Document #1225367
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
In Iran, military service is compulsory and
there is no provision for alternative service. [ United Nations,
Conscientious Objection to Military Service,
E/CN.4/Sub.2/1983/30/Rev.1, (New York: United Nations, 1985), p.
30.] The length of service is two years, and conscientious
objection is not recognized. [ Amnesty International,
Conscientious Objection to Military Service, AI Index POL
31/01/88, February 1988, pp. 7, 13.] Possible penalties for refusal
to perform military service in Iran include a "longer than normal
period of military service; possible suspended prison sentence." [
Amnesty International, Conscientious Objection, p. 17.]
Articles 58 through 67 of the Public
Military Service act cover the general penalties and public
punishments for persons who evade conscription. In particular,
those individuals evading conscription during war time do not
receive their permanent completion/exemption card for a period of
from five to seven years (Article 58), and without these cards, the
draft evader cannot be employed in "any ministries, governmental
and affiliated institutions, factories, workshops or private
companies" (Article 62).
Measures taken by the authorities against
draft evaders and deserters allegedly included the death penalty
for some Iranians in 1988. [ Immigration and Refugee Board
Documentation Centre, Iran: Profile, December 1988, pp. 6-8,
29.] One article refers to a high incidence of absentee conscripts
in 1985-1986, and a concomitant rise in the arrests of conscripts.
[ Bill Frelick, "Conscientious Objectors as Refugees", World
Refugee Survey, 1986 in Review, (U.S. Committee for Refugees,
1986), p. 31.] Western sources estimated there were 100,000 Iranian
draft evaders by 1985-86, and that an additional 3,000 fled to West
Germany in one month, during an Iranian conscription drive. [
Ibid.] The numbers are substantially lower since the end of the
Iran-Iraq war. [ External Affairs.]
In January 1989, it was announced that a
campaign to find draft dodgers was to begin on 8 January 1989. [
"Iran: Campaign Against Draft Dodgers to Begin", Summary of
World Broadcasts, BBC Monitoring Service, 4 January 1989.] The
official in charge stated that "as far as possible, severe
punishments are envisaged to deal seriously and legally with those
individuals who have evaded the sacred duty of being conscripts
under various excuses during the eight year holy defence. The draft
dodgers, who are found and arrested ... will not find leniency and
they will not qualify for the four-month amnesty law." [ "Iran:
Campaign Against Draft Dodgers to Begin", Summary of World
Broadcasts, BBC Monitoring Service, 4 January 1989.]
In February 1989, a government plan to
announce a general amnesty for Iranians abroad was discussed in the
press. [ "Iran: Iranian prime minister comments on `The Satanic
Verses' Affair, Foreign Loans, Amnesty for Iranians Abroad",
Summary of World Broadcasts, BBC Monitoring Service, 20
February 1989.] The proposed plan apparently did not materialize,
however, as evidenced by statements made by Akbar
Hashemi-Rafsanjani in a news conference he conducted with the
international press on 8 June 1989. During this conference, he
discussed the high number of Iranian exiles who had left because
they could not face the war, and stated that "we [the Iranian
government] have not yet proclaimed a general amnesty. Those who
have committed a major crime are at present being investigated. But
the majority of the rest can return." [ "Iran: Rafsanjani's News
Conference; Announces Candidacy for Presidency, Comments on Future
Policy, Foreign Relations", Summary of World Broadcasts, BBC
Monitoring Service, 10 June 1989.]
Recent information on the penalty for
illegal departure from Iran is currently unavailable to the IRBDC.
According to the UNHCR branch office in Canada, persons known to
the UNHCR who returned in the past without documents were all
either detained or disappeared. [ UNHCR, February 1989.] However,
there is no other documentation available to the IRBDC which
corroborates this statement. The Amnesty International Report
1989 refers to an incident reported in the Turkish press in
August 1988. Allegedly, "40 [members] out of a group of 58 Iranian
asylum-seekers handed over by the Turkish authorities to the
Iranian authorities were executed in Orumieh on the Iranian side of
the border". [ Amnesty International, Report 1989, (New
York: Amnesty International Publications, 1989), p. 256.]
According to External Affairs Canada, each
returnee is apparently dealt with on an individual basis, and there
does not seem to be any set criteria for determining which people
may experience difficulties, and which will not. [ External
Affairs, 9 August 1989.]
A scheme for encouraging the return of
Iranians living abroad was announced by the Iranian government
during 1989. Essentially, males of draft age can return to Iran for
a visit and upon the payment of ten thousand dollars they will
receive a new Iranian passport and exemption from military service
for three years. [ External Affairs Canada, communiqué of 20
June 1989.] It should be noted that this announcement took place
prior to Mr. Rafsanjani's remarks to the press in June.
In the FAX announcing this policy shift,
External Affairs Canada cautions potential returnees to "read the
fine print carefully" before returning. [ External Affairs Canada.
]