US H.Res.627 Calls for Accountability for Iranian Regime and Protection for Political Refugees in Albania
1988 massacre US congress 4
Written by
Staff Writer
On July 27, United States Representative Lance Gooden proposed the US House Resolution 627 condemning the clerical regime in Iran for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and recent uprisings. The resolution calls for justice for the victims, demands Tehran provide information to families, and urges the US and its allies to prosecute perpetrators.
The text highlights that the 1988 massacre was carried out based on a religious decree targeting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), resulting in the execution of as many as 30,000 political prisoners. The victims included supporters of the MEK/PMOI, members of other political groups, and religious minorities such as the Baha’is.
Additionally, the resolution calls on the United Nations Human Rights Council to include the 1988 massacre in the agenda of the fact-finding commission investigating ongoing violence against protesters. Lastly, it recognizes the Iranian people’s rights and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran.
The resolution also makes clear that the US House of Representatives stands in solidarity with the people of Iran, defending their rights for freedom against repression, and condemns the brutal killings of Iranian protesters by the regime. It calls for the protection of Iranian political refugees residing in Ashraf 3 in Albania and their right to life, liberty, security, and freedom of expression and assembly.
(Original Signature of Member)
118TH CONGRESS
1 ST SESSION H. RES. ll
Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the massacre
of political prisoners in 1988 and the uprisings of recent years, including
the 2018, 2019, and 2022 uprisings, and calling for justice for its
victims.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. G OODEN of Texas submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on lllllllllllllll
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
for the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the
uprisings of recent years, including the 2018, 2019, and
2022 uprisings, and calling for justice for its victims.
Whereas in the 115th Congress, the House of Representa-
tives passed H.R. 4744 calling on the United States to
‘‘condemn Iranian human rights abuses against dis-
sidents, including the massacre in 1988 and the suppres-
sion of political demonstrations in 1999, 2009, and 2017,
and pressure the Government of Iran to provide family
members detailed information that they were denied
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about the final resting places of any missing victims of
such abuses’’;
Whereas H. Res. 188, ‘‘Condemning the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran for the 1988 massacre of polit-
ical prisoners and calling for justice for the victims’’, was
first introduced in the 115th Congress, cosponsored by
four former and current chairs of the Committee on For-
eign Affairs of the House of Representatives;
Whereas the massacre was carried out pursuant to a fatwa,
or religious decree, issued by then-Supreme Leader Aya-
tollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that targeted the People’s
Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mujahe-
deen-e-Khalq (MEK);
Whereas the killings of as many as 30,000 political prisoners
in 1988 were carried out based on the fatwa to execute
all political prisoners who remained loyal to the Iranian
Resistance, and subsequent death commissions were
formed on July 19, 1988, whose members included the
current Iranian regime’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, an of-
ficial from the Ministry of Intelligence, and a state pros-
ecutor, to implement the fatwa;
Whereas prisoners were reportedly brought before the com-
missions and briefly questioned about their political affili-
ation, and any prisoner who refused to renounce his or
her affiliation with groups perceived as enemies by the
regime was then taken away for execution;
Whereas according to Amnesty International, ‘‘the majority
of those killed were supporters of the MEK/PMOI’’;
Whereas the 1988 massacre victims, many of them women,
had been imprisoned merely for participating in peaceful
street protests and for possessing political reading mate-
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rial, many of whom had already served or were currently
serving prison sentences;
Whereas according to Amnesty International, ‘‘hundreds of
members and supporters of other political groups . . .
were also among the execution victims’’;
Whereas later waves of executions targeted religious minori-
ties, such as members of the Baha’i faith, many of whom
were often subjected to brutal torture before they were
killed;
Whereas in a disclosed audiotape, the late Hussein Ali
Montazeri, a grand ayatollah who served as Khomeini’s
chief deputy, noted the regime’s efforts to target the
MEK and said that the 1988 mass killings were ‘‘the
greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic,
for which history will condemn us’’;
Whereas the families of the executed were denied information
about their loved ones and were prohibited from mourn-
ing them in public;
Whereas the November 2, 2007, report from Amnesty Inter-
national concluded that ‘‘there should be no impunity for
human rights violations, no matter where or when they
took place. The 1988 executions should be subject to an
independent, impartial investigation, and all those re-
sponsible should be brought to justice and receive appro-
priate penalties’’;
Whereas, beginning in 2017 and continuing for several
months after protests erupted in more than 100 cities,
the Iranian regime suppressed such protests with repres-
sive forces that resulted in at least 25 deaths and 4,000
arrests, including decorated wrestling champion Navid
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Afkari, who was later executed in September 2020
amidst international outrage;
Whereas, on November 15, 2019, popular protests against
the Iranian regime began and rapidly spread to at least
100 cities throughout the country, and reports indicate
that Iranian security forces used lethal force and about
1,500 people were killed during less than 2 weeks of un-
rest, and thousands more were detained during these pro-
tests;
Whereas, beginning in September 2022, antigovernment pro-
tests ignited in response to the death of Mahsa Amini,
a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested
by the morality police that enforces Iran’s mandatory
dress code laws;
Whereas in several months of continuing protests in hundreds
of cities throughout Iran, the regime’s security forces
have killed hundreds and arrested tens of thousands of
protesters;
Whereas, according to a December 9, 2022, Amnesty Inter-
national report, ‘‘Iran’s security forces have killed with
absolute impunity more than 40 children and injured
many more in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance
among the country’s youth and retain their iron grip on
power at any cost’’;
Whereas these protests are rooted in the more than four dec-
ades of organized resistance against the Iranian dictator-
ship, which have been led by women who have endured
torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and death;
Whereas the Iranian people have been deprived of their fun-
damental freedoms for which reason they are rejecting
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monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident
in their protest slogans;
Whereas, on November 24, 2022, the United Nations Human
Rights Council established a fact-finding commission to
conduct an independent investigation into the ongoing
deadly violence related to the protests in Iran;
Whereas the Iranian regime has arbitrarily and brutally sup-
pressed ethnic and religious minorities, including Iranian
Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Baha’is,
Zoroastrians, and even Sunni Muslims, and deprived
them of their basic human rights, and has in many cases
executed them;
Whereas senior Iranian Government, military, judicial, and
security officials have for decades ordered or committed
egregious human rights violations and acts of terror;
Whereas the United States should be involved in any estab-
lishment of an international investigation into the 1988
extrajudicial killings of Iranian dissidents as well as the
murder of protesters;
Whereas over 900 women and men of Ashraf 3 are former
political prisoners who witnessed prison crimes of the Ira-
nian regime, and many of them are witnesses of the 1988
massacre and other political killings in Iran, among them
eyewitnesses of crimes committed by Ebrahim Raisi, who
must be fully protected for potential testimonies before
any international courts investigating the killings in Iran;
Whereas, in November 2021, the Swedish Judiciary moved
the whole court in Stockholm to Albania for two weeks
to facilitate hearing testimonies of seven former Iranian
political prisoners now residing in Ashraf 3, who were
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considered key witnesses for a trial related to the 1988
massacre;
Whereas in an April 19, 2016, letter to a European Par-
liament Vice-President, the Prime Minister of Albania
wrote, ‘‘Albania is fully engaged and committed to ensure
for the Iranian refugees all rights stipulated in the Gene-
va Convention 1951, in the European Human Rights
Convention and in the whole international legislation’’;
and
Whereas, according to the statement issued by Secretary of
State Antony J. Blinken on April 24, 2023, ‘‘The United
States condemns Iran’s continued human rights abuses
and remains committed to supporting the people of Iran
as they face the brutality of the Iranian regime’’: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—1
(1) condemns the Government of the Islamic2
Republic of Iran for the 1988 massacre and for de-3
nying the evidence of this manifest set of crimes4
against humanity;5
(2) urges the Administration and the United6
States allies to publicly condemn the massacre and7
pressure the Government of Iran to provide detailed8
information to the families of the victims about their9
loved ones and their final resting places;10
(3) urges the Administration and the United11
States and its allies to put on their agenda to help12
the families of the victims of the Iranian regime to13
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identify and prosecute the perpetrators of the 19881
massacres and the massacres of protesters against2
this regime in the recent uprisings;3
(4) stands with the people of Iran, who are le-4
gitimately defending their rights for freedom against5
repression and condemns the brutal killing of Ira-6
nian protesters by the Iranian regime;7
(5) calls on the United States Government, in8
cooperation with our ally Albania, to ensure the full9
protection of the Iranian political refugees in Ashraf10
3 in Albania and for them to benefit from all rights11
stipulated in the Geneva Convention 1951 and the12
European Convention on Human Rights, including13
the right to life, liberty, and security, and protection14
of property, as well as freedom of expression and as-15
sembly;16
(6) calls on the United Nations Human Rights17
Council to include the massacre of thousands of po-18
litical prisoners in 1988 in the agenda of the fact-19
finding commission for an independent investigation20
launched on November 24, 2022, to investigate the21
ongoing deadly violence against protesters; and22
(7) recognizes the rights of the Iranian people23
and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular,24
and nonnuclear Republic of Iran.25
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