Amnesty International: Pourmohammadi’s Defense of 1988 Massacre Indicates His Immunity

Amnesty International has reacted to recent remarks by Mostafa Pourmohammadi, advisor to Iran’s Judiciary, defending the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, considering it evidence of immunity for those responsible for the killings and calling for justice to be established.

The human rights organization Amnesty International, in a press statement released on Tuesday, July 30 (Mordad 8), has characterized Mostafa Pourmohammadi’s recent statements regarding the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 in Iran as an indication of his and other officials’ immunity from trial and punishment for the mass killings.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former Minister of Justice and current advisor to the Judiciary, whose head Ibrahim Raisi is also recognized as one of those responsible for the mass execution of political prisoners in summer 1988, defended these executions in a recent interview. Amnesty International considers Pourmohammadi’s defense as evidence of his immunity from punishment and accountability.

In an interview with the weekly magazine “Mostathlath,” Pourmohammadi defended various killings such as “serial murders” in the 1990s, and regarding the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, stated that it is not he who should be held accountable for political executions, but rather “hypocrites should come to trial and each one of them should be held accountable.” The Islamic Republic uses the term “hypocrites” to refer to the “Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK).”

In the early days of Mordad 1967 (July-August 1988), Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued an order appointing a four-member committee, known as the “death committee,” to reconsider the cases of political prisoners, most of whom had previously been tried and sentenced to imprisonment. In this letter and its margins, he had emphasized that anyone who continued to “maintain their hypocritical stance” should be dealt with “with revolutionary anger and malice” and executed.

These executions, which violated many international treaties, conventions, and domestic laws, became so extensive that they generated significant opposition. The most prominent opponent at that time was Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was removed from his position as leader’s deputy because of his criticism of this practice.

There is no precise figure for the number of those killed in summer 1988. Montazeri, citing reports received in his memoir, put the number between 2,800 and 3,800 people, while some sources estimate the figure to be close to five thousand.

Threats Against Those Seeking Accountability and Truth

Amnesty International is particularly concerned about accusations such as support for “terrorism” and “conspiracy” and collusion with Iran’s geopolitical enemies that Mostafa Pourmohammadi directs at those who seek accountability for those responsible for the massacre of political prisoners and the truth. Pourmohammadi believes these individuals should face legal prosecution.

Amnesty International warns that Pourmohammadi’s statements, as well as Ibrahim Raisi’s appointment in March 2019 as head of Iran’s Judiciary, mean that survivors of mass executions, families of the executed, and human rights defenders are at risk of harassment and persecution simply because they seek to uncover the truth.

This international human rights organization, pointing to the current and former officials of the Islamic Republic’s ability to threaten and suppress those pursuing accountability and truth, states that current and former officials of the Islamic Republic should not be allowed to have a protective shield against accountability for the mass executions of political prisoners, which Amnesty International calls “extrajudicial” killings. Some human rights activists have criticized the use of the term “extrajudicial” for mass political executions within a military framework whose entire judicial system is in question.

Therefore, Amnesty International once again called on the United Nations to clearly and explicitly discuss the immunity currently enjoyed by those responsible for the massacre of Iran’s political prisoners in 1988.

Amnesty International has called on the international community to find specific ways to achieve truth and justice—ways that ensure the trial and accountability of those responsible for these crimes. The organization calls for such trials to be conducted without resorting to capital punishment.