Coinciding with the fifty-fourth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, a conference was held on October 5, to examine the human rights situation in Iran under the rule of the clerical dictatorship. In this meeting, human rights advocates pressed for the extension of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission concerning the brutal suppression of women-led demonstrations that commenced in September 2022. They also urged the UN to launch an investigation into the 1988 mass execution of political detainees in Iran.
Antonio Stango, the moderator at this conference and the President of the Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU), shed light on the grave human rights situation in Iran. Mr. Stango, a seasoned observer of global human rights violations, emphasized his extensive monitoring of Iran’s human rights landscape over the years.
Addressing the gathering, he highlighted the tumultuous events that unfolded in Iran over the past year, referring to them as a wave of protests often likened to a revolution. Mr. Stango expressed deep concern over the extensive repression within the country, denoting the widespread crackdown on dissent through numerous executions and the mass imprisonment of individuals participating in peaceful demonstrations.
Sonja Biserko, a Former Member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in North Korea (DPRK) and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia stressed the persistent issue of impunity within Iran, underscored by international reports, and said that the country’s security forces continue to operate without accountability, suppressing basic freedoms and committing widespread abuses. Mrs. Biserko drew attention to the tragic events of the 1988 extrajudicial executions, where thousands of political prisoners lost their lives in a matter of weeks, emphasizing the need for accountability for these heinous crimes.
Mrs. Biserko highlighted the brutal crackdown on the 2022 uprising in Iran, which has seen deaths and executions. She stressed the importance of renewing the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission to investigate the ongoing protests and urged for a comprehensive investigation into the 1988 massacre. In this era of global challenges, Mrs. Biserko emphasized the vital role of international criminal law, access to justice, and accountability to achieve peace and justice for all. She urged the international community to persist in addressing human rights violations wherever they occur and remain steadfast in the pursuit of justice and peace.
Tahar Boumedra, JVMI Director and former Chief of UNAMI Human Rights Office and Representative of the HCHR in Iraq, said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran had adopted a pattern of conduct towards the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, the UPR, and the Council’s special procedures consisting of denial, deflection, and refusal to address the human rights violations and their various pretexts. Recently, Iran’s Parliament has passed a new hijab and chastity bill that lays out punishments for people, especially women, who violate the country’s mandatory dress code. The bill was passed just days after the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by morality police for alleged non-compliance with the mandatory dress code and died in police custody in Tehran. That sparked nationwide protests that lasted for months and left hundreds killed. Iran signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, on 24th of June 1975 under the Shah’s regime. The Islamic Republic of Iran never notified or signified its withdrawal from it. Therefore, it is bound by all its provisions.”
Mr. Boumedra added, “Numerous credible international NGOs have documented the enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killing of thousands of prisoners by Iranian authorities between late July and September 1988 for their political opinions and religious beliefs. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in July 1988 ordering the execution of imprisoned opponents, including those who had already been tried and were serving their prison terms. Reportedly, none had been sentenced to death. The text of the fatwa later published in the memories or memoirs of the grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who in 1988 was Khomeini’s heir apparent. In a report to the United Nations General Assembly on the 14th of August 2017, the then-special reporter on the situation of human rights in Iran, the late Asma Jahangir, wrote, that between July and August 1988, thousands of political prisoners, men, and women and teenagers, were reportedly executed pursuant to a fatwa issued by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. A three-man commission was reportedly created with a view to determining who should be executed. Over the years, a high number of those reports have been issued about the 1988 massacre. If the number of persons who disappeared and were executed can be disputed, overwhelming evidence shows that thousands of prisoners were summarily killed. Recently, these killings have been acknowledged by some of the highest, at the highest level of the state. That’s a quote of the late Asma Jahangir. The United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, in a report to the Human Rights Council on the 12th of August 22, expressed concern about the ongoing concealment of burial sites of those forcibly disappeared in the 1988 massacre.”
The JVMI co-founder concluded, “The call for accountability regarding 1988 extrajudicial executions of political prisoners in Iran was recently supported by distinguished former international judges in a conference held in Paris on 22nd of August, 2023, making the 31st anniversary of the 1988 massacre, including the former president of the ICC and the special advisor on crimes against humanity to the prosecutor of the ICC. All those have recommended that there are avenues for holding those who committed such crimes accountable. The first step to oppose impunity and secure accountability is for the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandates of the international fact-finding mission to thoroughly and independently investigate the government’s crackdown on the protests which began in September 2022 and to expand its mandate to the 1988 massacre or 1988 mass murder of political prisoner.”
Laurence Fehlmann Rielle, Member of the National Council of Switzerland expressed deep concern regarding the continued repression and lack of freedom in Iran, particularly affecting women. Mrs. Rielle highlighted the uprising following the murder of Mahsa Amini, which shook the regime and contradicted the regime’s propaganda of resolute power.
Mrs. Rielle urged urgent global action to fight for the abolition of the death penalty, emphasizing that the international community must not only condemn executions in words but also exert genuine pressure on Iran.
She stressed the need for Switzerland to play a more robust role, considering its commitment to abolishing the death penalty. Mrs. Rielle also highlighted the Iranian regime’s extensive repressive strategies targeting young people and women and called for a comprehensive international investigation into recent events in Iran. She commended the courage of Iranian women and urged for persistent efforts to ensure human rights and democracy prevail in Iran.
Renowned human rights advocate, Kirsty Brimelow KC, former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, and a former chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, emphasized the urgent need for accountability regarding the 1988 massacre in Iran, which remains shrouded in impunity after 35 years.
She emphasized the extrajudicial nature of the killings, denouncing them as crimes against humanity. Mrs. Brimelow highlighted that many perpetrators still hold high-ranking positions in Iran, and witnesses are dwindling while mass graves are being destroyed. Families of victims seek closure and demand accountability, urging for international action, Mrs. Brimelow said, and she urged the UN to establish an international tribunal for a formal investigation, emphasizing the importance of collecting evidence for potential prosecutions.
