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

Abolfazl Forughi

About

Nationality: Unknown
Religion: Unknown
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: December, 2008
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Extrajudicial shooting

About this Case

Information regarding the death of Mr. Abolfazl Forughi was published on the websites of Committee of Human Rights Reporters (December 10, 2008) and Human Rights Activists in Iran (October 12, 2007).

Mr. Forughi was married and had kids. He was once arrested in Tehran by the safety and security officers along with a plan called “promoting the society’s security*” and was shortly released on bail.

Background of Extrajudicial Killings by the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of politically motivated violence in Iran and around the world. Since the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic operatives inside and outside the country have engaged in kidnapping, disappearing, and killing a large number of individuals whose activities they deemed undesirable. The actual number of the victims of extrajudicial killings inside Iran is not clear; however, these murders began in February 1979 and have continued since then, both inside and outside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has so far identified over 540 killings outside Iran attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dissidents have been assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Pakistan in Asia; Dubai, Iraq, and Turkey in the Middle East; Cyprus, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain in Europe; and the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. In most cases there has not been much published and the local authorities have not issued arrest warrants. But documentation, evidence, and traces obtained through investigations conducted by local police and judicial authorities confirm, however, the theory of state committed crimes. In certain cases, these investigations have resulted in the expulsion or arrest of Iranian diplomats. In limited cases outside Iran, the perpetrators of these murders have been arrested and put on trial and the evidence presented, revealed the defendants’ connection to Iran’s government institutions, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Iran’s Minister of Information.

The manner in which these killings were organized and implemented in Iran and abroad, is indicative of a single pattern which, according to Roland Chatelin, the Swiss prosecutor, contains common parameters and detailed planning. It can be ascertained from the similarities between these murders in different countries that the Iranian government is the principal entity who ordered the implementation of these crimes. Iranian authorities have not officially accepted responsibility for these murders and have even attributed their commission to internal strife in opposition groups. Nevertheless, since the very inception of the Islamic Republic regime, the Islamic Republic officials have justified these crimes from an ideological and legal standpoint. In the spring of 1979, Sadeq Khalkhali, the first Chief Shari’a Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, officially announced the regime’s decision to implement extrajudicial executions, and justified the decision: “ … These people have been sentenced to death; from the Iranian people’s perspective, if someone wants to assassinate these individuals abroad, in any country, no government has any right to bring the perpetrator to trial as a terrorist, because such a person is the implementing agent of the sentence issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Therefore, they are Mahduroddam and their sentence is death regardless of where they are.” More than 10 years after these proclamations, in a speech about the security forces’ success, Ali Fallahian, the regime’s Minister of Information stated the following regarding the elimination of members of the opposition: “ … We have had success in inflicting damage to many of these little groups outside the country and on our borders”

At the same time, various political, judicial, and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have, at different times and occasions, confirmed the existence of a long term government policy for these extrajudicial killings and in some cases their implementation.**

Mr. Forughi’s Death

According to available information, Police forces shot Mr. Abolfazl Forughi dead in a street in Tehran in 2008. 

Officials’ Reaction

After Mr. Forughi’s death, security forces announced: “they have killed him on the run as he ignored the Police’ command to stop.” (The Committee of Human Rights Reporters)

Family’s Reaction

There is no information available on the reaction of the family on Mr. Forughi’s death.

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*In early May 2007, a series of Police operation called “Promoting Social Security Plan” was implemented throughout the country and in particular in Tehran by the security forces. The plan had four stages including “fight against improper head covering [by women]”, “collect high risk addicts [from streets]”, “deal with thugs”, and “deal with improper head coverings of women in private companies”. Implementation of this plan caused series of protests both internally and internationally. During “deal with thugs” stage, masked officers of the law enforcement would break into people’s houses towards the end of the night and arrest who they would call as "thugs", beat them harshly, and violate their dignity. Officers would hang water containers [used in toilets] to their necks, published their photos on media, and took them on a tour around the city while forced them to shout that they were wrong. Officers would then take the arrested people to Kahrizak detention center where they experienced an overwhelming, intolerable condition. The unhygienic and inhuman condition within the camp and the severity of the tortures and treatments with the arrestees were too much that at least 10 of these people lost their lives in Kahrizak according to unofficial statistics. (Committee of Human Rights Reporters)
** Read more about the background of extrajudicial killings in the Islamic Republic of Iran by clicking on the left hand highlight with the same title.

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