02.07.2008 - Source: Freedom House

Basij militia and Ansar-i Hezbollah play a major role in breaking up public demonstrations ("Freedom in the World 2008") [ID 24905]

"The 1979 constitution prohibits public demonstrations that “violate the principles of Islam,” a vague provision used to justify the heavy-handed dispersal of assemblies and marches. Hard-line vigilante and paramilitary organizations that are officially or tacitly sanctioned by the conservative establishment—most notably the Basij militia and Ansar-i Hezbollah—play a major role in breaking up public demonstrations. In 2007, the government banned street protests during the anniversary of the July 9, 1999, student demonstrations at Tehran University."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Different groups serve as vigilantes and are involved in law enforcement and the maintaining of order ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19533]

"Several agencies share responsibility for law enforcement and maintaining order, including the MOIS, the Law Enforcement Forces under the Interior Ministry, and the IRGC. A paramilitary volunteer force known as the Basij and various informal groups known as the Ansar-e Hizballah (Helpers of the Party of God) aligned with extreme conservative members of the leadership and acted as vigilantes. The size of the Basij is disputed, with officials citing anywhere from 11 to 20 million, and a 2005 Western study claiming there were 90,000 active members and up to 300,000 reservists."

Document(s): Open document

08.2005 - Source: Freedom House

Demonstrations & Vigilante organisations ("Freedom in the World 2005") [#41317],  [ID 9515]

"[...]The 1979 constitution prohibits public demonstrations that “violate the principles of Islam,” a vague provision used to justify the heavy-handed dispersal of assemblies and marches. Hard-line vigilante organizations unofficially sanctioned by the conservative establishment, most notably the Basij and Ansar-i Hezbollah, play a major role in dispersing public demonstrations. In sharp contrast to recent years, hardly any public demonstrations took place in 2004 following the hardliners’ electoral victory in February. Because of the public’s deepening political apathy and fear of reprisals by vigilantes, even the fifth anniversary of the regime’s harsh July 1999 crackdown on students passed quietly.
Iranian law does not allow independent labor unions to exist, though workers’ councils are represented in the government-sanctioned Workers’ House, the country’s only legal labor federation. While strikes and work stoppages are not uncommon, the authorities often ban or disperse demonstrations that criticize national economic policies. In January, security forces in the village of Khatunabad in southeastern Kerman province attacked striking copper factory workers, killing at least four people and injuring many others. In May, at least 40 workers were arrested by security forces during a Labor Day march in the city of Saqez.[...]"

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

Hezbollahi ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31980],  [ID 9516]

"[...]5.46 According to the Documentation, Information and Research Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada (DIRB) in a report dated 1997 and an UNHCR report dated 1998 the Hezbollahi “partisans of God” consist of religious zealots who consider themselves as preservers of the Revolution. They have been active in harassing government critics and intellectuals, have firebombed bookstores and disrupted meetings. They are said to gather at the invitation of the state-affiliated media and generally act without meaningful police restraint or fear of persecution. [2c](pg12)[3a](pg12)[...]"

Document(s): Open document

28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Activities of Ansar-e-Hezbollah ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29525],  [ID 9517]

"[...]Paramilitary organizations such as the Ansar-e Hezbollah, a group of vigilantes who seek to enforce their vision of appropriate revolutionary comportment upon the society, harassed, beat, and intimidated those who demonstrated publicly for reform. Ansar-e Hezbollah gangs were used to harass journalists, intimidate dissident clerics, and disrupt peaceful gatherings. Ansar-e Hezbollah cells were organized throughout the country, and some were reportedly linked to individual members of the country's leadership. In the period prior to the February Majlis elections, Ansar-e Hezbollah and other government-supported vigilantes repeatedly attacked political gatherings of reformist candidates and vandalized their offices.
In January, approximately 200 members of the Ansar-e Hezbullah vigilante group attacked a political meeting of disqualified prospective parliamentary candidates and their supporters in Hamedan. The vigilantes entered the meeting hall, heckled the speakers, and rushed the speakers' platform. No legal action was taken against the vigilantes. [...]
In June 2003, during a wave of pro-reform protests, members of vigilante groups, such as Ansar-e Hezbollah, attacked protestors, according to press reports. Ansar-e Hezbollah members reportedly stormed a university dormitory in Tehran, destroyed student property, and injured more than 50 students. Some vigilantes were reportedly included among those arrested by authorities during the clashes. Vigilantes who attacked a demonstration in Shiraz reportedly killed a protestor. Before being transferred to government custody, vigilantes reportedly seized and beat journalist Ensafali Hedayat. Vigilante groups were also reported to have attacked protesters during pro-reform demonstrations near Tehran University in December 2003. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Corruption ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29525],  [ID 9523]

"[...]There was widespread public perception of extensive corruption in all three branches of government, to include the judiciary (where many lawyers have said, "a judge's verdict is sold by the kilo"). This perception augmented by anecdotal information includes extensive corruption in the "bonyards" (foundations). In October, the NGO Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perception Index, noted that the country had an extremely low score (2.9 on a 10 point scale) and commented that, "corruption robs countries of their potential." In September 2003, the CEO and other top executives of the Norwegian oil company "Statoil" were dismissed after revelations of bribes paid an Iranian consulting company with direct links to the son of former President and current Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

13.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Parallel Institutions ("World report 2005") [#28233],  [ID 9518]

"[...]“Parallel institutions” (nahad-e movazi) is how Iranians refer to the quasi-official organs of repression that have become increasingly open in crushing student protests, detaining activists, writers, and journalists in secret prisons, and threatening pro-democracy speakers and audiences at public events. These groups have carried out brutal assaults against students, writers, and reformist politicians, and have set up arbitrary checkpoints around Tehran. Groups such as Ansar-e Hizbollah and the Basij work under the control of the Office of the Supreme Leader, and there are many reports that the uniformed police are often afraid to directly confront these plainclothes agents. Illegal prisons, which are outside of the oversight of the National Prisons Office, are sites where political prisoners are abused, intimidated, and tortured with impunity. Over the past year politically active individuals have been summoned to a detention center controlled by the Department of Public Places (Edareh Amaken Umumi) for questioning by “parallel” intelligence services. According to journalists and student activists who have undergone such interrogations but not been arrested or detained, these sessions are intended to intimidate and threaten students and others.[...]"

Document(s): Open document

05.12.2003 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

2003 Nobel Peace Prize Winner threatened by Hezbollah members while going to University of Tehran Azzahra (reserved for women) to make a speech on women rights and the right of custody for the mothers ("Iran: Threats against Mrs Shirin Ebadi [IRN 005/1203/OBS 067]") [#18078],  [ID 9519]

Document(s): Open document

16.12.2002 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL): Article on the 'Men in Plainclothes' ("Iran Report - 16 December 2002, Volume 5, Number 46") [#10703],  [ID 9520]

"CRACKDOWN ON 'MEN IN PLAINCLOTHES.' Whenever there is a public gathering or demonstration in Iran, one sees the "men in plainclothes," which is a term for hard-line vigilantes who usually are members of the Ansar-i Hizbullah and/or Basij Resistance Force. In the past the vigilantes stood out because of their appearance -- beards and black clothing -- but now they sometimes are clean-shaven and wear regular clothing. The state has promised to act against them, but there is little confidence that this will occur especially because of their high-level connections. For example, Ansar-i Hizbullah is connected with Guardians Council head Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, it gets funding from the Oppressed and Disabled Foundation, and its membership is drawn from war veterans and the Basij.

Fazlollah Salavati from Isfahan told RFE/RL correspondent Siavash Ardalan on 11 December that these hard-line thugs are an embarrassment to society and the country. The security forces know who these people are, he said, but they have not acted against them. Salavati said that civilians should not try to stop the vigilantes because there would be bloodshed, and he added that this is the security forces' job.

Iranian political commentator Nima Rashedan told RFE/RL that the hard-line groups are not a postrevolution innovation. He said that the current batch of thugs is affiliated with Hussein Allah-Karam, Haj Akbar Nojavan, and Khadem Al-Husseini, who are all associated with Iran's current leadership.

Some Iranian government officials have indicated a desire to restrain the vigilante groups. Interior Ministry official Ali Baqeri said in a 10 December IRNA interview that his organization and the Law Enforcement Forces have decided to act to prevent the presence of vigilantes at gatherings and demonstrations. Baqeri said that authorities know some of these individuals, and their disruption of meetings "undermines the authority" of official organizations. Baqeri pointed out that the vigilantes have the unofficial backing of high-ranking officials, even though their organizations are unlicensed: "There are some influential groups that are currently active without the necessary license and some prominent figures of the state attend their meetings."

A practical example of this new policy might be the security force's efforts on 7 December to keep rival groups apart during the Student Day demonstrations. Tehran Governorate security official Ali Taala said the next day that arrest warrants for the plainclothes individuals have been issued, IRNA reported. "A number of such people have been identified and will be arrested if they are seen again on the sidelines of these events," he said, adding that "all organs have come to the conclusion that the presence of such individuals causes more trouble." (Bill Samii)"

Document(s): refrl-irn161202.html
Open document

10.2002 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

UK Home Office: Hezbollahi consider themselves as preservers of the Revolution ("Country Assessment - October 2002") [#9556],  [ID 9521]

"4.41. Hezbollahi (“partisans of God”) consist of religious zealots who consider themselves as preservers of the Revolution. They have been active in harassing government critics and intellectuals, have firebombed bookstores and disrupted meetings. They are said to gather at the invitation of the state-affiliated media and generally act without meaningful police restraint or fear of persecution."

Document(s): Open document

11.2001 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

ACCORD: Ansar-e Hezbollah is composed of fanatic Islamist militants ("7th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Berlin, 11 - 12 June 2001: Final Report - Iran") [#7661],  [ID 9522]

"The Party of God, or Ansar-e Hezbollah, is an amorphous group composed of fanatic Islamist militants, whose members present themselves as the genuine followers of the path of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and guarantors of pure Islamic values. Although they are not officially recognized, they have occasionally supported certain conservative positions of the governments in power. Hezbollah has also been utilized by the most fanatic Islamic factions to suppress any manifestations of freedom of expression exhibited by those whom they portray as decadent, Westernized and liberal elements."

Document(s): cois2001-irn.pdf