IRAN TRIBUNAL HIGHLIGHTS A DECADE OF ATROCITIES

October 27, 2012

Today the Court Hearings around the Islamic Republic of Iran's involvement in the execution of tens of thousands of citizens in the 1980s came to an end in the Hague. The session, which started on October 25, marks the conclusion of a two-part investigation into the atrocities. The first part consisted of the proceedings of the Truth Commission which took place at the Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre in London from 18-22 June, 2012. This led to the publication of a 330 page Report, 260 of which consisted of witness statements and other evidence, which informed this week's hearing. Much of this evidence was horrific: hundreds of teenagers were said to have been exterminated, detainees were brutally tortured, and young women were alleged to have been raped prior to their execution, because Sharia Law forbids the killing of virgins...

The process was organised by the Iran Tribunal which does not hold any legal standing, but aims to highlight the the fact that crimes against humanity were committed, in the hope that the case will be taken up by the United Nations. In the words of the Commission:

"The Iran Tribunal Campaign is a social movement which was initiated by a group of individuals composed of the families of the victims of Iran's political prisoners, former Iranian political prisoners, the survivors of mass executions in the 1980s, political and labour activists, women's rights activists, lawyers, students, children's rights activists, writers, artists and human rights activists , who have been holding regular meetings since October 2007 in order to assess the possibility of setting up a "Truth Commission" and a "People's Court."

The idea of such a tribunal is not new, for instance Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul Sartre had organised a similar committee from 1965 to 1967 in order to investigate and publicise the atrocities carried out by American forces during the Vietnam War.

The Court Hearings will add weight to the Truth Commission's conclusion:

"These violations of human rights were devised, instigated and executed (or caused to be executed) by a single central authority and as such the Islamic Republic of Iran is the only authority responsible for these acts."

Let us hope that justice will be done at last, particularly seeing as many of the perpetrators of those heinous crimes are now in positions of privilege and power in today's Iran.