Khomeini ordered 1988 massacre in Iran

IPS ^ | 9/1/07 | Jahanshah Rashidian

[freedom44]

Paris, 1Sept. (IPS) By 1988, there was nothing left of the relatively free atmosphere people acquired for a short period after the Iranian revolution of 1979. The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)’s brutal machine of repression had already uprooted a great number of other thinkers.

Thousands of activists and sympathisers of the opposition groups had been already arrested, tortured, forced to repent or summarily executed, and their political rallies and media were banned. The peak of atrocity was however a death-fatwa in summer of 1988 issued by Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the IRI.

The fatwa was initially targeted against the MKO (People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran), a Stalinist-Islamic group who turned the back on their ex-brothers in power, but soon was accompanied by another fatwa ordering to massacre any political prisoner who refused to repent and cooperate with the regime. Until September of 1988, the executions continued in Evin prison in Tehran and other prisons of Iranian cities with all atrocity.

Exact numbers of executions of 88 and the conditions of executions have never been officially reported by the IRI or their factions. Different numbers are speculated by both IRI’s deserters and rescuers, from some 4485 names published in the opposition media up to 30000 executions, as estimated.

[KantianBurke]

Sorry. No sympathy here. Most of those eliminated were precisely the same ones who helped overthrow the Shah and thus led the way to the mullahs taking power. Actions DO have consequences boys and girls.

[Andy from Beaverton]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1889887/posts

[bill1952]

Oh gee. What a big surprise.

Besides, Carter was okay with the old guy and Carter can’t be wrong...

[sionnsar]

What took place in 1988 and what is carried on in the Iranian prisons are in flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. The massacre is the most criminal example committed by the IRI. However not only it is ignored by the West because of their complex relations with the IRI, but also the UN and the international criminal court, the Hague Court, have been silence on the massacre for the last two decades.

While the genocide of the Nazi criminals against the Jews and that of the Ottoman Sunni Empire in Turkey against the Armenians are internationally recognised, a full investigation into the massacre of 1988 is required to shed light on the details of crimes and the culprits.

Be careful what you ask for. A Jimmy Carter may give it to you.

Counter:

[ozzymandus]

Only 30,000? I’ll bet the death toll of the mad mullahs is far higher than that, and still rising.

[jrd]

but they didn’t get Jimmy!

[Bosco]

He was just imitating Muhammed, folks.

Straight from the belly of Hell.