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

Fereidun Mahmudi

About

Age: 32
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Sunni)
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: September 19, 2022
Gravesite location is known: Yes
Location of Killing: Imam Khomeini Hospital, Saqqez, Kordestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Weapon loaded with metal pellets

About this Case

When the family went to the cemetery and saw Mr. Mahmudi’s body, they realized the body was still covered in blood and it had not been kept at the morgue since the time of his death, as is customary.

Information about the arbitrary execution of Mr. Fereidun Mahmudi, son of Ahmad Mahmudi and Maliheh Mehrpur, was obtained through an interview by Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with his relatives (April 13, 2023).  Additional information to complete this file was taken from Kurdistan Human Rights Network websites (August 22, 2023), Kordpa (April 21, 2023), Radio Zamaneh (April 25, 2023), Radio Farda (August 14, 2023), Iran Wire (October 28, 2022), Zan News Agency (August 25, 2023), HRANA (April 22, 2023), and existing documents in the archives of Boroumand Center.

Mr. Mahmudi was born on February 10, 1991, in the Upper Baharestan (Hamalava) neighborhood in Saqqez.  He spent his childhood in this town and he went to school until the end of eighth grade.  After that, he had to leave school and enter the work force, in order to help his family make a living.  At that time they left their hometown in order to go to work at a brick making operation.  After a while, Mr. Mahmudi returned to Saqqez and went to work as a tile worker and plasterer.  His last job was installing armature in buildings (Boroumand ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).

Mr. Mahmudi was married and he had a small child.  He loved his family.  He had a quiet personality and he was kind.  He was healthy and he took care of his health.  He liked to watch soccer games and he followed the news about this sport (ABC's interview with family, April 13, 2023; Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023). 

In August 2022, when Jina (Mahsa) Amini was killed in a police station in Tehran, Mr. Mahmudi was horrified and “deeply disturbed”.  According to a family member, when Mr. Mahmudi heard that Ms. Amini had been killed because of her hijab, he repeatedly asked, “How is it possible that someone who had an acceptable hijab and who was traveling with her brother, was killed through no fault of her own and her body was then handed over to her family?” (ABC's interview with a relative, April 13, 2023).

2022 (Mahsa Amini) Protest background

Nationwide protests were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year old Kurdish woman Jina (Mahsa) Amini on September 16, 2022. Amini had been arrested by the morality police in Tehran for improper veiling on September 13 and sent brain dead to the hospital. The news of her death triggered protests, which started with a widespread expression of outrage on social media and the gathering of a large crowd in front of the hospital,continued in the city of Saqqez (Kordestan Province), where Mahsa was buried. Popular exasperation over the morality patrols and the veil in general, aggravated by misleading statements of the authorities regarding the cause of Mahsa’s death and the impunity generally granted to state agents for the violence used against detainees led to months of nationwide protests. Initially led by young girls and women who burned their veils, and youth in general, protesters adopted the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom,” chanted during Amini’s burial. The protest rapidly took on a clear anti-regime tone, with protesters calling for an end to the Islamic Republic. 

The scope and duration of the protest was unprecedented. State efforts to withdraw the morality police from the streets and preventative arrests of journalists and political and civil society activists did not stop the protests. By the end of December 2022, protests had taken place in about 164 cities and towns, including localities that had never witnessed protests. Close to 150 universities, high schools, businesses, and groups including oil workers, merchants of the Tehran bazaar (among others), teachers, lawyers (at least 49 of whom had been arrested as of February 1st, 2023), artists, athletes, and even doctors joined these protests in various forms. Despite the violent crackdown and mass arrests, intense protests continued for weeks, at least through November 2022, with reports of sporadic activity continuing through the beginning of 2023.

The State’s crackdown was swift and accompanied by intermittent landline and cellular internet network shutdowns, as well as threats against and arrests of victims’ family members, factors which posed a serious challenge to monitoring protests and documenting casualties. The security forces used illegal, excessive, and lethal force with handguns, shotguns, and military assault rifles against protesters. They often targeted protesters’ heads and chests, shot them at close range, and in the back. Security forces have targeted faces with pellets, causing hundreds of protesters to lose their eyesight, and according to some reports women’s genitalia. The bloodiest crackdown took place on September 30th in Zahedan, Baluchestan Province, where a protest began at the end of the Friday sermon. The death toll is reported to be above 90 for that day. Security forces shot protesters outside and worshipers inside the Mosala prayer hall. Many injured protesters, fearing arrest, did not go to hospitals where security forces have reportedly arrested injured protesters before and after they were treated.

 By February 1, 2023, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported the number of recorded protests to be 1,262. The death toll, including protesters and passersby, stood at 527, of whom 71 were children. The number of arrests (including of wounded protesters) was estimated at a minimum at 22,000 , of whom 766 had already been tried and convicted. More than 100 protesters were at risk of capital punishment, and four had been executed in December 2022 and January 2023 without minimum standards of due process. Authorities also claimed 70 casualties among state forces, though there are consistent reports from families of killed protesters indicating authorities have pressured them or offered them rewards to falsely register their loved ones as such. Protesters, human rights groups, and the media have reported cases of beatings, torture (including to coerce confessions), and sexual assaults. Detainees have no access to lawyers during interrogations and their confessions are used in courts as evidence.

Public support and international solidarity with protesters have also been unprecedented (the use of the hashtag #MahsaAmini in Farsi and English broke world records) and on November 24, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling for the creation of a fact finding mission to “Thoroughly and independently investigate alleged human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran related to the protests that began on 16 September 2022, especially with respect to women and children.”

Mr. Mahmudi’s Arbitrary Execution

In the evening of Saturday, September 19, 2022, during protest demonstrations in front of the Jame’ Mosque in Saqqez, Mr. Fereidun Mahmudi was beaten and shot by security forces and special unit agents.  He passed away a few hours later at the Imam Khomeini hospital.

Mr. Mahmudi objected to the government killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini, and he was particularly bothered by the fact that Ms. Amini’s hijab was “correct” and that there was no reason for the morality police to confront her and for her to eventually die at the police station.  On September 19, 2022, several political and social activists in Saqqez had called for demonstrations and popular protests commemorating the third day after the killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini.  At 4:40 pm, after having offered his evening prayers at home, Mr. Mahmudi caressed his son’s head and left the house.  According to the person being interviewed, on the day he was killed, Mr. Mahmudi had told his family, “I hope I can do something.”  He was happy when he was leaving.  He didn’t bid his wife farewell, he just said, “Prepare dinner, I will be right back.”  (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).

That day, Mr. Mahmudi left his home and never returned.  That evening, Mr. Mahmudi’s wife called him on his mobile phone, from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm, but he did not answer.  She thought he was probably not hearing the phone ringing because of the noise of the crowds.  Afterwards, when she called his cousin’s cell phone, he said, “[Fereidun] is lost and we are looking for him.” (ABC's interview with a relative, April 13, 2023).

That night, family members continued to look for Mr. Mahmudi until midnight.  They went to different government offices, such as the Justice Ministry and Revolutionary Guards.  In the end, they went to “Police Station No. 12, and The Bureau of Identification” located near the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez, on Shahrdari Street.  At the police station, agents interrogated some of the family members and eventually told them that he had been arrested and that he would be set free upon posting of bail.  That same night, agents contacted Mr. Mahmudi’s father who was living in a village and told him his son had been arrested and that he had to come to the police station.  Even so, interrogations of family members at “Police Station No. 12, and The Bureau of Identification” continued until 3 am.  After that, they went to the Saqqez Judiciary to submit the document.  At that office, the prosecutor announced that Mr. Mahmudi had been arrested, but eventually, at 5 am, the family was informed that he had been killed (ABC's interview with family members, April 13, 2023).

On the morning of September 20, 2022, when Mr. Mahmudi’s wife went to the Police Station and Office of Identification, the governor, the prosecutor, and a commander of the revolutionary guards were there.  Ms. Habibi asked them, “Didn’t you say Fereidun is alive?  How come he has now been killed?  You sent me to get a document, and now you are telling me he has died?  Who killed him?  They said he had enemies!  I said what does that mean? Why would an enemy show up today, of all days?”  According to Ms. Habibi, “They said we haven’t done anything.  He has not been killed by rifle or shotgun fire.  The bullet came from an unknown weapon.  He had enemies… Finally I said, ok, I will take your word for it.  Where is Fereidun?  I want to see him.  That night they wasted our time.  I asked them several times, I begged them, I said just show me Fereidun, so I know its him.  You might be mistaken.  But they didn’t do this, and they said he is in hospital, you should go there and we will let them know to take you to him.” (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023).

After they informed about the killing of Mr. Mahmudi, the security forces told the family their loved one had been killed by several shotgun pellets.  They had to sign a form so that they could receive his body and take him to be buried.  Some members of the family were hoping that with the dawn, people would start gathering, and they did not agree to sign the form, but Mr. Mahmudi’s father was surrounded by some clerics and police officers and he eventually agreed to sign the form.  At this time, the family was taken to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez with police escort.  When they got there, some people they knew at the hospital informed them that Mr. Mahmudi had not been taken to the hospital at all, and that he had probably been taken to the Aychi Cemetery to be buried.  According to relatives, when the family went to the cemetery and saw the body, they found it was still covered in blood.  From the time he was killed, until he was taken to the cemetery, he had not even been taken to the morgue, as is customary (Interview with a relative, April 13, 2023).

Mr. Mahmudi’s wife said, “When I saw Fereidun, I came out and said to the prosecutor and the commander of the revolutionary guard, ‘Didn’t you say he had not been shot with a shotgun?  So what are these shotgun pellets in his body?  You said he had not been shot.  Why is there so much bleeding?  My Fereidun suffered from anemia……. You are not even honest with yourselves.  They had broken Fereidun Gian (Dear)’s arm.  After shooting him, they had beaten him up.” (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023)

There is video footage showing Mr. Mahmudi being shot that has been published on social media.  It shows him on the ground, his face and chest covered in blood, and people trying to help him. (Copy of the video in Boroumand Center Archives)

On the Burial Permission Form for Mr. Mahmudi, which was issued on September 19, 2022, and also on the Corpse Examination Form which was issued by the Medical Examiner’s Office of Saqqez, signed by Dr. Navid Mohammadi, the cause of death was declared “under investigation”.  On the Death Certificate, cause of death was also stated “unknown” (Boroumand Center Document Archives).  On the Medical Examiner’s form which does not have a ‘Date Issued’, the time when the body was examined is shown as 10 pm on September 19, 2022, and the time of death is recorded as “about 12 hours” prior to the examination.  According to Mr. Mahmudi’s family, he had left the house at 4:40 pm (about 5 hours before the time his body is supposed to have been examined). (Copy of the Corpse Examination Form – Boroumand Center Document Archives)

According to the Corpse Examination Form, in “the area of the head and face” of Mr. Mahmudi “there are superficial lesions on the forehead and there are traces of bleeding from the nose and the mouth” and also, “entry wounds from two shotgun pellets can be seen on the left side of the nose and the right side of the chin.”  According to this medical document, during the “examination of the torso” of Mr. Mahmudi, “there is evidence of multiple shotgun pellets on most of the anterior surface of the chest and stomach (concentrated on the right side), and several broken ribs on the left side of the ribcage (resulting from resuscitation efforts) can be detected.”  Shotgun wounds were also evident on other parts of Mr. Mahmudi’s body.  According to this same document, “In the examination of upper and lower extremities on the right and left sides, evidence of several shotgun wounds could be seen on his right hand, on the inside surface of his left arm, and on the upper parts of his left and right thighs.”  In addition to these observations, the form confirmed “contusions in the area of the forehead” and “in the right and left cavities” in the same area.  According to the conclusions recorded in the Medical Examiner’s report submitted to the Saqqez Police, “the body’s right lung contains shotgun pellets and extensive bruising in the upper and middle lobes” and the left lung also “shows bruising in both lobes” as a result of shotgun pellet wounds (Copy of Examination Form- Boroumand Center Documents Archives).

Mr. Mahmudi’s body was laid to rest at 6 am on September 20, 2022, by the order of security forces.  The funeral was attended by a limited number of family and friends, several high-ranking government and military officials (such as the governor and the head of the revolutionary guards).  Stringent security measures were in place (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023; ABC's interview with family members, April 13, 2023).

According to Mr. Mahmoudi’s wife, “That night they did not let people come for the funeral.  There were 30-40 of us.  The Special Unit came and blocked the entrance to the Aychi [cemetery].  They said if his wife does not allow the interment, the blood of these young people will be on her hands and she will have to answer to their families.” (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023)

The ceremonies for the fortieth day after the killing of Mr. Mahmoudi took place on October 28, 2022, at Aychi Cemetery in Saqqez, with family members, friends and citizens of Saqqez.  At this ceremony, protests slogans were chanted, including “Woman, Jian, Liberty” [Woman, Life, Liberty] (Iran Wire, October 28, 2022).

Mr. Mahmudi was 32 years old when he died. 

When Mr. Mahmudi found out that Ms. Jina (Mahsa) Amini had been killed because of her hijab, he repeatedly asked people, “How is it possible that someone who had an acceptable hijab and who was traveling with her brother, was killed through no fault of her own and her body was then handed over to her family?”

Officials’ Reaction

 Immediately following the killing of Mr. Mahmudi, government and military officials gave incorrect information to the family and increased their fears about their loved one’s condition by interrogating his wife and some other relatives.  That night, Mr. Mahmudi’s wife was interrogated twice at “Police Station No. 12 and the Bureau of Identification”, and his uncle was interrogated for about an hour.  Police officers and officials from other branches of government who were there asked specific questions about Mr. Mahmudi’s friends about his last contacts (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023; Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023).

In order to get Mr. Mahmudi’s wife’s consent for his interment, the governor, the prosecutor, and the commander of the revolutionary guards first tried to tempt her with offers of a house, land, blood money, and then they threatened her with warnings about the “future of her children” (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).  Government officials told Ms. Mahmudi “Fereidun is dead.  You must consider your own and your children’s future.  Give us permission for interment so that he will not have Mahsa’s fate.  Don’t make trouble for yourselves.”  (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023)

Leading up to the fortieth day after the killing of Mr. Mahmudi, while his wife was preparing to invite people to this ceremony, government officials contacted her.  They tried to dissuade her from having this ceremony.  At first they were friendly, but then they threatened her.  According to relatives, the person who contacted her introduced herself as a woman from Saqqez who worked at the Prosecutor’s Office.  She said, “Dear daughter, I am from your city and speak your language.  I’m telling you that if you go to the ceremony for the Fortieth, you may be ok, but you will create problems for your relatives and for your son.”   This person who worked at the prosecutor’s office called again on the day of the Fortieth and threatened that if she took part in this ceremony, she would be arrested (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).  The ceremonies for the fortieth day after the killing of Mr. Mahmudi took place at Aychi Cemetery on October 28, 2022.  Saqqez security officials only allowed Mr. Mahmudi’s mother to go to the cemetery for this ceremony (Iran Wire, October 28, 2022). 

On April 16, 2023, Mr. Mahmudi’s parents were summoned to the Saqqez-Baneh Military Court.  They were asked to rescind their complaint in return for blood money (Kordpa, April 21, 2023).

When the family filed a complaint, they were sent back and forth between the Governor’s Office and other government offices such as the court and county offices for three months.  They were pressured not to divulge the cause of Fereidun Mahmudi’s death (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023).

Eventually, on April 18, 2023, Branch 1 of the Saqqez Military Court Assistant Prosecutor’s Office issued a response to Ms. Mahmudi’s complaint, stating they confirm that Mr. Mahmudi had been shot by “shotgun pellets from the Special Forces Unit”.  According to this same finding, since “it was impossible to identify the firing agent”, the court had decided against the further prosecution of the case.  According to the form issued by the Military Court of Saqqez-Baneh: “It is not clear which agent of the Special Forces Unit shot the deceased with a shotgun.  Therefore, it is not possible to assign fault and to determine the perpetrator.  As for the civil component of the complaint filed by the deceased’s family, due to the lack of sufficient proof, according to the Fundamental Principle of Innocence, and according to Article 4 in the application of Article 265 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the suspension of prosecution is hereby ordered and announced.” (HRANA, April 22, 2023).  In the military court, Mr. Mahmudi’s wife was told 41 shotgun pellets were lodged in his body.  Ms. Habibi asked to see footage from the CCTV cameras in the area where her husband had been killed.  She was told, “The cameras were either broken, or else they did not record that instant.”  After Mr. Mahmudi’s wife went to court several times to pursue his killing, the military court told her they have found the Special Forces Unit guilty.  If she wanted to pursue the matter and find out which agent was guilty, she must first accept the offer of blood money (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023).  Mr. Mahmudi’s wife refused to accept this offer, because she would not “sell” her husband’s “blood” (ABC interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).

On August 22, 2023, security forces arrested Mr. Mahmudi’s wife for “propaganda activity against the government and agitating people’s minds” and they took her to an unknown location.  Security agents had gone to Mr. Mahmudi’s mother’s home a day before this arrest, but they had not been able to arrest her (Kurdistan Human Rights Network, August 22, 2023).  On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, Mr. Mahmudi’s wife was temporarily freed on bail (Zan News Agency, August 25, 2023). 

Family’s Reaction

Mr. Mahmudi's wife, after about three months of visiting government agencies, law enforcement, the governor’s office, the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, and the military court of Saqqez, officially filed a complaint. (ABC interview with relatives, April 13, 2023) This complaint was registered in the First Prosecution Branch of the Saqqez Baneh Military Court. (Hengaw, April 22, 2023)

In a video released on May 1, 2023, Mr. Mahmudi's mother announced that the judiciary had contacted the family and asked them to visit in order to receive compensation for their son. However, they responded to the prosecutor and the head of the judiciary, saying, "We will not accept compensation from the government that has spilled our children's blood." (Video copy - Bromand Foundation archive)

Later, in the summer of 2023, the Saqqez Governor’s office contacted Mr. Mahmudi’s family again, requesting that they visit this institution. Ms. Habibi responded to them by saying, "When they are not accountable for anything to us, we will no longer be accountable to them." (Radio Farda, August 14, 2023)

Impacts on Family

The killing of Mr. Fereidun Mahmudi had a deep impact on his family.  His young child was not able to speak about his father for a long time (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023).  Mr. Mahmudi’s child was only seven years old at the time of his killing.  In an interview, his wife said her child “was very fearful after his father had been killed.  He thinks he will also not come back if he goes somewhere.  If I leave him for 5 minutes, he thinks I will never come back.  A while ago, he even said, Mom, if you go too and never come back, what will I do?” (Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2023).  That was why Mr. Mahmudi’s wife did not attend the ceremony for the fortieth day of his passing.  She said, “My child is 7 years old.  He was afraid.  He cried and said, ‘Mommy don’t go.  Don’t leave me too.’  I didn’t go for my child.” (ABC's interview with relatives, April 13, 2023)

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