Nostradamus_i_norr har tagit del av rapporterna The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988 – Report of an Inquiry och The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988 – An addendum, båda skrivna av Geoffrey Robertson.

Det är en förfärande läsning som omfattar 142 + 396 sidor och som redovisar mullornas maktövertagande i Iran 1979, avskaffandet av den spirande demokratin, införandet av totalitär muslimsk teokrati med sharialagar, avskaffandet av yttrandefriheten, införandet av teokrati i utbildningsväsendet, fatworna, de sanktionerade muslimska lögnerna, massmorden på oliktänkande och avfällingar från islam, …

Allt detta har sitt ursprung i Koranen och andra muslimska skrifter. Världsförbättrarna och de politiskt korrekta skulle med samma naivitet som när de talade om ”den arabiska våren”, kunna beteckna detta som ”den iranska våren”, där båda emellertid slutade i en politisk midvinter.

En kort sammanfattning av händelseutvecklingen:

– Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s 6-punktsprogram för reformer och ayatollornas protestbrev mot detta, där Khomeini var en av undertecknarna.

– Arresteringen av ayatolla Khomeini och hans landsförvisning.

– Shahens utnämning av sin opponent Shapour Bahktiar till premiärminister, där Bahktiar upplöser den politiska polisen, återställer pressfriheten och efterlyser fria och rättvisa val. Shahen lämnar Iran.

– Khomeini återvänder efter 14 år i exil och mottas som en frälsare och ny ledare. Han vägrar att lämna sitt uppdrag till valet och kräver Bahktiars avgång.

– Khomeini’s etablerar under månaderna fram till revolutionen, den ”provisoriska islamiska revolutionära regeringen” som bygger på den revolutionära kommitténs beväpnade revolutionära garde och det revolutionära rådet.

– Bakhtiar’s regering störtas av ett folkligt uppror. Summariska avrättningar av tjänstemän under tidigare regimer börjar.

– Khomeini förklarar seger i folkomröstningen som etablerar den ”islamiska republiken Iran” och tillkännager ”den första dagen av Guds regering”.

– Khomeini kräver att pressen förhåller sig till principerna i den islamiska republiken, för att ytterligare befästa den islamiseringen av medierna som redan hade börjat.

– Khomeini meddelar att ”någon vars riktning är skild från islam” är en fiende till revolutionen.

– Utländska journalister utvisas från Iran efter att ha anklagats för att kritisera regeringen. Ett provisoriskt lagförslag antas som föreskriver fängelse i upp till två år för alla som skriftligen förtalar islam, revolutionen, eller dess ledare.

– Val genomförs av en ”församling av experter” i stället för av en konstituerande församling. Församlingen får till uppgift att utarbeta en konstitution för den islamiska republiken Iran.

– Demonstrationer förekommer mot regeringens växande maktfullkomlighet, vilka förbjuds av Khomeini.

– Tjugotvå oppositionstidningar beordras att stängas.

– Församlingen av expert godkänner en konstitutionell bestämmelse där Ayatollan utses till chef för de väpnade styrkorna och ger honom vetorätt över valet av president.

– Khomeini uppmanar studenter att ”med all sin kraft expandera sina attacker mot USA och Israel” för att framtvinga utlämnande av Shahen. Beväpnade studenter protesterade mot Shahens närvaro i USA och stormar den amerikanska ambassaden i Teheran och tar 100 personer som gisslan.

– Bazargan provisoriska revolutionära regering avgår och Khomeini beordrar revolutionära rådet att ta över regeringen.

– Väljarna går till valurnorna för att acceptera en islamisk konstitution som ger Khomeini total kontroll över samhällskroppen.

– Khomeini attackerar i ett tal “västerniseringen” av universiteten. Hezbollahmilisen skadar hundratals studenter. Universiteten stängs och kommer inte att öppna under en tvåårsperiod – känd som ”kulturrevolutionen.” För att säkerställa att en ”islamisk atmosfär” lärs ut i varje ämne på universiteten, utser Khomeini en ”kommitté för islamisering av universiteten”.

– Kriget mellan Iran ock Irak startar och ambassadgisslan friges.

– Oroligheter utbryter där Hizbollahmilisen attackera demonstranter från två marxist-leninistiska demonstrantgrupper och skadar minst 39. Folkets Mojahedin (demokratisk och sekulär oppositionsgrupp) protesterar mot stängningen av Irans universitet. Tre personer dödas och 100 skadas i sammandrabbningar mellan Mojahedin och islamiska extremister utanför Teherans universitet. Massiva demonstrationer av Mojahedinanhängare till förmån för Bani Sadr där många dödas. Bani Sadr flyr till Paris med Rajavi. Regimen griper och fängslar medlemmar ur Mojahedin. En bomb vid islamiska partiets högkvarter dödade 73. Skräckväldet mot Mojahedin börjar.

– Rafsanjani uppmanar till utrotningen av ”hycklare” (Mojahedin). Många fångar avrättades. Ayatollah Mohammadi Gilani förklarar att piskandet under fotsulor, när den används som religiöst straff inte är tortyr. Hossein Ali Nayyeri utses en religiös domare i Teheran. 6-7000 har fängslats för politiska brott sedan Shahens fall.

– Amnesty International beklagar avrättningen av minst 1600 personer.

– Revolutionära gardet dödar och arresterar de högsta ledarna för kommunisterna.

– 1000 personer, inklusive ledande medlemmar av shiaprästerskapet, arresteras i samband med en påstådd komplott för att mörda Ayatollah Khomeini.

– Avrättningarna fortsätter och Amnesty International anklagar Iran för storskaliga kränkningar av de mänskliga rättigheterna, däribland över 5000 avrättningar sedan 1979.

– Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri väljs av “församlingen av exporter” till Khomeini’s efterträdare.

– USS Vincennes skjuter ner Iran Air Flight 655 och dödar samtliga 290 ombord.

– Mojahedin tillsammans med understöd av Irak, går till angrepp mot Iran men slås tillbaka.

– Khomeini utfärdar en fatwa som beställer utförandet av avrättningar av alla tidigare fängslade Mojahedin. Utfrågningar görs av dödskommittéer och avrättningar sker i fängelserna Evin och Gohardasht och i minst 20 provinsfängelser.

– Överdomare Mousavi Ardebili meddelar det offentliga kravet på att ”verkställa avrättning av samtliga utan undantag.”

– Montazeri uppmanar dödskommittéledamöterna att stoppa avrättningarna på grund av religiös högtid. Nayyeri medger att de redan har dödat 750 i Teheran. Montazeri beräknar att mellan 2800 och 3800 fångar har avrättats sedan utfärdandet av fatwan.

– Iran-Irakkriget tar slut.

– Dödskommittéerna återsamlas efter den religiösa högtiden för att börja den ”andra vågen” av mord. Det högsta justitierådet återöppnas. Överdomare Mousavi Ardebili utfärdar order till åklagare om att konfrontera ”hedniska” vänstergrupper. En andra, hemlig fatwa kan ha utfärdats för att godkänna mordet på vänsterns avfälliga från islam som sitter fängslade.

– Professor Pohl, FN: s särskilde representant för Iran, rapporterar till generalförsamlingen att 200 Mojahedin massakrerats i Evin-fängelsets aula och att 860 begravts i en massgrav i Teheran. Irans ambassadör Mahallati förnekar påståendet och säger att Mojahedin dog på slagfältet.

– Fatwa utfärdas mot Salman Rushdie och hans översättare och förläggare.

– Amnesty International hävdar att ”kanske tusentals” politiska fångar har avrättats.

– Irans förste ambassadör i FN, Kasem Rajavi mördas av iranska agenter i Schweiz och Shapour Bahktiar i Paris.

Nedan följer en något utförligare redovisning på engelska som innehåller fler detaljer och årtal.

A chronology of significant events in Iran

1907 Introduction of democratic constitution for Persia.

1921 General Reza Khan seizes power in military coup.

1926 Reza Khan crowned as Reza Shah Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza, his eldest son, proclaimed Crown
Prince.

1935 Persia re-named Iran.

1941 Iran declares its neutrality in World War II, but the Shah’s pro-Axis sympathies result in his deposition by the occupying British-Russian forces in favour of his son the Crown Prince.

1950 Negotiations between the Iranian government and the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).

1951 Parliament votes unanimously to nationalise the oil industry and called on the Shah to make Mohammad Mossadeq, who had led the nationalization drive, Prime Minister. United Kingdom imposes blockade in reprisal.

1953 Shah temporarily leaves the country while military coup (backed by CIA and MI6) removes
Mossadeq then returns to rule with military support.

1963

January
Shah announces the “White Revolution,” a sixpoint program of reform. Ayatollah Khomeini along with other senior Ayatollahs of Qom publishes a protest letter against Shah’s reforms.

June
5 June: Hundreds of demonstrators take to the streets to protest against the arrest of Ayatollah Khomeini who had criticised the Shah in a speech. Several demonstrators are killed by security
forces.

1964

November
Khomeini is exiled from Iran after six months of house arrest.

1971

August-September
Arrest and torture of eleven Mojahedin student leaders. Brutality of SAVAK, the secret police, increasingly hardens opposition groups against the Shah.

October
Celebrations at Persepolis to celebrate 2,500 years of the Peacock Throne. The Fadaiyan Organisation
(Marxist-Leninist) launches first guerrilla attack on police station, marking the beginning of armed resistance against the Shah..

1972 Trial and execution of Mojahedin leaders.

1978 The Shah frees a number of political prisoners but public dissent gains momentum.

September
Breakdown of civil order as all sections of society protest against the Shah. Street demonstrations, strikes and riots all demand the return of Khomeini. Shah’s imperial guards kill hundreds of protestors. Imposition of military law on “Black Friday.”

1979

January
4 January: Shah appoints his long time opponent, Shapur Bahktiar, as Prime Minister. Bakhtiar dissolves the political police, restores the freedom of the press and calls for free and fair elections as the only solution to the country’s crisis.

16 January: the Shah leaves Iran, never to return.

February
1 February: Khomeini returns after 14 years in exile and is hailed by the masses as the saviour and new leader. He refuses to submit his mandate to elections and demands Bahktiar’s resignation.

5 February: Khomeini established the Provisional Islamic Revolutionary Government with Mehdi Bazargan as its Prime Minister. This new government draws on the Revolutionary Komitehs, armed Revolutionary Guards, and Provisional Council of the Revolution (also known as the Revolutionary Council), established in the months leading up to the revolution.

11 February: Bakhtiar’s government is toppled by a popular uprising.

15 February: Summary executions of officials of former regime begin.

April
1 April: Khomeini declares victory in the referendum that establishes the Islamic Republic of Iran and declares April 1 “the first day of the Government of God.”

May
15 May: Khomeini demands that the press conform to the principles of the Islamic Republic, further cementing the Islamisation of the media that had begun in February.

24 May: Ayatollah Khomeini announces that “anyone whose direction is separate from Islam” is an “enemy” of the revolution.

July
Foreign journalists are expelled from Iran for criticising the government.

2 July: The National Democratic Front (a coalition of leftist and nationalist groups) publishes an open letter to Khomeini calling his leadership a dictatorship.

11 July: A provisional Press Bill is implemented, providing for imprisonment for up to two years for anyone who slanders Islam, the revolution, or its leaders in writing.

August
3 August: Elections for an assembly of “Experts,” instead of a Constituent Assembly, are held. The Assembly is charged with drafting a constitution for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

9-13 August: Demonstrations against the government’s growing authoritarianism. Khomeini bans all demonstrations.

20 August: Twenty-two opposition newspapers, including that of the National Democratic Front, are ordered to close.

October
14 October: The Assembly of Experts approves a constitutional clause naming the Ayatollah head of the armed forces and giving him power of veto over the election of a president.

November
1 November: Khomeini urges students to “expand with all their might their attacks against the United States and Israel” in order to force the return of the Shah.

4 November: Armed students protesting the presence of the Shah in the US storm the US Embassy in Tehran and take 100 hostages.

6 November: Bazargan’s provisional revolutionary government resigns. Khomeini orders the Revolutionary Council to take over the government.

December
2 December: Voters go to the polls to accept an Islamic Constitution that gives Khomeini total control over the body politic.

1980

January
24 January: Abolhassan Bani Sadr is elected President.

April
18 April: Khomeini gives a public speech attacking the “Westernisation” of universities. Hezbollah militias injure hundreds of students.

June
12 June: Universities are shut down and will not re-open for two years during what is known as the “cultural revolution.” Khomeini appoints a “Committee for the Islamisation of Universities” to ensure an ‘Islamic atmosphere’ in every subject taught.

September
22 September: Iraq launches several strikes against Iranian airfields, starting the Iran-Iraq war.

1981

January
US hostages released.

February
6 February: According to press reports, Hezbollah militias attack demonstrators from two Marxist-Leninist groups who are holding a rally in Tehran. At least 39 are reported to have been injured.

May
2 May: The Mojahedin take to the streets to protest the closure of Iran’s universities. Three persons killed and 100 injured in clashes between the Mojahedin and Islamic extremists outside Tehran University.

June
20 June: Massive street demonstrations by Mojahedin supporters in favour of Bani-Sadr. Many killed.

22 June: Bani-Sadr dismissed and flees to Paris with Rajavi. The regime arrests and imprisons Mojahedin supporters.

28 June: Bomb at the Islamic Party headquarters; 73 killed. “Reign of Terror” against Mojahedin begins.

October
Rafsanjani calls for extermination of ‘hypocrites’, i.e. the Mojahedin. Many prisoners executed. Ayatollah Mohammadi Gilani declares that bastinado when used as a religious punishment is not torture. Hossein Ali Nayyeri is appointed a religious judge in Tehran. Ali Khameini is elected President. Mir Hossein Mousavi is nominated as Prime Minister.

November
15 November: Hojatoleslam Musavi-Tabrizi says that 6,000-7,000 prisoners had been jailed for political offences since the fall of the Shah.

December
13 December: Amnesty International deplores the execution of at least 1,600 people between June and September 1981.

1982

January
30 January: Guidelines are sent classifying Mojahedin prisoners with a view to release repenters.

February-March
According to the Iranian media, Revolutionary Guards raid safe houses killing and arresting top leaders of leftist Peykar and FKO (Minority)

April
16 April: 1,000 people, including leading members of the Shi’a clergy, are arrested in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Ayatollah Khomeini.

May
Heavy fighting continues between Iranian and Iraqi forces.

June
29 June: Iraq reports that the last of its troops have left Iran. Iranian officials say the withdrawal did not satisfy Iran’s conditions for an end to the war.

November
Iran begins a major offensive against Iraqi troops.

7 November: Speaker of the Majlis Hashemi Rafsanjani said the communist Tudeh party was a “disreputable party with a filthy record.”

1983

February
7 February: Tudeh Party officials are arrested.

10 February: Iran’s President Ali Khamenei says the “punishment of the leaders of the Iraqi regime” was the main goal of the war.

May
‘May Day’ televised confessions of communist (Tudeh party) leaders. Regime begins to arrest pro-Soviet leftists and dissolves the Tudeh party.

September
21 September: Universities reopen throughout Iran.

1984
Sentencing guidelines for political prisoners released.

February
8 February: Amnesty International charges Iran with large-scale abuses of human rights including over 5,000 executions since 1979.

May-June
Heavy fighting takes place across the Shatt al-Arab waterway; Iran attacks Basra and Iraq shells Abadan.

1985

March
Iran and Iraq continue fighting and shell cities and other civilian areas.

April-May
Anti-government and anti-war demonstrations in Tehran.

October
10 October: Khamenei is sworn in for a second four-year term and asks the Majlis to reappoint Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi.

November
23 November: Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri is selected by the Assembly of Experts as Khomeini’s successor. Fighting in Iraqi territory continues and cities in both countries are targeted.

1986

May
20 May: A delegation headed by Iran’s Deputy Prime Minister arrives in Paris, the first by such a high-ranking official since the 1979 revolution.

June
Rajavi and Mojahedin are expelled from France. They move to an armed camp on the Iraq border, under the protection of Saddam Hussein.

1987

June
The Mojahedin announce the formation of the Iranian National Liberation Army to overthrow the present regime.

July
7 July: The UN Security Council Resolution 598 suggests terms for a truce.

21 July: Iran calls the truce “null and void.”

Fighting continues throughout the year including attacks on civilian targets. From September onwards the Ministry of Intelligence distributes questionnaires to political prisoners, testing their continued adherence to their political and religious beliefs.

1988

January
Government announces ‘pardon committees’ to determine early release of political prisoners.

March
The war of the cities continues with hundreds of casualties. Saddam uses chemical weapons against the Kurds in Halabja and Iranian villages in Marivan.

June
Ayatollah Khomeini appointed Majlis Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Commander-inchief of the armed forces.

July
3 July: USS Vincennes shoots down Iran-Air Flight 655, killing all 290 passengers and crew.

14 July: Rafsanjani chairs leadership meeting which decides to advise acceptance of ceasefire agreement along the lines of UN Resolution 598.

20 July: Khomeini broadcasts his bitter acceptance of a truce with Iraq (“more deadly than
drinking poison”).

25 July: The Mojahedin launch their “Eternal Light” invasion.

28 July: Khomeini’s fatwa orders the execution of all ‘steadfast’ Mojahedin prisoners. Chief Justice
Mousavi Ardebili asks for and is given clarification about the fatwa.

29 July: The Mojahedin army is beaten; it retreats to Iraq.

29 July – 10 August: Death Committee hearings and executions take place in Evin and Gohardasht
and at least 20 provincial prisons.

August
“Trials” and executions of Mojahedin prisoners continue.

1 August: Judge Ahmadi complains to Khomeini and to Ayatollah Montazeri that he is being outvoted by prosecution and Intelligence Ministry members of the Death Committees.

4 August: Montazeri complains to Khomeini about the unfairness of the procedures.

5 August: Chief Justice Mousavi Ardebili announces that the public demands “to execute them all without exception.”

13 August: Montazeri summons Death Committee members and tells them to stop executions for religious holiday. Nayyeri admits they have killed 750 in Tehran already.

15 August: Montazeri calculates that between 2,800 and 3,800 prisoners have been executed since the issuance of the fatwa.

20 August: Iran’s acceptance of UN Resolution 598 formally brings an end to the Iran-Iraq War.

26 August: the Death Committees re-convene to begin the “Second Wave” of killings.

Week of Saturday, August 27: The High Judicial Council re-opens. Chief Justice Mousavi Ardebili orders prosecutors to confront the ‘heathen’ leftist groups.

September
The “Second Wave” of killings continues.

2 September: Amnesty International issues ‘urgent action’ in response to reports of the prison killings.

6 September: A second, secret, fatwa may have been issued approving the killing of leftist apostate prisoners.

6-8 September: In letters to Ali Khamenei and Mir Hossein Mousavi, the Supreme Leader relinquishes his power to impose Islamic punishments (tazirat) to the Exigency Council. The latter would determine how much of this prerogative would be left to the government.

October
Professor Reynaldo Pohl, UN Special Representative for Iran, reports to General Assembly that 200 Mojahedin were massacred in Evin Prison assembly hall and 860 buried in a mass grave in Tehran.

November
20 and 29 November: Professor Pohl meets with Iranian ambassador, Mahallati, who denies the allegation and says that the Mojahedin died on the battlefield.

December
Mousavi defends actions against leftists and Mojahedin in Austrian television broadcast.

1989

January
Rafsanjani admits that “less than one thousand” have been executed. Professor Pohl reports to the Human Rights Commission, lists names of over 1,000 victims.

February
14 February: Fatwa on Salman Rushdie and his translators and publishers.

November
Professor Pohl report to the General Assembly confirms (paragraph 110) that mass executions of political prisoners took place in 1988.

December
Amnesty International report alleges ‘perhaps thousands’ of executions of political prisoners.

1990 Kasem Rajavi assassinated by Iranian agents in Switzerland.

1991 Assassination of Shapour Bahktiar by Iranian agents in Paris.