In July 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to bring an end to the brutal eight-year war with Iraq. Over the next two months, under the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, political prisoners around the country were secretly brought before a tribunal panel that would later become known as the Death Commission. They were not told what was happening and did not know that one ‘wrong’ answer concerning their faith or political affiliation would send them straight to the gallows.

Thousands of men and women were condemned to death, many buried in mass graves in Khavaran Cemetery in the vicinity of Tehran.

Through eyewitness accounts of survivors, research by scholars and memories of children and spouses of the deceased, Voices of a Massacre reconstructs the events of that bloody summer. Over thirty years later, the Iranian government has still not officially acknowledged that they ever took place.

Nasser Mohajer is an independent scholar of modern Iranian history. He has authored many books and written numerous articles on contemporary Iran, including on the prison systems of both the Pahlavi dynasty and the Islamic Republic, women’s movements for equal rights and histories of the Iranian left. He currently resides in Paris and works with Noghteh Resources on Iran.

Acknowledgments

A Note on Translation and Transliteration

Foreword

Preface



Chapter One: In Hindsight

The Great Massacre | Nasser Mohajer



Chapter Two: Voices of Survival

Testimonies (Women’s Prison)

This Is a Warning: “We Plan to Kill You” | Mahnaz Saida

Summer 1988 | Anahita Rahmani

He Held His Head Up | Nazli Partovi

A Taste of Mortadella: Reflections on Massacre and Resistance | Shokoufeh Sakhi

Reynaldo Galindo Pohl’s Inspection of Evin Prison | Laleh Mastour

Testimonies (Men’s Prison)

Chronicle of a Crime | Iraj Mesdaghi

Life-Bestowing Telephone Call | Mehdi Aslani

Awaiting Our Fate | Nasser Kh.

A Defining Moment | Mehrdad Neshati Melikiyans



Chapter Three: The Massacre in the Provinces

Still an Enigma | Fatemeh Jokar Interviewing Ms. Zaher

Executions in the Provinces: Summer 1988 | Assad Saif



Chapter Four: The Mothers of Khavaran

Past and Present | Nasser Mohajer

Anoush Brought Me Back to Life | Said Afshar Interviewing Forough Lotfi

A Note on Two Letters | Nasser Mohajer

Human Rights in Iran | Brigitte Behzadi

To the UN Human Rights Commission | Brigitte Behzadi

The Mothers of Khavaran: A Unique Movement | Nasser Mohajer



Chapter Five: Sons and Daughters of the Perished Speak Out

Home | Samad Kiani

Thirty Years | Saiid Ismati

Open Letter to My Father’s Hangmen | Lale Behzadi

Testifying: A Journey into the Past Ahead of Us | Chowra Makaremi

My Father, Ahmad Danesh | Stefan Parvis Töpelmann



Chapter Six: A Call for Justice

The Iran Tribunal: Justice in the Making | Shokoufeh Sakhi

The Movement for Seeking Justice in Iran: Which Strategy? | Mojdeh Arasi and Homayoon Ivani

Never Again | Jafar Behkish



Appendix A: Unearthing a Crime Against Humanity in Bits and Pieces | Kaveh Yazdani

Appendix B: Political Parties and Organizations of 1980s Iran

Appendix C: Chronology of the Massacre | Fatemeh Jokar

Glossary

Index