This week in London a Truth Commission
on the treatment of political prisoners in Iran during the 1980s is sitting at
Amnesty International UK’s headquarters. The Commissioners consist of several
distinguished legal academics, including Prof. Maurice Copithorne (former
Special Rapporteur on Iran), Prof. Eric David (member of the International
Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission), Prof. Daniel Turp, Louise Asmal, Anne
Burley and myself.
We’ve been hearing testimony from
victims of the violations as well as from family members who had relatives that
were murdered in the torture chambers of the Iranian prisons, hanged or
executed by firing squad.
As a general rule, the victims were
secular leftists associated with a range of political organisations. Some were
also associated with Kurdish nationalist movements. The accounts are appalling,
for example, of sympathizers with political groups being rounded up and
questioned about their religion views. If the answer was not to the
satisfaction of their fundamentalist interrogators, they would be summarily
executed. Torture was routinely practised using a variety of horrific
techniques.
Those testifying before the Commission
have travelled from around the world in order to record their accounts. This is
a phenomenon that I observed in Sierra Leone a decade ago, when I sat as a
member of that country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For many victims,
a measure of justice is delivered by public acknowledgement that violations
took place. Even if this week’s Truth Commission does little else, it will
provide these victims with an appropriate forum.
The hearings are very well attended.
Often I see people sobbing or wiping their eyes as the testimony is delivered.
The witnesses themselves conduct themselves with great dignity and
determination, although it is clear that there is also much anguish involved in
delivering their accounts. One witness told us that he had never before spoken
of the events, which took place twenty-five years ago.
At the end of the week, we will begin
drafting a report which will be used for a second stage in this process. A
Tribunal is to be established that will make legal determinations based on the
facts that the Truth Commission confirms.
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