What was their crime, asks Zohreh Shafaei, a survivor of the 1980s genocide in Iran
December 9, observed as Genocide Prevention Day, commemorates the adoption of the UN Genocide Convention in 1948. This day serves as a solemn reminder of the victims of genocide and calls on people globally to reflect on history’s lessons. It also urges collective action to prevent such atrocities from occurring again.
A report in July 2024 by the former UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman described the Iranian regime’s mass executions in 1981 and 1982, and the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, as genocide because the majority of the executions targeted the PMOI and individuals who remained steadfast in their beliefs.
On this day, let us remember the victims of genocide in Iran. Following is the speech by Ms. Zohreh Shafaei, one of the survivors of the genocide in Iran. She made these remarks at a conference near Paris, entitled, “Iran: Crime Against Humanity; Time for Accountability and Ending Impunity,” on August 24, 2024. The conference featured distinguished jurists and scholars who underscored the pressing need for accountability and the imperative to end the impunity of those who orchestrated and carried out these crimes, in accordance with international laws and treaties.
Salutes to dear Sister Maryam, esteemed guests, and honorable attendees.
And a warm salute to our sisters and brothers in Ashraf City, the city of resistance and steadfastness.
My name is Zohreh Shafaei, one among the hundreds of thousands of Iranians whose families have been executed by the regime. Six members of my family—my father, my mother, my two brothers, my sister, and her husband—were killed and executed by the regime within seven months.
In 1981, during this very season, my parents and my 16-year-old brother, Majid, were arrested. During his imprisonment, Majid was severely tortured. His shoulder was broken, and his entire body was wounded.
On September 30, 1981, the regime announced the execution of 53 people in Isfahan, which they would often report in their newspapers. They announced the execution of 53 supporters of the PMOI/MEK, and the names of my parents and brother were among those 53.
Most of those executed were between 16 and 24 years old. The oldest among them was my father who was 50 at the time.
Six months later, my brother Javad, a metallurgical engineer, was killed under torture in Tehran at the age of 27. One month after that, my only sister Maryam and her husband were gunned down in the streets.
What was their crime?
Supporting the Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK), distributing their publications, providing financial aid, treating the poor, and helping the PMOI’s wounded.
I remember when the Revolutionary Guards had set fire to my father’s car not long before. My father said, “Freedom for Iran cannot be won without a price. You must be ready to sacrifice everything. Today it’s your car, tomorrow your home, and one day, your life. Freedom cannot be gained without sacrifice.”
My father, a beloved doctor who helped the poor, was highly respected. The clerical regime tried hard to exploit him and my mother in prison, pressuring them to give televised interviews, express remorse, denounce the Mojahedin, and repeat the regime’s lies.
They promised that if they spoke out against the PMOI/MEK, they would not be executed. But my parents never bowed their heads. My mother told them, “If the price of Iran’s freedom is our lives and the orphaning of our 8-year-old child, then take us. We will not condone your crimes. We will give up our lives and our family to win freedom and life for all Iranians.”
After my family was executed, I was 19 when I was arrested. I spent nearly a year in solitary confinement.
Thanks to the relentless efforts of my uncle, I was eventually released, and I made my way to Ashraf One. The only surviving member of my family from the wave of arrests and executions was my 8-year-old brother, Mohammad, who later left his studies to devote his life to the freedom of the Iranian people. He is now in Ashraf-3.
Esteemed guests,
We, who have gathered here, are just a few of the families of the victims. The story of each survivor is heart-wrenching.
Before I came here today, I asked myself, how can I possibly convey the courage and resolve of 120,000 people who resisted for Iran’s freedom? How can I speak for the families who lost 14 members to executions?
How can I recount the execution of 13-year-old student Fatemeh Mesbah or pregnant women, or the execution of Mother Kabiri, who was 70 years old?
Their crime, like so many others, was supporting PMOI/MEK. As Professor Javaid Rehman has emphasized, the mullahs’ regime committed genocide against the PMOI/MEK both in 1981 and again in 1988.
The stories of the martyrs and their families are filled with heroism.
Right here with us is Mother Ebrahim Pour from Gorgan, who lost her daughter, her unborn grandchild, three sons, and a son-in-law.
Her husband, under unbearable pressure, suffered a stroke and passed away. Yet, this brave mother remains at the forefront of the justice-seeking movement.
Salutes to this mother.
The Dar-Afarin family from Lahijan lost five brothers, all executed. Ardalan and Ardakan Dar Afarin were arrested at the ages of 16 and 17, enduring brutal torture before being hanged during the 1988 massacre.
Mother Hamdam Emami lost her two young sons, Saeed and Sasan Saeedpour, to the regime’s executioners. We also honor the memory of the brave Mother Shayesteh, who was executed along with three of her children, her sister, and many relatives. Before her execution, they hanged her son in front of her. Then they hanged the mother.
Azadeh Alami, whose uncle was executed during the 1988 massacre, was imprisoned at the age of six, along with her mother, spending several months in solitary confinement.
Here in this hall and Ashraf-3 are many who have lost their families. So many families have been left shattered, some died of heart failure upon receiving the personal belongings of their loved ones. Others lost their sanity in search of their children’s graves or even just a trace of them.
Yet, despite the regime’s horrific crimes, there is the other side of the coin—a resistance deeply rooted across Iran, growing stronger by the day.
Dear Sister Maryam,
We, the families of the martyrs, are profoundly grateful to you and Brother Massoud. You have ensured that the martyrs’ blood and the prisoners’ suffering were not in vain.
We are thankful that you raised the banner of justice. The justice movement is a national demand, and we are heartened that our resistance has gained the most serious international support.
We neither forgive nor forget.
We will not rest until the day we bring those responsible for the massacre to justice.
And we are prepared at any time.
