This is a Guest Post by Michael Ezra
Fariba Amini has an interesting article on Iranian.com. Below is an extract:
Once it began, the carnage never stopped. The mass executions at Evin have been well documented. The new regime eliminated those they disagreed with. In Kurdistan, summary executions took place; young men–future Pasdaran–shot to death many Kurdish revolutionaries. The new judges, endowed with aba and turban rather than knowledge and judicial education, took over the judiciary and started handing down execution orders. Khalkhali, nicknamed the ‘hanging judge,’ was one of the first ones. He was the judge, the jury and the executioner. When asked, -what if they were innocent? –he responded by saying, if they were innocent, they will go to heaven!….
The IRI brought a culture of death to Iran and legitimized it. In many ways, Iran and a majority of Iranians came to accept it. Whether guilty or innocent, death, as punishment, became the norm rather than the exception.
In the Islamic Republic, in recent times, the death sentence for political prisoners has come to be used as a scare tactic, designed to prevent others from engaging in any “subversive” activities. Often, especially in the case of political prisoners, the sentence is eventually commuted to time in prison. The Islamic regime intimidates through fear.
How do you determine that a person has engaged in activities against Iran’s national security? It is a broad allegation, leveled against each and every opponent of the regime, including journalists, political activists, and writers. It is easy and convenient. The regime in Iran does not need any justification to kill…..
The fact is that the IRI has implanted the culture of death. In Iran, death has become more consequential than life.
Amini concludes as follows:
One day soon, if and when a new judicial system is established in Iran, we must eradicate this culture of death, that is, if we ever want to establish a society where life has more significance than death.
I could not agree more. Read the whole article.
