By Jubin
Katiraie
years ago these
days, in Iran under the mullahs’ regime, the massacre of over 30,000 political
prisoners, mainly members, and supporters of the Iranian opposition People's
Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) had engulfed all of Iran.
The intensity
and speed of this massacre were so severe that not only PMOI/MEK families, but
all other families of prisoners sought information about their loved ones. No
authorities would provide answers, however.
The
international community had turned its back on this horrible genocide, all under the
pretext of Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini signing United Nations
Security Council Resolution 598 ending the Iran-Iraq War. This signing was the
result of Khomeini becoming terrified of his regime being toppled by the PMOI/MEK.
Initially,
groups opposing the PMOI/MEK, followed by the mullahs’ regime, portrayed these
executions as the mullahs’ response to a massive combat operation staged by the
National Liberation Army of Iran and the PMOI/MEK in the final days of July of that year.
However, these
claims were discredited shortly and other sources indicated that the massacre
was carried out based on Khomeini’s inhumane and anti-Islamic fatwa against the
PMOI/MEK issued far before. Khomeini and his regime have to this day considered the PMOI/MEK as
the sole serious threat that remains steadfast on its non-negotiable position
of “overthrowing” this regime.
In a recent
interview with state-TV Aparat, former Iranian intelligence minister Ali
Fallahian said the
order to massacre PMOI/MEK inmates in 1988 was issued previously by Khomeini.
“In relations to the PMOI/MEK, and all groups considered
mohareb (enmity against God), their rulings are execution. He emphasized in
saying don’t hesitate in this regard… they have always been sentenced to execution, before
or after 1988,” he said. Based on this fatwa, over 30,000 political prisoners
were hanged in less than three months.
Last year in
the PMOI/MEK convention in Paris the Iranian Resistance President-elect Maryam Rajavi launched a
justice movement seeking accountability for those involved in the 1988 massacre
of PMOI/MEK inmates and other political prisoners. This movement expanded
throughout Iran at a rapid pace, caused major troubles for the Iranian regime and been welcomed across
the globe. This movement is demanding that senior Iranian regime officials be
brought to justice for their PMOI/MEK genocide.
The PMOI/MEK
genocide by the regime ruling Iran is the most important dossier challenging
this regime after
Tehran’s nuclear program controversy. This dossier has such deep roots in
Iran’s society and enjoys the enormous global support that it prevented Iranian
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from engineering the May presidential elections. He
intended to have
conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi replace the incumbent Hassan Rouhani as
president.
Raisi was a
member of the notorious “Death Commission” involved in the PMOI/MEK genocide
back in 1988. The PMOI/MEK justice movement and revelations by the PMOI/MEK
regarding Raisi’s
candidacy – blessed by Khamenei – shocked the very pillars of the mullahs’
regime.
Iranian youths
across the country, previously unaware of such crimes by the mullahs’ regime,
are now in defense of the PMOI/MEK demanding the mullahs admit to their crimes against
humanity. This has led the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to
refer to the 1988 massacre of PMOI/MEK members and supports in this year’s
annual report.
From the very
days when reports of this massacre leaked outside of Iran’s prisons, the PMOI/MEK placed a massive
global effort to unveil these crimes. They published the names of a number of
massacred PMOI/MEK members, along with their graves and information about
members of the Death Commission in various provinces. Human rights organizations and other such bodies
were provided with this data.
Marking the
anniversary of this justice movement, new measures are necessary to realize the
goals set for this initiative:
1) Inside Iran, gathering new information about massacred PMOI/MEK members,
their burial sites, identifying the perpetrators and officials behind these
crimes and…
2) Abroad, further condemning the massacre of PMOI/MEK
members by parliaments, political parties, human rights advocates, religious
leaders and political figures to hinge political and economic relations with
Iran on ending all executions and torture, launching an independent commission to investigate
into the massacre of PMOI/MEK members and supporters in 1988 to have senior
regime officials brought to justice for crimes against humanity and …
Now is the time
for the international community to open its eyes to the flagrant human rights violations, and
specifically the massacre of PMOI/MEK members and supporters in 1988, and not
permit this dossier to remain closed as it has for years.
There is no
doubt that that the solution for Middle East crises, now affecting all other
countries, is through regime change in Iran. Realizing such an objective needs
all of this regime’s senior figures to be tried for human rights violations and
massacring PMOI members and supporters in 1988.
This should be
followed with the
official recognition of the democratic alternative, the National Council of
Resistance of Iran. The PMOI/MEK is the pivotal force of this coalition.
This reminds us
of how US President Donald Trump said the Iranian people are the main victims
of the regime ruling
Iran.
Some important issues about MEK*
A Long Conflict
between the Clerical Regime and the MEK
The origins of
the MEK date back to before the 1979 Iranian Revolution., the MEK helped to
overthrow the dictatorship of Shah Reza Pahlavi, but it quickly became a bitter enemy of the emerging
the religious fascism under the pretext of Islamic Republic. To this day, the
MEK and NCRI describe Ruhollah Khomenei and his associates as having co-opted a
popular revolution in order to empower themselves while imposing a fundamentalist view of Islam
onto the people of Iran.
Under the
Islamic Republic, the MEK was quickly marginalized and affiliation with it was
criminalized. Much of the organization’s leadership went to neighboring Iraq
and built an exile
community called Camp Ashraf, from which the MEK organized activities aimed at
ousting the clerical regime and bringing the Iranian Revolution back in line
with its pro-democratic origins. But the persistence of these efforts also
prompted the struggling
regime to crack down with extreme violence on the MEK and other opponents of
theocratic rule.
The crackdowns
culminated in the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, as the
Iran-Iraq War was coming to a close. Thousands of political prisoners were held in Iranian
jails at that time, many of them having already served out their assigned
prison sentences. And with the MEK already serving as the main voice of
opposition to the regime at that time, its members and supporters naturally
made up the vast
majority of the population of such prisoners.
As the result
of a fatwa handed down by Khomeini, the regime convened what came to be known
as the Death Commission, assigning three judges the task of briefly
interviewing prisoners to determine whether they retained any sympathy for the MEK or
harbored any resentment toward the existing government. Those who were deemed
to have shown any sign of continued opposition were sentenced to be hanged.
After a period of about three months, an estimated 30,000 people had been put to death. Many other
killings of MEK members preceded and followed that incident, so that today the
Free Iran rally includes an annual memorial for approximately 120,000 martyrs
from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
The obvious motive behind the
1988 massacre and other such killings was the destruction of the MEK. And yet
it has not only survived but thrived, gaining allies to form the NCRI and
acquiring the widespread support that is put on display at each year’s Free Iran rally. In the previous
events, the keynote speech was delivered by Maryam Rajavi, who has been known
to receive several minutes of applause from the massive crowd as she takes the
stage. Her speeches provide concrete examples of the vulnerability of the clerical regime and
emphasize the ever-improving prospects for the MEK to lead the way in bringing
about regime change.
The recipients
of that message are diverse and they include more than just the assembled crowd
of MEK members and supporters. The expectation is that the international dignitaries at each
year’s event will carry the message of the MEK back to their own governments
and help to encourage more policymakers to recognize the role of the Iranian
Resistance in the potential creation of a free and democratic Iranian nation. It is also expected
that the event will inspire millions of Iranians to plan for the eventual
removal of the clerical regime. And indeed, the MEK broadcasts the event via
its own satellite television network, to millions of Iranian households with illegal hookups.
MEK
Intelligence Bolstering US Policy Shifts
What’s more,
the MEK retains a solid base of activists inside its Iranian homeland. In the
run-up to this year’s Free Iran rally the role of those activists was
particularly evident, since the event comes just a month and a half after the
latest Iranian presidential
elections, in which heavily stage-managed elections resulted in the supposedly
moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani securing reelection. His initial election in
2013 was embraced by some Western policymakers as a possible sign of progress
inside the Islamic
Republic, but aside from the 2015 nuclear agreement with six world powers, none
of his progressive-sounding campaign promises have seen the light of day.
Rouhani’s poor
record has provided additional fertile ground for the message of the MEK and Maryam Rajavi. The Iranian
Resistance has long argued that change from within the regime is impossible,
and this was strongly reiterated against the backdrop of the presidential
elections, when MEK activists used graffiti, banners, and other communications to describe the sitting
president as an “imposter.” Many of those same communications decried Rouhani’s
leading challenger, Ebrahim Raisi, as a “murderer,” owing to his leading role
in the massacre of MEK supporters in 1988.
That fact
helped to underscore
the domestic support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, insofar
as many people who participated in the election said they recognized Raisi as
the worst the regime had to offer, and that they were eager to prevent him from
taking office. But
this is not to say that voters saw Rouhani in a positive light, especially
where the MEK is concerned. Under the Rouhani administration, the Justice
Minister is headed by Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who also served on the Death
Commission and declared as recently as last year that he was proud of himself for having carried out
what he described as God’s command of death for MEK supporters.
With this and
other aspects of the Islamic Republic’s record, the MEK’s pre-election activism
was mainly focused on encouraging Iranians to boycott the polls. The publicly displayed banners and
posters urged a “vote for regime change,” and many of them included the
likeness of Maryam Rajavi, suggesting that her return to Iran from France would
signify a meaningful alternative to the hardline servants of the clerical regime who are currently the
only option in any Iranian national election.
Naturally, this
direct impact on Iranian politics is the ultimate goal of MEK activism. But it
performs other recognizable roles from its position in exile, not just limited to the
motivational and organization role of the Free Iran rally and other, smaller
gatherings. In fact, the MEK rose to particular international prominence in
2005 when it released information that had been kept secret by the Iranian regime
about its nuclear program. These revelations included the locations of two
secret nuclear sites: an uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy
water plant at Arak, capable of producing enriched plutonium.
As well as
having a substantial
impact on the status of international policy regarding the Iranian nuclear
program, the revelations also highlighted the MEK’s popular support and strong
network inside Iran. Although Maryam Rajavi and the rest of the leadership of
the People’s
Mojahedin Organization of Iran reside outside of the country, MEK affiliates
are scattered throughout Iranian society with some even holding positions
within hardline government and military institutions, including the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Drawing upon
the resources of that intelligence network, the MEK has continued to share
crucial information with Western governments in recent years, some of it
related to the nuclear program and some of it related to other matters
including terrorist training, military development, and the misappropriation of financial
resources. The MEK has variously pointed out that the Revolutionary Guard
controls well over half of Iran’s gross domestic product, both directly and
through a series of front companies and close affiliates in all manner of Iranian industries.
In February of
this year, the Washington, D.C. office of the National Council of Resistance of
Iran held press conferences to detail MEK intelligence regarding the expansion
of terrorist training programs being carried out across Iran by the Revolutionary Guards. The growth
of these programs reportedly followed upon direct orders from Iranian Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei and coincided with increased recruitment of foreign
nationals to fight on Tehran’s behalf in regional conflicts including the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.
In the weeks
following that press conference, the MEK’s parent organization also prepared
documents and held other talks explaining the source of some of the
Revolutionary Guards’ power and wealth. Notably, this series of revelations reflected upon trends
in American policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. And other revelations
continue to do so, even now.
MEK
Intelligence Bolstering US Policy Shifts
Soon after
taking office, and
around the time the MEK identified a series of Revolutionary Guard training
camps, US President Donald Trump directed the State Department to review the
possibility of designating Iran’s hardline paramilitary as a foreign terrorist
organization. Doing so would open the Revolutionary Guards up to dramatically increased
sanctions – a strategy that the MEK prominently supports as a means of
weakening the barriers to regime change within Iran.
The recent
revelations of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran have gone a long way toward illustrating both
the reasons for giving this designation to the Revolutionary Guards and the
potential impact of doing so. Since then, the MEK has also used its
intelligence gathering to highlight the ways in which further sanctioning the Guards
could result in improved regional security, regardless of the specific impact
on terrorist financing.
For example, in
June the NCRI’s Washington, D.C. office held yet another press conference
wherein it explained that MEK operatives had become aware of another order for escalation that
had been given by Supreme Leader Khamenei, this one related to the Iranian
ballistic missile program. This had also been a longstanding point of
contention for the Trump administration and the rest of the US government, in light of several ballistic
missile launches that have been carried out since the conclusion of nuclear
negotiations, including an actual strike on eastern Syria.
That strike was
widely viewed as a threatening gesture toward the US. And the MEK has helped to
clarify the extent of the threat by identifying 42 separate missile sites
scattered throughout Iran, including one that was working closely with the
Iranian institution
that had previously been tasked with weaponizing aspects of the Iranian nuclear
program.
Source:A Look atKhomeini's Fatwa for PMOI/MEK Massacre
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