IACNT- On Sunday , August 18, North Texans gathered in Parr Library in Plano to commemorate the 1988 Prison Massacre in Iran. This program was organized by the Iranian-American Community of North Texas (IACNT). In this program, a short documentary was shown which revealed shocking details of this massacre for the first time. In this documentary, one of the former officials of the current regime stated that 33,700 political prisoners were executed in the 1988 massacre and their bodies dumped in mass graves. He described how different sizes of trucks were used to transfer bodies of prisoners to the mass grave site.
In the next section of the program, Homeira Hesami, a human rights activist and a former political prisoner, spoke to the audience. She described how the Iranian regime was afraid of political prisoners and their families. She emphasized that even though the Iranian regime executed more than 30, 000 political prisoners, the majority of whom hailed from the main opposition group (MEK), it could not crush the opposition. As a matter of fact, the main opposition to replace the current government of Iran is going strong and will prevail. She asked audience to sign a petition condemning the 1988 massacre: http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners-in-iran
Dr. Hossein Jahansouz, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, was the next speaker. He explained that moderation in the current regime of Iran is just a mirage and will not happen. The new president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is just another puppet to carry out Khameni’s orders and he is not a moderate. He explained that Rouhani has chosen Mostafa PoorMohamadi, as his Secretary of Justice. Poor Mohamadi was one of the members of so called “Death Committee” which ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
At the end, attendees visited the photo exhibition which was set up by the organizers to show the crimes against humanity committed by the Iranian regime throughout the years. There were pictures of mass graves with bodies in them which were discovered right after the 1988 massacre. There were also pictures displayed of the recent massacres which were carried out against Camps Ashraf and Liberty.
Overall, the program was received very well by the community and by the media.
To see the pictures of the event, click here.