GENEVA – Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, has issued a final, comprehensive report calling for an international mechanism to investigate and prosecute those responsible for “atrocity crimes” committed in Iran. These crimes include the extrajudicial killing of thousands of arbitrarily arrested prisoners during the 1980s crackdown on political dissent, with particular focus on members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (PMOI/MEK).
In his report, released in the last days of his six-year mandate, Rehman detailed the widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations by Iranian authorities between 1979 and 1988. He categorizes these acts as crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, persecution, and enforced disappearances. “The authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran waged a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to and in furtherance of a pre-meditated and religiously motivated state policy to exterminate a large part of the political spectrum (representing different ideologies and worldviews) that were perceived as religious enemies of the theocratic rule,” Rehman stated.
Crimes Against Humanity
The report highlights the extensive and brutal campaigns of mass murder through summary, arbitrary, and extrajudicial executions, imprisonments, torture, rape, and other inhumane acts against tens of thousands of political and religious dissidents. These acts were part of a state policy to suppress perceived enemies of the theocratic rule, encompassing a broad category of citizens including intellectuals, artists, socialists, and members of various political organizations. Members of the PMOI were significantly targeted during this period.
The Special Rapporteur noted that the systematic nature of these attacks is evident from the consistent patterns of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial executions documented across the country. High-level executive and judicial authorities were implicated in orchestrating these campaigns against groups perceived as anti-Islam.
#Iran News in Brief
In a recent report published by the United Nations on March 1, @JavaidRehman @UN Special Rapporteur on the #HumanRights situation in Iran, expressed deep concerns regarding the escalating rate of executions in the country. Rehman highlighted that in the latest… pic.twitter.com/IncC8vcLfT— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 2, 2024
Genocidal Intent
Rehman highlighted the genocidal intent behind these actions, particularly towards the PMOI. He provided substantial evidence from statements and fatwas issued by senior Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, demonstrating a clear intent to destroy these groups. The fatwas and official pronouncements categorized members and sympathizers of the PMOI as monafeqin (hypocrites) and murtad (apostates), justifying their extermination under religious pretexts.
The report states, “The specific requirements of the Genocide Convention and the challenges related to establishing genocide have already been considered. Khomeini’s fatwa, a key document of the 1988 massacre, lays bare the genocidal intent in physically destroying the PMOI, which was treated as a religious group by the perpetrators. The fatwa explicitly characterizes the PMOI’s alleged religious transgressions as “waging war against God” that must be punished by execution.”
1988 Massacre
The 1988 massacre is highlighted as a particularly egregious instance of atrocity crimes, involving the systematic execution of thousands of political prisoners, predominantly PMOI members and sympathizers. These executions were carried out following a fatwa by Ruhollah Khomeini and involved the extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance of thousands. The victims were buried in unmarked mass graves, and their families have been denied information about their fate, constituting ongoing enforced disappearances.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi's staged interview reveals the regime's desperation to rewrite history on the #1988Massacre and counter MEK's influence on a restless society—an organization #Tehran has tried hard to eliminate and defame while claiming it has no significant following. pic.twitter.com/dbxo2jjZGa
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 25, 2024
Rehman stressed the need for an international investigative and accountability mechanism to address these crimes. “The continued concealment of the fate of thousands of political opponents and the whereabouts of their remains amounts to the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance,” he stated.
The Iranian regime continues to deny these atrocity crimes, and the perpetrators have not been brought to justice. Rehman emphasized that there should be no impunity for such gross human rights violations, regardless of when they were committed. The Special Rapporteur called for an independent international investigative and accountability mechanism to advance truth, justice, and accountability for the victims.
Rehman’s tenure as Special Rapporteur concludes at the end of July, with Mai Sato from Japan set to succeed him. His comprehensive 66-page report calls for justice and accountability for the victims of these atrocities and can be accessed on the official website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Link to Report: OHCHR Iran Report
