Roghieh Akbari Monfared was arrested on September 25, 1981, on the seventh night of mourning for her brother, Alireza, who had been just executed.
Alireza was arrested on September 8, 1981 and was tried and executed 10 days later.
Roghieh Akbari Monfared was sentenced to eight years in prison.
However, she was executed in August 1988 near the end of her prison term.
Her younger brother, Abdolreza was also among the political prisoners who faced the 1988 massacre. He had already completed his original three-year prison sentence but was never released.
The Iranian regime verbally informed the family that their children were executed, but has never revealed their place of burial.
In an open letter seeking an official investigation into the 1988 leaked from Evin prison in October 2016, Maryam Akbari Monfared, the younger sister of Roghiey wrote: “Three of my brothers and one of my sisters were executed in the 1980s… My youngest brother Abdolreza was 17 years old when he was arrested for distributing PMOI literature and sentenced to three years in prison. The authorities refused to release him for years after he completed his sentence and executed him in 1988… My other brother Alireza was arrested on 8 September 1981. He was tried and executed 10 days later… On the seventh night of mourning for my brother Alireza, security forces raided our house and arrested a number of guests as well as my mother and sister, Roghieh. My mother was released after five months but my sister was sentenced to eight years in prison. She was executed in August 1988 while she was just a year away from the end of her sentence.”
A Crime Against Humanity
The Facts
- In 1988, the Iranian regime massacred 30,000 political prisoners.
- The executions took place based on a fatwa by Supreme Leader Khomeini.
- Three-member commissions known as ‘Death Commissions’ were formed across Iran sending political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs to execution.
- 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 revealed. Many still hold senior positions in the Iranian judiciary or government.
The Human Rights Council needs to conduct an international investigation into the 1988 massacre. This would be the first step to end the impunity for the officials, agents and those who ordered the largest political crime of the century.
Khamenei and other leaders of the regime need to be prosecuted and face justice for committing crimes against humanity.
