Twenty-three years have passed since Ayatollah Khomeini ordered his Death Commission to carry out the massacre of several thousand political prisoners in Iran. The massacre, which became known as the National Tragedy, is unmistakably a “crime against humanity.” The sheer magnitude of its victims shook the fabric of Iranian society to its core and even prompted some clerics and regime architects like Ayatollah Montazeri to initiate an inquiry into the nature and extent of the crimes.
The National Tragedy, which escalated from imprisonment and torture of intellectuals to the wholesale extermination of dissidents, conventionalized the use of violence against regime critics and cemented purges as a hallmark of the Khomeini ideology. Mass executions of former regime officials carried out just one day after the founding of the Islamic Republic marked the begining of the purges. In the first wave of killings, thousands of political prisoners demanding freedom and justice were killed. Faced with a predacious judicial system and denied legal representation, these prisoners, mostly young men and women, were put to death without being given a chance to say goodbye to their families. One by one, they were hung or executed by firing squad. The executioners did not even know the names of the prisoners they killed.
In the summer of 1988, eight days after Iran, at the behest of the United Nations, ended the Iran-Iraq war, Khomeini decreed death to all members of opposing political factions (including supporters of the mujahedin) and religious dissidents. This time death sentences were issued against any prisoner who had engaged in activities considered even remotely subversive, including reading of banned books. Intellectual prisoners became particular targets of the regime’s wrath. Many supporters of left-wing political groups were tortured and later executed. Death commissions, comprised of three members, were killing prisoners with uncanny speed. In three weeks, more than 3,000 prisoners were executed. After a 10-day pause of killing, thousands more were executed. The numbers killed and the speed by which executions had been carried were so overwhelming that the regime had little time to bury the bodies. Mass graves were used to accommodate the dead. Even twenty-three years after these tragic crimes, the victim’s families are still prevented from visiting their loved ones’ burial sites. Family members that do attempt to mourn at the burial sites face verbal and physical assaults from security forces.
Cleansing Iran of intellectuals and scholars has not ended with the National Tragedy. Khamenei continues to follow Khomeini’s example with his suppresive intellegnce service, hunting intellectuals both in and outside of Iran. He regularly orders crackdowns on young and peaceful citizens of Iran, such as members of the Green Movement, who simply seek justice and freedom for themselves, their families, and their beloved country.
Thirty-three years after the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) took power, arbitrary arrests, imprisonment, torture, rape, and execution of innocent people persists. Not one week goes by without news of arrests and persecution of those who want freedom and justice for their country. Despite this news, activists continue the fight for freedom of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. This is the demand of the Green Movement and of everyone who want justice and freedom for all.
As we take this time to recognize the National Tragedy and remember those who were killed, we must seize this opportunity to educate the International Community about past atrocities committed by the IRI and the crimes they continue to perpetrate against the citizens of Iran. It’s imperative for all activists and concerned individuals to raise awareness about these crimes against humanity and to publically support the victim’s families in their efforts to urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute those responsible for the crimes that occured during the National Tragedy.
As activists and concerned individuals, we are determined to find justice for those courageous men and women who were viciously murdered in their pursuit of freedom and democratic principles. We request an investigation of the truth on this matter and urge the ICC to bring the perpetrators to justice. We also urge the United Nations to send reporters and investigators to assess present human rights conditions in Iran.
On the 23rd anniversary of this national tragedy, we invite all iranians who demand democracy and freedom, to remember those who were savagely murdered by the IRI, and honor them by sending their voices of justice and freedom to the pople of Iran and world, by joining and organizing different activities such as seminars, lecture, photo exhibitions, during month of August and September.
Source : Iran-Freedom Page on Facebook
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