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 About
Age 52 Nationality Iran Religion Presumed Muslim Civil status Married Education university diploma Occupation high ranking official, armed forces Rank/Position Major General, Imperial Iranian Army Aviation Affiliation army, former regime Affiliation state owned institution, former regime
Case Date of execution February 15, 1979 Location Lavasanat, Iran Mode of execution shooting Charges Corruption on earth; Torture; Treason About this Case
Major General Manuchehr Khosrodad is one of 438 victims listed in a March 13, 1980 Amnesty International report. The report lists defendants who were convicted by Revolutionary Tribunals in the period from their inception until 12 August 1979. The list of victims and charges is drawn from sources including translations of indictments, reports of trials carried out by local and foreign media and the bulletins of the official Pars News Agency reports. The execution of Major General Manuchehr Khosrodad and three other former regime officials was also reported in the Ayandegan newspaper (February 16, 1979). The news was followed by a communiqué of the Extraordinary Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal regarding the case. Additional information has been sent to Omid via an electronic form by a relative and also based on an interview with one of his former colleagues.
Major General Khosrodad was the first head of the Special Forces and at the time of execution was Major General of the Imperial Iranian Army Aviation. He had studied at American Defense Academy and the French military school, Saint Cyr, and he mastered English and French. He was a helicopter pilot, Head of Equestrian Federation, and a champion in jumping on horseback. He also liked skiing. His colleague remembers him as a talented and effective manager; a loved and respected commander. Major General Khosrodad was not an affluent man and did not abuse his position to collect wealth. He had no security concern and prior to the Lavizan incident, when four Islamist soldiers shot and killed scores of soldiers and officers during lunch time at cafeteria of the base, would often go out unprotected. During the revolution, before the fall of the monarchy, he believed that army should not be involved in politics and said: “We are soldiers and have nothing to do with politics. I am obedient to whoever governs the country.”
Mr. Khosrodad was separated from his wife. He lived with his young daughter with whom he spent a lot of time. He owned and loved a few German Shepherds that were killed by the Revolutionary Guards after the revolution.
Major General Khosrodad is also one of 10 mentioned in the Memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali, the first post-revolution religious judge and head of the Islamic Revolutionary tribunal:
“I began to try the convicts soon after my nomination. The first people I tried and punished for their deeds were Nematollah Nasiri, head of SAVAK, and Khosrodad, air forcer commander; Naji, martial law administrator of Esfahan, and Rahimi, martial law administrator of Tehran and head of police force. These four people were executed on February 13, 1979, at night in Refah School and I sentenced them to death. ... All the people who were sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunals were the best examples of ‘corruptor on earth’ and they were executed as such.
“A Corruptor on earth is a person who contributes to spreading and expanding corruption on earth. Corruption is what leads to the decline, destruction and the deviation of society from its nature. People who were executed had strived in spreading corruption and prostitution, circulating heroin, opium and licentious behavior, atheism, murder, betrayal, flattery, and, in sum, all these vile qualities. These people’s problems were aggravated by the fact that they did not repent once they saw the people’s revolution.
“I believed at the time, and I still believe, that all the parliamentarians and senators, all governors, heads of SAVAK and police, who held office after 1963 and the Imam’s boycott, should be sentenced to death. High-ranking ministry officials who were instrumental in the survival of the apparatus [Shah’s regime] and who, for getting close to the Shah and his family, would accept any humiliation are all convicted (condemned).
“To sum up, all the people that I condemned and who were executed in the early days of the establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunals and later in the Qasr prison were all corruptors on earth and, based on the Quran, their blood was a waste.”
Arrest and detention
Based on the official communiqué, the defendant was arrested by “Islamic armed forces.” However, information from reliable sources suggest that he voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities.
Trial
The Ayandegan report mentioned that the Extraordinary Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal held a session at Alavi High School # 2 [Refah High School], which lasted 10 hours. Based on the report, this Extraordinary Tribunal was ordered to form two days before it took session at the high school. Major General Khosrodad and the other three defendants were said to be the first group of criminals tried after the success of the Revolution five days before. The details and conditions of the tribunal remain unknown.
Charges
The communiqué of the Extraordinary Revolutionary Tribunal did not specify Major General Khosrodad’s charges. Collectively, the four defendants were charged with “torture and massacre of the people” as well as “being traitors to the country.”
Evidence of guilt
No information was provided regarding the evidence provided against the defendant.
Defense
There is no information available on Major General Khosrodad’s defense. According to the electronic form, he was so sure of his innocence that he voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities.
Judgment
The Extraordinary Tribunal found Major General Khosrodad guilty of “corruption on earth” and sentenced him to death and confiscation of his belongings, “based on Islamic rules and regulations.” After reaching this verdict through the majority vote, the participants of the session met with Ayatollah Khomeini, as “the enforcer of Islamic justice,” to get his confirmation on their judgment. Once the verdict was confirmed, the defendant was taken to the school rooftop, blindfolded, and “the shooting ceremony was carried out” at 11:40 the same evening.
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Human rights violations in this caseThe legal context
Read about the courts, the judges, and the procedure. The courts
Special courts, known as the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunals, were set up after the February 1979 revolution. Their jurisdiction encompasses a wide array of offences ranging from association with or support of the former regime, promotion of foreign influence, and enmity with the revolution to possession, use or sales of narcotic drugs, murder, and profiteering. In the 1980s, a penal court, presided over by one judge, was created to handle some of the offenses punishable by death, such as theft or adultery. These tribunals’ decisions must be confirmed by a chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The judges
Prosecutors and judges are not necessarily jurists. By 1981, the judiciary was purged of judges trained in law schools. They were replaced by seminary graduates and students, as well as by political appointees (an estimated 2000 by 1989). Since by law judges are only required to have a high school diploma and must be faithful to the Islamic Republic’s tenets, new recruits often have little formal training in the law and are chosen because of their political affiliation.
The procedure
The procedures of these ecclesiastical tribunals fail to meet the minimum guarantees for fair trial as established by international human rights instruments and by sha’ria (the Islamic system of law). In addition to executions ordered by revolutionary tribunals, extra-judicial executions are carried out, targeting dissidents and opposition leaders. In some cases, both inside and outside of Iran, these executions have been traced back to Iranian officials. It is, however, not known if in these particular cases trials are held in absentia.
Sources (Among others): Amnesty International, Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, February 1980; Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, The Justice System of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1992; E/CN.4/1989/26 p.14; UNCHR, Resolution 1984/54 , Abolition of Torture - Iran - 1; 28 November 1984; Report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, 28 January 1987. Amnesty International, A SHOCKED WORLD WATCHES IN DISBELIEF, VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1987-1990. Memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali, religious judge and former head of revolutionary tribunals (2001), and Ayatollah Montazeri, dismissed successor to Ayatollah Khomeini (2001). UNCH, E/CN.4/1994/50, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran prepared by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, pursuant to Commission resolution 1993/62 of 10 March 1993 and Economic and Social Council decision 1993/273. E/CN.4/1994/50, 2 February 1994.
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 close... Detentions, interrogations, and trials: 1979-1980
Read about the conditions in which individuals were detained, tried and sentenced. Pre-trial detentions
The charges upon which the accused were arraigned were often extremely broad. Defendants generally had no access to legal counsel nor to their file and the evidence against them prior to the trial.
Trials
Witnesses might be called, or the statement of persons with relevant information read into the court’s record. Accusation witnesses could come forward the day of the trial to give evidence against the accused, but in most cases, defense witnesses were not allowed in court. There was no automatic right of a defendant to cross-examine witnesses or to know the source of the evidence against him. The defendant had an opportunity to state his side of the matter and attempt to refute what was said against him, but the final decision was solely up to the discretion of the religious judge.
Appeal processes
The judgments of the Revolutionary Courts were not subject to appeal. The convicts were generally executed within a few hours of the judgment.
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close... Based on the available information, the following human rights have been violated in this case:
The right to liberty and security of the person. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 9.1.
The right not to be punished for any crime on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time it was committed. UDHR, Article 11.2; ICCPR, Article 15, Article 6.2.
The right to due process
The right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal in accordance with law. ICCPR, Article 14.1 and Article 14.2.
Pre-trial detention rights
The right to know promptly and in detail the nature and cause of the charges against one. UDHR, Article 9(2); ICCPR, Article 9.2 and Article 14.3.a
The right to counsel of one's own choosing or the right to legal aid. The right to communicate with one's attorney in confidence ICCPR, Article 14.3.b and Article 14.3.d; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, Article 1, Article 2 Article 5, Article 6, Article 8.
The right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defense case. ICCPR, Article 14.3.b.
The right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess to guilt. ICCPR, Article 14.3.g.
The right not to be subjected to torture and to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
Trial rights
The right to a fair and public trial without undue delay. ICCPR, Article 14.1, ICCPR, Article 14.1.c.
The right to defense through an attorney or legal aid. The right to examine, or have examined, the witnesses against one, and the right to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on one’s behalf under the same conditions as prosecution witnesses. ICCPR, Article 14.3.d and Article 14.3.e.
Judgment rights
Capital punishment
The inherent right to life, of which no one shall be arbitrarily deprived. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1; Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, Article 1.1, Article 1.2.
The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
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