Dokument #1168440
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
For general information on the
Revolutionary Guards and desertion from the Iranian armed forces,
please refer to Responses to Information Requests IRN1702, IRN2104,
IRN2149, IRN2378, IRN2796, IRN3748 and IRN4340. These documents are
available at your Regional Documentation Centre.
With regard to penalties for deserting the
Revolutionary Guard, our source at the U.S. Committee for Refugees
in Washington, D.C. said that the law in Iran hardly spells out the
penalty for a person who deserts the Revolutionary Guard (8 Mar.
1993). The source explained that the Revolutionary Guard started as
a quasi-military organization but only later became part of the
army of Iran (Ibid.). The source explained that leaving the
Guard would be tantamount to deserting the armed forces of Iran. A
Toronto-based specialist on Iran, who is also a close observer of
Iranian affairs, corroborated this explanation (Ibid.). The
source in Toronto also said that one can quit the Revolutionary
Guard by claiming physical disability (Ibid). A claimant
would make a submission to his immediate commander who might then
initiate the procedures for a discharge (Ibid.).
With regard to penalties for desertion
and/or anti-revolutionary activities, please refer to the attached
photocopy from Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of
Iran (Amnesty International Feb. 1980, 99-109). This document
does not specifically mention desertion from the Revolutionary
Guard, but the information might be useful.
Additional and/or corroborative information
on the requested subject could not be found among the sources
currently available to the DIRB.
Amnesty International. February 1980.
Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A report
covering events within the seven month period following the
Revolution of February 1979. (AI Index: MDE 13/03/80). London:
Amnesty International.
Source with the US Committee for
Refugees. Telephone interview. 8 March 1993.
Iran specialist based in Toronto.
Telephone interview. 8 March 1993.
Amnesty International. February 1980.
Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A report
covering events within the seven month period following the
Revolution of February 1979. (AI Index: MDE 13/03/80). London:
Amnesty International.