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Human rights experts call for UN inquiry into 1988 Iran executions

Human rights experts call for UN inquiry into 1988 Iran executions
posted onMay 7, 2021
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Some 150 human rights experts, including former UN officials, have called for an international inquiry into the mass execution of dissidents by Iran's regime in 1988.

In a letter to the United Nations on Tuesday, the 150 signatories urge the "establishment of an international investigation" looking into the executions, and appeal to the UN to end the "culture of impunity" in Iran.

The letter stated that around one thousand officials, many of whom still hold top positions in Iran, including the current Minister of Justice Seyyed Alireza Avaei, were involved in the mass killings.

"There is a systemic impunity enjoyed by those who ordered and carried out the extrajudicial executions,” the letter said.

"We appeal to the UN Human Rights Council to end the culture of impunity that exists in Iran by establishing a commission of inquiry into the 1988 mass extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances," it added.

Activists said thousands of extrajudicial executions were carried out in 1988 upon the order of the Islamic Republic's then supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.