Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Ma'sumeh Barazandeh

About

Age: 20
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Shi'a)
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: September, 1988
Location of Killing: Gachsaran, Kohgiluyeh-va Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Counter revolutionary offense; Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech; War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam

About this Case

Ms. Ma'sumeh Barazandeh is among 3,208 members and sympathizers of the People's Mojahedin of Iran Organization (PMIO) whose execution was reported by the organization in a book entitled Crime Against Humanity. This book documents the 1988-89 mass execution of political prisoners. Additional information was drawn from the Bidaran and the People’s Mojahedin Organization websites.

Ms. Ma'sumeh Barazandeh is one of 1,000 people identified in a UN Human Rights Commission's Special Representative's Report titled, "Names and particulars of persons allegedly executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran during the period July-December 1988," published January 26, 1989. The report specifies that although 1,000 names are mentioned, "in all probability" there were several thousand victims. "Most of the alleged victims were members of the Mojahedin. However, members of the Tudeh Party, People's Fedaiyan Organization, Rahe Kargar, and Komala Organization and 11 mollahs were also said to be among the alleged victims."

Ms. Ma'sumeh Barazandeh was born in Gachsaran (Do Gonbadan). She was a high school student and a sympathizer of the People's Mojahedin of Iran Organization. According to the Mojahedin website, she was a messenger, as well as responsible for helping pass Mojahedin sympathizers across the Iran/Iraq border.

Arrest and detention

There is no specific information on the defendant’s arrest and detention. Ms. Ma'sumeh Barazandeh was arrested during her third passage across the Iran/Iraq border in 1988 and was transferred to “Do Gonbadan”. According to the Mojahedin website, she was tortured severely for three months, as a result of which, she couldn’t walk and had to use her hands to move around.

Trial

The circumstances that led to this defendant's execution are unknown. However, relatives of political prisoners executed in 1988 refute the legality of the judicial process that resulted in thousands of executions throughout Iran. In their 1988 open letter to then Minister of Justice Dr. Habibi, they argue that the official secrecy surrounding these executions is the proof of their illegality. They note that an overwhelming majority of these prisoners had been tried and sentenced to prison terms, which they were either serving or had already completed serving at the time they were retried and sentenced to death.

Charges

No charge was publicly leveled against the defendant. In their letters to the Minister of Justice (1988), and to the UN Special Rapporteur visiting Iran (February 2003), the families of the victims refer to the authorities' accusations against the prisoners; accusations that may have led to their execution. These accusations include being "counter-revolutionary, anti-religion, and anti-Islam," as well as being "associated with military action or with various [opposition] groups based near the borders."

An edict of the Leader of the Islamic Republic, reproduced in the memoirs of Ayatollah Montazeri, his designated successor, corroborates the reported claims regarding the charges against the executed prisoners. In this edict, Ayatollah Khomeini refers to the PMIO's members as "hypocrites" who do not believe in Islam and "wage war against God" and decrees that prisoners who still approve of the positions taken by this organization are also "waging war against God" and should be sentenced to death.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution contains no evidence provided against the defendant.

Defence

No information is available on Ms. Barazandeh's defence. In their open letter, the families of the prisoners note that defendants were not given the opportunity to defend themselves in court. Against the assertion that prisoners were associated with guerrillas operating near the borders, the families submit the isolation of their relatives from the outside during their detention: "Our children lived in most difficult conditions. Visits were limited to 10 minutes behind a glass divider via telephone every two weeks. We witnessed during the past seven years that they were denied access to anything that would have allowed them to establish contacts outside their prisons' walls." Under such conditions the families reject the authorities’ claim that these prisoners were able to engage with the political groups outside Iran.

Judgment

No specific information is available about this execution. Ms. Barazandeh was hanged in the main square of Gachsaran in 1988.

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