Tribune de Geneve: Iranians in Geneva are sounding the alarm as the Islamic Republic carries out executions at a pace unseen in decades. Their mobilization, infused with both anguish and renewed determination, follows a landmark decision by the United Nations recognizing the 1988 mass killing of thousands of political prisoners.
On Thursday, around one hundred people gathered in a crowded conference room at Geneva’s Maison internationale des associations. Among them were exiled Iranians from all walks of life: families of political detainees, human rights defenders, survivors of the brutal repression that followed the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, and long-time activists who have spent years documenting abuses inside the country. On stage, former UN rapporteurs on Iran and former Geneva mayor Rémy Pagani lent their voices to the cause, reflecting the gravity of the moment.
The sense of urgency was palpable. For the Iranian community in Switzerland, autumn 2025 brings both horror and a faint but powerful glimmer of hope. The horror stems from record-breaking numbers of executions inside Iran. According to exiled opposition groups, the regime has executed more than 1,600 people since January—among them at least 37 women, several minors, and many political prisoners. This figure represents not only a doubling of executions compared to 2024 but also the highest annual number in over three decades. Even UN experts and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, which have confirmed at least 1,000 executions, describe the situation as a “dramatic escalation” in the use of capital punishment.
Opposition leader Maryam Rajavi denounced the killings in a video address, warning that “thousands more prisoners, including political detainees, remain on death row. The international community must act to stop this massacre.”
Swiss National Council member Laurence Fehlmann Rielle echoed this plea from the podium. While global attention is fixed on crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, she argued, Iran’s spiraling execution rate is going largely unnoticed. She urged the Swiss government to speak more forcefully about the situation, stressing that quiet diplomacy—Switzerland has represented U.S. interests in Tehran since 1980—is no longer sufficient in the face of mass state killings.
Yet amid the grim statistics, Thursday’s conference carried a sense of vindication. Just one day earlier, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee passed a historic resolution acknowledging the 1988 massacre in Iran, when thousands of political prisoners were summarily executed. The exact number of victims remains contested: former deputy to the Supreme Leader Hossein Montazeri estimated 2,800 to 3,800 deaths, while exiled opposition groups claim at least 30,000. In 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran had already classified the massacre as a “crime against humanity” and an act of “genocide.”
For the families who have spent more than thirty years campaigning for recognition, the vote marks a turning point. They now have new legal avenues to pursue those responsible before international courts. Tahar Boumedra, former head of the UN mission in Iraq and president of an association representing the massacre’s victims, praised the resolution as “a remarkable and extraordinary achievement.”
He urged states that supported the measure to follow through: “The next step is to bring Iran’s human rights violations before the Security Council. It is far from a perfect institution, and obstacles are many, but accountability is essential. Those responsible must face justice.”
As Geneva’s Iranian community left the conference hall, the mood reflected a dual reality: profound grief for the lives already lost, and a renewed conviction that the world is finally beginning to listen.