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

Akbar Dadkhah

About

Age: 16
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Shi'a)
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: October 16, 1981
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Participating in an anti-regime demonstration; Membership of anti-regime guerilla group; Living in safe houses

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Akbar Dadkhah, son of Azim, along with twenty-four others, was published in the (Kayhan) newspaper on October 19, 1981, quoting a statement by the Public Relations Office of the Central Islamic Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office. The defendant’s names and charges were published in this statement. Additional information is based on an electronic form sent to Omid by a person familiar with his case. This execution was also reported in an addendum to the (Mojahed) magazine (No. 261), published by the Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1985. The list includes 12,028 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.

According to the electronic form report, Mr. Akbar Dadkhah, 16, was an eighth-grade student and a sympathizer of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization.

International laws have strictly prohibited capital punishment against those who were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime. As a party to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has the obligation to avoid capital punishment for an offense committed before the age of eighteen.

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was founded in 1965. This organization adapted the principals 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 itsmembers were killed and other Muslim members purged, the organization proclaimed Marxism as its ideology. This move led to a 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

 According to the electronic form, Mr. Akbar Dadkhah was arrested for being a sympathizer of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization, in Tehran, during the summer of 1981. He was interrogated at the Evin prison, where his spinal cord was injured due to torture. Mr. Dadkhah was denied an attorney.  

Trial

According to the statement by the Public Relations Office of the Central Islamic Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Islamic Revolutionary Court had issued the ruling against Mr. Dadkhah and twenty-four others.  No information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

According to the Public Relations Office of the Central Islamic Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office, the charges against Mr. Akbar Dadkhah were announced as:   “making Molotov cocktails and participation in operational team activities; extensive activities in organizational teams and being present in team houses; and participation in street meetings and bloody clashes.” According to the electronic form, the charge against Mr. Dadkhah was his sympathy and his activity for the Mojahedin Khalq Organization.   

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial.

Evidence of guilt

According to the electronic form, the evidence provided against Mr. Dadkhah was possession of a pamphlet of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization.   

Defense

According to the electronic form, Mr. Dadkhah was denied an attorney. No information is available regarding his defense.

Judgment

The Central Islamic Revolutionary Court identified Mr. Akbar Dadkhah as Mofsed (corruptor on Earth) and condemned him to death. He was executed by firing squad in the Evin prison. According to the electronic form, the ruling was carried out on October 16, 1981, while he was in a wheelchair. Mr. Dadkhah was 16 years old. 

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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 fromFrance, they went toIraqand 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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