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 About
Age — Nationality Iran Religion Presumed Muslim Civil status Married Education — Occupation security forces Rank/Position colonel Affiliation army, current regime Affiliation pro-democracy
Case Date of execution October 6, 1981 Location Evin Prison, Tehran, Iran Mode of execution unspecified execution method Charges Armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic; Corruption on earth; Fighting against the revolution/blocking the path of God; Participating in armed demonstrations; War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam About this Case
The news of the execution of Colonel Rahim Arbab, along with that of 60 others, was released by the Public Relations of the General Prosecutor's Office in a communiqué published in the Jomhuri Eslami daily on October 6, 1981.
The communiqué, which specifies that those executed were “members and sympathizers of the anti-people groups who had risen against Islam and the Qur'an”, begins as follows:
“By purging the corruptors, clean the earth from corruption (Qur'an Karim).
Those who have not embraced faith and are combating in an idolatrous path are forming rank against pious people, and, by martyring the best and purest men, are attesting to the fact that they are mercenaries of the great powers. It is the duty of you pious men to stand up against them and uproot infidelity and hypocrisy.”
Further information regarding Colonel Arbab’s case was sent to Omid via an electronic form (e-form) by a person familiar with this case. Mr. Arbab was an army colonel and a member of the Revolutionary Committee of Ground Forces. However, he resigned from the army 2 years after the revolution. He was also a member of the National Front, a pro-Mosadeqq, nationalistic group.
This execution was also reported in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1985. The list includes 12028 individuals, affiliated with various opposition groups, who were executed or killed during clashes with the Islamic Republic security forces from June 1981 to the publication date of the magazine.
Arrest and detention
Colonel Arbab was arrested during the Tehran demonstration in June, 1981. The demonstration of June 20, 1981, took place in protest against the parliament's impeachment of President Banisadr and the Islamic Republic's systematic policy of excluding the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country's political scene, the refusal of Ayatollah Khomeini to meet with MKO leaders and his insistence for them
to disarm. The MKO had until then supported the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini and agreed to function within the framework of the new political system. On June 20th , the Organization officially changed its policy and tried to overthrow the regime by organizing mass demonstrations, in which some of the demonstrators were armed, all over the country. These demonstrations, which were severely suppressed and resulted in the killing of dozens of demonstrators, were followed by a wave of mass arrests and executions by the Revolutionary Guards and para-military forces that targetted not only the MKO, but all other opposition groups. The massive repression, unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Republic, legitimized as official government policy the months-old state harassment and suppression of dissidents and resulted in the banning of all forms of independent political dissent.
The authorities did not inform his family of his arrest. He was detained at the Evin Prison and during 4 months of detention was allowed only one phone call to his family. He was defined family visitations and had no access to legal representation. (e-form)
Trial
No information is available on the defendant’s trial.
Charges
There is no mention of the charges brought against this defendant. The General Prosecutor's Office does, however, provide specific charges against one of the 61 individuals named in the communiqué:
"It must be noted that Mohammad Kazem Golzadeh Ghafuri was directly involved in the attack against the Majlis [parliament] during which he had opened fire on the revolutionary guards in charge of the Majlis shuraye Eslami. He was an active member of the military teams of the Monafeqin [Hypocrites, term used by the Islamic Republic authorities when referring to the People’s Mojaheddin Organization] and had also a role in the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Mr. Hojatolesalm Khaz'ali and Hojatoleslam Musavi Tabrizi, the General Prosecutor of the Revolution."
The communiqué notes that all the other defendants were members and sympathizers of groups that it does not identify but refers to as “anti-people groups.” The charges against these groups, as specified in the communiqué, are as follows:
" [rising] against Islam and the Qur'an by participating in armed demonstrations and clashes with the Revolutionary Guards, imposing martyrdom on people who are faithful to the revolution, being present in safe houses, identifying and assassinating known clerics and state dignitaries, carrying arms and grenades to oppose defenseless people, taking action in order to blow up various centers, and being involved in armed carjacking and bank robberies."
Evidence of guilt
The statement issued by the Prosecutor’s Office does not contain information regarding the evidence provided against the defendant.
Defense
No information is available on the defendant’s defense.
Judgment
Based on the Public Prosecutor’s Office communiqué, Colonel Arbab was sentenced to death for being “rebellious against Islam”, “an enemy of God”, and “a corruptor on earth.” The sentence was carried out at dawn in the courtyard of the Prison.
His family was not notified of his execution and only learned about it through public media announcements (e-form).
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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: 1981-1988
Read about the conditions in which individuals were detained, tried and sentenced. Pre-trial detentions
The accused were held, sometimes without being charged, for months or years in overcrowded prisons. During their detention, prisoners of conscience, and in particular supporters of political opposition groups or members of religious or ethnic minorities, were routinely subject to physical and psychological torture. Interrogators used torture, authorized by the post-revolutionary law of Ta’zir (Discretionary Punishment Law), to obtain confessions of guilt or to induce repentance. The line between trial and interrogation was often blurred by the fact that the same individual would function as prosecutor, interrogator and judge.
Trials
Executed detainees may or may not have been tried formally. Prisoners of conscience were often tried through a summary process that might have lasted only a few minutes. When disclosed, charges facing the defendants were often vague or based on coerced confessions. Defendants had no access to attorneys, and they might not have been allowed to defend themselves.
Appeal processes
Convicts could not appeal their sentence and were often executed shortly after their conviction. Their execution was not necessarily announced.
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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 to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to change and manifest his or her religion or belief. UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 18.1, ICCPR, Article 18.2; Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Article 1 and Article 6.
In its general comment 22 (48) of 20 July 1993, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee observed that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one's religion or belief. Article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert.
The right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. UDHR, Article 19; ICCPR, Article 19.1 and ICCPR, Article 19.2.
The right to freedom of peaceful assembly. UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 21.
The right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his or her interests. UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 22.1.
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 his or her own choosing or the right to legal aid. The right to communicate with his or her 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, Article 14.3.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.
The right to have the decision rendered in public. ICCPR, Article 14.1.
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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