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

Mansur Arvand (Arwand)

About

Age: 39
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: May 27, 2015
Location of Killing: Miandoab, Azarbaijan-e Gharbi Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Unspecified execution method
Charges: War on God; Membership of anti-regime guerilla group

About this Case

Mansur Arvand, a well-known athlete from Mahabad, was very proud to be a Kurd and always wore Kurdish clothing.

News of Mr. Mansur Arvand’s execution was published by numerous sources including Kurdistan Democratic Party Website (June 15, 2015), HRANA (June 15, 2015), Voice of America (June 16, 2015), Rooz Online (June 16, 2015), and BBC Persian (June 18, 2015). Additional information was obtained from an interview conducted by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation with his brother, Mr. Ebrahim Arwand (ABF Interview), and from other sources.*

Mr. Mansur Arvand was a young Kurd and a well-known athlete from the [city of] Mahabad. He had a high school diploma, was married with two children, ages 16 and 7. In 2002-03, Mr. Arvand established the “Javanmardan” bodybuilding club in Mahabad, and in 2010-11, opened an expanded new location in the city center. He also owned a paint and industrial tools store. In the course of his career as an athlete, he obtained two national titles in wrestling – including 1stplace in the national wrestling competition in the [city of] Khorramabad in 1996-97 – and six bodybuilding titles – including 2ndplace in [the city of] Tabriz bodybuilding competition in 2006-7. (ABF Interview)

According to Mr. Arvand’s brother, he was very proud to be a Kurd and always wore [traditional] Kurdish clothing. He was upset to see young Kurds being drawn to drugs, and in order to prevent that, he had registered a large number of the city’s youth at his club for free. He resisted his brother’s insistence on leaving in Iran and traveling to Europe, and believed that providing young people with sports facilities was the least he good do to combat the spread of drug addiction. He was adamant about respecting women’s rights and strived for equal rights for women. His club’s morning shift, for instance, was reserved for women, and even though it wasn’t making a lot of money, he charged women half the normal fee in order to encourage them to get into sports. (ABF Interview)

Prior to his arrest, he was summoned and questioned on two occasions by Information Administration agents, including the time in March-April 2011 when he had been summoned to Mahabad Information News Headquarters and questioned about why he was allowing young people to use his sports facility without expecting financial gain. He had also been chastised for playing Kurdish music at the club, wearing Kurdish clothes, and objecting to and confronting people who distributed drugs among the youth. (ABF Interview)

Mr. Arvand had been a secret member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Mahabad since 2004-5. (Kurdistan Democratic Party Bulletin, June 15, 2015). In prison, he read, and was learning English. His reading materials consisted of books other prisoners had brought into jail. (ABF Interview)

The issuance and implementation of Mr. Arvand’s sentence was followed by reactions and protests. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (June 15, 2015) and the National Resistance Council (June 16, 2015) issued bulletins and objected to his execution. Protest meetings against his execution were also held in certain European cities, including Hamburg and Koln.

Arrest and detention

At midnight of June 11, 2011, Mr. Arvand and his brother were arrested at their home in Mahabad by a large number of armed Information Ministry agents - who did not produce an arrest warrant - and taken to Mahabad Information Administration Detention Center. According to his brother, Mr. Arvand was beaten, and his father and his family were gravely insulted during the arrest. In addition to his house, his sports club and his store were also searched and officially shut down that night without anyone from the family being present. His younger brother was released two weeks later but Mr. Arvand remained in the custody of security forces. After one month, the store and the sports club were allowed to be reopened and were turned over to the family, only to be shut down again two weeks later, and this time, permanently. (ABF Interview)

Based on available information, he spent at least two weeks in Mahabad Information Administration Detention Center solitary confinement, and was subsequently transferred to [the city of] Orumieh Information Administration Detention Center, and ultimately to a detention center in Tehran. The precise date of his transfer is not available. During the four months he spent in solitary confinement cells of the Information Administration Detention Centers, he was deprived of the right to contact his family and access to an attorney. It was only on October 5, 2011, after four months, that the Information forces allowed him to contact his family for one minute and inform them of his transfer back to Mahabad.

One week after this contact, Mr. Arvand’s family was allowed to visit with him for a few minutes for the first time, and in the presence of security agents. According to his brother, he had gone from 230 pounds to 130 pounds and the family could not recognize him. His lower jaw, his nose, and 5 or 6 of his teeth had been broken and he could not speak properly. Three of his left hand’s fingers had no nails (“they had extracted his nails”) and there was fungus around his eyes caused by continuous blindfolding. His hands had a severe tremor. He was not, however, able to explain his condition because of the security situation there. (ABF Interview)

During the four months he spent in solitary confinement cells of the Information Administration Detention Centers, he was deprived of the right to contact his family and access to an attorney. It was only on October 5, 2011, after four months, that the Information forces allowed him to contact his family for one minute and inform them of his transfer back to Mahabad.

According to Mr. Arvand’s brother, and based on information obtained from Mr. Arvand [himself] during visitations, as well as from his prison mates, he had been continually subjected to physical and psychological torture during his detention at Mahabd and Tehran Information Administration detention centers. In Orumieh Information Administration Detention Center, for instance, he had been hanged by his hands and feet for extended periods, and had been placed under a cold shower that dripped cold water on his head for long hours, and after a while he had gone into convulsions and was shaking for one or two months. He had been tortured with electric shockers and by electric current on numerous occasions. One time he had become unconscious after receiving electric shock at the Orumieh Information Administration Detention Center, and had remained motionless and unresponsive in a corner for nine days, while his cellmate would drip water in his mouth using cotton balls. During this entire time, [all the officials did was] have a security agent check his pulse to make sure he was alive. One of his teeth had been broken due to the pressure of torture from being attached to an electric current. (ABF Interview)

Pressure on Mr. Arvand to force him to confess continued even after he was transferred to Tehran. Finally, after being threatened with the arrest, persecution, and rape of his daughter and family, he succumbed to making a false confession in an interview with Press TV (the Islamic republic’s English language network). These admissions were broadcast on the network in the summer of 2012.

The security agents continued to exert pressure even after Mr. Arvand’s confession and issuance of a sentence. They transferred him from general prison to the Information detention center several times in order to force him to confess to working with other groups as well. They told him, for instance, to confess that he had contacts with Abdolmalek Rigui in Sistan and Baluchistan Province. After a mass objection by Orumieh prisoners to Mr. Habib Golparipur’s sudden execution, Mr. Arvand was transferred to Orumieh Information Administration Detention Center solitary confinement one last time. (ABF Interview)

Mr. Arvand was transferred to Mahabad General Prison in November –December 2011, and to Orumieh General Prison in April-May 2012. He was deprived of the rights regular prisoners enjoyed, such as regular weekly visits and regular phone calls, even in general prison. His family was hardly even allowed to see their son once in a while. He had developed kidney and respiratory problems due to the pressure he sustained at the detention centers as well as lack of medical attention. On November 29, 2014, he was transferred back to Mahabad Prison once again where he remained until May 7, 2015.

Trial

On June 12, 2012, Mahabad Islamic Revolutionary Court tried Mr. Arvand in a closed session, taking stringent security measures. Prior to that, in the previous winter, and in an unusual move, the trial judge had gone to Mahabad Prison and had conducted a session in prison with Mr. Arvand present. According to his brother, even Mr. Arvand’s court-appointed attorney, Mr. Abed Kashefi was not present at trial. Mr. Arvand never met his court-appointed lawyer. No other information is available on the trial session. (ABF Interview)

Charges

Mr. Arvand was charged with “Moharebeh (“waging war with God”), Efsad Fel-Arz (“spreading corruption on earth”), and cooperating with the Kurdistan Democratic Party terrorist group.” (ABF Interview)

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 Mr. Arvand’s brother, his forced confessions and the security agents’ claim that they had discovered “sacks containing weapons and Kurdistan Democratic Party bulletins [and brochures],” constituted the basis for the sentence. No further information is available on evidence presented at trial.

One year after Mr. Arvand’s arrest, a documentary entitled “Daricheh, Zamani Baraye Khianat” (“Portal, A Time for Betrayal”) was broadcast on Press TV (Islamic Republic’s English Language television network), in the second part of which, Mr. Arvand made certain statements regarding two sacks containing arms and bulletins, and about his telephone conversations with an unknown individual. (YouTube, March 17, 2013).

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its systematic use of severe torture and solitary confinement to obtain confessions from detainees and have questioned the authenticity of confessions obtained under duress. In the case of political detainees, these confessions are, at times, televised. The National Television broadcasts confessions during which prisoners plead guilty to vague and false charges, repent and renounce their political beliefs, and/or implicate others. Human rights organizations have also pointed to the pattern of retracted confessions by those prisoners who are freed.

Mr. Arvand had protested the pressures and torture inflicted upon him when he appeared before the judge, and had shown him the torture marks on his back and his abdomen, as well as his broken teeth. The judge had responded by saying “the interrogators know their job, you must come to an agreement with them.”

Defense

Based on available information, Mr. Arvand was not given the opportunity for an effective defense. According to his brother, he did not accept the charges and had denied them. Mr. Arvand’s family had tried to introduce Mr. Saleh Nikbakht as his attorney but the Information Administration had not allowed it. Mr. Arvand never even met his court-appointed lawyer. In response to Mr. Arvand’s father’s follow-ups with the court-appointed attorney, the latter had denied any responsibility, saying that [the reason for] his presence there was solely to be notified of and receive official letters [and communications]. (ABF Interview)

According to Mr. Arvand’s brother, he had protested the pressures and torture inflicted upon him when he appeared before the judge, and had shown him the torture marks on his back and his abdomen, as well as his broken teeth. The judge had responded by saying “the interrogators know their job, you must come to an agreement with them.” In a visit with his family, Mr. Arvand had told them that the confessions broadcast on Press TV were made under tremendous pressure and threats of arrest and rape of his daughter, and had entirely denied the confessions. Search of Mr. Arvand’s place of work was conducted without family members; the claim of “discovery of a sack containing Democratic Party bulletins and weapons” had been made when the store and the club were officially reopened [by the authorities] and turned over to the family. Two weeks later, however, they shut them again permanently, with the new claim of discovering weapons and bulletins. (ABF Interview)

On November 29, 2014, Orumieh Prison officials verbally informed Mr. Arvand that his death sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment, and he was waiting to receive the revocation of his sentence in writing. According to his family, the Revolutionary Court Branch One judge had assured them that they could appeal the sentence twice; they had not, however, been informed that the death sentence had been upheld by the Supreme Court. (ABF Interview)

A Summary of the Defects of Mr. Mansur Arvand’s Legal Proceedings

Based on interviews conducted by the Boroumand Foundation with individuals with information, Mansur Arvand was under the harshest forms of physical and mental torture. He was forced to confess because of the torture and the threats made by security agents, whereas, under Iranian law, torture and duress of the defendant is illegal and considered a crime, and confessions obtained in this manner are without credence and legal value. Principle 38 of the Iranian Constitution, as well as certain domestic laws and international instruments to which Iran is a signatory, specifically so state, and go as far as to consider obtaining a confession through torture a crime and the perpetrators, criminals. Principle 38 of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Constitution provides in this regard: “All forms of torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information are forbidden. Compulsion of individuals to testify, confess, or take an oath is not permissible; and any testimony, confession, or oath obtained under duress is devoid of value and credence. Violators of this article shall be punished in accordance with the law.” Like the Constitution, the law for Respecting Legitimate Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizens Rights, Paragraph 9 also provides: “All forms of torture of the defendant for the purpose of extracting confession or forcing him/her to do other acts are forbidden and confessions obtained in this way are devoid of legal and religious credence.” Therefore, not only was the security agents’ actions in torturing the late Arvand a crime, but any confession and admission so obtained was without value and legal credence. Given that signs of torture were perfectly visible on the late Arvand’s body, it was necessary for the adjudicating judicial authorities to follow up on the issue and declare the confessions void. In other words, issuing a sentence based on his confessions was without legal merit.

According to persons close to the late Arvand, he was deprived of his right to an attorney from the time of his arrest until the close of the proceedings. Judicial authorities simply appointed an attorney for show, who hadn’t the slightest role in the proceedings, and was not even present at the trial sessions conducted in prison. Judicial authorities also prevented the Arvand family to retain and introduce an attorney. This, while, pursuant to Iranian laws, any defendant can have an attorney at all stages of the case and in crimes that carry the death penalty, an attorney’s presence is mandatory in order to defend the defendant. Pursuant to the Law on the Rules of Criminal Procedure for General and Revolutionary Courts, Note 1 to Article 186, “If in crimes for which the law has mandated the punishments of Qesas of life, execution, stoning, and life imprisonment, the defendant does not personally introduce an attorney, it is mandatory that a court-appointed attorney be designated.” This provision most certainly means for the defendant to have access to and make use of the services of a lawyer. In this case we are witnessing that the judicial authorities have appointed an attorney solely for the purpose of observing legal formalities and just for show, when this attorney never had a meeting with his client and was not present at trial. In other words, the defendant made no use of an attorney’s services. These actions of the judicial authorities were against the law and issuing a sentence without an attorney’s presence at trial is utterly illegal.

The late Arvand’s secret execution is another thing that was done in violation of Iranian law. Based on the statements of the late Mansur Arvand’s family, the judicial authorities executed Mansur Arvand without informing his attorney and his family, did not turn his body over to his family, and buried it in an unknown place. Not only were these actions by the judicial authorities illegal, but they are cause for reflection. What was the reason this execution was carried out in secret? Why wasn’t the body turned over to his family but was instead buried in an unknown place? How can one be sure that he was actually executed?

There are illegal actions in this case, including arrest without a warrant, search without a court order, destruction of a sports facility property, confiscation or seizure of property not connected to the charge, closure of the sports facility, not taking inventory of the seized property, not returning seized property and documents, limiting the right of visitation with the family, preventing medical treatment when there was an immediate need for care, and prohibiting the family to have a wake for the deceased.

Judgment

Mahabad Islamic Revolutionary Court Branch One issued Mr. Arvand’s death sentence on June 12, 2012, the same day the trial took place. The decision was sent to Supreme Court Branch 14 for approval. On November 29, 2014, Orumieh Prison’s Information Protection official verbally informed Mr. Arvand that his death sentence had been reduced to life imprisonment. His court-appointed lawyer had also been informed that his client’s death sentence had been revoked and that he would soon receive notification. (ABF Interview)

Mr. Arvand’s execution was carried out in secret and in violation of Sentence Implementation Guidelines, including the right to a last visitation. Mr. Arvand’s body was not turned over to his family, nor were his possessions. He was buried in an undisclosed location by security agents.

On May 7, 2015, concurrent with popular demonstrations protesting Mahabad’s Tara Hotel incident**, Mr. Mansur Arvand was taken from Mahabad Prison to an undisclosed location by Information agents. When his family followed up on the matter, they were told the transfer was due to the Prison being overcrowded and that there was no cause for alarm. (ABF Interview) As Mr. Arvand’s family continued to follow up, they were told on June 15, 2015 to refer to [the town of] Miandoab Prison’s warden. The head of Miandoab Prison’s Information Protection [Sector] verbally announced that Mr. Mansur Arvand had been executed and buried two days earlier, that is, on June 13, 2015. In the death certificate, however, Mahabad Personal Status and Information Registration Administration states the date of execution as being May 27, 2015, cause of death, unknown, and place burial, the town of Miandoab. (ABF Interview)

Mr. Arvand’s execution was carried out in secret and in violation of Sentence Implementation Guidelines, including the right to a last visitation. Mr. Arvand’s body was not turned over to his family, nor were his possessions. He was buried in an undisclosed location by security agents. The agents did not allow the family to officially mourn him at a mosque. Mr. Arvand’s bodybuilding club and his tools and paint store were expropriated [by the government] pursuant to a court order.

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*Other sources: HRANA website (September 16, 2012, October 30, 2013); Kurdistan Media (June 21, 2015); Human Rights Defenders Association of Kurdistan website (June 21, 2015); Kurdpa (November 3, 2013); Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners (June 15, 2015); Etehad TV Interview with Sirvan Arvand (YouTube, November 2, 2013); Kurdistan and Kurd Website (June 2, 2015), Press TV Documentary “Rozaneh, Forsati Baraye Khianat 2” (“Opening, A Time for Betrayal 2”).
**Following the suspicious death of one of Mahabad’s Tara Hotel’s female employees, a large number of the people of Mahabad gathered in front of the hotel on June 7, 2015 to protest the manner in which she had died. The gathering became violent when police and security forces intervened and Tara Hotel was burned down. A large number of protestors were arrested by police and security forces.

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