IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 159 
Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the 1988 
massacre of political prisoners and calling for justice for the victims. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. ROYCE) submitted the fol-
lowing concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and calling 
for justice for the victims. 
Whereas over a 4-month period in 1988, the Government of 
the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out the barbaric 
mass executions of thousands of political prisoners and 
many unrelated political groups; 
Whereas according to a report by the Iran Human Rights 
Documentation Center, the massacre was carried out 
pursuant to a fatwa, or religious decree, issued by then- 
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that tar-
geted the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), also 
known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK); 
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•HCON 159 IH 
Whereas according to a November 2, 2007, report by Am-
nesty International, ‘‘between 27 July 1988 and the end 
of that year, thousands of political prisoners [in Iran], in-
cluding prisoners of conscience, were executed in prisons 
nationwide.’’; 
Whereas the killings were carried out on the orders of a 
judge, an official from the Ministry of Intelligence, and 
a state prosecutor, known to the prisoners as ‘‘Death 
Commissions’’ which undertook proceedings in a manner 
designed to eliminate the regime’s opponents; 
Whereas those personally responsible for these mass execu-
tions include senior officials serving in the current Gov-
ernment of Iran; 
Whereas prisoners were reportedly brought before the com-
missions and briefly questioned about their political affili-
ation, and any prisoner who refused to renounce his or 
her affiliation with groups perceived as enemies by the 
regime was then taken away for execution; 
Whereas the victims included thousands of people, including 
teenagers and pregnant women, imprisoned merely for 
participating in peaceful street protests and for pos-
sessing political reading material, many of whom had al-
ready served or were currently serving prison sentences; 
Whereas prisoners were executed in groups, some in mass 
hangings and others by firing squad, with their bodies 
disposed of in mass graves; 
Whereas according to Amnesty International, ‘‘the majority 
of those killed were supporters of the PMOI, but hun-
dreds of members and supporters of other political 
groups . . . were also among the execution victims.’’; 
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•HCON 159 IH 
Whereas later waves of executions targeted religious minori-
ties, such as members of the Baha’i faith, many of whom 
were often subjected to brutal torture before they were 
killed; 
Whereas the families of the executed were denied information 
about their loved ones and were prohibited from mourn-
ing them in public; 
Whereas in a recently disclosed audiotape, the late Hussein 
Ali Montazeri, a grand ayatollah who served as Kho-
meini’s chief deputy, noted the regime’s efforts to target 
the MEK and said that the 1988 mass killings were ‘‘the 
greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, 
for which history will condemn us’’; 
Whereas the current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was re-
portedly aware of, and later publicly condoned the mas-
sacre; 
Whereas in violation of its international obligations, the Gov-
ernment of Iran continues to systematically perpetrate 
gross violations of the fundamental human rights of the 
Iranian people; and 
Whereas the November 2, 2007, report from Amnesty Inter-
national concluded ‘‘there should be no impunity for 
human rights violations, no matter where or when they 
took place. The 1988 executions should be subject to an 
independent impartial investigation, and all those respon-
sible should be brought to justice, and receive appropriate 
penalties’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
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•HCON 159 IH 
(1) condemns the Government of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran for the 1988 massacre, and for de-
nying the evidence of this manifest set of crimes 
against humanity; 
(2) urges the Administration and United States 
allies to publicly condemn the massacre, and pres-
sure the Government of Iran to provide detailed in-
formation to the families of the victims about their 
loved ones and their final resting places; and 
(3) urges the United Nations Special Rappor-
teur on the human rights situation in Iran and the 
United Nations Human Rights Council to create a 
Commission of Inquiry to fully investigate the mas-
sacre and to gather evidence and identify the names 
and roles of specific perpetrators with a view to-
wards bringing them to justice. 
Æ 
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