No International Reaction to Massacre of 88 in Iran
7/30/2013
Over a span of just three months from August to September 1988, the Islamic regime executed many thousands “infidel” political prisoners in Iran. As Ayatollah Khomeini drank the “poison chalice” and accepted the “humiliation” of peace treaty with his arch foe, “infidel” Saddam Hussein, he calmed down his frustration by ordering the executions of the “infidel”Iranian political prisoners who were spending their prison terms and some of them must have already been released. Khomeini named death-commissions, formed from bloodthirsty Mullahs, to fulfil his death fatwa within all political prisons in Iran.
The exact number of executions of 88 and the conditions of executions has never been announced by these death-commissions and not reported by either any media or any faction of the regime. Neither have been the cruel dimensions of these crimes mentioned by the lobby groups and stream media of the regime in the West defending Islamic regime’s present or former authorities. Different numbers are speculated by both deserters of the regime and the opposition groups. They vary from 4485 names published in the opposition media, up to 30000 executions, as estimated by others.
The political prisoners were simply asked two questions each, “Do you believe in Allah?”, “Are you prepared to renounce your political organisation?” These simple questions could determine death or life of the prisoners. The prisoners had no idea about the consequences of their replies. In fact a “No” to any of the above questions led automatically to immediate execution. Furthermore, according to some survivors, most of the victims, repent or not, would get killed because the execution commission did not believe in their answers.
Although, many of those rescues had already finished their prison sentences, they were kept in captivity as prisoners of conscience. Some of them were even recaptured after being once released. The prisoners were from all segments of society and age groups, included teenagers or those who were put in prison when they were teenagers. Some female prisoners had their babies, only after execution of the mother the baby was released.
Before accomplishment of the planned massacre, all prison visits were cancelled; families were told not to bring any medicine or food for their loved ones. The next coming months was a suitable time for the Khomeini’s death fatwa inside Iran’s prisons. The slaughter was on a daily basis and relentless. The executioners were brainwashed to the extent of being grateful for the job: each execution not only is rewarded in paradise, but also helps the “infidel” to eventually escape the God’s wrath and the hellfire after the execution, witnessed Mr. Iraj Mesdaghi, a survivor and researcher of the massacre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVUbEZ6xuXQ&feature=youtu.be.
All day long, prisoners were loaded on forklift trucks and hanged from cranes and beams in groups of six at half-hourly intervals. Others were killed by firing squad. Those not executed were subjected to horrific torture causing psycho-emotional damage and trauma. For fanatical wards torture, rape, and personality destruction were regarded as good deeds with reward in paradise while helping the “infidels” to purify their sinful souls. The survivors of the 88 massacre still suffer from the psychological symptoms like depression, tension, anxiety, shock of sexual rape. The atrocity of these three months was an act of unprecedented violence in the course of Iranian history, unprecedented in form, content, and intensity”, wrote the historian Ervand Abrahamian in his book on Iranian prisons “Tortured Confessions.”
The executed were buried in unmarked mass graves on the outskirts of the towns. In Tehran, one mass burial was accidentally discovered by an Armenian priest who had become curious as to why stray dogs kept digging there for human bones.
Most victims were young sympathisers of the left organisations and MOK, an Islamic opposition group. Many of them were arrested in their teens on charge of reading or distributing an opposition pamphlet or a banned newspaper.
The Khomeini’s letter of death fatwa quoted Islamic teaching of atrocity towards “infidels”. He ordered the death commission to be merciless towards “the enemies of Islam”. Khomeini insisted in following the examples of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shiite sect, whose army was occupying Iran and slaughter “infidels”. As an example of Islamic duty for the sake of Allah, Khomeini once mentioned Imam Ali as the one who beheaded 700 men of Bani Qurayza in one day while their women and children were taken captive and enslaved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Qurayza
Regarding the Khomeini’s handwritten death fatwa, there is no doubt, the genocide against Iranian new generation has roots in the epoch of the Prophet Muhammad when became up with the idea that it is perfectly legitimate to kill “infidels” – the teaching of the Koran confirms such a killing, “Those who resist Allah and his messenger will be humbled to dust”, the Koran 58-5. Or “I will instil terror into the hearts of the unbelievers”, the Koran 8-12. These verses implicitly justify not only Muslims’ jihad against “non-believers”, but to some extent killings of “Muslim” hypocrites, when different interests and power-thirsty ambitions lead to mutually kill each other within the Islamic community, under the pretext of “Enemy of Islam.”
In this light, it is to mention that such massacres can repeatedly be committed in Iran as soon as the Islamic regime, as a heritage of 1400-year-old Islamic invasion of 7th century on Iran, exists. The Islamic regime’s version of Islam justifies both categories of “Enemy of Islam” interpreted as “Molhed” (atheists), term used against communists; and “Monafegh” (hypocrite), term used for Muslim Mojahedins. These two categories of “enemy of Islam” were subject of crimes and we will witness a peak of it in the purge of political prisoners in the summer 88.
Shiite sect in Iran is a cooked-up political cult from the Safavid-Dynasty.. It imposed the sect through nationwide genocides as State Religion in the 16th century, allegedly in order to stonewall the ambitions of the Sunnite Arabs and Othman Empires on Iran. However in the thoughts of Khomeini, the national interests were dispelled in the favour of an Islamic-Arabic Islam. The impression one receives from his ideas is a continuous war of the early Islamic-Arabic horde against “Persian” non-believers. Khomeini’s cruelty seems to be assimilated with the early Muslims who plundered “non-Muslim caravans”, to the extent that he still sees the cruelty against the “kafirs” or non-believer (Persians) as a duty of Muslims. Therefore he ordered the death commission to be tough and merciless.
A number of perpetrators still have key positions in the regime. Among the leadership of 88, The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was the then president. Mr. Seyed Mir Hossein Moosavi, the candidate of the 2009 presidential elections who is now a regime’s outsider, was a confident prime minister of Khomeini. During their offices many crimes including the massacre of political prisoners were planned.
The massacre of 88 had also roots in the early years of the regime along with 8-year office of Mousavi. It started when the newly established Shiite dictatorship began nationwide to crackdown on the leftist, democratic and secular opposition groups. Soon after the 1979 revolution, the paramilitary thugs of Hezbollah regularly attacked, sabotaged and intimidated opposition groups and ravaged their sieges and their media. Many newspapers were shut down, women were humiliated, minorities and ethnics were discriminated, and Friday prayer sermons turned into a place to spew venoms and hatred against any voice calling for gender equality, social justice, democracy and secularism.
In the occasion of 25th year commemoration of the massacre, we all freedom-loving Iranians along with the families who lost their loved children in summer 88 demand the UN to officially condemn this massacre described by international law experts as a genocide. Although the death penalty and death commission were under direct orders of Khomeini, many authorities of both current and former Islamic authorities were engaged in the crimes and are considered by the people of Iran as perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
A UN mandated commission should be formed from the international judicial authorities to summon the murderers of this regime before an international tribunal to be tried. Such a tribunal will be similar to the Nuremberg Court which rightfully brought the Nazi criminals before the court due to their crimes against humanity. We are not only talking about crimes against the opposition, bur against a whole generation since 1979 in Iran. More than the massacre of until 30,000 political prisoners in Iran who lost their lives after being executed or while under torture, a whole generation was intimidated, repressed and silenced since the Islamic regime was installed.
The Islamic regime can begin new waves of atrocities which might end with other genocides. Yet, in the midst of popular protests against the barbaric rule of political Islam in Egypt, Turkey, and Tunisia, people of Iran expected international moral helps. In actuality, the UN and judicial authorities should appoint inspectors, judges and prosecutors to a future tribunal against the crimes of the Islamic regime that does not has shrouded imprisonment, torture, sexual rape, and forced confession anymore — not in secrecy as before because the regime uses them to intimidate and frighten people.
All we know about the 1988 genocide and other crimes of the Islamic regime is a part of bitter truth of Secret d’État. The number and the circumstances of the 1988 genocide, graves of the victims, and the names of perpetrators partially remain unknown. We, all freedom-loving people, hope the discovery of all truth can be completed by the tribunal. A tribunal that respected international norms of fairness and due process would provide a powerful example to the totalitarian regimes while dealing a significant blow to the entrenched culture of Islamism, and could inspire increased hope of democracy and freedom for the oppressed people of the world.
We, all freedom-loving people, expect from this tribunal to release an official list of victims and perpetrators. Such a tribunal should not have much trouble forming the lists if political and economic interests of key powers would not dam it. The damage caused in the infamous genocide to the humanity must be handled in a fair and transparent court. To neglect such genocides cannot juggle the superpowers to secure credibility for their own people and peace for the world.
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