Oberlin College professor claims he had no knowledge of mass killings

OBERLIN — An Oberlin College professor says he had no knowledge of mass executions carried out by the Iranian government in the summer of 1988, when he was serving as the country's ambassador to the United Nations. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, in a written statement, said he was in New York working toward peace between Iran and Iraq, and he was not briefed about the killing of thousands of political prisoners at the hands of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's government. "I feel deeply for the ongoing suffering of family members of the victims of violence against political prisoners," he said. "Summary executions are horrible acts and are indeed crimes against humanity wherever they happen." Last week, a letter signed by 626 people — former prisoners, the families of victims and political activists — was sent to Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar. It asked for Mahallati to be fired and for an apology for his alleged role in covering up the executions. The letter's authors cited a 2018 report from Amnesty International that claimed Mahallati was among the senior officials and diplomats who "were actively involved in denying the mass killings in media interviews and exchanges with the UN to shield those responsible from accountability." Mahallati categorically denied any knowledge or responsibility for the deaths. "There was not a single communication from Tehran to Iran's UN embassy informing Iranian diplomats of those incidents," he wrote. He said United Nations and media records "unequivocally demonstrate that in encouraging peace between my country and Iraq, I went beyond my mandate and was the very first Iranian official who publicly announced Iran's acceptance of UNSC Resolution 598 for peace." Mahallati said his accusers overlook his peacemaking efforts, which he risked his ambassadorial position to achieve. In the three decades since, Mahallati has dedicated his life to researching, teaching and writing about the art of peace, and founded the Oberlin Friendship Festival and a campuswide movement to foster international, interfaith and intercultural justice and peace. He said his scholarly and artistic works in English, Persian and Arabic focus on forging friendships, not only between people but also between nations. Lawdan Bazargan, a California resident whose brother was killed in the 1988 executions, was not satisfied with Mahallati's response. She said his words of sympathy came after 32 years of silence. She quoted a statement issued by Amnesty International: "All former and current officials who continue to treat the mass killings as state secrets effectively stand with those who have blood on their hands." Bazargan said Mahallati, 32 years ago in interactions with U.N. officials, "blamed the victims and called them 'monafeqin' (religious hypocrites) or 'mohareb' (one who wages war against God)." Mahallati said his accusers "fail to provide a single solid document as evidence of my actual knowledge of these incidents. With no concrete evidence, they infer that I must have been informed and intentionally denied these atrocities." Attorney Kaveh Shahrooz, who with Bazargan sent the letter to Oberlin College, said his uncle was among the prisoners hanged to death by the Khomeini regime after sham trials. "As word got out about the killings, Amnesty (International) and other groups began to send letters, telexes, and other correspondences to Iranian officials," he wrote in a long Twitter thread about Mahallati. "So, there's simply no way to believe that Iran's Ambassador the UN was unaware that this was happening." He said "we know" Mahallati was aware of the killings because he's quoted about them in U.N. reports. "He effectively misled the international community so the killings could continue," Shahrooz wrote. He cited a U.N. report that said the Iranian permanent representative on Nov. 29, 1988, denied the mass killings had happened, and said many had actually occurred on the battlefield following the invasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the National Liberation Army, a militant group that opposed Khomeini's government. Shahrooz also shared a quote attributed to British human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, who was hired by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center to form a legal opinion based on testimony and other evidence about the executions. "Mahallati is said to be living in the U.S., where he may be liable to civil action for aiding and abetting torture under the Alien Tort Claim Act," Robertson wrote. "In considering the complicity of professionals in crimes against humanity, there is no good reason to exclude diplomats who, knowing the truth, nonetheless lie about them to UN bodies to whom they owe a duty of frankness," the report said. Oberlin College did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.