Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Memorial
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Nuraddin Mohammad Gharibi Khorasani

About

Age: 31
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Sunni)
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: June 15, 1998
Gravesite location is known: Yes
Location of Killing: Giperzen Alley, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Mode of Killing: Extrajudicial shooting

Human rights violations in this case

Extrajudicial killings

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of politically motivated violence in Iran and around the world. Since the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic operatives inside and outside the country have engaged in kidnapping, disappearing, and killing a large number of individuals whose activities they deemed undesirable. The actual number of the victims of extrajudicial killings inside Iran is not clear; however, these murders began in February 1979, with the murder of Parviz Sayyah Sina, an Anglican Bishop, and have continued since then, both inside and outside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has so far identified over 500 extrajudicial killings outside Iran attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.(1)

Dissidents have been assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran, where one of the first assassinations, that of a Navy Officer, Shahriar Shafiq, took place in Paris in December 1979. These assassinations have taken place in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Pakistan in Asia; Dubai, Iraq, and Turkey in the Middle East; Cyprus, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain in Europe; and the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. In too many cases, states have failed to guarantee the victims’ rights to the truth, justice, and remedy; states have revealed little about the assassinations and have not issued arrest warrants. Where there have been arrests and prosecutions, available information reveals a state policy of eliminating perceived enemies. 

Documentation, evidence, and traces obtained through investigations conducted by local police and judicial authorities confirm, however, the theory of state committed crimes. In certain cases, these investigations have resulted in the expulsion (The Netherlands, 2018) or arrest (Brussels, 2020; Turkey, 2021) of Iranian diplomats. In limited cases outside Iran, the perpetrators of these murders have been arrested and put on trial (Paris 1980 and 1991) and the evidence presented, revealed the defendants’ connection to Iran’s government institutions, and an arrest warrant (the Mikonos Trial in Germany) has been issued for Iran’s then-Minister of Information, Ali Fallahian and the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications, Hossein Sheikh Attar.

The manner in which these killings were organized and implemented in Iran and abroad, is indicative of a single pattern which, according to Roland Chatelin, the Swiss prosecutor, contains common parameters and detailed planning. It can be ascertained from the similarities between these murders in different countries that the Iranian government is the principal entity who ordered the implementation of these crimes. (2). In 1997, the Berlin Criminal Court, in charge of hearing the case of the shooting of Kurdish dissidents in a Berlin restaurant, officially announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s highest-ranking officials had issued the order to carry out the killings. According to the indictment, the decision to commit the murders was made in a committee called the “Special Operations Committee” composed of the President, the Minister of Information and Security (VAVAK), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the various security organs and other organizations, and finally, the Leader of the Revolution. 

Iranian authorities have not officially accepted responsibility for these murders and have even attributed their commission to internal strife in opposition groups. Nevertheless, since the very inception of the Islamic Republic regime, the Islamic Republic officials have justified these crimes from an ideological and legal standpoint. In the spring of 1979, Sadeq Khalkhali, the first Chief Shari’a Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, officially announced the regime’s decision to implement extrajudicial executions, and justified the decision: “ … These people have been sentenced to death; from the Iranian people’s perspective, if someone wants to assassinate these individuals abroad, in any country, no government has any right to bring the perpetrator to trial as a terrorist, because such a person is the implementing agent of the sentence issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Therefore, they are Mahduroddam (“one whose blood may be spilled, whose life can be taken, without the perpetrator incurring any punishment”) and their sentence is death regardless of where they are [and where you find them].” 

More than 10 years after these proclamations, in a speech about the security forces’ success, Ali Fallahian, the regime’s Minister of Information stated the following regarding the elimination of members of the opposition: “ … We have had success in inflicting damage to many of these little groups outside the country and on our borders” (Speech broadcast on the state-run Iranian Radio and Television on August 31, 1992, quoted from Asr Iran, August 17, 2006).

Extrajudicial killings have rarely been pursued legally in Iran. The few murders that were followed up on in 1998 , which came to be known as “the Serial (Chain) Murders(3),” have brought to light the involvement and responsibility of the country’s Information officials. Several Ministry of Information agents who were defendants in the Serial Murders case, confirmed the existence of a long term government policy of extrajudicial killings and emphasized that there was planning on an annual basis to carry out these executions, for which a religious decree was issued. There was a budget allocated and there were objectives set, and those who participated in the murders were commended. In a lecture given at [the city of] Hamedan’s Bu Ali University in 1996, Sa’eed Emami, Ministry of Information Deputy Minister for Security Affairs and one of the principal defendants in the Serial Murders case – who was later said by Iranian officials to have committed suicide while in detention – had stressed that the activities of Iran’s security forces were not confined to the country’s borders: “ … We have set the security perimeter within the confines of our borders. [However,] if we see threats infiltrating inside the country from abroad, we will enlarge the perimeter.”

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1) Among the first known murders that occurred a week after the February 1979 Revolution was that of Mr. Parviz (Arastu) Sayyah Sina, the bishop of a church in the city of Shiraz. The assassination of Mr. Shahriar Shafiq, an Imperial Navy officer, in December 1979 in Paris is among the first murders committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran outside the country. ​​These killings continued in the following years inside and outside the country and in various forms.
2) Investigations into the murder of well-known personalities in France, Germany and Switzerland have yielded evidence and documentation showing that the officials and employees of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran acted as accomplices and principals [in the killings]. In France, the Islamic Republic’s Deputy Minister of Post and Telegraph was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the murder of former Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar and his assistant, Sorush Katibeh. In Germany (Berlin), the Islamic Republic’s security agents and agents of the Lebanese Hezbollah were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of four Kurdish opposition leaders. In connection with the latter case, German Judicial authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Ali Fallahian, the then-Minister of Information. 
3) A few days before Mr. Mokhtari’s murder, Dariush Foruhar and his wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, leaders of the People of Iran Party, had been killed in a most heinous manner in their own home. After Mr. Mokhtari’s body was found, the body of Mohammad Ja’far Puyandeh, another well-known literary figure, was discovered in a village near the city of Karaj. These four individuals’ cases was named the “Serial Murders”.
Human rights violations

Based on the available information, the following human rights may have been violated in this case:

  • The right to liberty and security of the person. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 9.1.

  • The right not to be punished for any crime on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time it was committed. 

UDHR, Article 11.2; ICCPR, Article 15, Article 6.2. 

  • The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to change and manifest one’s religion or belief.

UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 18.1, ICCPR, Article 18.2; Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Article 1 and Article 6.

In its general comment 22 (48) of 20 July 1993, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee observed that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief. Article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert.

  • The right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.

UDHR, Article 19; ICCPR, Article 19.1 and ICCPR, Article 19.2.

  • The right, as a member of a religious or ethnic minority, to enjoy one’s own culture or to profess and practice one’s own religion. 

UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 27.

  • The right to equality before the law and the right to equal protection of the law. 

UDHR, Article 7; ICCPR, Article 26.

The right to due process

  • The right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal in accordance with law.

ICCPR, Article 14.1 and Article 14.2.

Capital punishment

  • The inherent right to life, of which no one shall be arbitrarily deprived.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1; Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, Article 1.1, Article 1.2.

  • The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.

About this Case

Correct/ Complete This Entry

Nuraddin Gharibi Khorasani: "I have many enemies. I'm a Sunni, and in Iran, the Shiite majority doesn't want me. No matter where I go in the world, they will kill me, because they have been following me in every country I've been to." 

Information regarding the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Nureddin Mohammad Gharibi Khorasani, son of Mohammad, was obtained from the Boroumand Center (ABC) interview with one of his close relatives (October 26 and February 20, 2024), interviews with two informed persons (February 1 and February 3, 2024), his death certificate, and the Facebook page of the campaign advocating the construction of a Sunni mosque in Tehran (March 18, 2013). 

Mr. Gharibi Khorasani was a 31-year-old Sunni Muslim from a village in Khorasan province (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, January 24, 2024).

Mr. Gharibi pursued religious studies from an early age and was repeatedly summoned by the Khorasan security forces during his teenage years because of his religious activities. At the age of 17, he traveled to Pakistan to continue his religious education and spent a year at the Darul Uloom Islamic Seminary in Karachi. According to some reports, Mr. Gharibi Khorasani "did not return to Iran due to the dire situation for Sunnis in the country and interrogations by the Ministry of Intelligence, even while he was in Pakistan" (Facebook page of the Campaign for the Construction of a Sunni Mosque in Tehran, March 18, 2013). Instead, he went directly to Saudi Arabia, where he continued his studies at the Islamic University of Medina (ABC interview with an informed person, February 1, 2024). After completing his education in Saudi Arabia, he moved to Kunduz, Afghanistan, with the help of a charitable organization (ABC Interview with an Informed Person, February 1, 2024). Two years later, in the early Fall of 1996, he legally moved to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where he began teaching the Quran and Arabic language. (ABC Interview with an Aide, 20 February 2024).

He settled in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where he married and had two children. He applied for permanent residency, but his residency documents were not issued until after his assassination (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, February 20, 2024).

According to one of Mr. Gharibi Khorasani's close relatives, he often told his family that he had many enemies and that the Shiite population in Iran did not accept him because of his Sunni faith. He said, "I have many enemies. I am a Sunni, and in Iran, the Shiites don't want me. No matter where I go in the world, they will kill me, because they've been after me in every country I've been to. (ABC Interview, February 20, 2024).

Mr. Gharibi Khorasani was described as a "kind, caring, and adorable person who was highly respected by those who knew him. (ABC Interview with a Close Relative, February 20, 2024).

Background of Extrajudicial Killings by the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of politically motivated violence in Iran and around the world. Since the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic operatives inside and outside the country have engaged in kidnapping, disappearing, and killing a large number of individuals whose activities they deemed undesirable. The actual number of the victims of extrajudicial killings inside Iran is not clear; however, these murders began in February 1979 and have continued since then, both inside and outside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has so far identified over 540 killings outside Iran attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dissidents have been assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Pakistan in Asia; Dubai, Iraq, and Turkey in the Middle East; Cyprus, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain in Europe; and the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. In most cases, there has not been much published, and local authorities have not issued arrest warrants. But documentation, evidence, and traces obtained through investigations conducted by local police and judicial authorities confirm the theory of state committed crimes. In some instances, these investigations have resulted in the expulsion or arrest of Iranian diplomats. In a few cases outside Iran, the perpetrators of these murders have been arrested and put on trial. The evidence presented revealed the defendants’ connection to Iran’s government institutions, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Iran’s Minister of Information.

The manner in which these killings were organized and implemented in Iran and abroad is indicative of a single pattern which, according to Roland Chatelin, the Swiss prosecutor, contains common parameters and detailed planning. It can be ascertained from the similarities between these murders in different countries that the Iranian government is the principal entity that ordered the implementation of these crimes. Iranian authorities have not officially accepted responsibility for these murders and have even attributed their commission to internal strife in opposition groups. Nevertheless, since the very inception of the Islamic Republic regime, the Islamic Republic officials have justified these crimes from an ideological and legal standpoint. In the spring of 1979, Sadeq Khalkhali, the first Chief Shari’a Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, officially announced the regime’s decision to implement extrajudicial executions and justified the decision: “ … These people have been sentenced to death; from the Iranian people’s perspective, if someone wants to assassinate these individuals abroad, in any country, no government has any right to bring the perpetrator to trial as a terrorist, because such a person is the implementing agent of the sentence issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Therefore, they are Mahduroddam and their sentence is death regardless of where they are.” More than 10 years after these proclamations, in a speech about the security forces’ success, Ali Fallahian, the regime’s Minister of Information, stated the following regarding the elimination of members of the opposition: “ … We have had success in inflicting damage to many of these little groups outside the country and on our borders.”

At the same time, various political, judicial, and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have, at different times and occasions, confirmed the existence of a long-term government policy for these extrajudicial killings and in some cases their implementation. 

Read more about the background of extrajudicial killings in the Islamic Republic of Iran by clicking on the left-hand highlight with the same title. 

Mr. Nureddin Mohammad Gharibi Khorasani’s threats and Extrajudicial execution 

According to available information, Mr. Nureddin Mohammad Gharibi Khorasani was fatally shot by two individuals at 9 a.m. on June 15, 1998, in Giperzen Alley in the Ibn Sina district of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2024).

According to one of his close relatives, on the day of the incident, Mr. Gharibi Khorasani was on his way to a Quran class at a relative's home when two individuals shot him with a handgun. Three bullets were fired: one struck the left side of his chest below the heart, another struck the left side of his chest, and the third struck the palm of his left hand. The source stated that Mr. Gharibi Khorasani was still alive after being shot. Upon hearing his struggles, the assailants fired another bullet into the back of his head, killing him instantly, before fleeing the scene. (ABC Interviews, October 26 and February 20, 2024).

After the assassination, Dushanbe police arrived at the scene. His body was taken to a local hospital for an autopsy, where the bullets were removed. Later that day, his body was handed over to his family for burial. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2024).

According to one of his close relatives, Mr. Gharibi Khorasani survived an attempted attack in Dushanbe in which a vehicle was rapidly approaching him.  In addition, two months before his death, several unidentified individuals threatened him in a Dushanbe marketplace, saying, "We will kill you. (ABC interview, October 26, 2024). The Facebook page of the Campaign for the Construction of a Sunni Mosque in Tehran also mentioned Mr. Gharibi Khorasani in its report on 25 Sunni martyrs allegedly killed by the Islamic Republic. It claimed that his assassination was carried out by agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence. (Facebook page of the Campaign for the Construction of a Sunni Mosque in Tehran, March 18, 2013).

Mr. Gharibi Khorasani's body was buried in the Chen Tepe cemetery in Dushanbe. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, February 20, 2024).

Iran’s Official Reaction

According to available information, the Iranian authorities did not respond to Mr. Gharibi Khorasani's assassination. However, according to his close relative, following his assassination, Iranian security forces visited his father's home in Khorasan, pressured his family for a while, and repeatedly summoned his father. In addition, during a brief visit by Mr. Gharibi's wife and children to Iran after his assassination, the family continued to face similar pressures. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2024).

Tajikistan’s Official Reaction 

The Tajik police investigated the murder of Mr. Gharibi Khorasani for two years, repeatedly questioning his family and close associates. However, the case was finally closed on June 28, 1999, without any arrests or identification of the perpetrators. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2024).

Familys’ Reaction

Mr. Gharibi Khorasani's family holds the Iranian government responsible for his murder. They base this belief on his previous statements and the threats he had received. However, they have not filed an official complaint to pursue the matter. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2024).

Impacts on Family

At the time of his death, Mr. Gharibi Khorasani had a four-month-old daughter and his wife was pregnant with a son who was born seven months after his assassination. This tragic event had a profound effect on the family. His wife raised their two children alone, enduring significant financial hardship and emotional struggle. (ABC interview with one of his close relatives, October 26, 2002).

Mr. Gharibi's family in Iran was also deeply affected by the news of his death. His father, overwhelmed with grief, remained silent for a long time, crying constantly. He died shortly thereafter. (ABC interview, October 26, 2024).

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