Brussels, 11 April 2025: Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) participated in a hearing on human rights in Iran in the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights in Brussels on 8 April 2025 alongside European Union and United Nations officials.
Tahar Boumedra, President of JVMI, urged the EU and UN to help counter the culture of impunity in Iran by holding Iranian officials accountable for their role in crimes against humanity, chief among them the 1988 mass extra-judicial execution and enforced disappearance of some 30,000 political prisoners.
Other panellists included Sara Hossein, Chair of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI); Viviana Krsticevic, Member of the FFMI; Rocco Romano, Head of the Iran Policy Division of the European External Action Service (EEAS); Hannah Neumann MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iran; and Aida Ghajar, IranWire journalist.
The full video of the hearing is available on the European Parliament website here.
Mr. Boumedra told the panel: “The plight of the Iranian people in terms of violations of human rights is related to the foundation of the regime itself. The Iranian regime has adopted a constitution that hardly accepts international law. It challenges the very foundation of human rights values. And the Iranian constitution is extremely difficult to amend and to adjust to the requirements of international law.”
Mr. Boumedra pointed out that Iran has a long history of carrying out extra-judicial executions, adding that in the summer of 1988, on the orders of then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the regime executed as many as 30,000 political prisoners.
He highlighted the findings of the then-UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Prof. Javaid Rehman, published in the July 2024 ‘Atrocity Crimes’ report, that concluded the 1988 enforced disappearances constitute “ongoing crimes against humanity”.
Mr. Boumedra added that Iran is using the death penalty on a very wide scale. “It’s using it basically for political oppression. Iran has not withdrawn from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). They are still members of this convention, and yet they do not respect any of the fundamental principles adopted in this convention.”
Mr. Boumedra pointed out that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the Revolutionary Courts are two instruments of the regime tasked with suppressing the opposition and ensuring the regime’s survival.
FFMI Chair Sara Hossain, addressing the panel remotely, stated: “The government of Iran has denied us access to the country. Despite 35 information requests, we’ve received responses to only five, and those lack critical details like names, locations, and forensic evidence.”
“Ongoing violations in Iran risk recurring gross human rights abuses, fuelled by deep-rooted discrimination against women, minorities, and dissenting political views. The lack of accountability stems from a judicial system lacking independence,” she stated.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution extending and expanding the mandate of the FFMI, allowing it to investigate ongoing crimes against humanity, such as those associated with the 1988 enforced disappearances.
In 1988, the government of Iran massacred 30,000 political prisoners. The executions took place based on a fatwa by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, targeting the main opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Three-member commissions known as ‘Death Commissions’ were formed across Iran sending political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs to execution. Members of other leftist groups were also executed in a subsequent second wave. The victims were buried in secret mass graves. The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity. Since 2016, the names of nearly 100 ‘Death Commission’ members have been made public. Many still hold senior positions in the Iranian judiciary or government.
