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

Ali Hajinejad

About

Age: 27
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Shi'a)
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: October 2, 1988
Location of Killing: Gohardasht Prison, Karaj, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Counter revolutionary offense

About this Case

Mr. Ali Hajinejad is one of 1000 people identified in a UN Human Rights Commission's Special Representative's Report, "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 1000 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."

Mr. Ali Hajinejad is also listed 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 PMIO websites.

Mr. Ali Hajinejad was born in Makan, a village close to Khoy. He was a college student, majoring in mathematics and was a PMIO sympathizer. He lost two brothers who were also PMIO sympathizers. The first one, Ahad, was killed during a fight with the Revolutionary Guards in the Tajrish square in Tehran on January 30, 1982. The second, Samad, was killed in a Mojahedin base on August 1, 1982.

Arrest and detention

According to the PMIO website, Mr. Hajinejad was arrested in the Enqelab square in Tehran in November 1981 and detained for seven years. His whereabouts during the first year of his imprisonment are still unknown. Afterwards, he was transferred to the Qezelhesar and then the Evin prisons where he had several visits with his family. In February, 1984, he was transferred to the Gohardasht prison, and after a month, he was denied any visitation. In November, 1985, his mother was allowed to visit him. But, in 1988 he was again denied any visitation. There was no news of him from that time until his execution.

According to the PMIO website, after nine months without any visitation, prison officials told his mother that "we haven’t made a human out of him yet!" and responding to the question of whether they had killed him or not, the officials said "maybe". His sister describes his visit with his mother in 1985: “The marks of torture were all over his body. He couldn't walk. He had lost his hair. He stared at his mother blankly and couldn't talk properly. He told his mother that he has been in solitary confinement for nine months and he was interrogated and tortured there. He tried to commit suicide several times, but they [the prison authorities] saved him each time.”

Trial

Mr. Hajinejad was tried and convicted to a prison term. There is no specific information about the trial. The 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 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 has been publicly levelled 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 PMOI'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 about the defendant’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 through a 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 claim of the authorities that these prisoners were able to engage with the political groups outside Iran.

Judgment

No specific information is available about the defendant’s execution. According to the PMIO website, Mr. Hajinejad was executed by a firing squad on October 2, 1988. The prison officials did not inform his family until December 3, 1988 when they gave his mother the news of his execution and some of his clothes.

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