Call for prosecution of those responsible for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran

Call for prosecution of those responsible for the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran

Address to all individuals, Governments and NGO’s who support a free and democratic Iran

Stes de Necker

Dear friends

I’m Stes de Necker Diplomatic Ambassador for the NCPC living in South Africa.

On behalf of the National Coalition Party of Canada (NCPC), The Stes de Necker Foundation (SDNF) and the Federal Association for the Advancement of Visible Minorities (FAAVM), I wish you a very good day filled with love, peace and prosperity.

Together we, (the National Coalition Party of Canada, the Stes de Necker Foundation and the Federal Association for the Advancement of Visible Minorities), represents almost six million peace seeking individuals in South Africa, Canada and around the globe.

The NCPC, FAAVM and the SDNF unequivocally support the world wide demand for an end to the arbitrary death penalties in Iran. We also strongly support an in depth investigation into the barbaric execution in July of 1988, of no less than 30,000 defenceless individuals who were imprisoned in Iran at that stage.

1. The 1988 massacre   

The mass executions of prisoners in 1988 began with Khomeini’s death decree in 1979.

In the final phases of the Iran-Iraq war, Khomeini, who felt that defeat was imminent, decided to take his revenge on the political prisoners in Iran.

He issued a so-called ‘fatwa’ (religious decree) ordering the execution of anyone who had not “repented” and who was not willing to collaborate entirely with the Iranian regime.

Khomeini declared in his fatwa: “As the treacherous hypocrites [referring to the members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran] do not believe in Islam, and their statements are rooted in deception and hypocrisy, and as their leaders have confessed that they have become renegades, and as they are waging war on God, … it is decreed that those who are in prison throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Hypocrites, are waging war on God, and are condemned to execution.”

By the time the massacres ended in the autumn of 1988, some 30,000 political prisoners, the overwhelming majority members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), were brutally murdered.

The Iranian massacre of 1988 remains, to this day, one of the darkest and least exposed stains in the history of mankind. This murderous and barbaric action against the people of Iran, is the second greatest unpunished crime against humanity of the 20th Century, following only the murder of the almost 6 million Jews by the Germans during World War II.

Not only has there been no prosecution of the criminals who orchestrated and carried out these gruesome murders, but the Iran regime still continues, to this day, to deny that it even occurred!

These murders of defenceless human beings were not only barbaric and uncivilised, but it was also in direct contravention of the United Nations Charter on fundamental human rights and freedom.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the biggest tragedy of all is: …….the West just sat looking on and did nothing to stop it  …………

2. Our message to the Honourable Secretary of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. António Gutteres

Resorting to a wave of executions under any excuse - either by the so-called divine ruling of God, or the teachings of Islam, or the Law of Sharia, - is nothing but politically sanctioned genocide of the Iranian people.

A regime at war with its own people.

The NCPC, SDNF and FAAVM strongly condemn these murders and demand that the perpetrators of these crimes must be prosecuted to the full extent of the Law and placed before justice.
They should never enjoy any immunity whatsoever.

We further condemn the neglect by the world powers for the flagrant disregard of the human rights violations and increasing executions taking place in Iran.

3. Human Rights in Iran 

Ladies and gentleman and friends, the defining moment in the history of international terrorism came about when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stepped triumphantly from an airplane at Tehran Airport in 1979.

Within hours, in a series of vicious, murderous acts, which would become the hallmark of his unique terror machine, he immediately ordered the elimination of all those that opposed him.
In a wave of slaughter, using a process of what can only be described as production-line killings, thousands of Iranians have lost their lives.

The Hezbollah blocked off streets and fired into the growing crowds, killing hundreds of Iranians and injuring thousands more.

And these murders are still continuing to this day.  
   
On that fateful day when Khomeini arrived on the world stage, he immediately sparked off a wave of terror across Iran.

All those connected to the leadership or the armed forces of the defunct regime of the Shah of Iran, Shah Pahlavi, were hunted down and brutally murdered.

Today, under the so-called 'moderate' President Hassan Rouhani, a man who is in the pretence of reaching out to the world with the hand of peace, the Iranian war machine is building up in strength like never before.

Using money returned under the agreement of the Iran Deal, the regime has acquired new military technology and weaponry and has also bankrolled its military campaigns in Iraq and Syria, as well as supplying rebel groups, like the Houthi’s in Yemen, and its faithful proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, with tons of arms and ammunition.

There is a complete absence of judicial independence and rule of law in Iran.

Indeed, the entire legal system is designed to enable and enforce the regime’s massive repression of human rights, and underpinning a culture of impunity for its violators.

In this regard, it is outrageous that Rouhani appointed a member of the notorious Death Committee, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as minister of justice – a man implicated in a number of major human rights violations, including the 1988 massacre.
The Iranian regime is constantly busy limiting the public’s freedom of expression and public access to information.

Internet users have been monitored by surveillance teams, intimidated by cyber police, and arrested for their online activities, particularly those deemed to be critical of the government or contrary to the regime’s interpretations of Islam.

4. Conclusion

Dear friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, the time to put an end to these atrocities is now.

The pervasive silence of the past 29 years must be shattered once and for all.

In 2008, twenty years after the massacre, Amnesty International renewed its call for those responsible for the ‘prison massacre’ to be held accountable. In a strongly worded statement Amnesty International said, and I quote: “There should be no impunity for such gross human rights violations, regardless of when they were committed.”

Amnesty International added: “Those responsible for the killings – one of the worst abuses to be committed in Iran – should be prosecuted and tried before a regularly and legally constituted court and with all necessary procedural guarantees, in accordance with international fair trial standards.”

That was in 2008. Today nine years later, still nothing has come from this call of Amnesty International.

I urge all peace loving nations, Human Rights Organisations, peace activists, the United Nations and the European Union and in particular the United States of America, to take all necessary steps immediately, to put a stop to these crimes and to restore Law and Order in Iran.

The Iranian Clerical Regime, a cesspool of murder and corruption, remains the biggest threat to world peace today.

In September of 2016 we managed to relocate no less than 2700 Iranian dissidents, mainly members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, who were living in the most atrocious conditions in Camp Liberty near Baghdad in Iraq, to a place of safety in Europe.

When the United States withdrew its forces from Iraq after the Gulf war, these people, were left defenceless at the mercy of the Iraqi military.

We cannot relocate the entire Iranian nation to a place of safety.

Safety and peace and democracy must be restored in Iran itself.

Therefore we, the NCPC, SDNF and FAAVM, demand the following measures:

1. Immediate practical and serious global measures, especially by European Union member states, the United States of America and the United Nations, to stop all arbitrary executions in Iran
2. The Iranian regime must be compelled to cancel all death sentences. Reports indicate that there are hundreds of men and women in Iran are currently on death row. My dear friends, this waiting period is significantly harsher and more torturous than actually being executed.
3. Stoning, as means of punishments, must be acknowledged as crime against humanity, and its practice brought to an end in Iran immediately.
4. All perpetrators of these crimes must be brought before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
5. The immediate removal of the barbaric clerical regime of Iran, if need be by force, and the return to peace and democracy in that country.
I urge all peace loving nations, the European Union, the United Nations and all Humanitarian support organisations, to support us in our quest for peace and democracy.

The great Albert Einstein once said: “The world will not be destroyed by evil, but by those who watch on without doing anything.”


May God bless you all.