{"id":3126,"date":"2023-02-08T06:15:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=3126"},"modified":"2023-02-08T06:15:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:15:03","slug":"iran-shameful-anniversary-celebrations-amid-decades-of-mass-killings-and-cover-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=3126","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Shameful anniversary celebrations amid decades of mass killings and cover-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Iranian authorities\u2019 refusal to acknowledge let alone ensure accountability for the 1988 prison massacres \u2013 the worst incident of secret mass killings committed since the establishment of Islamic Republic of Iran \u2013 has perpetuated cycles of crimes under international law and cover-ups designed to extinguish any form of political opposition, said Amnesty International as the Islamic Republic celebrates its 44th<\/sup> anniversary.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an extended public statement \u201cInvolvement of Iran\u2019s former diplomats in the cover-up of 1988 prison massacres\u201d<\/a>, Amnesty International commemorates the victims of the mass enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of the 1980s, and details the critical role played by diplomatic representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran in denying the massacres, spreading misinformation and opposing an international investigation in the face of mounting credible evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over four decades later, current Iranian officials employ similar strategies to cover up<\/a> and weaken international responses to crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations as they try to crush ongoing nationwide protests. The demonstrations were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini<\/a> in September 2022, following credible reports of her torture and other ill-treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have maintained an iron grip on power for decades through the commission of horror after horror with absolute impunity. They continue to systematically conceal<\/a> the fate and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents they extrajudicially killed in the 1980s and dumped in unmarked graves. They hide or destroy<\/a> mass gravesites, and harass and intimidate survivors and relatives<\/a> seeking truth, justice and reparation,\u201d said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International\u2019s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch crimes are not relics of the past. The anniversary arrives amid a horrific wave of bloodshed around the latest protests, as well as arbitrary executions<\/a> and death sentences<\/a> targeting protesters. This highlights the need for urgent global action from countries around the world to bring Iranian officials involved in crimes under international law to justice in fair trials.\u201d     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International has long called<\/a> for the international community to take action<\/a> to end impunity for past and continuing crimes against humanity arising from the 1988 prison massacres<\/a>. In 2021, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances joined the call <\/a>for an international investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover-up of 1988 prison massacres  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1988 and 1990, Iranian diplomats around the world and government officials in Iran made similar and sometimes identical comments, dismissing reports of mass executions in 1988 as \u201cpropaganda from opposition groups\u201d and claiming that the killings had occurred in the context of the armed incursion of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), an opposition group then based in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International has gathered evidence<\/a> pointing to the involvement of various former diplomatic representatives and government officials in Iran in this cover-up, including the following individuals (former position in brackets): Mohammad Jafar Mahallati <\/strong>(Iran\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York), Sirous Nasseri <\/strong>(Iran\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva); Mohammad Ali Mousavi<\/strong> (Iran\u2019s Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires in Ottawa, Canada); Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh Basti <\/strong>(Iran\u2019s Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires in London); Raeisinia<\/strong> (first name unknown) (First Secretary of Iran\u2019s Embassy in Tokyo, Japan); Abdollah Nouri<\/strong> (Minister of Interior); Ali Akbar Velayati<\/strong> (Minister of Foreign Affairs); Mohammad Hossein Lavasani<\/strong> and Manouchehr Mottaki <\/strong>(Deputy Foreign Ministers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Such crimes are not relics of the past. The anniversary arrives amid a horrific wave of bloodshed around the latest protests, as well as arbitrary executions and death sentences targeting protesters.Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As Iran\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York at the time, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and by Amnesty International, and to weaken the UN\u2019s response. In November 1988, he denied reports of mass executions at a meeting with the UN Rapporteur and falsely claimed that \u201cmany killings had in fact occurred on the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 1988, he described a UN resolution that expressed concern about the executions of July-September 1988 as \u201cunjust\u201d and said that \u201ca terrorist organization based in Iraq\u201d was the main source of \u201cfake information\u201d. According to media reports, in the weeks leading up to the adoption of the resolution, Mohammed Jaafar Mahallati tried to have the resolution \u201cdropped\u201d or \u201cwatered down\u201d and conditioned Iran\u2019s cooperation with the UN on the removal of critical references to Iran\u2019s systematic human rights violations, including the mass executions, and pushed for the adoption of \u201ca softer text that would merely welcome Tehran\u2019s decision to cooperate with the [UN] Human Rights Commission\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 28 February 1989, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati also sent a letter to Amnesty International which again \u201cdenied the existence of any political executions\u201d and described victims as \u201cindividuals who, as admitted by themselves had in an offensive against Iran, killed 40,000 Iranians\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover-up of protest killings of 2022 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Iranian officials are resorting to similar tactics to discredit a new generation of protesters and dissidents as \u201crioters\u201d, deny involvement in hundreds of unlawful killings, and resist calls for international investigations and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lead up to a special session<\/a> at the UN Human Rights Council in November 2022 on Iran\u2019s lethal protest crackdown, Iranian officials in Geneva distributed lengthy briefings, which blamed the killings of protesters on \u201chired terrorists\u201d, \u201csuicides\u201d or \u201caccidents\u201d or questioned the death of some victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2022, Amir Saeed Iravani<\/strong><\/a>, Iran\u2019s current Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, called on states to refrain from supporting a UN Security Council informal meeting on Iran\u2019s lethal crackdown on protesters, which he described as a \u201cmischievous disinformation campaign\u201d. Ignoring a vast body of evidence on the unlawful killing of hundreds of protesters and bystanders<\/a>, including children<\/a>, by Iran\u2019s security forces, he claimed that \u201cthe right to free expression and peaceful assembly has been recognized and ensured by the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the enjoyment of our people of this right has always been supported by the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor decades, Iran\u2019s government and its diplomatic representatives around the world have orchestrated denial and misinformation campaigns to mislead the international community and rob those affected and society at large of the right to truth. It is high time for Iranian diplomats to reveal the nature and source of instructions they received from capital, and stop contributing to the shroud of secrecy surrounding the 1988 prison massacres, which has only entrenched impunity and compounded the suffering of survivors and relatives,\u201d said Diana Eltahawy.<\/p>\n

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