In April, the Iranian regime once again tried to destroy a mass grave of the political prisoners killed during the 1988 massacre to hide evidence of its crime against humanity, according to Iran Human Rights Monitor in its latest report into human rights abuses in the country.
The report explains that the regime wants to destroy the mass grave at Khavaran in the same way that they have done in Ahvaz, Tabriz, and Mashhad, but with the added cruel twist of wanting to force members of the Baha’i religion to bury their dead atop the mass grave.
Amnesty International’s Diana Eltahawy said: “As well as causing further pain and anguish to the already persecuted Baha’i minority by depriving them of their rights to give their loved ones a dignified burial in line with their religious beliefs, Iran’s authorities are willfully destroying a crime scene.”
Of course, this is far from the only human rights abuse that took place in April in Iran and we will look at the rest of the report here, covering executions, torture, and abuse of religious minorities.
Executions and Arbitrary Murders
At least 25 executions took place last month in Iran, with 14 executed on drug charges, which does not meet the international standard for execution, and two killed on unknown charges.
Meanwhile, two people – Yusef Mehrdad and Seyyed Sadrollah Fazeli Zare – were sentenced to death for “insulting the prophet”, which also does not meet the international bar for the death penalty.
As for arbitrary murders, where people are shot dead by security forces in the street with no trial, at least five people died this way in April, mostly border porters who the regime fears are encroaching on their own smuggling operations.
Torture
The online activist Zohreh Sarv was lashed 74 times, even though she’d already paid the fine and had the sentence legally waived. Throughout April, at least 15 flogging sentences were issued, including to activists.
Meanwhile, the state security forces tried to humiliate 34 young men who had attended the Iranian fire festival to mark the new year by parading them through their towns.
Discrimination
The regime upped the pressure on religious minorities last month in several ways, including by arresting 36 Baha’is, expelling one Baha’i student from university because of his faith, and forcing them to bury their loved ones atop massacre victims’ graves. Meanwhile, three Iranian Christian converts were arrested by security forces and some of their belongings were confiscated during a raid of their houses.
