Alburz.Org - News & Views on Iran.

Islamic Republic of Iran Crimes

. WANTED List

Donation

. Latest

Indicting Rafsanjani

Page 4

66. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran referred to the Bakhtiar case in its reply of 24 November 1992, as follows:

"In regard to Shapur Bakhtiar's terror, the investigation still continues. The Government of Iran has on several occasions cooperated with French police and judicial authorities. Neither the propounded claims by the French mass media nor the reports circulated by the opposite parties in order to disturb the bilateral relations between France and Iran have been endorsed by the police or judicial authorities".

 

67. Subsequent to his interim report to the General Assembly, the Special Representative transmitted to the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, by letter dated 23 December 1992, the following allegations concerning the right to life.

 

68. On 24 April 1992, Mr. Abbas Narou'i was hanged in public in Sirjan, Kerman Province. No reasons were given for his execution.

 

69. On 23 June 1992, Mr. Mostafa Ortegli was hanged in Qom, Central Province. No reasons were given for his execution.

 

70. It has been reported that two members of the Kurdish opposition group Komala, Rahman and Towfiq Aliasi, were executed in June and August 1992, respectively, in Sanandaj Prison. In both cases the prison authorities merely handed over their clothes to their relatives and informed them that they had been executed. The televised confessions of Towfiq Aliasi, reportedly obtained as a result of ill-treatment or torture, were broadcast on local television in Sanandaj in August 1992.

 

71. On 9 September 1992, the Iranian newspaper Salam reported that Mr. Faramarz Souri was executed in public in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, after receiving 99 lashes. No reasons were given for his execution.

 

72. On 8 September 1992, two persons were hanged in public in Baneh for political reasons. Their names were given as follows: Mr. Saleh Amin Pour, aged 35, and Mr. Hassan Saidi, aged 26.

 

73. On 8 September 1992, a member of the Iranian Air Force, Colonel Sadeghe Rabani, was shot in Isfahan, reportedly for political reasons.

 

74. On 9 September 1992, a young man named Babak was hanged in public in Tehran, after being found guilty of the murder of Mr. Rashide Aghai, a member of the Bassij resistance forces.

 

75. According to a dispatch from Agence France Presse of 10 October 1992, 19 persons were hanged in Tehran on 26 September 1992, on charges of buying and selling drugs.

 

76. On 27 September 1992, nine persons were executed in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, after being sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Kermanshah for distributing drugs.

 

77. On 29 September 1992, nine persons were executed in Tehran. No reasons were given for their execution.

 

78. According to the Iranian newspaper Kayhan of 28 September 1992, two unnamed persons were executed in Tehran during September 1992. No reasons were given for their execution.

 

79. On 18 October 1992, two unnamed persons were hanged in public in Hamadan, Hamadan Province. No reasons were announced for their execution.

 

80. According to a dispatch from Agence France Presse of 19 October 1992, 17 people were hanged in Tehran and 3 others in Kermanshah, on 18 October 1992, after being found guilty of possession and distribution of narcotics.

 

81. On 21 October 1992, the Iranian newspaper Ressalat reported that a medical student named Hamid, aged 25, was executed in Tehran. No reasons were given for his execution.

 

82. On 22 October 1992, Ressalat reported that Mr. Abdolbaqi Imambai was executed in Tehran. No reasons were announced for his execution.

 

83. On 26 October 1992, Kayhan reported that Mr. Alireza Narou'i was executed in Shiraz, Fars Province. No reasons were announced for his execution.

 

84. On 1 November 1992, a woman named Fatima Bani was stoned to death in Isfahan, and Mr. Javad Rahimzadeh was hanged in public in Mashhad, Khorasan Province. No reasons were given for their execution.

 

85. On 4 November 1992, Ressalat reported that Mr. Ardeshir Kyanpour was hanged in Mehdishahr, Semnan Province. No reasons were announced for his execution.

 

86. On 8 November 1992, Kayhan reported that Mr. Mohammad Hassan Rezaii was executed in Tehran. No reasons were given for his execution.

 

87. It has been reported that these persons were executed following summary and unfair trials which failed to meet minimum internationally recognized standards. Trial hearings were held in camera, inside prisons, with defendants having no access to lawyers, no right to call witnesses in their defence and no right to appeal.

 

88. It was also reported that most of these executions have been carried out publicly and in groups. Some victims have been stoned to death, hanged, shot, or subjected to flogging before being executed.

 

89. According to the Iranian newspapers Kayhan, Ressalat, and Salam, the following persons have been sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran: Mr. Ebrahim Haqshenas, Mr. Ahmad Rajabi Analoheh, Mr. Shahnaz Azadi and Mr. Hassan Moqadassi Some'eh Olia. Mr. Gholam Reza was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Abadeh, Fars Province.

 

90. Concern has been expressed to the Special Representative about the continuing endorsement by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran of threats to the life of the author Salman Rushdie. On 2 November 1992, Ayatollah Yazdi, Head of the Judiciary, stated that "the historic Fatwa and order by the Leader of Muslims, Imam of the Ummah, proclaimed in his capacity as the Religious Leader to all Muslims and religiously incumbent on any Muslim, is not analysed and examined within a purely political and diplomatic framework". On 10 November 1992, Ayatollah Morteza Moqtadaei, Head of the Supreme Court of Justice, stated that "carrying out the order against the apostate Rushdie is an obligation for all Muslims, whether Shi'ite or Sunni. The Fatwa is an irrevocable Islamic order endorsed by 40 Muslim States. No authority, whether in Iran or abroad, can change this Islamic decree".

 

91. It was also reported that, on 2 November 1992, Ayatollah Hassan Sane'i, Head of the 15th Khordad Foundation, which in 1990 set a US$ 2 million reward for Rushdie's death, stated that the bounty had been boosted dramatically. He pointed out that, after the execution of the Fatwa, the reward would be immediately paid to the person who carried it out. He added that "If this verdict is executed by Rushdie's relatives, the reward offered by this Foundation will be boosted considerably".

 

92. On 6 November 1992, the Special Representative requested the Government of Japan to provide him with any information it would be able to make available to him with regard to the investigations into the assassination of Professor Hitoshi Igarashi, who translated the novel of Salman Rushdie entitled The Satanic Verses into Japanese. Professor Igarashi was murdered at Tsukuba University in Ibaraki City on 12 July 1991.

 

93. On 8 January 1993, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Office at Geneva reported the following:

 

"The Permanent Mission of Japan has the honour to inform you, under instructions from its home Government, that ever since Mr. Hitoshi Igarashi was found dead at around 8 o'clock on 12 July 1991 within the premises of the Tsukuba University, the case has been vigorously investigated: however, the investigation has to date borne little fruit as to the identity of the perpetrator or other relevant information".

 

94. On 11 November 1992, the Special Representative requested the Government of Germany to provide him with any information with regard to the investigations into the assassinations of four leading members of the "Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran - Qassemlov Faction" in Berlin. On 17 September 1992, Mr. Sadiq Charafkandi, Secretary-General of the party, Mr. Fattah Abduli, representative of the party in Europe, Mr. Mulayun Ardalan and Mr. Nuri Dehkurdi were assassinated while they were in Berlin, reportedly participating in a meeting held by the Socialist International.

 

95. On 5 January 1993, the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva reported the following: "As far as the assassination of four leading members of the 'Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran' are concerned, investigations by the district attorney in Berlin are still being carried out".

 

96. The Special Representative also requested the Government of Germany, on 11 November 1992, to provide him with any information it would be able to make available with regard to the death of Mr. Rassoul Sadeghian Raddani in March 1992, in Essen. The Special Representative had received information that this person, who was hospitalized at the Ronal Klinik at Essen, for the treatment of severe injuries caused by chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, was attacked and wounded by knife, while taking a walk in front of the hospital, allegedly by members of the organization "People's Mojahedin of Iran".

 

97. On 5 January 1993, the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva reported the following:

 

"As to the case of Mr. Raddani, allegedly assassinated by members of the organization 'Peoples Mojahedin of Iran' in Essen, competent police authorities could not confirm such allegations. A post-mortem examination, that was called for by the district attorney, came to the conclusion that Mr. Raddani had died of the consequences of severe injuries caused by chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, for the treatment of which he was hospitalized in Essen. Additional external effects leading to the death of Mr. Raddani were excluded after the post-mortem examination".

 

B. Enforced or involuntary disappearances

98. The Special Representative wishes to point out that the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights has transmitted to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran a total of 500 cases of missing persons, one of which was reported to have occurred in 1992. So far only one case has been clarified by information received from non-governmental sources.

 

99. By the same letter dated 24 November 1992, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that:

 

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has worked closely with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and have responded to all the claims. In the view of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the propounded claims are baseless. It has therefore requested from the Working Group more precise information concerning these findings with complete specifications on the individuals to make the feasibility of investigation possible in this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to fully cooperate with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances".

 

100. Subsequent to his interim report to the General Assembly, the Special Representative transmitted to the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, by letter dated 23 December 1992, the following allegation.

 

101. It has been reported that Mr. Bahman Qahramani disappeared in 1988 after being detained in the city of Yasooj, on political charges. The fate of this person remained unknown. No investigation appeared to have been carried out by the Government in spite of numerous inquiries by his relatives.