Iran Focus
London, 4 Oct – More than thirty British MPs and Lords have called for justice over the 1988 Iranian massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners in a recent statement.
During the Liberal Democrat party conference, held in Bournemouth in September, a delegation from the Iranian Resistance was invited to take part and to meet with MPs, Lords, and high-ranking members of the Lib Dems to discuss ongoing human rights abuses in Iran, particularly the executions of children.
The statement read: “We are deeply concerned over the deterioration of human rights situation in Iran and in particular the increasing number of executions which has surpassed 3200 during Rouhani’s tenure with over 200 reported executions since July 2017.”
As a result, more than 30 members of the Liberal Democrats from both houses of Parliament have signed the statement supporting the call of the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, for an independent fact-finding investigation by the UN to bring those responsible for the massacre (particularly the dozens who still hold power in Iran).
The statement read: “The report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran on August 14, 2017 documents these violations as well as highlights the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 including men, women and teenagers, and all political prisoners who supported the main opposition movement, the PMOI. Whereas the report: [1] states that these mass executions started pursuant to a fatwa issued by the then Supreme Leader, Khomeini; [2] confirms previous revelations that high ranking officials of the regime were responsible for this massacre, including the Minister of Justice, a high court judge, and the head of one of the largest religious foundations in the country and candidate in the May presidential elections; [and 3] states that “some clerical authorities and the chief of the judiciary admitted that the executions had taken place and, in some instances, defended them”; and documents “… intimidation and prosecution of human rights defenders seeking truth and justice”.
They also called on the British Government and Foreign Office to recognise the massacre as a crime against humanity, support the actions of the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and request the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations order an investigation in order to secure justice for the victims.
The statement read: “We, the undersigned, support the call by President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, for actions by the UN and Western democracies to end impunity enjoyed by the authorities in Iran and urge HM Government and FCO to [1] recognize and condemn this massacre as a crime against humanity in accordance with UK’s support for the work done by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran [and 2] ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to order an investigative inquiry into these mass executions with the purpose of bringing the perpetrators to justice.”
