In Pursuit of
Justice and Accountability
For The Massacre
of Iran’s Political Prisoners during 1980s
For the first time in the world history, the oppressed and supressed
people of Iran who have endured one of the most horrific crimes in human
history by witnessing the mass execution of a generation of political prisoners
are raising their outcry against the atrocities of the Islamic Republic Regime
in Iran. Albeit, in the face of total disregard to these atrocities by the
international law and judicial system.
The justice seeking campaign of “Iran Tribunal” was initiated in
September 2007 by a group of the families and relatives of the victims along
with an abundance of the survivors of the mass executions of Iran’s political
prisoners of 1980s. With the collaboration of many political, social and human rights activists, as well as
sympathisers to the cause, many challenges; some unforeseen, had to be overcome
in order to establish the righteous outcome of this movement. Right from the
outset, it was clearly evident that holding the perpetrators of these ghastly
crimes accountable before the eyes of the international community would not be an
easily achievable task.
Starting from the ground up and through sheer determination and the will
power of all involved in this campaign, while maintaining the total
independence of this movement, we are now ready to launch the International Peoples’
Court to investigate the state crimes committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran
on more than 20,000 Iranian political prisoners during 1980s.
After four years of indefatigable and diligent grassroots efforts, the
International Peoples’ Court organised by “Iran Tribunal” campaign is now ready
to be investigating the crimes perpetrated by the heads of State of the Islamic
Republic of Iran; which marked its infamous beginning towards the end of June
1981 and escalated to horrific heights during the summer of 1988. The mass
genocide of Iran’s political prisoners during 1980s is synonymous with Crime against
Humanity.
None of the tens of thousands of political prisoners, either those
executed or otherwise the survivors, had either a fair trial, or access to any
legal rights during the mass genocide of 1980s. Each and every one of the
political prisoner’s fate was decided in minutes following a few interrogatory
questions prior to being sentenced to death. According to the international
criminal laws, the magnitude of the crimes, plus the geographical spread of the
locations and across a wide cross section of dissidents with diverse political
beliefs, the atrocities committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its
own people constitutes Crime against Humanity.
In the light of the undeniable evidences presently available and
according to the statistical facts, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed approximately
15000 political prisoners between 1981 and 1984. This means that on average one
prisoner was executed every 2 hours within the first three years of the
atrocities. Between June 1988 and March 1989, approximately 5000 political
prisoners faced the death sentence by execution behind closed doors and were buried
in unknown mass graves. Again, on average, one political prisoner was executed
every 2 hours during this period.
The court hearings to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for
its crimes against humanity will be held in two distinct sessions. The first
session has been arranged to spread over five days; between 18 to 22 June 2012.
The venue for this session will be at the Human Rights Centre of Amnesty
International Head Quarters in London. The second session will follow four
months later, in October 2012 and has been envisaged to be held at The Hague.
The Legal Steering Committee behind this event is composed of a team of
internationally renowned and distinguished law experts which includes Professor
John Cooper, Professor Richard Falk, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Professor Eric
David, Professor Payam Akhavan, Dr Nancy Hormachea, Dr Hedayat Matin Daftari,
Hamid Sabi and Professor Kader
Asmal, who unfortunately passed away in July 2011. This team of law experts has
selected a number of prominent international judges along with notable legal
and social personalities who will be accompanying a team of eight Iranian and
non-Iranian prosecutors lead by Professor Payam Akhavan and Sir Geoffrey Nice
QC.
The Peoples’ Court to uphold humanity and human values organised by
“Iran Tribunal”, is a unique project of its own kind. It will facilitate
peoples’ arbitration against a criminal regime in the recent history of mankind
which shall be hearing the live statements and testimonies of in excess of 100
witnesses of crimes perpetrated by a currently ruling state power.
This tribunal is an integral part of Iranian peoples’ struggle against one of
the most despotic regimes in the recent history. As well as investigating the
mass genocide of Iran’s political prisoners, this court also aims to expose and
put on the record this human tragedy before the eyes of the international
community.
Attending the court hearings is open and free
to the public. However, it will require your registration in advance. To
register for one or both sessions, please contact info@irantribunal.com stating your full
name and the country of your residence.
Iran Tribunal Campaign
10 April 2012
