British Committee for Iran Freedom Warns of Evidence Erasure and Urges UK Action on Regime’s Crimes

In a strongly worded statement, the British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) has raised deep concern over the Iranian regime’s ongoing attempts to destroy evidence of atrocities that UN experts have described as crimes against humanity committed with genocidal intent.

The Committee pointed to a recent comment by Tehran’s Deputy Mayor, who revealed that part of Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery—the burial site of many victims of extrajudicial executions in the early 1980s—has now been repurposed as a parking lot, with official authorization.

BCFIF condemned this move in the “strongest terms,” describing it as an effort to erase the evidence of past atrocity crimes. According to the Committee, these actions reinforce earlier warnings that the regime may be preparing another massacre in Iran’s prisons, reminiscent of the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners.

The destruction of evidence of crimes against humanity and genocide, the statement argued, constitutes a violation of international law in its own right. Such acts, it added, make the atrocity crimes ongoing, since they deliberately deny reparations and justice to victims. At the same time, family members of victims and those pursuing justice—such as Maryam Akbari Monfared—face arrest and prison sentences at the hands of Iran’s judiciary.

Given these alarming developments amid Iran’s current execution crisis and culture of impunity, the Committee called on the international community to fulfill its responsibility and take concrete steps to prevent another massacre. It emphasized that holding the regime and its leaders accountable, as recommended by UN experts, is essential.

The BCFIF stressed that the UK government has a decisive role to play. It urged London to work with allies to recognize the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners as a crime against humanity and an act of genocide.

Such recognition, the Committee said, aligns with the findings of UN experts and is backed by legal precedent, citing the Swedish court rulings against Hamid Noury, who received a life sentence under universal jurisdiction for his role in the 1988 executions. Recognition would also help preserve crucial evidence and empower families and survivors in their pursuit of justice.

Concluding, the statement reiterated that it is imperative for the UK and the E3 countries to end the regime’s culture of impunity by conditioning all diplomatic and economic relations with Iran on the immediate halt of executions and the release of all political prisoners.

British Committee for Iran Freedom – 21 August 2025