UN Rapporteur Calls on Iran for ‘Independent Investigation’ into 1988 Executions
Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, has called for an independent and comprehensive investigation into the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 in her latest report.
In this report, which was completed in August and submitted to the UN Secretary-General, Ms. Jahangir has devoted a detailed section to the topic of 1988 executions, the release of an audio file by Ayatollah Montazeri regarding these executions, and the destruction of mass graves of those executed in Ahvaz.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran emphasized in her report the right of families of the executed to “be informed of the details and truth of what happened to their loved ones without fear of government retaliation.”
In this report, she referred to the problems faced by Maryam Akbari Monfared, a prisoner who has been pursuing correspondence regarding the investigation into the execution of family members during the 1960s-70s decade, and stated that families of the executed have the right to be informed of the facts of these events.
Another section of Ms. Jahangir’s report referred to attempts to destroy mass graves of those executed in 1988 in Ahvaz by dumping waste and debris around them, stating that the Islamic Republic authorities intend to gradually remove the concrete structures that mark the location of these graves and change the area by creating green space.
Previously, reports were also released about the destruction of graves of those executed in 1988 in Mashhad by dumping soil on them.
In this regard, Amnesty International also condemned in a statement published on its website on Tuesday, September 5, the efforts to destroy the mass graves of those executed in 1988 in Ahvaz and called for a halt to it.
Source: Voice of America
