Amnesty International Calls on Islamic Republic of Iran: Stop Destruction of Khavaran and Allow Bahaʼis Dignified Burial

Amnesty International has protested destructive measures at Khavaran Cemetery and disrespect toward Bahaʼi burials, calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt these actions.

Diana Al-Tawhawi, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Center, stated in a report released on Thursday, April 29: “This latest action is part of a pattern of criminal efforts by Iranian authorities over recent years to destroy the burial site of victims of the 1988 massacres in an attempt to eliminate important evidence of crimes against humanity, deny the truth, obstruct justice, and prevent accountability for families of those who were forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily executed in secret.”

She added: “Iranian authorities are not only compounding the suffering and pain of the persecuted and harassed Bahaʼi minority by depriving them of burying their loved ones in a manner consistent with their beliefs and dignity, but are deliberately destroying the crime scene with premeditation.”

Previously, some families and relatives of those executed in summer 1988 reported in their accounts the digging of at least 10 new graves at the collective burial site of their loved ones in Khavaran, Tehran.

Khavaran Cemetery in southeast Tehran is the location where, according to families of those executed in summer 1988, their relatives were buried in mass graves. They commemorate their loved ones at this site every year.

On Friday, April 23, some families of victims of the 1988 executions posted several photos on social media showing that at least 10 new graves have been dug along the edges of these mass burial sites.

Source: Voice of America