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

Zahra Falahati Haj Zare'

About

Age: 29
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: July 27, 1988
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech; War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam

About this Case

Ms. Zahra Falahati Haj Zare' is one of 1,000 people identified in a UN Human Rights Commission's Special Representative's Report, "Names and Particulars of Persons Allegedly Executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran from July-December 1988," published January 26, 1989. The report specifies that although 1,000 names are mentioned, "in all probability" there were several thousand victims. "Most of the alleged victims were members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). However, members of the Tudeh Party, People's Fedaiyan Organization, Rahe Kargar, and Komala Organization as well as 11 mollahs were also said to be among the alleged victims."

Ms. Zahra Falahati Haj Zare' is listed among 3,208 members and sympathizers of the People's Mojahedin of Iran Organization (PMIO) whose execution was reported by the organization in a book entitled Crime Against Humanity. This book documents the 1988-89 mass execution of political prisoners. Additional information was drawn from the Bidaran website and the PMIO website. She was born in Tehran. She was a sympathizer of the MKO. She was imprisoned during the early 1980s. After her release, she joined the MKO in the border area.

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known. Ms. Zahra Falahati Haj Zare' was a MKO messenger and was arrested on the border between Iran and Iraq. The MKO website does not have the exact date of her arrest.

Trial

There is no information about this trial, just as there is no specific information about any such trials that condemned thousands of political prisoners to death in a few months period. The relatives of political prisoners executed in 1988 refute the legality of the judicial process that resulted in thousands of executions throughout Iran. In their 1988 open letter to then- Minister of Justice Dr. Habibi, they argue that the official secrecy surrounding these executions is proof of their illegality. They note that an overwhelming majority of these prisoners had been tried and sentenced to prison terms, which they were either serving or had already completed serving at the time they were retried and sentenced to death.

Charges

No charge has ever been publicly levelled against the defendant. In their letters to the Minister of Justice (1988), and to the UN Special Rapporteur visiting Iran (February 2003), the families of the victims refer to the accusations against the prisoners that may have led to their execution. These include being "counter-revolutionary, anti-religion, and anti-Islam," as well as being "associated with military action or with various [opposition] groups based near the borders."

An edict from the Leader of the Islamic Republic, reproduced in the memoirs of his designated successor Ayatollah Montazeri corroborates the reported claims regarding the charges against the executed prisoners. In this edict, Ayatollah Khomeini refers to the PMIO's members as "hypocrites" who do not believe in Islam and who "wage war against God" and decrees that prisoners who still approve of the positions taken by this organization are also "waging war against God" and should be sentenced to death.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution contains no evidence provided against the defendant.

Defence

No information is available about the defendant’s defence. In their open letter, the families of the prisoners note that defendants were not given the opportunity to defend themselves in court. Against the assertion that prisoners were associated with guerrilla forces operating near the borders, the families submit the isolation of their relatives from the outside during their detention: "Our children lived under most difficult conditions. Our visits were limited to 10 minutes behind a glass divider through a telephone every two weeks. Over seven years, we witnessed that they were denied access to anything that would have allowed them to establish contacts outside their prison walls." Under such conditions the families reject the claim of the authorities that these prisoners were able to engage with the political groups outside Iran.

Judgment

No specific information is available about the defendant’s execution. Ms. Zahra Falahati Haj Zare' was hanged during the mass killings of the political prisoners on July 27, 1988.

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