{"id":1480,"date":"2019-08-05T13:51:16","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T13:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1480"},"modified":"2019-08-05T13:51:16","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T13:51:16","slug":"judicial-officials-defense-of-mass-executions-sets-dangerous-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1480","title":{"rendered":"Judicial Official\u2019s Defense of Mass Executions Sets Dangerous Precedent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senior Advisor to Judiciary Asks Why the State Should Be Concerned with \u201cLegal Matters\u201d Pourmohammadi: \u201cWe still haven\u2019t settled scores\u201d <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

August 5, 2019\u2014New remarks by a senior judicial official in Iran,\u00a0Mostafa Pourmohammadi, in which he openly defended the extrajudicial executions of some 4000-5000 prisoners in 1988 as necessary acts against \u201cenemies\u201d in a time of war, mark a significant and dangerous turning point in the state\u2019s treatment of those\u00a0notorious mass killings, which have been internationally recognized as crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

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The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) forcefully condemns these remarks, which were made by an official who was himself one of the central figures responsible for those executions, and the depiction of the murder of thousands of prisoners, who had all been issued prison sentences and were serving their terms, as legitimate acts of war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense by a ranking judicial official of the 1988 mass executions is an attempt to legitimize state murder and the treatment of political opponents as enemy combatants, and reflects complete disregard for law and judicial process,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI executive director.<\/p>\n

In a videotaped\u00a0interview\u00a0with the hardline magazine, Mosalas on July 24, 2019, Pourmohammadi, who is now an advisor to Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi (who was also a central figure responsible for those executions), said: \u201cDuring a war if we fire a mortar at the enemy and it lands next to them on a village, do we have answer questions about why the village was hit?\u201d He added: \u201cAre we expected to talk about legal matters, protecting citizens and human rights in the middle of a battlefield?\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1988 executions were ordered by inquisition-like \u201cdeath commissions\u201d set up after the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) by a\u00a0fatwa<\/em>\u00a0(ruling) issued by Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Many of the victims were supporters of the Mojahedin-e Khalgh (MEK) opposition group, but communists, members of Fadaian-e Khalgh, and other groups were also targeted. The prisoners were secretly killed in prisons throughout the country and dumped into mass graves.\u00a0Pourmohammadi\u00a0(and Raisi) were key participants in the commissions.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Pourmohammadi also warned that the \u201cwar\u201d with the MEK was ongoing: \u201cWe still haven\u2019t settled scores. We will respond to all questions after it\u2019s all settled.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Iranian authorities have a long history of depicting critics of the state as \u201cenemies of the state,\u201d and prosecuting them harshly under national security crimes. Yet for thirty years, they have denied or ignore the 1988 mass murders. CHRI is deeply concerned that the statements by judicial advisor Pourmohammadi are an attempt to legitimize those extrajudicial killings, and as such pave the way for an intensification of the unlawful punishment of dissidents in Iran.<\/p>\n