Document #1338446
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Many former members of SAVAK were executed
in the months following the Iranian Revolution in 1979. [ Please
refer to the Amnesty International attachment, Law and Human
Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, AI Index: MDE 13/03/80,
February 1980.] Immediately after the Shah was deposed in February
1979, Islamic Revolutionary Tribunals were set up in 64 locations
to "try persons who had held positions of authority under the
government of the Shah". [ United Nations Economic and Social
Council, "Information Relating to Violations of Human Rights in
Iran Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political",
Document E/CN.4/1983/19, Commission on Human Rights, 39th
Session, 22 February 1983, cited in Human Rights Internet
Reporter, vol. 8: 4/5 April to June 1983, p. 605.] The
Revolutionary Tribunals were also given jurisdiction over
"anti-revolutionary" or "counter-revolutionary" offenses, and
handed down death sentences for at least 109 separate types of
offence, including, "war against God", membership in opposition
groups and membership in the former regime. [
E/CN.4/1983/19, HRI Reporter, vol.8:4/5, pp. 606-607.] When
SAVAK officers were tried by the Revolutionary Tribunals of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, they were "tried with no counsel, no
access to the public, and no recourse to appeal". [ Ervand
Abrahamian, Radical Islam, the Iranian Mojahedin, (London:
I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989), p. 53.] Amnesty International
alleges that torture of political prisoners is widespread, [
Amnesty International, Iran: Amnesty International Briefing,
(London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), p. 1.] and in a
report published in 1987, the human rights organization observed
that former SAVAK members are still among the prisoners to be found
in Iranian prisons. [ Ibid, p. 4.]
There have been many executions of
political prisoners in Iran during the last year. Between July 1988
and February 1989, Amnesty International recorded the names of over
1,700 reported execution victims; more than 900 persons were
executed between January and May 1989. [ Amnesty International,
Fear of Execution, AI Index: MDE 13/11/89, 10 February 1989;
Over 900 Executions Announced in Five Months, AI Index: MDE
13/19/89, June 1989. Amnesty International, Iran: Mass
Executions of Drug Traffickers Continue, AI Index: MDE
13/20/89, 24 August 1989.]
On 19 August 1989, 79 persons were executed
on drug charges, however, Amnesty International received
allegations that there were persons executed for their political
beliefs (supporters of groups opposed to the government of Iran)
among the drug traffickers. [ Amnesty International, Iran:
Political Prisoners Reportedly Executed as Drug Traffickers, AI
Index: MDE 13/21/89, 15 September 1989.] Part of the recent upsurge
in the execution of political prisoners is attributed to the
interior minister, Mohtashemi, who allegedly ordered the execution
of a number of political prisoners who had escaped execution in the
past. [ Gwynne Dyer, "Iranian Radicals Drive Moderates to Hard
Lines", The Gazette [Montreal], 17 July 1989.]
None of the reports mentions whether former members of SAVAK are
among the political prisoners currently being executed.
For information on torture of political prisoners, refer to the
Amnesty International Report 1988, which is available at the
Vancouver IRB Documentation Centre.
Please see the attached articles:
-
Ervand Abrahamian, Radical Islam: The
Iranian Mojahedin, London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.,
1989.
-
Amnesty International, Iran Amnesty
International Briefing, London: Amnesty International
Publications, 1987, AI Index: MDE 13/08/87.
-
Amnesty International, Law and Human
Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, London: Amnesty
International Publications, February 1980.