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

Mahbubeh Mortazi

About

Age: 20
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: October 5, 1981
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam; Participating in armed demonstrations; Armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic; Fighting against the revolution/blocking the path of God; Corruption on earth

About this Case

The news of the execution of Ms. Mahbubeh Mortazi, 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.

Ms. Mortazi (Mojahedin Khalq Iran) is also one of the 12028 individuals listed in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1985. The list includes 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.

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.”

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was founded in 1965. This organization adapted the principles of Islam as its ideological guideline. However, its members’ interpretation of Islam was revolutionary and they believed in armed struggle against the Shah’s regime. They valued Marxism as a progressive method for economic and social analysis but considered Islam as their source of inspiration, culture, and ideology. In the 1970s, the MKO was weakened when many of its members were imprisoned and executed. In 1975, following a deep ideological crisis, the organization refuted Islam as its ideology and, after a few of its members were killed and other Muslim members purged, the organization proclaimed Marxism as its ideology. This move led to split of the Marxist-Leninist Section of the MKO in 1977. In January of 1979, the imprisoned Muslim leaders of the MKO were released along with other political prisoners. They began to re-organize the MKO and recruit new members based on Islamic ideology. After the 1979 Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the MKO accepted the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini and supported the Revolution. Active participation in the political scene and infiltration of governmental institutions were foremost on the organization’s agenda. During the first two years after the Revolution, the MKO succeeded in recruiting numerous sympathizers, especially in high schools and universities; but its efforts to gain political power, either by appointment or election, were strongly opposed by the Islamic Republic leaders. *

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known.

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 accused’s defense.

Judgment

Based on the Public Prosecutor’s Office communiqué, the defendant 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.

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*The exclusion of MKO members from government offices and the closure of their centers and publishing houses, in conjunction with to the Islamic Republic authorities’ different interpretation of Islam, widened the gap between the two. Authorities of the new regime referred to the Mojahedin as “Hypocrites” and the Hezbollahi supporters of the regime attacked the Mojahedin sympathizers regularly during demonstrations and while distributing publications, leading to the death of several MKO supporters. On June 20, 1981, the MKO called for a demonstration protesting their treatment by governmental officials and the government officials’ efforts to impeach their ally, President Abolhassan Banisadr. Despite the fact that the regime called this demonstration illegal, thousands came to the streets, some of whom confronted the Revolutionary Guardsmen and Hezbollahis. The number of casualties that resulted from this demonstration is unknown but a large number of demonstrators were arrested and executed in the following days and weeks. The day after the demonstration, the Islamic Republic regime started a repressive campaign – unprecedented in modern Iranian history. Thousands of MKO members and sympathizers were arrested or executed. On June 21, 1981, the MKO announced an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic and assassinated a number of high-ranking officials and supporters of the Islamic regime. 

In the summer of 1981, the leader of the MKO and the impeached President (Banisadr) fled Iran to reside in France, where they founded the National Council of Resistance. After the MKO leaders and many of its members were expelled from France, they went to Iraq and founded the National Liberation Army of Iran in 1987, which entered Iranian territory a few times during the Iran-Iraq war. They were defeated in July 1988 during their last operation, the Forugh Javidan Operation. A few days after this operation, thousands of imprisoned Mojahedin supporters were killed during the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. Ever since the summer of 1981, the MKO has continued its activities outside of Iran. No information is available regarding members and activities of the MKO inside the country.  

In spite of the “armed struggle” announcement by the MKO on June 20, 1981, many sympathizers of the organization had no military training, were not armed, and did not participate in armed conflict.

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