28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29525],  [ID 9532]

"[...]Vigilante violence included attacking young persons considered too "un-Islamic" in their dress or activities, invading private homes, abusing unmarried couples, and disrupting concerts or other forms of popular entertainment. Attackers targeted women whose clothing did not cover their hair and all parts of their body except the hands and face or those who wore makeup or nail polish. In October, in Rasht, Unit 110 of the Law Enforcement Forces, another police unit charged with maintaining Islamic propriety, arrested 8 girls and 12 boys dancing at a party. In Shiraz, in late October, over a 2-day period at least 150 people were arrested. Eyewitnesses said that dozens of individuals, mostly youths, were arrested on the streets for their "un-Islamic attire." A large number of persons reportedly were arrested for "acting as a nuisance." A young man was arrested for "eating in public" in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan according to friends accompanying him. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

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

ACCORD: The Disciplinary Forces were created in 1990 because of the increasing reluctance of the armed forces to be used against the protesting civilian populations ("7th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Berlin, 11 - 12 June 2001: Final Report - Iran") [#7661],  [ID 9533]

"Another unit are the Disciplinary Forces, also called Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), or Niruha-ye Entezami, which were created in 1990 because of the increasing reluctance of the armed forces to be used against the protesting civilian populations. They were constituted by a merger of the police (Shahrbani), the Gendarmerie forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Comittees (Komiteh Enghelab-e Islami, the religious police) and the units of the Revolutionary Guards that were responsible for security in the cities. They are now in charge of controlling demonstrations and riots in the cities. Those units serving as a moral police (Komiteh, Monkarrat/Monsherrad, ‘Forces for Adjoining Good and Forbidding Evil‘) are today part of the LEF Unified Command, with most of their previous functions now carried out by the Basiji. But they also have the function, to a certain degree, and are given a free hand to monitor religious issues or what appear to be religious issues. The names Monkarrat/Monsherrad and Komiteh are no longer in use and there no longer seem to exist separate units responsible for monitoring moral conduct, but if there were units which could be called ‘religious police’ it would be the units succeeding the Komiteh.3

Concerning the power to arrest civilians, it has to be said that for standard crimes this is usually the responsibility of the combined Law Enforcement Forces (LEF). In addition, the judicial forces do have arresting officers associated with each court. It is unclear, however, if soldiers are legitimized to arrest civilians and if these kinds of arrests do actually occur."

Document(s): cois2001-irn.pdf

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

00.11.2001 - ACCORD: Cases involving the Law Enforcement Forces ("7th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Berlin, 11 - 12 June 2001: Final Report - Iran") [#7661],  [ID 9534]

"In a case involving the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) dating back to May 1999, an eight-months jail sentence against Brigadier General Gholamreza Naqdi, former head of intelligence and security, was upheld by an Iranian appeals court in February 2000. He was brought to trial following allegations by over 30 district mayors in March 1998 that they were tortured by the security police to extract confessions during their detention on charges of corruption.

Brigadier General Farhad Nazari and 18 officials of the Law Enforcement Forces were acquitted by a military court of disobeying Ministry of the Interior orders in connection with a raid on student dormitories during the 8 July 1999 student demonstrations. Students injured in the raid, represented by Mohsen Rahami (see above), were, however, compensated by the same court. (AIR)"

Document(s): cois2001-irn.pdf