Iran bloodbath exposed: Brutal ‘crimes against humanity’ laid bare in heartbreaking report

Civil engineer and human rights activist Ehsan Qaraee’s parents were taken away from him when he was a child and his father later murdered. They were arrested by Iran’s hardline “mullahs” (Islamic clerics) shortly after the 1979 revolution due to a “fatwa” issued by the then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which saw a ruthless clampdown on opponents of the revolutionary regime. Now Mr Qaraee has spoken out to condemn what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have branded “crimes against humanity”.

The relentless crackdown on political opponents of Khomeini's regime culminated in what has been described as a political purge in 1988, known as the 1988 massacre.

The majority of those killed were supporters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran although supporters of other factions were executed as well.

Speaking of his experience, Mr Qaraee told Express.co.uk his father was murdered by the regime and claimed his mother was savagely tortured in front of her one-year-old daughter’s eyes.

He said: “My parents were both teachers—my father was a historian and my mother was a maths teacher.

READ MORE: Life inside Iran's prisons: Ex-Inmate reveals how he was TORTURED

“After Khomeini took power they started to arrest people and at the start, they went for academic people. They arrested both of my parents separately in 1981. My sister was just one year old.

“For a period of three months, they tortured my mother in front of my sister’s eyes.”

The regime-change champion called on those responsible to be “brought to justice”, as many of the alleged perpetrators still enjoy high-level government roles today.

He said: “For me, I would like some recognition from especially the UK Government that this crime was a crime against humanity. And I would like that the UN establish a committee—a truth committee—and that they investigate this crime.

“Because all of those who committed these crimes—all of those who were in ‘death committees’ all around the country—they are still in power.

“We are talking about Ebrahim Raisi who is the head of the judiciary system in Iran—or Mostafa Pourmohammadi who is Justice Minister.”

Thousands of opponents of Iran’s regime—mainly supporters of the MEK or PMOI anti-government faction—were targeted by the hardline mullahs during the 1988 killings, which were highlighted in an Amnesty International paper last year.

The damning document, entitled ‘Iran: Blood-Soaked Secrets’, exposes what it describes as “ongoing crimes against humanity” due to the inability of victims to be reunited with the bodies of their lost ones.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Amnesty International’s lead researcher on Iran, Raha Bahreini, said: “For three decades, families and survivors and former prisoners have been struggling for truth and justice and they have documented this horrific crime in order to counter the narratives of denial and distortion the Iranian authorities have been perpetuating.

“We have relied on this legacy of documentation and tried to use the new evidence that has emerged in order to further the struggle of the families and survivors for truth and justice.”

DON'T MISS 

Iran’s 'BLOOD-SOAKED' secrets: Regime's HORRIFIC crimes exposed [INSIGHT]
Iran crisis shows up our disastrous defence strategy, says LEO McKINSTRY [OPINION]
Iran crisis: Iranian commandos threatens British warship [VIDEO]

The number of those murdered in the so-called purge is vastly disputed, with Amnesty International putting the deaths at roughly 4,500 but the MEK/PMOI anti-regime movement claiming 30,000 were massacred.

Hossein Fathi, 68, and his wife Fatima Abdi, 53, were also targeted by the 1988 massacre.

They told Express.co.uk of their harrowing plight as they gave lucid accounts on what they claimed were barbaric acts of torture.

Mr Fathi, who lost 14 members of his family, said: “I witnessed torture and they tortured me by lashing. They hung me from the roof and tried to kill me.”

Meanwhile, Ahmad Ebrahimi—who was detained in Gohardashst prison—said of his “shocking” experience: “They kept us in the dark—we didn’t know what was going on or what was going to happen. And we were taken blindfolded where all of us, 150 of us, were taken to an interrogation room and asked about our views towards the regime. If we did not say we supported the regime, they would kill us straight away.”

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, one of Iran's so-called "Judges of Death", accused of being complicit in the massacre, was appointed the Minister of Justice under current Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani.

His controversial appointment came shortly after Amnesty International asked the government of Iran to bring to light what happened to the political detainees in the country on December 4, 2018. Amnesty also asked the United Nations to set up an investigation group to find the facts of "crimes against humanity" in Iran.