Dokument #1085651
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
For information on the use of the
Shenasnameh in Iranian elections and whether there are
penalties for not voting in Iran, please see the document attached
to Response to Information Request IRN28959.E of 26 February
1998.
No direct information could be found among
the sources consulted by the Research Directorate on whether a
person in Iran is likely to be harassed, stigmatized, or
inconvenienced in any way for not having election stamps in his or
her Shenasnameh. However, media reports found by the
Research Directorate contain some anecdotal references to the
issue.
A 21 May 1997 Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA)
dispatch on Iran's presidential election states that "[a] number of
Iranians go to the polls just for getting the elections stamp in
their identification cards in fear that without the stamp, they
might get trouble with official organizations." However, the same
dispatch quotes an Iranian voter, "Jafar" as saying that "Me and my
family members have never voted and our ID-cards are totally blank
without any elections stamp, but we all intend to go to the polls
this time to vote for Khatami."
According to a 15 June 1993 article in the
Washington Times on the 1993 presidential election in
Iran, a statement from the Iraq-based armed Iranian opposition
organization the People's Mojahedin claimed that "only 5 million to
6 million of the 33 million eligible voters went to the polls,"
adding that about 20 percent of those who had voted did so only in
order to have their identity documents stamped.
A 27 April 1992 broadcast on the
clandestine pro-KDPI radio station, Voice of Iranian Kordestan,
reported that the government was unsatisfied with the voter turnout
in the city of Kermanshah for Iran's parliamentary elections. The
broadcast reported that in response, the authorities threatened
that "anyone who did not have a stamp on his identity card proving
that he had voted would be deprived of food coupons and of the
right to travel to other parts of Iran and abroad." The broadcast
did not state whether the threat was carried out, or whether voters
in Kermanshah went to the polls in response to that threat.
In a statement issued shortly before the 28
July 1989 Iranian presidential election, the leader of the People's
Mojahedin, Massoud Rajavi, claimed that the Iranian government was
resorting to two tactics in an effort to increase the voter
turnout. The first was to accept invalid identity documents for
voting purposes, and the second was to warn people that "lack of an
election stamp on their identity cards could result in serious
consequences" (Reuters 27 July 1989). However, in a dispatch
published after the election, Reuters quoted an unnamed Tehran
businessman as saying that he knew several people who had voted in
previous elections, but not in the current one, apparently because
they were no longer feared negative repercussions from not having
election stamps in their identity documents. The same dispatch
stated that about one-third of eligible voters had not voted (30
July 1989).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the
list of additional sources consulted in researching this
Information Request.
References
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 21 May
1997. BC Cycle. Farshid Motahari. "Votes for Khatami Reflect
Protest Against Islamic Restrictions." (NEXIS)
Reuters. 30 July 1989. AM Cycle.
Mohammad Zargham. "Rafsanjani Wins Presidential Poll but Turnout
Low." (NEXIS)
_____. 27 July 1989. AM Cycle. "Iranian
Opposition Says Presidential Election Illegitimate." (NEXIS)
Voice of Iranian Kordestan [in Persian].
27 April 1992. "Iran in Brief: Opposition Radio on Repercussions of
Voter 'Indifference' to Majlis Elections." (BBC Summary 30 Apr.
1992/NEXIS)
The Washington Times. 15 June
1993. Andrew Borowiec. "Election Results Show Signs of Dissent in
Iran." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Ottawa.
Electronic sources: IRB databases,
REFWORLD.
Note on contacting foreign diplomatic missions in Canada:
Ability to obtain information from
diplomatic representatives depends on availability of
information and cooperation from
individual countries.