Extrajudicial Killings Supported by Law and Islamic Jurisprudence

During the early part of the Pahlavi era, after its founding in 1925, the definition of assassinations acquired new meaning – when government opponents are murdered at the hands of forces suspected to be organised by the government or by forces with close government ties.

Mirzadeh Eshqi, poet and journalist, and one of the strong opponents of then Prime Minister (later Shah) Reza Khan. His critiques were met with bullets shot at him on 5 July 1924. However, it was never determined as to whose orders and agents carried out his murder.

Abdol-Hossein Taymourtash, Sheykh Khazal, Firouz Mirza Nosratoddoleh (the son of Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma), Hassan Modarres, Abdol-Hossein Diba, Mohammad Farkhi Yazdi and Taqi Arani (who contracted typhus while in custody), are all among those who met their death during the reign of the first Pahlavi king. They were all subjected to the wrath of the establishment and so no steps were taken to find their assassins.

However, during the reign of the second Pahlavi king, political assassinations assumed a different form. The administration under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi approached his critics in a different manner. This era resulted in a new form of political assassinations in Iranian society. Ahmad Kasravi was the first victim of this new form of assassination. His criticisms of Shia history did not appeal to the right wing clerics and so on 11 March 1940 the Muslim group, ‘Fadaiyan-e Islam’ put an end to his life.

With regards to the assassination of author and journalist, Mohammad Massoud in 1948 there are a range of theories and assumptions. Some see his death as another case of assassinated critics and dissents, while others view it as a case of change involving the inner circle.^[4]

Following the case of Kasravi, the Fadaiyan-e Islam were responsible for the assassination of two of Iran’s Prime Ministers, Abdol-Hossein Hajir in 1949and Haj Ali Razmara in 1951. During that period ‘revolutionary executions’ at the hands of this group were plotted and years later, despite the fact that this group was dismantled, laid the foundation for the assassination in 1965 of Hassan-Ali Mansour, another Iranian Prime Minister at the hands of the members of the related group the ‘Islamic Coalition’. Although the administration was not behind these acts, they can be considered as influential in the assassinations that took place following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Although the judicial system after the revolution did not provide for due process of the law – resulting in the execution of thousands of people, it also lead to assassinations beyond Iran’s borders. Perhaps the assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar, the last Prime Minister during the Pahlavi era, and the Mykonos group^[5] attack are among the most important. The similarities between their cases and the assassinations carried out the generation before by members of the Fadaiyan-e Islam lie in the lack of formal a death sentence or sentence in absentia by the Iranian legal system but which were instead carried out as extra judicial ‘revolutionary assassinations’. Since these acts are deemed as ‘religious duty’, the assassins are venerated by the Islamic Republic administration.^[6]

It was during this same era that other terrorist groups opposed to the new regime murdered Islamic Republic officials. However, since the revolution and formation of groups such as the Marxist-Islamic group ‘Forqan’ and the ‘People’s Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)’ claim to be Islamic and accordingly pursued their opposition to the revolutionary and religious authorities in the new administration.

It could be argued that death sentences issued by authorities based on the Islamic charge of ‘combatting against God’ have often resulted in the demise of the authorities that issue such sentences. Instances include cases as far back as that of the first Shia Imam and as recent as Forqan in relation to the Islamic Republic.^[7]

In reality the two sides of the coin are based on the construction of ‘the other’, a justification of the interpretation used to issue the sentence. Since the basis of the sentence is not ‘the law of the land’ but religious interpretation and beliefs, the issuing judge does not view himself as a representative of the administration but that of God. Therefore, as seen over the recent years, anyone can place one’s self in such position of judgment and call for death in the name of God and Islam.

As the revolutionary government consolidated its hold on power over time the assassinations carried out abroad came to a halt, leading to new forms of handling the opposition abroad. Assassinations that later became known as ‘chain murders, were among these. It is difficult to determine the exact date these murders began to take place but perhaps the 1988 murder of Dr Kazem Sami, the Minister of Health under the leadership of Prime Minister Bazargan was the starting point of the ‘chain murder’ of dissidents and critics of the Islamic Republic.

It is important to note since the beginning of the IRI the murders were blamed on forces outside the circle forming the state. During his address Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Chair of the Parliament at the time, stated: ‘We strongly ask the intelligence and security forces to investigate this suspicious death, as it appears to stem from evil causes’.^[8]

In later years, cultural figures and thinkers became targets, including the case of Ali Akbar Saeidi Sirjani. He was known for his prose and poetry, however, his famous letter to Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, began a new chapter in his public popularity.^[9] In his second letter to the Supreme Leader he writes: ‘Mr Khamenei, I was saddened to hear your chiding communication read by Mr Saberi^[10]. Not because I am the subject of the anger of that esteemed authority and his imminent punishment at the hands of the people of Hezbollah, as death in the path of defence of truth is martyrdom and we pray for martyrdom.’

Sirjani was arrested some time later and died in custody within months with no rights to communication or visitation. However, years later, his forced confessions were broadcast as part of the television programme called ’Identity’.

Similar assassinations involving Mohammad Jafar Pooyandeh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Parvaneh Eskandari, Darioush Forouhar and a number of other cultural and political figures continued. Eventually, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Intelligence on 6 January 1999, during the presidency of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, these acts were blamed on a number of ‘unknown, deceitful and independent’^[11] colleagues in the Ministry.

In addition to their numbers, an important factor regarding the ‘chain murders’ revolved around their religious nature. In reality, none of the victims were tried in a court of any kind. Based on some of the documents^[12] and admissions of the main culprit in this case – Saeed Emami – all the deaths were carried out following the judgement of apostasy issued by certain Shia clerics. Emami emphasises: ‘Although Fallahian^[13] was an Islamic jurist, often in sensitive cases he would not personally issue the death sentence against apostates. Instead, he would obtain them from Ayatollahs Khoshvaght, Mesbah, Khazali, Jannati and at times from Hojjatol Islam Mohseni Ejjei and hand them to us’.^[14]

What happened during this era was an amalgamation of politics, religion and state-sponsored terrorism, where in previous years these would have acted separately and in contradiction of the other. In effect, the Islamic Republic carried out these murders as either execution without due process of law, or an assassination based on religious edict alone.

On the other hand, four decades after the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Courts bear no signs of departure from a political system that stems from revolutionary and illegal processes, and through both obvious and covert manners advances its agenda of extrajudicial killings.

If we look at the definition of execution or extrajudicial killings, as acts ‘carried out by or on behalf of government officials in an illegal or independent manner without court order’ then we reach a conclusion that resonates with the Islamic Republic’s record over the recent years. This includes execution orders issued in unfair trials based on charges of ‘apostasy’ or assassinations carried out on the grounds of a religious judgement.