{"id":5428,"date":"2016-09-04T10:08:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T15:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=5428"},"modified":"2016-09-04T10:09:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T15:09:58","slug":"canadian-friends-of-a-democratic-iran-call-for-condemnation-of-the-1988-massacre-in-iran-and-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/2016\/09\/04\/canadian-friends-of-a-democratic-iran-call-for-condemnation-of-the-1988-massacre-in-iran-and-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Friends of A Democratic Iran Call for Condemnation of The 1988 Massacre in Iran and litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"01092016-FOFI-Canada\"<\/a>Twenty eight years ago, more than 30,000 political prisoners - A former senior official of Iran\u2019s intelligence ministry says the exact number is 33,700 \u2013 were massacred in the summer of 1988, based on a Fatwa (Religious decree) issued by Khomeini, founder of the current clerical regime ruling Iran.<\/span>\r\n<\/pre>\n
On August 15, an audio tape of Mr. Montazeri, Khomeini\u2019s former heir, containing his conversation with four former judicial and intelligence officials in charge of the massacre in Tehran, was disclosed, revealing shocking details about this savage crime– the most massive killing of the political prisoners since the Second World War.<\/span><\/h5>\n
One of the four is Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, the current Minister of Justice under Rouhani; another is Raeesi, Head of the Court of Judges; a third was recently appointed by Khamenei as head of one of Iran\u2019s largest economic and political institutions and is said to have been nominated as a successor to Khamenei.
\nIn Khomeini\u2019s Fatwa here, \u201cMonafeqin (Meaning hypocrites, the term used by Iran regime for the PMOI affiliates) have no belief in Islam and are apostates; they have waged war against God; therefore, anyone in all prisons across the country who still support them must be sentenced to execution.\u201d Asked by his supreme judge about the Fatwa, Khomeini emphasized, \u201cAnyone who supports Monafeqin, no matter at what stage of his or her sentence is, must be executed. Enemies of Islam must be immediately exterminated.\u201d
\nIn three letters to Khomeini, Ayatollah Montazeri opposed the massacre, saying, \u201cKilling thousands of people in few days\u201d will be counterproductive. PMOI represents\u2026 a school of thought which will spread through killing.\u201d
\nMany of those executed were prisoners who had already received a sentence and were serving their prison terms; others were former political prisoners or families affiliated with the PMOI, who were arrested following Khomeini\u2019s Fatwa. In Tehran and in up to 70 cities across Iran, \u201cDeath Committees\u201d were formed to execute Khomeini\u2019s barbaric Fatwa.
\nAmnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights League have all condemned the 1988 massacre, terming it a crime against humanity. On June 5, 2013, Canada\u2019s Parliament adopted a motion by unanimous consent of all the members, which reads, \u201cThis House condemns the mass murder of political prisoners in Iran in the summer of 1988 as constituting crimes against humanity, honours the memory of the victims buried in mass graves at Khavaran cemetery and other locations in Iran, and establishes September 1st as a day of solidarity with political prisoners in Iran.\u201d
\nCanadian Friends of A Democratic Iran (CFDI) and many members of the Canadian Parliament express their deep solidarity with the victims\u2019 families and understand their appeal for justice. We also believe that silence in the face of this horrific crime will further embolden high-ranking authorities of the regime in political, security and judicial institutions to continue to massacre political prisoners.
\nTherefore, we urge our government to promote the motion adopted in June 2013, to take the necessary measures as a UN member state to investigate this crime against humanity, to bring to trial the perpetrators, and to place it on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
\nMembers of Canada\u2019s Parliament have expressed strong feelings about this-some of which appear below:
\nHon. Judy Sgro, PC, MP: \u201cTo acknowledge the massacre of 1988 in Iran as a crime against humanity was a fair and justice-seeking measure that was adopted by our parliament in 2013. We call on all our colleagues across the world as well as on the United Nations to do the same to draw attention to this horrendous crime\u201d
\nHon. Wayne Easter, PC, MP: \u201cIn view of what has recently been disclosed in the audio tape of Mr. Montazeri, it is vital that all member states at the UN Human Rights Council particularly the Western ones condemn the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran and rightly recognize it a crime against humanity, as our Parliament unanimously did\u201d
\nHon. Candice Bergen, PC, MP: \u201cThe mass murder of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 was a crime against humanity. It is absolutely shocking that the current Minister of Justice in Iran was part of the death committee for this atrocity. As recently as last week he was proclaiming his pride in taking part in this massacre. Normalizing relations with Iran before these individuals are held accountable is completely unacceptable.\u201d
\nJames Bezan, MP: “The massacre of 30,000 political prisoners simply for their belief and based on a fatwa by a so-called religious leader, can be called nothing but a genocide. It must be severely and publicly condemned by all states at the UN along with the Srebrenica genocide. Justice must be fulfilled.”
\nDavid Kilgour, JD
\nCo-Chair of Canadian Friends of Democratic Iran
\nSeptember 1, 2016<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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