They were our friends

They were our friendsPhotos essay: Families gather to remember victims of 1988 prison massacres

Khavaran.comSeptember 2, 2005iranian.com
...In the summer of 1988, the Islamic Republic took the lives of thousands, nay, tens of thousands of the most conscious, most decent loving human beings in our society who wanted nothing but freedom and happiness for all. Do not think of these prisoners as strangers among the people, no, you all know them: they were our friends, our relatives. They were our sisters, our brothers, our children, our folks, our comrades. Each and every one of them was a family’s loved one; our loved ones. Some believed in communism, some were religious. However, they had one thing in common: they were all freedom-loving human beings; they were the forerunners of freedom... -- Ashraf Dehghani
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These are photos of victims' families who gathered at Khavaran cemetery in southern Tehran Friday to mark the anniversary of the 1988 prison massacres. If you have never heard about this, do a google search for "Iran prison massacre" or visit khavaran.com. Also see selected letters from the victims written before their execution.