The Iranian people are outraged over the planned destruction of the Khavaran Cemetery in Tehran by the regime, with many putting up posters or graffiti with the slogans “Khavaran is evidence of mullahs’ crime” and “the mullahs’ regime wants to destroy the evidence of the crime” in various cities across the country.
The crime in question is the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, during which dissidents who had already been sentenced (or had actually completed prison sentences) were subjected to one-minute trials.
These trials, ordered in a fatwa by then–supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, were overseen by a trio of officials acting as judge and jury, commonly referred to as a death commission, and there are some recognizable names among the commissions, including:
- Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi
- Justice Minister Alireza Avai
- former Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
During the show trials, prisoners were asked their political affiliation. Anyone who said the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), was sent to the gallows at once and the bodies were buried in mass graves. One such grave was in Khavaran, which has long been a memorial site for the families of the massacre victims.
The regime’s plan to destroy the Khavaran Cemetery angered Iranians and the MEK’s Resistance Units organized a major campaign to condemn the decision, which would destroy evidence of the massacre at a time when the international community is looking more closely at the crime.
They installed posters and graffiti in major cities, including Tehran, Nishabur, Kermanshah, Qom, Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and more, which read:
- “Call for immediate action to stop the destruction of the martyrs’ graves of the 1988 massacre”
- “The family members of martyrs of the 1988 massacre call for immediate measures to halt the destruction of Khavaran Cemetery”
- “Damn the religious tyranny, the mullahs’ regime wants to cover up its crimes in Khavaran”
- “Destroying the mass graves of the martyrs of the 1988 massacre is an inhuman act and a crime against humanity.”
Many ordinary Iranians put up video messages to condemn the mullahs for their continued human rights abuses and called for the world to stand with the Iranian people in their fight for justice. Considering that the mullahs have upped their repression ahead of the elections in June, the bravery of these Iranians is beyond compare.
At the same time, the Resistance Units have been calling on the public to boycott the upcoming election to deny the regime legitimacy on the world stage.
