much more. I can give you name of several books that former MKO members wrote. In these books they discuss how MKO used Iranian prisoners for shields every time they launched an attack on Iranian military.
And have you been in Iran recently? MKO has no ally in Iran. People of Iran have not forgotten what these vatan-forosh done to their sons.
Well done Kaveh, I've read
by sadegh on Wed Jul 23, 2008 09:16 AM PDTWell done Kaveh, I've read your previous paper in the Harvard Journal of Human Rights...I've also read Prof. Abrahamian's Tortured Confessions, which I purchased recently, and am looking over the HRW reports...I've also been reading Ayatollah Montazeri's memoirs on the horrific events of 1988...can you recommend anymore sources or documents of interest? Please either email me (at sadegh@eterazonline.com) or leave a message here...Once again, excellent work publicizing this unprecendented massacre which still hasn't received sufficient attention internationally and the domestic culprits (despite the arrest of a couple of fall-guys) who remain at large, some of wihich are even members of Ahmadinejad's cabinet...Keep up the good work...
Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh
The litmus test
by Fred on Wed Jul 23, 2008 01:57 AM PDTWhen it comes to condemning the undisputable well documented atrocities of the Islamist regime the silence of the usually highly vocal suspects is deafening. Except a few asinine approvals, Islamist/Anti-Semites and their likeminded lefty allies are nowhere to be seen.
Deadly Silence
by Armita (not verified) on Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:43 AM PDTThe Islamic Republic will stay power as long as Iraniams CHOOSE to remain silent. Silence is what allows that government to walk over it's citizens. It's the public's silence that gives them strength. it's the fake dual life Iranians lead, inside and outside their homes. It's the lack of respect for humanity that allows them to continue this pattern. Nothing has changed, and nothing will, as long as people stay silent. I have no respect for anyone who remains silent, to me they are the biggest sinner.
Since the begging of the Islamic repblic hundres of thousands of people have been jailed or killed by standing up for their rights and the rights of others, but they have recived no support by the silent majority. This silenct majority is the root of all problems.
As Martin Luther King said " History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period … was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people " .
The Iranian people need to realize that no one will come to help them, until they choose to help themselves. They all sit around waiting for America or Britian to come and change the regime when they see fit. Iranians have been living under terror for the past 30yrs, no one in the outside cared! Now that they may acquire nuclear power, and raised a threat to the outside community, this regime has become an issue internationally. BUT what about our sufferings? When are our voices going to be herd above America or Israel? How long are we going to allow this government to assault us? Whether it be physically, mentally, sexually, socially. How much longer?
justifying mass murder
by Fair on Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:47 PM PDTThe extent that some of you will go to justify mass murder is shameful. I don't like MKO either, but were these people POW's? Were they captured on the battlefield? Or were they sitting in jail because of their affiliation with MKO (or other organization) inside Iran? In either case, they should not have been executed without trial. And in the latter case, they should not have been executed at all.
And for the scumbags who continue to say "this was ok because MKO sided with Saddam", was it also ok to rape the virgins before execution? What kind of animals are you? What makes YOU different from Saddam Hussein?
The answer is simple. NOTHING.
Be FAIR
MKO members are tyranic as we now know well
by Malekeh_ on Tue Jul 22, 2008 09:25 PM PDTMKO members as we now come to know are tyrans and sell-outs againts Iran. They fought during Iran-Iraq war against the brave iranian army (in concert with saddam's orders), and nowadays are spying against iran for iran's enemies (Zio-Nazis, etc. on nuke issues). Therefore as horrible as it may have been in 1988 to kill these bastards, it was in a way necessary. Not that I care one way or the other, but hey that is what people do with their enemies. Face it.
on the massacre by Professors Farhang and Abrahamian
by Masoud Kazemzadeh on Tue Jul 22, 2008 09:19 PM PDTthe following excerpt is ofg the book review by Professor Mansour Farhang, of the book by Eravand Abrahamian, Tortured Confessions. It was published in The Nation magazine.
I recommend reading the entire review, and not the brief excerpt on the massacre of political prisoners that I include here.
//www.thenation.com/doc/20000626/farhang/single
At the end of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) Ayatollah Khomeini issued a secret religious decree setting up special commissions with instructions to execute all political prisoners who were not clearly repentant. These victims were largely Mojaheds, categorized as moharebs (those who war against God), and leftists, labeled as mortads (apostates from Islam). The commissions questioned prisoners throughout the country to decide which ones should receive the death penalty. The proceedings began with assurances to the prisoners that the purpose of the undertaking was to initiate a general amnesty. Then the commission members asked the prisoners about "their organizational affiliation. If they replied 'Mojahedin,' the questioning ended there. If they replied 'monafeqin' (hypocrites), the commission continued with such questions as 'Are you willing to denounce former colleagues?' 'Are you willing to help us hunt them down?' 'Will you identify phony repenters?' 'Will you go to the war front and walk through enemy minefields?'" In most cases, the prisoners were blindfolded throughout the proceedings. The leftists were asked, "Are you a Muslim? Do you believe in God? Is the Holy Koran the word of God? Will you publicly recant historical materialism? Do you pray and read the Holy Koran?"
These questions bewildered the prisoners because they had never been raised before in Iranian courts. As one leftist inmate put it, "In previous years, they wanted us to confess to spying. In 1988, they wanted us to convert to Islam." The inquisition of the special commissions produced unprecedented violence in Iranian history. "It even outdid," notes Abrahamian, "the 1979 reign of terror. The curtain of secrecy, however, was so effective that no Western journalist heard of it and no Western academic discussed it." Indeed, Abrahamian's work is the only thorough report published on the mass executions of 1988. Former prisoners and opposition groups put the death toll between 5,000 and 6,000. Amnesty International estimates the total to be more than 2,500, the vast majority "'prisoners of conscience' as they had not been charged with actual deeds or plans of deeds against the state." Abrahamian provides an insightful portrayal of how and why medieval inquisition reappeared in modern Iran. Evidence leads him to conclude that the horrors of 1988 were "the product, not of fearful panic, but of calculated planning."
Thanks Kaveh. Very timely and nicely said.
by :<D (not verified) on Tue Jul 22, 2008 08:40 PM PDTT H A N K Y O U. Pains and sufferings of these individuals and their families and friends should never be forgotten.