5/31/2011
Justice Denied - Human Rights in Iran
Justice Denied
November 28, 2008
“We stand resolute in our demand to know the whole
truth about these crimes against humanity and to
have a competent court investigate them ... These
crimes are still an open wound in the collective
conscience of the Iranian society. And each one of us
feels responsible to press for justi ce”
Forouhar, Mokhtari, and Pouyandeh families (2008)
Those who have signed this call for justice are the children
and relatives of four peaceful dissidents and intellectuals slain
in Iran in the fall of 1998. Ten years ago, on November 22
1998, Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar were brutally
murdered in their home by agents of the Ministry of
Information. While the Iranian society was still shocked by
the news of this abject crime, two members of Iran's writers'
associations, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja'far
Pouyandeh disappeared and were found dead on December
3 rd and December 1998, respectively.
Parvaneh and Dariush Forouhar were outspoken critics of
the Islamic Republic. Mokhtari and Pouyandeh were actively
engaged in reviving the independent Iranian writers'
association. All four had received threats and warnings
regarding their activities. Their murder brought to light a
string of disappearances and suspicious deaths of scores of
intellectuals and dissidents. The evidence disclosed over the
past 10 years points to the fact that the Ministry of
Information implemented throughout the 1990s, the decision
made by the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic, to
eliminate peaceful dissidents.
The attempt of the Forouhar, Mokhtari, and Pouyandeh
families to seek justice for the murders has brought them
little more than frustration, distress, and disillusionment. The
Iranian authorities attributed the killings to “rogue elements”
and unnamed “foreign powers” aiming to harm the Islamic
Republic. They refused to investigate or prosecute high
ranking officials who are believed to have ordered the
systematic elimination of peaceful dissidents inside and
outside Iran, silenced the press, intimidated the families and
imprisoned their lawyer.
On November 22, as in previous years, the authorities
banned friends and families of the Forouhars to gather and
commemorate their death neither in public nor in the privacy
of their own home. The security services closed off the street
leading to the Forouhars' house, confiscated the mobile
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Iran rights.org/engl ish/newsletter-8.php
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5/31/2011 Justice Denied - Human Rights in Iran
phones and identity papers of five individuals who intended to of Human Rights Abuses in Iran
attend the ceremony, and dispersed people who attempted to
stay nearby and talk. Iran 's Pro-democracy Voices
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of these serial >> And more.. .
killings, The Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation has
translated “ Report to the Nation” , (attached in PDF format) in
which the Forouhars' daughter, Parastou, provides a public
account about her parents' death and the subsequent
investigation and prosecution.
ABF honors the memory of the victims and urges all Iranians
to show their support and solidarity with the three families'
appeal for truth and justice by signing their petition*. ABF
also calls on the international community to remember these
victims and demand that the Iranian authorities allow an
independent investigation of their murders.
* Text of the families' petition:
Fellow citizens,
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the tragic
assassination of dissidents in November 1998, we
pay homage to the memory of the victims, Paravaneh
and Darioush Forouhar (political dissidents),
Mohammad Mokhtari (writer), and Mohammad )a'far
Puyandeh (writer), along with all other victims of
political crimes [ in Iran].
We stand resolute in our demand to know the whole
truth about these crimes against humanity and to
have a competent court investigate them. The killing
of dissidents was an organized plan implemented
from within government's bodies. These crimes are
still an open wound in the collective conscience of the
Iranian society. And each one of us feels responsible
to press for justice.
With the hope for the rule of freedom and justice in
Iran.
Forouhar, Pouyandeh and Mokhtari families
To support this appeal please send you name,
surname and city of residence to
da adkha hi©cioocilema il.com .
You may also send a signed copy of the appeal to
Tehran, Saidi avenue, Hedayat avenue (Sha hid Qaedi),
Shahid Moradzadeh street, #22, Forouhar residence.
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