Mrs. Maryam Rajavi:
- Call on the international community to recognize the massacre of 1988 as genocide and a crime against humanity, refer this case to the UN Security Council, and hold Khamenei and Raisi and other perpetrators of this massacre accountable.
Witnesses and survivors of the 1988 Massacre:
- We witnessed Ebrahim Raisi sending thousands of prisoners to the gallows. We saw trucks carrying the bodies of the victims at night. It is a disgrace to contemporary humanity for Raisi to address the UN General Assembly.
- We witnessed how the men and women of the MEK did not surrender to executioners like Raisi, insisted on their political positions, and proudly welcomed death. We live only in the hope that we will continue their path in support of the Mujahedin-e Khalq and in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
On Tuesday, September 21, 2021, simultaneous with Ebrahim Raisi’s speech at the 76th UN General Assembly, a conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden, attended by a large number of witnesses and survivors, as well as the relatives of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. They called for the international community to bring to justice the perpetrators of this genocide and crime against humanity.
Members of the Swedish Parliament including, Ingmar kihlström, Magnus Oscarsson, and Kjell Arne Ottosson, also addressed the conference, stressing the need for the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre, especially Ebrahim Raisi, to be held accountable.
In a video message to the conference Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), stated: Raisi must face justice and prosecution for the executions and torture of prisoners. But he stands at the podium to address the UN General Assembly. How can the international community accept such a disgrace and not cry out in protest?
Reminding the efforts of the clerical regime to hide the huge crime against humanity and genocide during the summer of 1988, she said: But Khomeini miscalculated the great work of the MEK and the Iranian Resistance. From the very first weeks of the massacre, Massoud [Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance] revealed in numerous communiqués, interviews, and telegrams to the UN Secretary-General that “Khomeini issued a fatwa in his own handwriting ordering the execution of the MEK political prisoners.” On December 23, 1988, he sent a list of 1,100 massacre victims to the relevant UN authorities. Ever since the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance have launched a large-scale global campaign to urge the international community to condemn the massacre. The Call-for-Justice Movement enjoys the backing of 1,000 former PMOI political prisoners in Ashraf-3 and thousands of former political prisoners supporting the MEK in Iran and worldwide. This unique assembly of noble human beings who refuse to give up and persevere reflects the restless conscience of Iranian society. They will not give up seeking justice until the criminal regime is toppled.
Mrs. Rajavi underscored: Neither the squad of cannibals, nor the escalation of repression and incitement to war, nor the mad dash to develop a nuclear weapon will save this regime and prevent its overthrow. She added: We call on the world to condemn the clerical regime’s brutal and systematic violation of human rights in Iran. The continuation and expansion of political and economic ties with this regime must be predicated on the improvement of the human rights situation and an end to executions and torture in Iran. We urge the international community, particularly Sweden and the European Union, to recognize the massacre of political prisoners as genocide and a crime against humanity. We call on them to take the necessary steps to refer this case to the UN Security Council and end the impunity for and bring to justice those responsible for this major crime, especially Ali Khamenei and Ebrahim Raisi.
Nineteen political prisoners who survived the 1988 massacre and dozens of families of the martyrs participated in the conference. Several of the witnesses shared their memories of the massacre and covered different aspects of it. They stressed: The 1988 massacre is a clear example of genocide and crimes against humanity committed after Khomeini’s fatwa, during which 30,000 political prisoners, more than 90% of them were members and supporters of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI), were executed. We have witnessed the execution of thousands of our friends and fellow combatants in Evin, Gohardasht, and other prisons. Most of us in Evin and Gohardasht have seen Ibrahim Raisi as a member of the “Death Committee,” which hanged thousands of prisoners. Many of our friends have witnessed the execution of many MEK members and supporters by Ebrahim Raisi in Karaj and Hamedan prisons. Today is a disgraceful day for contemporary humanity because a criminal is addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations.
They also underscored: We witnessed how the Revolutionary Guards took wheelbarrows filled with ropes to warehouses turned into slaughterhouses, and then wheelbarrows filled with the sandals of our executed friends came out of those halls. In the dark of night, we witnessed how trucks carried the bodies of our executed friends to be buried in unmarked mass graves. We saw that Raisi and his accomplices did not even have mercy on paralyzed prisoners or those suffering from severe epileptic seizures and sent them to gallows. These days, parts of the crimes committed at Gohardasht prison have been revealed in the Stockholm court. However, no one still knows about many parts of this prison, and we do not know the names of many martyrs. A few tens of kilometers away, the number of martyrs of the 1988 massacre in Evin was several times that of Gohardasht. Evin, after June 20, 1981, housed 10,000 to 15,000 prisoners. In other provinces, the catastrophe had even more painful dimensions. In many cities, not a single person survived, the witnesses added.
The witnesses also underlined: We witnessed how the men and women of the MEK did not surrender to executioners like Raisi and insisted on their political positions and proudly welcomed death. It was the test of a generation of Mujahedin-e Khalq, who had learned the lesson of truth and sacrifice from Massoud Rajavi (Leader of the Iranian Resistance). And they proudly passed this test. Thirty-three years since that epic resistance, we are more determined to continue their path and support the PMOI/MEK. We have come to tell the international community that silence and inaction are enough and that it is time to end impunity for such criminals. Inaction encourages this regime to continue these crimes. Massacres and atrocities are in the regime’s DNA and continue to this day. We call for an independent UN investigation, accountability, and trial of the perpetrators of this massacre, specifically Ebrahim Raisi, and Ali Khamenei. We will continue this campaign until justice prevails.
At the same time, as witnesses to the massacre in Sweden gathered, Iranians in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Vancouver, The Hague, Brussels, Cologne, Geneva, Bucharest, and Gothenburg also protested against Raisi’s online address to the UN General Assembly.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
September 21, 2021
