By the Tudeh Party of Iran
Statement of the Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran: On the Occasion of the 36th Anniversary of the National Catastrophe of the Massacre of Iran’s Political Prisoners.
Without ending the rule of the Islamic Republic, there will be no end to executions, torture, and persecution of political prisoners, oppression, corruption, poverty, and deprivation of millions of Iranians!
Dear compatriots!
By August and September 2024, 36 years have passed since the massacre of thousands of political prisoners, a massacre ordered by Khomeini and executed by criminals such as Raisi, Nayyeri, Eshraqi, Pourmohammadi, and others. Khomeini and other leaders of the Islamic Republic who were worried about the demise of their political life perpetrated the mass killings of the 1988 “National Catastrophe”and executed a great number of the most tenacious and dedicated social, cultural, political, and popular figures of Iran to prolong their political future and the rule of the obscurant and criminal theocratic regime.
Despite passing 36 years since that anti-human criminal act, the exact number of victims still remains unknown. According to published reports, the estimated number of murdered freedom-loving militants varies between 3,000 to 4,484. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights [on Iran],at least 1,879 political prisoners were executed. Mr. Montazeri [the ex-successor to Khomeni who was deposed later] mentioned in his memoirs that according to reports he received about 2,800 or 3,800 prisoners were executed. Montazeri’s memoir pertaining to his meeting with the delegation sent to the prisons and the shocking report of these quasi-humans on how the carnage was organized remains one of the most credible historical documents on the conduct of the Islamic Republic and its leaders in this massacre. Undoubtedly, someday it will be used in the people’s justice courts in Iran to prosecute the perpetrators of this massacre.
Dear fellow Iranians,
The 36th anniversary of the National Catastrophe arrives at a time when the brutal and bloody suppression of dissenters and freedom-loving fighters continues to be the regime’s typical response to any protest against the political system; a system which is based on the absolute dictatorship of one individual over all legal and elected institutions of the country. The presidential election show of 2024 came to an end by promoting Masoud Pezeshkian as the President, then his inauguration, and subsequently the appointment of his cabinet ministers by the Supreme Leader. This show, like most of the previous ones, is a clear indication that in the Islamic Republic regime, the “principle of the republic”- a significant achievement of the 1979 popular revolution that aimed at establishing the people’s will over their destiny- has long been sacrificed on the altar of the corrupt leaders’ “political Islam” and has given way to a kind of medieval “caliphate” under the banner of “absolute rule of the Supreme Leader.” An analysis of recent political developments shows that various governments, security and intelligence agencies, and legislative bodies have, in practice and mostly, turned into coordinated elements of a repressive apparatus whose main goal is to save and prolong the ruling political system at any cost.
The 36th anniversary of the National Tragedy also coincides with the second anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising that- following the state criminal act of killing Mahsa Amini in the hands of the regime’s thugs-sparked one of the largest popular revolts in recent years. This uprising presented a serious challenge to the regime’s survival. Although the brutal and bloody suppression of it saved the regime from this challenge, the embers of the struggle of the popular movement still glow in the valiant fight of women, working people, nurses, pensioners, oil industry project workers, and the protests of workers in other production units across the nation. On the 36th anniversary of the National Catastrophe, many prisoners, themselves suffering under psychological and physical pressures, continue the resistance with high morale, exposing the regime’s crimes and demanding an end to repression and executions. The Tudeh Party of Iran, by supporting the political prisoners’ campaign with the slogan “No to Executions” and turning it into a slogan of the popular movement, demands an end to this cycle of death and violence.
Dear fellow citizens,
The summer of 1988 witnessed shocking months when the regime raided the prisons across the country and committed crimes against humanity. Thosewere months of historic and heroic resistance of political prisoners against the death squads sent to prisons. Thousands of dignified individuals from various groups, organizations, parties, and among social and political figures stood shoulder to shoulder, bravely facing the reactionary mercenaries, choosing death over humiliation and surrender, thus creating a glorious history of the people’s struggle against the obscurant and criminal regime, a history that will remain a symbol of humanity and hope for the future of our nation for generations to come. During the National Catastrophe a large number of leaders and cadres of Iran’s progressive organizations and parties were executed by the regime’s executioners. The Tudeh Party of Iran lost a large group of veteran leaders and historical figures oft he national liberation anti-dictatorship movement, along with prominent cadres and activists of the labour movement, brave military officers, writers, translators, intellectuals, and scholars.
In its statement on December 9, 1988, the Central Committee of our Party wrote: “The recent atrocities of Khomeini’s despotic regime, especially devoid of any legal, civil, moral, or human support, are reminiscent of the insane actions of Hitler’s fascists in death camps. Individuals who were handed over to the firing squads by the regime and its repressive organs were guilty of nothing but love for the people, enmity with imperialism and reaction, and desire for struggle for freedom, independence, social justice, and peace.”
Despite 36 years having passed since the National Catastrophe of the “bloody purge” of the country’s prisons and despite all the regime’s efforts to erase the shameful traces of its crime, due to the persistent struggle of the victims’ families, especially the brave mothers of Khavaran [the victims’ graveyard], the regime’s efforts have failed. In the “Khavaran Garden” and other sites of mass graves of the National Catastrophe’s martyrs in various cities, despite all the regime’s efforts, despite the destruction of these sites, the fencing around them, and even the attempts to prevent any attendance or gathering, the families of the victims of the 1988 National Catastrophe continue to gather together and, with the empathy of the people at large, honour the glorious memory of the heroic acts of the children of this land.
Dear compatriots!
In the National Catastrophe,in the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, no organizational or ideological boundaries were considered. The regime massacred all those militants whose activities it saw as dangerous to its future. The Tudeh Party of Iran, alongside other freedom-loving, patriotic, and democratic forces of the nation, deems its human and revolutionary duty to continue its endeavours to expose this dark plot in our contemporary history until the culprits of this crime against humanity are brought to justice. All efforts must be made to break the regime’s plot of silence about the National Catastrophe. In the ongoing struggle in our country for peace, freedom, democracy, and social justice, the fight to address the demands of the families of the victims of this catastrophe plays an important and decisive role. It is the human, popular, and historical duty of all progressive and freedom-loving forces to intensify their efforts towards this goal. The brave political prisoners who were executed stood together before the death squads of the bloodthirsty Islamic Republic, singing songs of a future liberated homeland from the grip of the despotic regime. Their names and memories cannot be erased from the history of the bloody struggles of our nation.
May the joint efforts of all patriotic and freedom-loving forces and the families of the victims of the National Catastrophe in establishing a “truth commission” expand!
Eternal salute to the mothers, fathers, spouses, children, and relatives of the martyrs of the National Catastrophe who continue to steadfastly and tirelessly defend the righteousness of the people’s heroic struggle against the theocratic regime!
Shame and disgust upon the leaders of the Islamic Republic and all those who perpetrators and executors of the horrific crime of the National Catastrophe!
Passionate salute to the glorious memory of all the blood-soaked heroes of the nation who sacrificed their lives for the liberation and freedom of our homeland during the 1988 National Catastrophe!
Endless salute to all political prisoners who under the regime’s pressures continue the resistance!
Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran
24 August 2024
