By Mahin Horri
A panel of a dozen renowned human rights defenders and organizations held a virtual conference on Monday to raise concern over the critical situation of human rights in Iran. The conference took place in tandem with the opening day of the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held in Geneva.
The participants, which included former UN judges, special rapporteurs, UN officials, and prominent jurists and human rights personalities, called on the UN to conduct an independent inquiry into the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, a crime against humanity that has gone unpunished for more than three decades.
During Monday’s conference, speakers also discussed the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, manifested by the alarming rise in executions during the presidency of Ebrahim Raisi.
“The 1988 massacre was a premeditated crime,” Tahar Boumedra, the former Director of the Human Rights Office of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, told the conference.
“That fatwa was a death penalty for all the opposition and the MEK,” he said, referring to a fatwa issued by regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, in which he called for the eradication of all supporters and members of the MEK. Boumedra added that the 1988 massacre could be described as a “genocide” because it targeted the MEK supporters who believed in a different interpretation of Islam.
Boumedra stressed that the International Criminal Court can and must address the 1988 massacre.
Professor Annalisa Ciampi, Ad hoc Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, called for investigation and accountability for the 1988 massacre and other crimes against humanity, including the brutal killing of protesters in 2019. “The UN cannot shirk its responsibility,” Ciampi said.
Herve Saulignac, vice president of the French Parliamentary Group for a Free Iran, said, “The 1988 massacre and the killings in 2019 are crimes against humanity. This genocide calls for an international investigation. It is urgent to act as we know the Iranian regime is destroying evidence.”
Saulignac emphasized that France must hold the Iranian regime accountable for committing a crime against humanity in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. “Silence is not the answer,” he said.
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague, said, “There are two certainties regarding the 1988 massacre: first, a crime against humanity has been committed. Second, the international community has not stepped up to its standards and due process of law.”
Hamid Sabi, one of the organizers of the Iran Tribunal, said “43 years of impunity enjoyed by the regime must end. The 1988 massacre was a grave case of crime against humanity.”
Sabi stressed that the world’s silence has allowed Iran’s regime to continue human rights violations and crimes to this day. He also underlined that enforced disappearances are a concern for the world. Families must be informed, and it is their right to know, he said.
Prof. Valeriu M. Ciuca, said, “I have deep sympathy for the families of the victims of the 1988 massacre. Justice must prevail in the name of universal morality.”
Gilbert Mitterrand, president of France Libertés, said, “The UN must bring to justice the leaders of the Iranian regime. Time is of the essence.”
Like other speakers, Mitterand reprimanded the international community’s inaction toward the 1988 genocide and the ongoing human rights violations in Iran.
“It has taken many years to bring justice to the 1988 massacre because governments failed to do their job. We are far from the objectives of the UN! The voice of democracy is a weapon, and we must use it,” he said.
Sarah Noury, member of the Paris Bar Association, highlighted the worrying state of women’s rights in Iran. “The Iranian regime’s laws are misogynist and directly affecting Iranian women and girls. Under the ruling theocracy, women will have no protection,” she said.
Eric David, renowned professor of international criminal law, said, “The current human rights situation in Iran is a crime against humanity. The Iranian regime leaders must be held accountable for countless human rights abuses.”
Professor Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, a former UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic, equitable international order, called for the application of Universal Jurisdiction. “Justice must be rendered in all its aspects, especially for the families of the victims. Everyone has the right to know the truth about the 1988 massacre, and all victims should be included in the investigation. Universal Jurisdiction must be applied to prosecute Raisi for his role in the 1988 massacre,” he said.
The speakers of Monday’s online panel highlighted the international community’s obligations to hold Iran’s genocidal regime to account for its crimes against humanity. They called for a firm approach toward the Iranian regime and underlined the urgency of an independent inquiry into the 1988 massacre and other crimes by Iran’s ruling theocracy.
The conference comes as, after efforts led by the Iranian Resistance, there’s growing concern over the 1988 massacre and continued human rights abuses in Iran. Before the UNHCR session, Amnesty International filed a report, in which it called for an investigation into the 1988 massacre. In his last report, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in Iran, called for an end to impunity on human rights abuses in Iran and accountability of regime officials responsible for the 1988 massacre and the brutal suppression of protesters in November 2019. And in January, 470 current and former UN officials, international jurists, judges, and Nobel laureates wrote a letter to the UN HCR and called for an immediate investigation into the 1988 massacre. The letter especially highlights the role of regime president Ebrahim Raisi and judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei played in the crime against humanity.
This article was first published by english.mojahedin
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