11 years to deny justice: Iranian court rejects legal compensation to family of murder victim killed for his Baha’i beliefs

Source: bic.org

Geneva—21 November 2024—Eleven years ago Ataollah Rezvani, a Baha’i man in Iran, was brutally murdered in his car for being a member of Iran’s largest religious minority, the Baha’i Faith. He was shot in the back of his head in a premeditated assassination-style attack—and after enduring months of physical threats against him. Mr. Rezvani, a father of two, was 52 years old when he was found dead in his car on 22 August, 2013, near the Bandar Abbas train station in Hormozgan province.

Eleven years on, a ruling was finally handed down on 22 October, 2024, by Branch 1 of the Criminal Court in Hormozgan, confirming at last that Mr. Rezvani was in fact the victim of a premeditated murder.

The ruling added that the alleged perpetrator is now deceased, thereby acknowledging that the authorities knew the killer’s identity, even though the individual was never charged and convicted. The court ruling, however, denied the Rezvani family the justice they sought by rejecting their claim to financial compensation for the murder, stating specifically that the justification for the denial is because he was a Baha’i.

Relatives of murder victims in Iran have the right, under Iranian law, to claim financial compensation from perpetrators or, if the perpetrator is either unknown or deceased, from the state.

The court ruling comes as Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, appeared online repeating the same old tired and threadbare claims that the Islamic Republic respects the rights of religious minorities.

The Baha’i International Community (BIC) said at the time that the murder was religiously motivated and called on the Iranian government to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice. Numerous international governments and civil society groups also condemned the killing when it was first reported and urged the Iranian government to pursue the case.

Mr. Rezvani was a much-loved and notable local Baha’i with a record of social service activities in the Bandar Abbas area. The HRANA human rights news organization reported in 2021 that Mr. Rezvani’s murder may have been carried out by agents of intelligence and security agencies acting on behalf of regional officials who were displeased with Mr. Rezvani’s services to the local population.

“Ataollah Rezvani should never have been murdered. But once he was, his murderer should have faced a harsh sentence for his premeditated act,” said Simin Fahandej, BIC Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “Mr. Rezvani was killed because he was a Baha’i—in exactly the kind of attack that happens when a government saturates a society with hate speech targeting a minority such as the Baha’is.”

Ataollah Rezvani’s widow and children have sought justice for the unconscionable murder of their father for over a decade. After years of attempts to seek closure in the case by pushing for investigations, court hearings and restitution—and after resisting pressure from the authorities to drop their case and claims. This latest court ruling makes clear the reason for the years of legal obfuscation—he was a Baha’i.

“Think about this: a Baha’i is murdered for his faith,” Ms. Fahandej said. “His family seeks justice, but the justice they seek is denied to them, again because of their faith. What message is the Iranian government sending to its people? Is this not explicitly devaluing the humanity of its citizens? Their lives and their very existence? And does it not say, yet again, that violence against Baha’is can occur with impunity?”

“The government has inflicted a double injustice on an innocent family,” Ms. Fahandej added. “First, by failing to investigate the murder of Ataollah Rezvani, a father and husband, who was killed for his faith, and then by denying his family justice and legal compensation, again because of their beliefs. To lose a loved one to such hatred is devastating enough: to then face a justice system that dehumanizes you because of your beliefs is a second and even crueller wound.”

The court order stated that “considering … the victim belonged to the sect of Bahaism” and “in accordance with the Article 13 of the Constitution, Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are the only recognised religious minorities that are within the limits of the law … and the sect of Bahaism is excepted from inclusion in this Article of the Constitution … the court rules to reject the request of the [plaintiffs] for payment of blood money [financial compensation] from public funds.”

The ruling offers fresh evidence of the way in which the persecution of the Iranian Baha’i community is institutionalised within Iranian law—which excludes Baha’is in all areas of life and makes it impossible for Baha’is to seek justice or assert human rights claims through the Islamic Republic’s legal system.

By stating in writing that the reason for blocking the family’s legal right to financial compensation for the murder is their religious beliefs, the Islamic Republic has again confirmed its systematic policy to suppress and persecute Iran’s Baha’is.

“The court’s ruling reminds us that the persecution of Baha’is is entrenched in Iranian law—which allows crimes against Baha’is to take place with complete impunity,” Ms. Fahandej said. “We can see that the lives of Baha’is are worth less to the Islamic Republic than the lives of others. And Baha’is enjoy none of the rights that Iran’s constitution guarantees for other citizens.”

Reports emerged over the years showing that, rather than pursuing the murder case, local officials procrastinated and attempted to sabotage investigations—and ignored the efforts of family and friends of Mr. Rezvani to bring the case to court. A first trial was dismissed, and the latest ruling follows a 2021 order for a retrial.

“What kind of a justice system believes it is just to turn a blind eye to a premeditated and unprovoked murder of an innocent man for his faith?” Ms. Fahandej said. “What kind of law enforcement institutions not only allow and sanction murder, but fail to investigate it, and fail to bring charges against the killer? And what kind of a court looks at a family’s 11-year quest for justice—with an acknowledged murder, with an identified murderer—and decides that the religious beliefs of the victim’s family are sufficient grounds to deny them their due?”

“Iran’s judiciary should reverse this obscene ruling without delay—and allow Mr. Rezvani’s family the dignity of at least acknowledging Mr. Rezavani’s life, in terms of compensation, more than a decade after his tragic loss,” Ms. Fahandej added. “Here is a clear message that violence against Baha’is is sanctioned, their suffering ignored, and their lives rendered invisible in the eyes of the state. Such institutionalised cruelty should alarm every defender of human rights.”

Murder of Ataollah Rezvani: a timeline

• August 24, 2013: Ataollah Rezvani, a well-known Baha’i resident of Bandar Abbas, Iran, was found dead in his car near the city’s railway station. He had been shot in the back of the head.
• August 25, 2013: The Baha’i World News Service reported on Mr. Rezvani’s murder, highlighting concerns that the crime was religiously motivated due to his faith.
• August 27, 2013: The Baha’i International Community issued a statement urging Iranian authorities to investigate Rezvani’s murder thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice.
• September 2013: Governments and human rights organizations condemned the murder and called for an impartial investigation.
• October 2013: Reports emerged that judicial authorities were attempting to close the investigation into Mr. Rezvani’s murder without identifying or prosecuting the perpetrators.
• August 2016: Three years after the murder, Justice for Iran published a report criticising the lack of progress in the investigation and the ongoing pressure faced by Mr. Rezvani’s family.
• April 2021: After eight years of legal obstacles and delays, the murder case was referred to Branch 6 of the Bandar Abbas Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office for retrial.
• October 2024: Branch 1 of the Criminal Court of Hormozgan province confirmed that Mr. Rezvani’s murder was intentional but denied his family financial compensation and cited their Baha’i beliefs as the reason.