Execution of Freedom Fighters in Iran’s “Saydnaya” to Take Place in Deafening Silence
The fall of the Syrian dictator and the subsequent opening of Syria’s prisons by the country’s freedom fighters revealed the horrific crimes committed by the Syrian regime—crimes that occurred in the silence and inaction of the international community. Let us not allow silence to once again grant the Iranian dictator the opportunity to continue massacring Iran’s freedom fighters.
With 850 executions since the beginning of the year, Khamenei’s Iran has tragically broken the global record for executions per capita. This horrifying statistic is not just a number; it represents lost lives, erased stories, and the names of heroes who fell for freedom and who will forever remain in our memory.
Among the most recent condemned are the names of six courageous men:
- Mohammad Taghavi, 58 years old, who was previously imprisoned in the 1980s and 1990s (sentenced on November 25, 2024);
- Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, 57 years old, a civil engineer;
- Babak Alipour, 33 years old, a law graduate;
- Vahid Bani-Amerian, 32 years old, with a master’s degree in management;
- Pouya Ghobadi, 32 years old, an electrical engineer;
- Abolhassan Montazer, 65 years old, an architect who was also imprisoned in the 1980s and suffers from chronic illnesses.
Their crime? Advocating for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Beyond fabricated and baseless accusations, their primary “offense” is belonging to an organization that fights for democracy and freedom against an oppressive dictatorship.
The case of Mohammad Taghavi
Mohammad Taghavi, who had previously been arrested in 2020 and imprisoned for three years on charges of connections to the PMOI, has been separated from the other five individuals and transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of the infamous Evin Prison. Such a transfer to solitary confinement often indicates that his execution is imminent.
The notorious Ward 209, under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence, is infamous for its brutal torture and inhumane treatment of political prisoners. Among these six prisoners, Mohammad Taghavi is one of the few remaining witnesses to the 1988 Massacre. This may be an additional reason why the Iranian dictatorship seeks to eliminate him.
The 1988 Massacre and Genocide Recognition
In his latest shocking report, Professor Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran (serving from July 2018 to July 2024), described two major waves of killings in Iran—the 1982 executions and the 1988 massacre—as genocide. He explained that the Iranian religious dictatorship executed its opponents solely because of their beliefs and religion, aiming to systematically destroy them.
In 1988, 30,000 political prisoners, of whom 90% were PMOI members, were massacred while serving their prison sentences.
The report, titled “Atrocious Crimes,” highlights not only the 1982 and 1988 massacres but also other crimes, including persecution of religious minorities—particularly Baha’is—sexual violence and abuse against women, execution of children, arbitrary and extrajudicial executions, and the ongoing crime of enforced disappearance of thousands of political dissidents.
Targeting Mohammad Taghavi’s Family
Two of Mohammad Taghavi’s brothers, Mojtaba and Ali Taghavi, have also been sentenced to imprisonment and exile by the same judge and court, simply because they are his brothers.
Do not let silence shield these crimes. Just as the world became aware of the atrocities committed in Syria’s Saydnaya Prison after the fall of Assad, we must act to prevent similar horrors from happening in Iranian prisons. History will judge us on our ability to defend the defenders of freedom and to put an end to this barbarity.
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