Seeking Justice
for Victims of 1988 Massacre is Indispensable for the Iranian Nation’s Campaign
to Overthrow the Regime in IranDear sisters and brothers, the honorable friends
of the Iranian
Resistance,I salute you all.The presence of supporters of Iranian Resistance in
this gathering, which is calling for justice for the victims of the 1988
massacre in Iran, is heartwarming.This is an extraordinary gathering.
Among you here
today, more than 920
have spent many years in prisons of the Shah and Khomeini. Nearly 10 percent
were incarcerated during under the Shah and about 90 percent under the mullahs’
regime. Some served anywhere from 5 to 10 and 12, 13, 15 and even 17 years.
Seeking Justice for Victims of 1988
Massacre in IranMassacre in Iran
In 2009, the Iranian Resistance’s Leader Massoud Rajavi said that the names of all of you, who wer
in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, at the time, had been sent to all relevant
international organizations.
The renowned
American law
professor Alan Dershowitz, once described the residents of Ashraf as “the
largest concentration of witnesses” to the crimes of the Iranian regime in the
world and urged the international community to protect these witnesses.
Hail to each
and every one of you!
Paying Greatest
Tribute to the heroes of 1988
Maryam Rajavi
and a number of
dignitaries at a ceremoney marking the 29th anniversary of the
1988 massacre of political prisoner in
Iran
Every
freedom-loving Iranian pays respects to the martyred heroes of the 1988
massacre and honors their memory. The highest and most precious commemoration,
however, is what you did by reaching Ashraf from the regime’s torture chambers
amid the many mass killings.
You bore the scars and the wounds of torture on your bodies, but could not be
stopped. You suffered greatly under the regime’s blockade in Ashraf and Liberty
and persevered despite your injured bodies.
You recounted
the innocence of the victims conveyed their defiance of surrender and their message to everyone.
Indeed, what
could be a more effective and appropriate commemoration for those martyrs than
what you did?
The anniversary
of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran
Time and again, I have heard you
speak of the valiant Mojahdein prisoners who hailed Massoud Rajavi when facing
the torturers and executioners. They called out his name while bidding farewell
when taken to the gallows.
By repeating
this forbidden name, they wanted to not only express their love and faith in Massoud but to send a
message to every one of us.
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at the ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of
30,000 political prisoners in Iran.
Their message
was to Mojahedin who
were continuing their path, to the generation that would follow them and to the
youths who would be hearing their unfinished story. And that message was: to
follow Massoud Rajavi’s path and ideal, the path of paying the price of
freedom, the path of the unrelenting struggle for equality, and the path to fight for a society
devoid of oppression, discrimination, ignorance, and duplicity.
The founders of
the tradition of standing by one’s ideals
Dear brothers
and sisters,
Maryam Rajavi
and a number of dignitaries
at a ceremoney marking the 29th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of political
prisoner in Iran
Khomeini issued
the fatwa for this horrific massacre. In those days, in response to the
objections of Hossein Ali Montazeri, his heir apparent at the time, he wrote, 'The
religious responsibility of this decree lies with me” and stated his wish for
the annihilation of the PMOI/MEK.
But now,
history has damned Khomeini has and the Mojahedin are the flames of hope,
inspiring freedom.
Mrayam Rajavi
setting flowers at
the memorial of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran
September 6
will mark the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran. Our founders founded this organization to bring freedom
and eradicate of all
forms of oppression. To do so, they sacrificed their lives.
They taught
their comrades in arm to be the harbingers of new values and lead the way. They
also taught us the secret, which is to be truthful and willing to sacrifice.
The PMOI
members massacred in
1988 were faithful to this same teaching. They persevered on their stance in
the fight against the ruling religious tyranny. They thus founded a tradition
which was later called, “standing by one’s ideal.”
Indeed, our
movement has survived and thrived because it has stood by its ideal to liberate the people of Iran.
Maryam Rajavi
gestures at the crowd of MEK after a speech on the anniversary of the 1988
massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran
Iran’s future and the
Iranian people’s freedom will be achieved by standing by one’s ideal, namely keeping aloft the
flag and paying the price of overthrowing the mullahs’ reactionary Caliphate.
The Martyrs’
Final Message
So, in the
memory of those massacred heroes, let us recall some of their final words and messages.
Daryoush
Rezaii, born in Mahidasht in Kermanshah, wrote in a poem for freedom:
“O’ freedom! Neither you thirst for blood, nor do we want to shed our own
blood. How unfortunate that the evil executioners have drenched the path
between us in blood.”
And these are
the words of a brave PMOI woman, Zahra Bijanyar, who had been imprisoned for years in Ghezel Hessar
Prison, to her relatives
Maryam Rajavi
at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran
“I have realized that even if the oppressors mutilate our bodies they
cannot take our lives so long as we remain steadfast in our beliefs. They can take our lives
only when we sell out our faith and hearts. This is the secret to resistance
and sacrifice in the history of mankind. Pray to God to bestow me faith and
belief so that I would never put that which I desire before His.”
And Ahmad
Ra’ouf, from Rasht, said, “They kept beating me all the time and asking me my
name. I knew that they knew my name, but I did not tell them anything. I wanted
to test myself and see how steel become stained steel.”
Now, let us
flash back 29 years,
to a scene in the city of Gatchsaran in southern Iran. The body of a young girl
was hanging in the city’s main square. It was Massoumeh Barzandeh who was only
20 at the time of her execution. A sign on her clothes said: “She had been a PMOI recruiter.”
Maryam Rajavi
at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in iran
Massoumeh rose
to the Heavens, but she continues to recruit young people for the PMOI. And
today, 29 years on, Amnesty International writes in its report that “younger human
rights defenders born after the 1979 Revolution” are targeted for “seeking the
truth and justice” for the victims of the massacres in the 1980s.
And finally, I
want to pay homage to Monireh Rajavi. Throughout her detention, she cared for all her cellmates.
She was a selfless and emancipated woman. Let us not forget the words she said
to her cellmates in prison: “They want to kill our humanity and this is what we
must fight against. We must show our affection toward each other more than ever.”
Let us applaud
for one minute for all these heroes and heroines.
The conspiracy
of silence is shattered
A ceremony held
at an MEK center in Tirana marking the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of
30,000 political prisoners in Iran.
Dear sisters and brothers, honorable
friends,
The Campaign
Calling for Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre has expanded over the
past year both in Iran and abroad. In response, the clerical regime undertook
enormous effort to neutralize this movement. But it has failed miserably.
The mullahs
were forced to retreat from their policy of hiding the 1988 massacre. The
conspiracy of silence was shattered. The regime’s officials tried to justify
this horrendous crime but they could not convince even many of their own clerics to defend the
fatwa issued by Khomeini.
Indeed, the
prospect of the regime’s overthrow stymied the regime’s supporters and allies.
In contrast, many spoke out in defense of the PMOI/MEK. Many opened their eyes
and saw the righteousness of the PMOI’s path and ideal such that throughout the past year,
the mullahs repeatedly said and wrote that the PMOI/MEK had been vindicated in
society.
This was yet
another major defeat for the mullahs’ theocratic regime.
After the sham
presidential election, when offering an assessment of the state of the regime, Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei’s said the place of victims and executioners had been switched.
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at the ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of
30,000 political prisoners
in Iran
Yes, we managed
to overcome the regime’s official propaganda s.
Everyone saw
that Khamenei had made a major political investment in Ebrahim Raisi, a member
of the Death Commission in the 1988 massacre, to become president. But he was
defeated by the Call
for Justice Movement.
The 1988
massacre is the hallmark of the mullahs’ religious dictatorship. In his first
term, Hassan Rouhani appointed Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, a member of the Death
Commission, as his Justice Minister. Now, in his second term, he has nominated as Minister of Justice
another perpetrator of the massacre in Khuzistan Province. The European Union
has already designated and sanctioned this man, Alireza Avayi, for being
directly involved in violations of human rights. In reality, none of the regime’s
factions can or want to distance themselves from this crime.
A ceremony held
at an MEK center in Tirana marking the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of
30,000 political prisoners in Iran
For this
reason, in the past year, a number of the regime’s most disgraced murderers
tried to justify the massacre in the face of the Call for Justice Movement.
These admissions are among the most important documents incriminating the
regime’s leaders. They
once again proved that it is the Iranian people’s inalienable right to
overthrow the regime.
That you have
compelled them to make such admissions represents one of the achievements of
the Call for Justice Movement over the past year. These confessions are particularly important
because they have been made recently and can therefore provide a solid basis
for an international commission of inquiry into the 1988 massacre.
At the same
time, it is essential that the UN Security Council refer this case to the International Criminal
Court to arrange for the prosecution of the regime’s leaders and those
responsible for the massacre.
Maryam Rajavi
and a number of dignitaries at a ceremoney marking the 29th anniversary of the
1988 massacre of political prisoner in Iran
How the
international community approaches this genocide and this crime against
humanity is a litmus test of its adherence to the principles of human rights.
As Massoud Rajavi said years ago, the prose of human society, the people of
Iran, and the PMOI/MEK.
Owing to the
valuable year-round activities of the Resistance’s network inside Iran, today,
we have ample evidence and documents. They include many names of the victims,
the names of 112 members of the Death Commission in Tehran and other provinces, nearly all of whom hold
key positions in the regime. We also have the names and particulars of 213
criminals who carried out the death decrees in 35 cities as well as the
information about the locations of several mass graves that had been previously
hidden.
A precious
achievement to offer to the Iranian people and all activists of the Call for
Justice Movement
The PMOI
Investigative Unit has recently acquired the names of hundreds of victims of
the massacre in 1988 from inside the country. Each of these names has been thoroughly
examined and verified, and their files have been completed. Accordingly, today,
we announce the names of 426 members of the PMOI massacred in 1988, but whose
names had not been announced previously.
Maryam Rajavi
at a ceremony marking
the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran
Also, the new
edition of the book titled, Crime Against Humanity, has been published in
English. It contains the names and particulars of more than 5,000 PMOI martyrs
as well as the pictures of hundreds of victims and their graves.
This book is
presented to the people of Iran on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the
foundation of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
The work by the
MEK Investigative Unit is continuing and the names and particulars of many other martyrs are being
investigated. Once completed they will be made public.
Here, I would
like to call on my fellow compatriots help us in finding new names, pictures
and particulars of the martyrs.
I would also
like to extend my gratitude
to my countrymen and women, particularly the supporters of the PMOI/MEK inside
Iran, for their endeavors in the collection of the new names.
Indeed, this
tremendous dossier must be made public line by line. It must be made clear what
happened in the
prisons of Ahwaz, Mashhad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Qom, and other
cities.
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in
Iran
Since the first
days of this massacre, the regime started to arrest and subsequently execute many supporters of the
PMOI/MEK and former political prisoners who were not in prison. It must be
determined who were the ones arrested and executed and what happened in the
summary trials in western Iran?
At the time,
the courts dealing
with crimes committed at the war fronts were given a different mission and
placed at the service of the regime’s killing machine. Ali Razini, presently a
Supreme Court official, and Salimi, a former member of the Guardian Council,
are among those who
held the summary trials and ordered the execution of several groups of
residents in cities in western Iran. They executed youngsters who had assisted
the National Liberation Army of Iran. The ruling mullahs, however, have not
published any information on those murders and the so-called trials.
Over the past
29 years, we have repeatedly insisted that information on these incidents must
be made public.
Mrayam Rajavi
setting flowers at the memorial of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in
Iran
In 1995, the regime had to
agree to a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights
in Iran, Professor Maurice Capithorne.
In a telegram
on February 9, 1996, on the eve of Capithorne’s visit, the Massoud Rajavi
raised 15 important questions:
How many
prisoners has the clerical regime executed so far and how many of them lost
their lives under torture?
How many were
executed during the massacre of political prisoners in summer and fall 1988, to
which even Mr. Hossein-Ali Montazeri, then-Khomeini’s designated successor Protested?
Where were the
bodies of those executed buried? Are their families and relatives still not
informed of their places of burial and are they not authorized to visit the
graves of their loved ones?
And where are
the mass graves? How many victims are buried there and what are their names?
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in
Iran
Yes, we will
not relent until each and every one of these cases are opened and until everyone involved in this
crime against humanity is put on trial before the people of Iran.
13 instances of crime and treason committed by the regime
Dear sisters
and brothers,
The regime that
shed the blood of Iran’s most valiant children, subsequently sanctioned every other crime by
violating all ethical and humanitarian principles.
Today, the Call
for Justice Movement has shaken the clerical regime to its foundations and is
focusing on all of the mullahs’ crimes and treacheries, including:
The mass
executions of the 1980s;
The massacres
in the Kurdistan of Iran;
The forced
dispatch of thousands of teenagers to the minefields during the war with Iraq
and other war crimes;
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran
The chain
murders of dissident intellectuals;
The
assassinations of hundreds of opponents abroad;
The bloody
crackdown on the uprising in Qazvin;
The crackdown
on the 2009 uprising and the atrocities which took place in Kahrizak Prison;
The systematic
assaults on women in prisons;
The mutilation
of Christian priests;
The repeated
slaughter of our Arab compatriots in Khuzistan;
The bombing of
the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza;
The terrorist
operations against other countries, including in Mecca, Saudi Arabia;
And the
dossiers of seven bloodbaths at camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, especially
the massacre of 52 PMOI members on September 1, 2013.
These 13
dossiers, are some of the most important crimes that regime has perpetrated.
The more the
Call for Justice Movement advances, the more these dossiers are brought out of
darkness.
Maryam Rajavi
speaks at a ceremony marking the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in
Iran
The Call for
Justice is the Iranian nation’s noble campaign to expand the struggle and
resistance
The Call for
Justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre is a national issue and an
indispensable part of the Iranian people’s noble campaign to overthrow the clerical regime.
This campaign
seeks to expand the resistance and the battle to bring down the religious
tyrannical regime in Iran and establish freedom, democracy, and equality for
all citizens.
We salute all
those who have risen against the clerical regime. From here, we send our greetings to the political
prisoners in Iran, especially those who are presently on hunger strike in
Gohardasht Prison. We hail all of them for their determination and resistance.
I am confident
that the religious dictatorship ruling Iran will be overthrown by the Iranian people’s uprising and
resistance, and with their Army of Freedom and 1,000 bastions of rebellion.
The sacrifices
made by our martyrs continue to open the way and guarantee our people’s victory.
God
bless you allSource:MARYAM RAJAVI’SSPEECH ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF 1988 MASSACRE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN
