December 28, 2021 Dear Members of the Oberlin Board of Trustees, On October 8, 2020, we wrote to President Carmen Twillie Ambar (the “Initial Letter”), setting out our serious concerns regarding the role that Mr. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Professor of Religion at Oberlin’s Department of Religion, and the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair of Middle East and North African Studies, played in hiding crimes against humanity in Iran (the “1988 Massacre”) from the international community. Our letter was signed by over 600 people, many of them survivors or bereaved family members of the 1988 Massacre. Given that President Ambar and the Oberlin administration have failed to transparently address the issues we set forth in the Initial Letter, we write to make you aware of the case and seek your assistance to ensure transparency and accountability. Background As we explained in the Initial Letter, the facts surrounding Mr. Mahallati are very easy to understand. Mahallati served as Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, in the summer of 1988, Iran’s regime subjected thousands of political prisoners across the country to minutes-long “re-trials” presided over by what the prisoners came to call “Death Commissions.” Based on no more than a few questions about their political or religious beliefs, prisoners who had already faced (albeit inadequate) trials and sentencing, who had served several years in prison, and who had been subjected to gruesome torture, were sent by the Death Commission to hang. A top-ranking Iranian cleric who attempted to stop the killings estimated that at least 3,800 prisoners were killed that summer. Others believe the number was considerably higher. Amnesty International calls the 1988 Massacre “ongoing crimes against humanity.” Human Rights Watch agrees with this legal assessment. In 2013, Canada’s parliament recognized the 1988 Massacre as constituting crimes against humanity. We allege, based on contemporaneous evidence (further explained below), that Mr. Mahllati must have known about these crimes and deliberately misled the international community about them. We further believe that, regardless of any legal liability, Mr. Mahallati’s actions were so shockingly immoral that they stand in fundamental opposition to Oberlin’s stated values and commitments. To date, our Initial Letter remains unacknowledged by the Oberlin administration, including President Ambar. In fact, President Ambar’s only reaction to our very serious allegations has been to block on social media anyone, including prominent lawyers, activists, former hostages, and survivors, who have merely raised the issue. The Oberlin “Investigation” Since Oberlin has refused to acknowledge our Initial Letter, we were shocked to learn on October 15, 2021, via an article in the Oberlin Review, that the College “ initiated its own process to determine [the] validity” of our claims and found “no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Professor Mahallati, including that he had specific knowledge of the murders taking place in Iran.” There are two significant and related problems with this investigation. The first is that it was conducted in complete secrecy, without speaking to key stakeholders. To our knowledge, none of the people bringing forth the allegations against Mahallati, no experts on matters related to the 1988 Massacre, and no experts on the human rights situation in Iran generally were questioned as part of the investigation. By analogy, imagine a sexual assault investigation in which the whistleblower is blocked on social media by Oberlin’s President, a secret investigation that excludes the victim and sexual assault experts is conducted, and the alleged culprit is announced to be exonerated without any explanation of how the determination was made. Would any reasonable person consider such an investigation to be credible? The second problem with the investigation is that its finding is patently absurd. Oberlin claims that Mahallati had “no specific knowledge” of the 1988 Massacre. This assertion, which reads as if it was carefully worded by a lawyer, flies in the face of overwhelming evidence. As the timeline below should make obvious, it is inconceivable that a reasonable person in Mr. Mahallati’s position would not know about the crimes he was explicitly denying. In the very unlikely event that he had no “specific knowledge,” it is because he deliberately refused to conduct the most basic inquiry into repeated reports that a heinous massacre was unfolding on watch. The latter possibility, regrettably, is no more exculpatory than the first. What Mr. Mahallati Must Have Known Oberlin expects us, and you, to believe that Iran’s top U.N. diplomat had no knowledge of the mass killings underway. This assertion strains credulity if one simply looks at the well-documented timeline of events. Oberlin’s student newspaper, the Oberlin Review, stated it best when it wrote that “even if Mahallati did not hear from his own government about the executions, he could not have remained ignorant for long.” According to the detailed report of Amnesty International, that organization issued at least sixteen (16) Urgent Action notices between August and December 1988, mobilizing their activists to send letters to Iranian authorities to call for an end to the extrajudicial killings of political prisoners immediately. On October 13, 1988, the U.N. itself reported that it had evidence that “200 persons described as political prisoners … had been massacred in the central hall of Evin prison,” and that from Aug. 14–16, “860 bodies of executed political prisoners had been transferred” to a mass grave. According to U.N. reports, in November 1988 — three months after Amnesty International publicized the mass murder campaign — Mr. Mahallati “denied the mass executions in a meeting with the U.N. Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran.” Also, in November 1988, The New York Times reported that Mr. Mahallati fought hard against a U.N. resolution that condemned Iran’s human rights record, including “a renewed wave of executions in the period July–September 1988 whereby a large number of persons died because of their political convictions.” According to the news report, Mr. Mahallati said that a report condemning Iran’s mass human rights violations constituted a “confrontation” with that country. In an oral statement issued atContinue reading “Letter to Oberlin Board of Trustees”
News Archives
Pictures of Protest at Oberlin College Against Mohammad Jafar Mahallati on November 2, 2021
We Demand Transparent Investigation of Mohammad Jafar Mahallati
Letter to Oberlin Board of Trustees
Protesters want Mahallati fired: Oberlin College professor accused of role in 1988 Iran mass executions
By Jason Hawk The Chronicle-Telegram Nov 03, 2021 5:00 AM OBERLIN — Their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, classmates and friends were put to death and buried in mass graves. The families of political prisoners executed in 1988 under the regime of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gathered Tuesday on Tappan Square with one goal in mind: They want to see Oberlin College religion professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati fired. Mahallati was Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations when Khomeini had thousands of opponents — estimates range from 5,000 to 30,000 — subjected to sham trials and moments later put to death. Most were younger than 25, college educated and part of leftist groups such as the People’s Mujahedin of Iran. About 75 people took part in the protest across the street from the college’s Cox Administration Building. Some were part of a reenactment of the trials, in which dissidents were asked whether they believed in Allah. Lawdan Bazargan’s brother Bijan was among those arrested and killed. She took the microphone Tuesday “to call for full transparency of (Mahallati’s) criminal past.” Bazargan is one of the organizers of the Oberlin Committee for Justice for Mahallati’s Victims, a group that has unsuccessfully petitioned for the college to terminate the professor. It sent out mailers to Oberlin residents ahead of the protest directing people to visit mothersofkhavaran.com, named for one of the sites where mass graves have been discovered. “Mahallati’s presence at Oberlin College is a disgrace to the education system,” the website says. “As American citizens, we must champion an education system free of bigots, murderers and people accused of crimes against humanity. Professor Mahallati has no place in our higher education system.” The return address on the flier is 173 W. Lorain St., Oberlin, which is the college’s official mailing address. Scott Wargo, director of media relations, said Oberlin College has no connection to the mailers. During a video call to protesters, Kaveh Shahrooz, a Canadian attorney representing the protesters, called the college “a guilty party” and “a college that protects evil men.” His uncle was hung to death. Shahrooz said he feels Oberlin College is preventing Mahallati from being held accountable. He said Mahallati, as a diplomat, helped cover up the executions in Iran. Amnesty International made similar accusations in its 2018 report on the killings, titled “Blood-Soaked Secrets.” It said Mahallati “denied the mass executions in a meeting with the U.N. special representative on the situation of human rights in Iran, and claimed that ‘many killings had in fact occurred on the battlefield, in the context of the war, following the invasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran by’” the People’s Mujahedin of Iran. When Bazargan and others confronted the college a year ago about Mahallati’s past, the college said it would investigate. “After consulting a number of sources and evaluating the public record, the college could find no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Professor Mahallati, including that he had specific knowledge of the murders taking place in Iran,” said a statement from the college. Information provided by Wargo said Mahallati, during internal conversations with the college, denied the allegations. Through a law firm, Oberlin College hired investigators to gather and evaluate information from 1988, and their findings did not support the accusations. Mahallati also issued a statement, saying the official positions he took at the U.N. during his tenure do not portray his personal views. “It is important to note that my accusers have not found a single statement from me that is remotely consistent with their unfounded accusations,” he wrote. “I firmly believe that all human beings including Muslims, Jews, Bahais and others must be free and fully respected in choosing their faith and must enjoy religious freedom irrespective of their ethnicity, nationality and other identity factors,” he added. Mahallati said he sympathizes with the victims of human-rights abuses, and is against all kinds of capital punishment “because, based on Abrahamic teachings, even in the extreme cases of proven murder, there must be a chance for apology and forgiveness.” His lawyer, Gregory Kehoe of the firm Greenberg Traurig, said criticisms leveled against Mahallati are “completely unjustified and without merit. For more than three decades, Professor Mahallati has consistently dedicated his life to global peacemaking and research, teaching and writing about religious tolerance, peace and friendship.” He said secret death commissions carried out the murders of political dissidents, and Mahallati, who was in New York at the time, had “no knowledge in real time about the covert executions, nor did he attempt to conceal the facts once they were revealed.” Ray English, an Oberlin city councilman, also defended Mahallati. “He is a sincere person who has long promoted peace and friendship across lines of conflict and difference, sometimes at personal risk to himself,” said English, who briefly attended the protest Tuesday. “He has been instrumental in promoting the Friendship Initiative in our community and has taught a course on friendship at the college for many years. His assertion that he was focused on ending the Iran Iraq War when he was Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in 1988-89 and did not know of atrocities taking place inside Iran is totally consistent with the good human being I know him to be.” Fatemeh Pishdadian does not feel the same way. Both her parents were executed by the regime when Pishdadian was 8 months old, and a maternal cousin was also killed. Pishdadian lived in Iran until 2009, when she moved to Cleveland, and said she was angered to learn about Mahallati’s position at Oberlin. She said she traveled to Tappan Square on Tuesday to “protest against impunity.” “This is infuriating that these people have made a living hell for us,” she said. “They’ve taken away our loved ones and now they live here, in the West, where they enjoy all the benefits of America without being held accountable.” Pishdadian said she wants to see Mahallati one day tried for war crimes. “He has bloodContinue reading “Protesters want Mahallati fired: Oberlin College professor accused of role in 1988 Iran mass executions”
Press Release: Protest against Oberlin College’s Mahallati for mass executions
We, a group of families of executed political prisoners in Iran, Oberlin College students and alumni, and human rights activists, are holding a protest against the reported “crimes against humanity” conducted by Oberlin College Professor, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. The protest will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, from 12 to 2 pm in front of the Cox Administration Building at Oberlin College, Ohio. According to Amnesty International’s 2018 report, Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran’s 1988 prison massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity, Mahallati was among the senior officials who “were actively involved in denying the mass killings in media interviews and exchanges with the UN to shield those responsible from accountability.” We believe the continuation of employment of Mr. Mahallati is in contrast with Oberlin’s mission statement, emphasizing “an enduring commitment to a sustainable and just society.” Mahallati, the Islamic Regime of Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations covered up the 1988 Massacre of more than 5000 thousand innocent political prisoners. Mahallati also stoked incitement against the persecuted Baha’i people and delivered anti-Semitic speeches against Israel and Jewish people at the UN. Lawdan Bazargan, sister of one of the Leftists victims of this atrocity, said “While Mahallati was enjoying high ranking position in an oppressive Islamic regime, my brother was behind bars fighting for human rights and human dignity. Why does a liberal art school such as Oberlin College that must be the beacon of hope, protect the perpetrators instead of the victims?” Kaveh Shahrooz, who lost his uncle in this Massacre said, “Oberlin College has been completely non-responsive to the demands of hundreds of survivors and families of the 1988 massacre. They refuse to explain why they have granted tenure to a man who misled the world on crimes against humanity. This protest is to bring attention to Mahallati’s role in the cover-up of a mass killing, and Oberlin’s complicity.” Dr. Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, a leading Baháʼí intellectual, said Mr. Mahallati ”legitimizes the mass executions in the 1980s.” Regrettably, despite the promise of Ms. Ambar, Oberlin College’s President and Mr. Hertz, chief of staff, to investigate Mr. Mahallati’s role in this atrocity, they did not publish any report, did not engage with the families of the victims, and allowed Mr. Mahallati to go back to teaching students. We repeat our campaign demand of October 2020 and ask for Mr. Mahallati’s immediate removal. Oberlin Committee for Justice for Mahallati’s Victims Due to COVID travel restrictions we will stream the event on ZOOM so our supporters can join virtually and support us. Contact: Lawdan Bazargan: Tel: 562-212-9546 Email: JusticeforMahallatiVictims@gmail.com Additional quotes follow on the second page. Quote Sheet Khatereh Moini, sister of Hebat Moini one of the victims of the 1988 Massacre, who lost 12 family members in the 1980s to the atrocities of the Islamic Regime of Iran wrote: In the tragedy of the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, my brother Hebat Moini and my brother-in-law Kasra Akbari Kurdestani, who were serving their unjust sentences in prison, were killed and buried in unmarked mass graves in Khavaran, one of the many sites of mass graves in Iran. Mr. Mahallati one of the perpetrators of this crime against humanity played an active and decisive role, and I, as a plaintiff and witness to these crimes, urge the authorities and the president of Oberlin College to revoke Mahallati’s permission to interact with the students. He is not fit to teach and must be fired.” (khatereh.moini@gmail.com) Banoo Saberi, the wife of one of the victims, Abbas Ali Monshi Roodsari wrote; “My husband was arrested in August 1965 and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. But nearly two years later, the prisons authorities gave us two bags containing his personal belongings. My husband was a college student, studying medicine and we had two small children. Abbas was killed in secret along with thousands of others. Until a few years ago, the Islamic regime had the general policy of denying the killings, although all the Iranian officials were aware of this atrocity ordered but the Supreme Leader, Khomeini. Mr. Mahallati as a senior diplomat of the Islamic Republic in the United Nations, followed the policies of the Islamic Republic, seeking to justify the killings or denying them altogether. All those who had governmental positions at that time, by their silence, helped to perpetuate this massacre. Mahallati must tell the truth and give us all the information he has been hiding all these years. His disclosure will help the efforts of the families of the victims in learning the truth and seeking justice. (banoo_saberi@yahoo.com) Melissa Landa, an Oberlin graduate class of 1986 said, “By allowing Mahallati to taint students’ minds and to remain on the institutional payroll, Oberlin College has demonstrated its low ethical standards and its lack of a moral compass.” (melissa@alliance4israel.org) Anne Herzberg, Legal Advisor of NGO Monitor and an Oberlin alum noted, “This case is yet another in a series of highly troubling incidents at Oberlin, reflecting insensitive and indifferent attitudes by the Administration towards certain communities. Given the allegations against Mr. Mahallati stemming from his time as a diplomatic official for the Revolutionary Iranian regime and documented antisemitic statements, it is incumbent on Ms. Amber and other senior administration officials to launch an independent and fully transparent investigation, including consultation with victims’ families. Failure to do so will be another stain on the College, marring its once brave and illustrious history.” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Post: “Has Mr. Mahallati apologized for his antisemitic and anti-Baha’i sentiments made while he was a shill for the Iranian regime at the United Nations? Does he still support the genocide-seeking Holocaust-denying Iranian regime? Organizers and Oberlin College should also check Amnesty International’s report that Mahallati committed crimes against humanity by covering up the mass murder of at least 5,000 Iranian political prisoners during 1988 at the UN.” (Acooper@wiesenthal.com) Niloofar Beyzaie, Iranian playwright and theater director: It is really unfortunate that someone like Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, with a well documented history of justifying andContinue reading “Press Release: Protest against Oberlin College’s Mahallati for mass executions“
جواب کمپین “عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی” به تحقیقات ادعایی کالج اوبرلین
در ۸ اکتبر سال گذشته ، ما نامه ای به خانم کارمن تویلی آمبار، رئیس کالج اوبرلین ، ارسال کردیم که به امضای صدها جان باخته، بازمانده و کارشناسان سازمان های حقوق بشری رسیده بود. در این نامه اظهار کردیم که آقای محمد جعفر محلاتی ، در مقام سفیر ایران در سازمان ملل، به سرپوش گذاشتن بر کشتارهای دسته جمعی تابستان ۱۳۶۷ در ایران کمک کرده است. ما خواستار تحقیقات عادلانه در این زمینه شدیم، اما نامه ما هیچ جوابی از اوبرلین نگرفت. بنابراین وقتی در روزنامه دانشگاه اوبرلین خواندیم که کالج ادعا می کند طبق تحقیقات داخلی انجام شده محلاتی از اتهامات نسبت داده شده تبرئه شده است ، شوکه شدیم. نتیجه تحقیقات به چند دلیل شگفت انگیز است: اول اینکه اوبرلین از زمانی که ما خوهان توجه آنها به گذشته آقای محلاتی شدیم از تعامل با ما خودداری کرد. ایا اگر دانشگاه یک شکایت مثلاً تجاوز جنسی دریافت کرده بود, در جریان تحقیق درباره این تجاوز جنسی، اوبرلین از صحبت با قربانی و افشای روند تحقیقات خود امتناع و تنها اعلام می کرد که متهم بی گناه است؟ آیا چنین تحقیقی اعتباری می داشت؟ باید توجه داشته باشیم که اوبرلین نه تنها از ملاقات با قربانیان برای بحث در مورد پرونده خودداری کرده است ، بلکه رئیس دانشکده، خانم امبار، با مسدود کردن حساب تمام افرادی را که در رسانه های اجتماعی به صورت کاملاً محترمانه درباره این پرونده صحبت کردند (خانواده قربانیان ، وکلا ، روزنامه نگاران ، گروگانان سابق) نهایت توهین را به آنها روا داشته است. اجازه بدهید دوباره مثال قبلی را مطرح کنیم و بپرسیم آیا خانم امبار به صدها قربانی تجاوز جنسی نیز واکنش مشابهی نشان می داد؟ در غیر این صورت ، چرا او حساب اجتماعی صدها نفر را مسدود می کند که تنها نگرانی خود را در مورد نقش استاد اوبرلین در لاپوشانی کشتار جمعی، که عفو بین الملل و پارلمان کانادا آن را به عنوان جنایت علیه بشریت تعیین کرده اند، ابراز داشته اند؟ آیا خانم امبار باور ندارد که زندگی ما هم حائز اهمیت است؟ مدیران اوبرلین همچنین ادعا میکنند که «کالج نتوانسته مدرکی برای تأیید ادعاها علیه استاد محلاتی پیدا کند، از جمله اینکه وی درباره قتلهایی که در ایران اتفاق میافتاده اطلاعات داشته است». این ادعا برای ما تکان دهنده است، زیرا شواهد قریب به اتفاق نشان از اطلاع محلاتی ازین وقایع دارد. حتماً محققان اوبرلین تلاش زیادی برای پیدا نکردن این شواهد انجام داده اند! باید توجه داشته باشیم که اوبرلین نه تنها از ملاقات با قربانیان برای بحث در مورد پرونده خودداری کرده است، بلکه رئیس دانشکده، خانم امبار، با بلوک کردن تمام افرادی که در رسانه های اجتماعی به صورت کاملاً محترمانه از وی درباره این پرونده سوال می کردند (خانواده قربانیان ، وکلا ، روزنامه نگاران ، گروگانان سابق رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران) نهایت توهین را به آنها روا داشته است. اجازه بدهید دوباره مثال قبلی را مطرح کنیم و بپرسیم آیا خانم امبار به صدها قربانی تجاوز جنسی نیز واکنش مشابهی نشان می داد؟ در غیر این صورت ، چرا او حساب اجتماعی صدها نفر را مسدود می کند که تنها نگرانی خود را در مورد نقش استاد اوبرلین در لاپوشانی کشتار جمعی، که عفو بین الملل و پارلمان کانادا آن را به عنوان جنایت علیه بشریت تعیین کرده اند، ابراز داشته اند؟ آیا خانم امبار باور ندارد که زندگی ما هم حائز اهمیت است؟ مدیران اوبرلین همچنین ادعا میکنند که «کالج نتوانسته مدرکی برای تأیید ادعاها علیه محلاتی پیدا کند، از جمله اینکه وی درباره قتلهایی که در ایران اتفاق میافتاده اطلاعات داشته است». این ادعا برای ما تکان دهنده است، زیرا شواهد بسیار زیادی نشان از اطلاع محلاتی ازین وقایع دارد. اگر محققان اوبرلین ادعا می کنند شواهدی پیدا نکرده اند دلیل ان این است که علاقه ای به کشف حقیقت ندارند. پرونده علیه آقای محلاتی اصلا پیچیده نیست و اوبرلین بجای پذیرفتن استدلالات ما در این زمینه کافی است که از اسناد و مدارک موجود در سازمان ملل و گزارش های عفو بین الملل استفاده کند. این اسناد در حال حاضر توسط دادستان های سوئد به عنوان مبنایی برای محاکمه فردی که در قتل عام سال ۱۳۶۷ نقش داشته مورد استفاده قرار می گیرد. حقایق به شرح زیر است: • در طول تابستان ۱۳۶۷، رژیم ایران هزاران زندانی سیاسی را در سراسر کشور زیر نظر «هیئت مرگ» تحت یک «محاکمه مجدد» چند دقیقه ای (روند دادرسی با استانداردهای بین المللی هیچ مطابقتی نداشت) قرار داد. بر اساس چند سوال در مورد اعتقادات سیاسی یا مذهبی زندانیان ، حدود ۵۰۰۰ نفر از این افراد در تابستان آن سال کشته شدند. • در طول این کشتارها ، آقای محلاتی سفیر ایران در سازمان ملل بود. • در گزارش مفصل عفو بین الملل ، این سازمان خاطرنشان می کند که از ۲۵ مرداد ۶۷ حداقل شانزده اعلامیه اقدام فوری صادر کرده و به جامعه بین المللی هشدار داد که کشتارهای دسته جمعی در زندان های ایران در حال وقوع است. • در ۲۱ مهر ۱۳۶۷ ، خود سازمان ملل متحد گزارش داد که در ۷ تیر ۱۳۶۷ ، «۲۰۰ زندانی سیاسی زندان اوین در سالن مرکزی این زندان قتل عام شده اند» و از ۲۳ تا ۲۵ مرداد ۱۳۶۷ ، «۸۶۰ جسد از زندانیان سیاسی اعدام شده به یک گور دسته جمعی منتقل شده است.» • بر اساس گزارشات سازمان ملل متحد ، در آبان ۱۳۶۷ (۳ ماه پس از اعلام کشتار دسته جمعی توسط عفو بین الملل کمپین) آقای محلاتی «در دیدار با نماینده ویژه سازمان ملل در مورد وضعیت حقوق بشر در ایران اعدام های دسته جمعی را تکذیب کرد.» • همچنین در آبان ۱۳۶۷، نیویورک تایمز گزارش داد که آقای محلاتی در مقابل قطعنامه سازمان ملل متحد در محکومیت پرونده حقوق بشر ایران به شدت واکنش نشان داد. در این قطعنامه اعلام شده بود که «موجی دوباره از اعدام ها از مرداد تا شهریور ۱۳۶۷ رخ داده که در آن تعداد زیادی از زندانیان به دلیل اعتقادات سیاسی خود کشته شده اند.» بر اساس گزارش خبری ، آقای محلاتی اظهار کرده بوده که گزارش محکومیت نقض گسترده حقوق بشر در ایران به معنای « مقابله رودررو » باContinue reading “جواب کمپین “عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی” به تحقیقات ادعایی کالج اوبرلین”
Our First Letter to Oberlin College
Dear President Ambar, We the undersigned are a group of former political prisoners in Iran, families of executed political prisoners, human rights activists who work for justice and accountability, and international jurists who have examined the record of Iran’s gross human rights abuses. We were deeply disturbed to recently learn that Mr. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati serves as the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College. We believe, based on the information set forth below and available through the links below, that his appointment to this role is at fundamental odds with the values of Oberlin. As you may know, Mr. Mahallati was Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1987 and 1989. During that time, we believe the evidence linked below demonstrates that his role was to obfuscate and lie to the international community about mass crimes perpetrated by the Iranian regime. While Iran’s regime has committed numerous human rights violations in its forty-year history, its mass killing of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 stands out for its depravity and cruelty. Over the span of three months, Iran’s regime, based on a Fatwa (Islamic Decree) issued by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, subjected thousands of political prisoners across the country to minutes-long “re-trials” (which failed to meet all international standards of due process) presided over by what the prisoners came to call “Death Commissions.” Based on no more than a few questions about their political or religious beliefs, prisoners who had already faced (albeit inadequate) trials and sentencing, who had served several years in prison, and who had been subjected to gruesome torture were sent by the Death Commission to hang. Ayatollah Montazeri, the cleric who served as Iran’s second-in-command at the time, estimated that at least 3,800 prisoners were killed that summer. Others believe the number was considerably higher. The 1988 massacre is now well-documented. Amnesty International calls the killings “ongoing crimes against humanity.” Human Rights Watch agrees with this legal assessment. In 2012, The Iran Tribunal, a one-of-a-kind grassroots movement modelled on the famous Russell Tribunal of the 1960s came together to document the atrocities of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) during the 1980s. The presiding volunteer international judges, who are some of the highest human rights academics and jurists in the world, unanimously concluded that the IRI’s crimes fit the definition of crimes against humanity, as described in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In 2013, Canada’s parliament recognized the massacre as constituting crimes against humanity. According to the detailed report of Amnesty International, the agency issued at least sixteen (16) Urgent Action notices between August and December 1988, mobilizing their activists to send letters to Iranian authorities to call for an end the extrajudicial killings of political prisoners immediately (P.65). The first one of these Urgent Actions was issued on August 16, 1988, after the mass execution of supporters of a militant opposition group named the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) and about eleven days before the mass execution of about one thousand leftist prisoners. Amnesty activists sent thousands of telegrams, telexes, and letters to the head of Iran’s Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice, and the diplomatic representatives of Iran in their respective countries urging “the condemnation of all outstanding death sentences and an end to executions in Iran.” As such, we submit that it would be impossible to believe that any senior leader in Iran, and certainly not its UN Ambassador, was unaware of the atrocity unfolding across that country. Regrettably, the historic record shows that Mr. Mahallati did not use his unique position at the United Nations to draw public attention to these crimes, nor did he publicly implore Iran’s government to end this criminal activity. Instead, he issued statements and delivered speeches denying these crimes, refuting the extent of the executions, and disputing the validity of the names provided in the reports. Amnesty International writes: For example, on 29 November 1988, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN in New York, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, denied the mass executions in a meeting with the UN Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran, and claimed that “many killings had in fact occurred on the battlefield, in the context of the war, following the invasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran by [the PMOI, a militant opposition group]”. (p.13) This claim, it is worth noting, has been proved categorically false again and again. As noted earlier, many of the men, and women executed in 1988 had been in prison for years for non-violent political activity. In some cases, the prisoners had already completed their sentences, but the government still refused to release them. Many of those executed belonged to leftist political organizations that never engaged in an armed uprising against Iran’s government. As noted in UN records, Mr. Mahallati continued to perpetrate this falsehood by claiming that broadcasts by opposition groups to Iran “discredited the information provided by [the PMOI] to the” UN Special Representative on Iran (P. 5). He then called the allegations about the mass executions “political propaganda against the Islamic Republic” (P. 77). When the United Nations passed a resolution expressing “grave concern” about the mass executions, Mr. Mohammad Mahallati called the resolution “unjust” and said “a terrorist organization based in Iraq” was the main source of the “fake information” included in it (P. 70). Based on this information, Geoffrey Robertson, a leading international human rights barrister has argued: In considering the complicity of professionals in crimes against humanity, there is no good reason to exclude diplomats who, knowing the truth, nonetheless lie about them to UN bodies to whom they owe a duty of frankness. Iran’s UN ambassador, Jafar Mahallati, consistently denied the massacres and claimed the allegations were propaganda;… Mahallati is said to be living in the US, where he may be liable to civil action for aiding and abetting torture under the Alien Tort Claim Act.(p. 119) ItContinue reading “Our First Letter to Oberlin College”
