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

Seyed Hamid Salehi Uruzaki

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Shi'a)
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: 1985
Location of Killing: Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Enforced disappearance
Charges: Unknown charge
Age at time of alleged offense: 25

About this Case

was smart and creative, also interested in handicrafts particularly woodwork and his country's political events

Information about the disappearance of Mr. Seyed Hamid Salehi Uruzaki, is taken from an interview conducted by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with a relative (ABC interview) and an electronic form sent to Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.  (E-form)

Mr. Hamid Salehi Uruzaki, son of Seyed Amanollah, was bornin Masjed Soleiman. His father was an employee of the Steel Company in Ahvaz. Mr. Salehi was single and had a high school diploma. He was smart, creative, and adventerous. He liked handicrafts and was particularly interested in woodwork. He had a lathe at home and made several beautiful wooden home decorations. (ABC interview)

He satrted his political activities wth the Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1979. According to the interviewee, Mr. Salehi was active in the MKO's armed struggle in the begininng of 1960s; however, there is no exact information of the nature of his activities. Between 1981 and 1985, Mr. Salehi's family was scattered into different cities of Khuzestan and Tehran provinces due to the Iran -Iraq war and the dangers they may have faced of his political activities. Mr. Salehi was living in a safe house and in hiding during 1983. His family were remotely aware of his activities for a short period, but they had no more news of him since a year before his arrest.

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was founded in 1965. This organization adapted the principles of Islam as its ideological guideline. However, its members’ interpretation of Islam was revolutionary and they believed in armed struggle against the Shah’s regime. They valued Marxism as a progressive method for economic and social analysis but considered Islam as their source of inspiration, culture, and ideology. In the 1970s, the MKO was weakened when many of its members were imprisoned and executed. In 1975, following a deep ideological crisis, the organization refuted Islam as its ideology and, after a few of its members were killed and other Muslim members purged, the organization proclaimed Marxism as its ideology. This move led to split of the Marxist-Leninist Section of the MKO in 1977. In January of 1979, the imprisoned Muslim leaders of the MKO were released along with other political prisoners. They began to re-organize the MKO and recruit new members based on Islamic ideology. After the 1979 Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the MKO accepted the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini and supported the Revolution. Active participation in the political scene and infiltration of governmental institutions were foremost on the organization’s agenda.  During the first two years after the Revolution, the MKO succeeded in recruiting numerous sympathizers, especially in high schools and universities; but its efforts to gain political power, either by appointment or election, were strongly opposed by the Islamic Republic leaders. *

Arrest and detention

Mr. Salehi's family were told that he was arrested during a plotted accident in Kerman in 1983. He was then transferred to Ahvaz.

Since the family was informed of his arrest in 1983, his mother referred to official authorities including the Prosecutor's Office in Ahvaz to follow up on his case. She also approached influencial civilians whom she knew might have had some connections to the state authorities, in order to collect some information about her son. None of the efforts had any result.

According to the interviewee, Mr. Salehi's family believe that he was at least in prison in 1984 and 1985. There are no further details available on Mr. Salehi's arrest and detention.

Trial

There is no infomration available on Mr. Salehi's trial.

Charges

The charges brought against Mr. Salehi are not known.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution does not contain information regarding the evidence provided against Mr. Salehi.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Salehi's defense.

Judgment

According to the interview, Mr. Salehi disappeared either in 1984 or 1985 and his family did not find any evidence of him.

The execution or killing of Mr. Salehi was never announced by official sources and the family stopped following up on his case out of fear of being pursued or pressured. Until her passing in 2017, his mother was still hopeful that her son was alive and would one day go home.

There was no sign of Mr. Salehi anywhere out of the prison, either.

_________________________

*The exclusion of MKO members from government offices and the closure of their centers and publishing houses, in conjunction with to the Islamic Republic authorities’ different interpretation of Islam, widened the gap between the two. Authorities of the new regime referred to the Mojahedin as “Hypocrites” and the Hezbollahi supporters of the regime attacked the Mojahedin sympathizers regularly during demonstrations and while distributing publications, leading to the death of several MKO supporters. On June 20, 1981, the MKO called for a demonstration protesting their treatment by governmental officials and the government officials’  efforts to impeach their ally, President Abolhassan Banisadr. Despite the fact that the authorities called this demonstration illegal, thousands came to the streets, some of whom confronted the Revolutionary Guardsmen and Hezbollahis. The number of casualties that resulted from this demonstration is unknown but a large number of demonstrators were arrested and executed in the following days and weeks. The day after the demonstration, the Islamic Republic regime started a repressive campaign – unprecedented in modern Iranian history. Thousands of MKO members and sympathizers were arrested or executed. On June 21, 1981, the MKO announced an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic and assassinated a number of high-ranking officials and supporters of the Islamic regime.

In the summer of 1981, the leader of the MKO and the impeached President (Banisadr) fled Iran to reside in France, where they founded the National Council of Resistance. After the MKO leaders and many of its members were expelled from France, they went to Iraq and founded the National Liberation Army of Iran in 1987, which entered Iranian territory a few times during the Iran-Iraq war. They were defeated in July 1988 during their last operation, the Forugh Javidan Operation. A few days after this operation, thousands of imprisoned Mojahedin supporters were killed during the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. Ever since the summer of 1981, the MKO has continued its activities outside of Iran. No information is available regarding members and activities of the MKO inside the country.

In spite of the “armed struggle” announcement by the MKO on June 20, 1981, many sympathizers of the organization had no military training, were not armed, and did not participate in armed conflict.

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