Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee.

Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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I would like to share my time with my colleague, Senator Norris.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

David Norris (Independent)
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There is only the two of us here.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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The Senators are hardly going to disagree with each other at this stage.

David Norris (Independent)
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We agree with each other.

Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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We do.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Senator Murnane O'Connor will remain silent.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I will.

Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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I will keep my remarks brief. I want to highlight a massacre that occurred in Iran in 1988, when tens of thousands of people were summarily and extrajudicially executed because of their political or religious beliefs. Approximately 30,000 people, including women and children, were murdered under the fatwa or leadership of the supreme leader of the time.The vast majority of the victims were members and supporters of the main Iranian opposition party, the People's Mujahedin of Iran, PMOI, and their family members. Death commissions in more than 70 towns and cities approved all the death sentences.

On 9 August of this year an audio tape was published for the first time, made by Khomeini’s former deputy supreme leader, confirming that the massacres took place and had been ordered at the highest level within the political and religious regime of the country.

What happened in 1988 was catastrophic. That summer, when the European championships in soccer were taking place, people were being herded into towns to be murdered and buried in mass graves. The people responsible for those atrocities remain to this very day at the highest level of political and administrative office in Iran.

Amnesty International has continually raised this issue but there is a requirement for international recognition within every state, including Ireland, to condemn the brutal massacre in 1988 as a crime against humanity. The Government should call on the High Commissioner of Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Security Council to order an investigation into the massacre that took place at the time.

David Norris (Independent)
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There was a period of mass executions in 1988 following the Iran-Iraq war when things were tense. It is really chilling to read the language with over 70 death commissions established. Moreover, some of the people principally involved in this are still involved at senior government level including Mostafa Pourmohammadi who is the current-----

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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As the Senator well knows we cannot have the names. We cannot be accusing people of anything.

David Norris (Independent)
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-----Minister for Justice in Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet. Mr. Rafsanjani was also involved. I raised these kind of issues two decades ago with Rafsanjani when I met him in Tehran and he was not very amenable. A total of 30,000 people were killed. Amnesty International has issued a report. It has been condemned by resolution of the Canadian House of Commons. There is a signed statement from the Members of the Commons and the Lords. Congress in America has passed a resolution. This needs to be recognised as an international war crime. It has been reinforced by the emergence of a tape made by Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri who was the No. 2, a successor to Khomeini. With great courage he protested at the time and as a result he was sidelined and subjected to house imprisonment. If someone as authoritative as the No. 2 in the regime is objecting, we know there is clearly something there. There is evidence of mass graves. Children as young as 13 were routinely hung from cranes, six at a time, in Evin Prison. It is a catastrophically shocking situation and a reproach to all decent people.

I have put down, with Senator Ó Domhnaill, a resolution which is No. 12 on the Order Paper, instancing the Amnesty International report, talking about the audio file and requesting the Government to recognise and condemn this massacre as a crime against humanity and to ask the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council to order an investigation and to bring the perpetrators to justice. As people in this country who have consistently upheld human rights in the international arena, it is very important that we condemn this and describe it appropriately as it is, a crime against humanity. A total of 30,000 people and I emphasise, six at a time, 13-year-old children hung from cranes. One thing that really struck me was a photograph of two beautiful, handsome 18-year-old men condemned for being gay and hung on that basis from cranes in Tehran. It is a most disgusting regime.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am sure both Senators would prefer if the Minister was here, but I am addressing this matter on his behalf. I will try to do it justice.

As we all know, the decade following the Iranian revolution in 1979 was a turbulent and violent period, characterised by both external threats and the severe and intolerant stance of the new Iranian leadership. Throughout this period, many members of the former regime or opponents of the new one were summarily executed. A number of external perceived threats may help explain, but do not excuse, some of these events. These included above all the invasion of Iran by Iraq in 1980 and the long and bloody war that lasted until 1988.

These executions of opponents culminated in the killing of large numbers of prisoners in a period of months beginning in July 1988. Estimates of the numbers killed start at a figure of 4,500 disappeared prisoners, named by Amnesty International, to as high as 30,000, claimed by the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, PMOI. Whatever the true figure, which is unfortunately likely to be in the upper part of this range, both the numbers and the summary nature of the proceedings justify the term "massacre".

The majority of those killed were members of, or associated with, the PMOI, although other opposition groups were also included. During the 1980s, the PMOI conducted a campaign of bombings and assassinations against the Iranian Government, which killed many senior regime figures. It supported the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in its war against Iran and, in July 1988, it launched a military invasion of Iran from its base in Iraq. It is likely that this invasion was the trigger for the massacre, although there were also some signs that it may have been planned already.

The victims were persons already being held, in most cases convicted or accused of being supporters of the PMOI or other movements, rather than any violent acts. They were executed on the basis of vaguely-defined continuing sympathy with the opposition and there is a clear sense of the regime taking the opportunity of a general threat to rid itself of all of its opponents within reach. There are many parallels with similar reprehensible events in European history. This episode was known at the time, although many details only emerged later and much is yet unknown. It was brutal and unjustified and the Government, of course, wholly condemns it.

The additional information circulating recently on these events, which many Members of the Oireachtas will have received, has been disseminated by the PMOI itself, or its political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI. Unfortunately, the Government has no means of authenticating the reported audio tape from the period which has now emerged, but it does not alter or conflict with what was already known. In dealing with Iran today, 28 years later, Ireland and our EU partners do not hesitate to express our strong concerns about human rights issues in Iran, including the jailing of opponents and the use of the death penalty.

The additional information circulating recently on these events, which many members of the Oireachtas will have received, has been disseminated by the PMOI themselves or their political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the NCRI. Unfortunately, the Government has no means of authenticating the reported audio tape from the period which has now emerged, but it does not alter or conflict with what was already known. In dealing with Iran today, 28 years later, Ireland and our EU partners do not hesitate to express our strong concerns about human rights issues in Iran, including the jailing of opponents and the use of the death penalty.

These remain serious problems, but are far removed from the ghastly events of 1988. We must recognise progress where it has been made. In that respect, it is also considered by most western states that there has been some relaxation of internal controls in Iran in recent years and that the current Iranian Government and leadership are the most hopeful for many years, even though it is our view that they have still to really deliver on their welcome expressions of intent on human rights. In doing so, we seek to persuade and pressure Iran into continuing to move in the right direction. This approach of dialogue and persuasion is the essence of our approach to foreign policy, however frustrating it sometimes can be. The PMOI and the NCRI seek instead to assert that the Iranian regime should be confronted and overthrown, not reasoned with. This is an approach we cannot follow.

Ireland strongly supports the principle of accountability for violations of human rights. We would have no objection in principle to any appropriate international mechanism considering historical events regarding allegations of systematic violation of human rights in any country, including Iran. Our own focus as a Government and our limited resources, however, must be concentrated on seeking to improve human rights in Iran today. This month, for instance, we have co-sponsored a resolution on human rights in Iran at the General Assembly of the United Nations. We will continue to do all we can in this regard.

Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response from the Department. At least there is an acknowledgement that these atrocities happened. However, I would like to see the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Irish Government take a stronger stand against what happened back in 1988 and acknowledge that these atrocities continue to take place today, as Senator Norris has indicated. Hundreds of people have been hanged this year alone. Many young people in their teenage years are rotting in Iranian jails, waiting until they turn 18 so they can be executed. Any democracy, such as those in the EU or the USA, that deals with the Iranian regime at present for economic and political reasons should not continue to do so without taking human rights violations into account. That is what is required. I very much welcome the co-sponsoring of the motion at the UN, but more is required.I know this is not a matter for the Department of the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, but I appeal to her to bring it to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. He will have the support of Members of this House. This is an atrocity and a crime against humanity. Pregnant women and young children are being executed as we speak and what happened 30 years ago will not wash that away. I am sure Senator Norris will have more to say as well.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I am not-----

David Norris (Independent)
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I will be very brief.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I am granting poetic licence here-----

David Norris (Independent)
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I appreciate the Leas-Chathaoirleach's poetic nature.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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-----but I know Senator Norris will be brief as opposed to the six sentences he spoke earlier.

David Norris (Independent)
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I understand the Minister of State is not responsible but she might take this back to the Minister. She said that the Government has no means of authenticating the audiotape. Montazeri's family released the tape. I would have thought that is fairly good authentication. The Minister of State said that we will express our strong concerns. I am sure the Iranian Government will faint at the prospect of our strong concerns being expressed. The Minister said that the Government has no objection, in principle, to any appropriate international mechanism considering these matters. That is pretty weak, particularly when there are still people involved in the death commissions within the current Iranian Government. That is the reason it is crucial that we act strongly and not in this watery fashion.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I will finish where I started. The execution of a large number of prisoners in Iran in 1988 was a shocking event, including the number of people killed, the apparent deliberate nature and planning of the action and a process which was a front for the unchecked abuse of state power over individuals already in custody. Notwithstanding the atmosphere of domestic terrorism and external invasion, these killings were completely unjustified and must be condemned. That remains the case 28 years later. It is doubtful if any process will bring justice for the victims. One cannot but feel sympathy - for my part, I feel more than sympathy - for those families who continue to hope that will be the case. There may be many others who must be kept silent. What we can do is continue to press for improved respect for and protection of human rights in Iran. We have consistently done so in our direct contacts with the Iranian Government, in contributions to European Union policy on Iran and at international fora such as the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. We will continue to do that. I assure both Senators that I will bring this matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the comments about the tape also.

David Norris (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State.