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

Esma'il Zolqadr

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: September, 1988
Location of Killing: Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Counter revolutionary offense; Apostasy

About this Case

Mr. Esma'il Zolqadr is one of 1,000 people identified in the 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 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 as well as 11 mollahs were also said to be among the alleged victims."

Additional information about Mr. Zolqadr is taken from the book The Tudeh Martyrs, copyright 2001 by The Tudeh Party of Iran publications. He was a member of the Tudeh Party who had been condemned to life imprisonment during the previous regime. With the start of the revolution, he was released and began his activities with the Tudeh Party as a member of its Political Bureau and in charge of the Party’s treasury.

The Tudeh Party of Iran was created in 1941. The Tudeh's ideology was Marxist-Leninist and it supported policies of the former Soviet Union. The Tudeh Party played a major role in Iran's political scene until it was banned for the second time following the August 19, 1953 coup. After the 1979 Revolution, the Tudeh Party declared the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic regime revolutionaries and anti-imperialists and actively supported the new government. Although the Tudeh Party never opposed the Islamic Republic, it became the target of its attacks beginning in 1982 when most of the Party's leaders and members were imprisoned.

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known. Mr. Zolqadr was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards on February 6, 1983.

Trial

Mr. Esma'il Zolqadr was tried and condemned to life imprisonment. There is no information about the trial. Also, there is no specific information about the circumstances of such trials that condemned this defendant and thousands of other political prisoners to death in a few months period.

The relatives of political prisoners executed in 1988 refuted 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 argued that the official secrecy surrounding these executions is proof of their illegality. They noted 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 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

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 guerrilla forces 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, over 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.

It is possible that the prisoners who were members of organizations other than the Mojahedin Khalq were charge for being "anti religious" and were condemned for insisting on their beliefs.

Judgment

No specific information is available about the defendant’s execution. According to the book, Mr. Zolqadr was hanged during the mass killings of political prisoners in September of 1988.

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