Amnesty International Releases New Report on 1988 Massacres
Amnesty International announced in a report that the Islamic Republic, by continuing to conceal the fate and burial sites of victims of the 1988 massacre, is perpetuating “crimes against humanity.” The organization has called for independent and comprehensive investigations into the matter.
Amnesty International has unveiled a new report exposing the continued commission of “crimes against humanity” by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In its report titled “Secrets Stained with Blood: Why the 1988 Massacre is an Ongoing Crime Against Humanity?,” the organization states that the Islamic Republic, by keeping secret the fate and burial locations of thousands of political opponents and dissidents killed three decades ago, continues to commit “crimes against humanity.” The human rights organization released the report on December 4.
Amnesty International has called on the United Nations to conduct independent and comprehensive investigations into the forced disappearance and execution of political prisoners that occurred in the 1980s without due legal process.
Amnesty International and the Center for Justice for Iran previously reported in a joint report the discovery of evidence pointing to more than 100 locations where it is believed between 4,000 to 5,000 political prisoners executed in 1988 may be buried.
The discovered evidence includes satellite imagery, video footage, and photographs from Tabriz, Qorveh, Mashhad, Ahvaz, and other cities showing that some locations have been covered with concrete or destroyed by bulldozers.
The new 200-page Amnesty International report details the policies through which the Iranian government has attempted to conceal the truth about what the organization describes as “systematic enforced disappearances and executions of opponents” from public knowledge over three decades.
The report also states that the crime of “forced disappearance” of victims continues and explains this view as follows: “As long as the Islamic Republic does not provide information to families and survivors about the fate and burial sites of their loved ones and does not clarify the matter, it continues to commit ‘crimes against humanity.'”n
“Secrets Stained with Blood” further provides a detailed report on the extent and geographic distribution of the 1988 massacre across the country and has identified at least 32 cities in different parts of Iran where it states the 1988 massacres took place.
Source: DW
