Wikipedia

1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

state-sponsored mass executions of political prisoners in Iran

A series of many executions of political prisoners ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini and carried out by Iranian officials took place across Iran. They began on 19 July 1988 and kept on going for another five months.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Many of the prisoners were also tortured.[13] The killings took place in at least 32 cities across the country.

1988 execution of political prisoners in Iran
Ebrahim Raisi (right) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (left), two members of "Judges of Death" committee, in 2013
DateJuly–December 1988 (some sources say July–September)[1]
LocationIran
TypeMass execution
TargetPolitical opposition groups, most notably the MEK, OIPFM and the Tudeh Party of Iran
Deaths2,800 to 5,000 people killed[2] (exact number unknown)[3][4][5][6]

The killings were done without any legislative basis and no trails were held to see if the alleged prisoners were innocent or guilty.[14] The killings were largely kept a secret, and the government of Iran still denies that this ever happened.[15]

The exact number of those killed is unknown. Some human rights organizations say up to 5,000 people killed.[16] Human Rights Watch puts the estimate at between 2,800 to 5,000 people killed,[2] while Amnesty International says at least 5,000 killed.

References

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  1. ↑ "Iran: 1988 Mass Executions Evident Crimes Against Humanity". 8 June 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Da Silva, Chantal (2024-05-20). "Grief, but also relief for some, after Iran President Raisi dies in helicopter crash". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  3. ↑ Smith, Dan (1999). The State of the Middle East, Revised and Updated: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution. University of California Press. ISBN 9781134039227.
  4. ↑ "Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'". The Telegraph. 4 February 2001.
  5. ↑ "Iran war crimes verdict looms as opposition seeks justice for 1988 killings". The National News. 13 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Ehteshami, Anoushiravan (2017). Iran: Stuck in Transition (The Contemporary Middle East). Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 9781351985451. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 individuals may have been executed at that time, in response to a religious edict issued by Ayatollah Khomeini that there was no room for apostates in his Islamic republic. Ayatollah Montazeri also alluded to this tragedy in his memoirs (published in 2001) and the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center's detailed report on the executions notes that estimates of those killed range from 1,000 to 30,000. See IHRDC, Deadly Fatwa: Iran's 1988 Prison Massacre (New Haven, CT: IHRDC, 2009). The insider's account is provided by Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Khatirat-i Ayatollah Montazeri, Majmu'iyyih Payvastha va Dastnivisha [Memoir of Ayatollah Montazeri, the Collection of Appendices and Handwritten Notes] (2001).
  7. ↑ Akhlaghi, Reza (14 June 2013). "Canada Recognizes Iran's 1988 Massacre as Crime against Humanity". Foreign Policy Blog. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "More Than 100 Prominent Iranians Ask UN to Declare 1988 Massacre 'Crime Against Humanity'". Center for Human Rights in Iran. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity" (PDF). Amnesty International. 4 December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  10. ↑ "1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran". National Council of Resistance of Iran. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  11. ↑ Naderi, Mostafa (22 August 2013). "I was lucky to escape with my life. The massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 must now be investigated". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Iran still seeks to erase the '1988 prison massacre' from memories, 25 years on". Amnesty International. 29 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "Families Of Prisoners Killed In 1988 Mass Executions Demand Answers". Radio Farda. 5 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Iran: Top government officials distorted the truth about 1988 prison massacres". 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "احمد خاتمی: امام خمینی با اعدام‌های ۶۷ خدمت بزرگی به ملت کرد". Deutsche Welle persian. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "Iran cleric linked to 1988 mass executions to lead judiciary". AP News. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
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