Iran: Born in the prison

“I was arrested in the summer of 1983 while I was pregnant. I was directly taken to the torture chamber, and fifteen days later I gave birth to my son in the prison.” Farideh Godarzi mother of Eiman, who was born in the prison, explained her ordeal in Iran’s prisons in a conference held in Paris on November 26.

Eiman, 33 also talked about his childhood in the conference, and explained how he had to see her mom behind the bars, while his father was executed by the mullahs on the charges of being supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MeK).

The conference which was held in Paris by the National Council of Resistance, called to bring the perpetrators of genocide in Iran and Syria to Justice. Maryam Rajavi, the President of Iranian resistance was the key speaker of the event

In addition to Farideh and Eiman there were also other Iranians who have just left Iran and talked about the gross violation of Human Rights in Iran.

Among all the despotic countries in the world, Iran has the biggest number of executions after China, but it ranks number one per capita.

Based on a U.N. statement, Iran had the world’s highest execution rate per capita last year. The statement says that in 2015 alone, at least 966 people were reportedly executed. Executions are carried out following trials that fall short of international standards for fair trials. The statement also noted that execution of women, foreign nationals, and minors had continued across 2015. Public hangings, flagellation, and mutilation are also still common.

Since its foundation in 1979, the theocratic regime in Iran has adopted the policy of suppression and execution as its main domestic policy. In the 80s, thousands of educated youth of Iran who were sympathetic to the opposition groups were executed by the Mullahs. In summer of 1988 alone, based on the decree of Khomeini, 30,000 political prisoners were executed, most of whom were members or supporters of the MeK. The recent revelation of an audio tape and unpublished letters from the late Ayatollah Montazeri, the former successor to Khomeini, has shed light on new dimensions of this great crime.

 These documents clearly show that in 1988 a genocide took place in Iran, and unfortunately the world did not react to this massacre seriously.

In his letter, Mr. Montazeri wrote that pregnant women and girls as young as 14 and 15 years old were among the executed victims. He told the perpetrators of the massacre that due to these executions you will be remembered as “The biggest criminals in history.”

Due to lack of international accountability to bring these criminals to justice, the carnage has continued and these criminals have turned the slaughter of human beings into a tool to maintain their hold on power. To cover up their crimes in Iran and escape accountability, they have resorted to international terrorism and meddling in other countries’ affairs to divert the attention. The current situation in Syria and daily slaughter of Syrian people is the result of such policy.  “Any solution to end ISIS from the region is intertwined with complete eviction of the Iranian regime from the region and especially from Syria.” Maryam Rajavi concluded in her speech in the conference. 

Obama administration for 8 years, by pursuing an appeasement policy, not only did not hold the Iranian regime accountable for their crimes, but contrarily turned a blind eye to their crimes, and by offering large concessions followed a rapprochement policy.

Now with the change of administration in the US, and end of Obama era, there should be an end to the policy of appeasement, and turning blind eye to massacre and execution of Iranian people by this regime; any political and economic relationship with this regime must be conditioned to halt of executions.  Also regime’s dossier must be referred to the UN Security Council for 37 years of committing crimes against humanity, including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.