Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has used violence and intimidation to silence critics and advance its political goals; no continent has been spared.
Transnational Repression Must Be Stopped
Witness C, produced by Frank Garbely, aired on Swiss public television in 2011.
Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used violence and intimidation to silence critics and advance its political goals and no continent has been spared. The findings of Abdorrahman Boroumand Center’s (ABC) research on transnational repression are not reassuring; Iran’s leaders have targeted Iranian diaspora members and foreigners worldwide, often with impunity. Today ABC releases Witness C, a 2011 Swiss TV documentary, which investigates the 1990 assassination of a dissident in Geneva and interviews extensively a former Islamic Republic intelligence operative known as “Witness C.” The disturbing lack of transparency and accountability in the Geneva case fits a pattern of states’ response to Iran. Transnational repression violates a multitude of international human rights and norms, directly and indirectly impacting the lives and activities of millions. The international community must adopt a unified, consistent, transparent and effective response to protect those targeted and hold Iran, and other countries following its example, accountable.
Witness C’s testimony lays bare not only the violence of the Islamic Republic against its critics, but also the failures of host governments to protect individuals at risk and prevent crimes, or ensure collaboration between secret services and the police investigators to arrest and effectively prosecute perpetrators. In the case of Kazem Rajavi, a professor actively engaging with the UN Human Rights mechanisms and killed in 1990, Rajavi’s lawyer stated that no protection was offered as a result of the threats and intelligence provided by Witness C to the authorities.
In the case of Sirus Elahi, a leader of the Flag of Freedom democratic opposition movement assassinated in France in 1990, the perpetrator involved in his assassination was known to the secret services, but was left free. He was arrested three years later and sentenced to prison, when he targeted an Iranian-French police translator. He was not convicted for his involvement in Elahi’s murder and continued to live in France.
In the case of Shapur Bakhtiar, a well known pro-democracy opposition leader, French authorities not only failed to prevent his assassination while under the protection of their security forces, which it claimed had not followed protocol, but took 36 hours before revealing the news of his death, and released the perpetrators after Swiss border police turned them over to the French and failed to acknowledge the involvement of the Iran in the murder.
In other cases, including those of Kasra Vafadari and Manuchehr Farhangi, active members of the Zoroastrian communities in France and Spain, the assassinations in 2005 and 2008 were investigated as ordinary crimes, despite strong indications on the political nature of these cases, including the fact that several other active Zoroastrians who worked with them had also been assassinated in Tajikistan and France.
The documentary reveals the involvement of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions in the case of Rajavi and generally in support of terror operations, confirming the findings of ABC’s research. In Sweden for example, in April and early September 1990, two Kurdish refugees, Efat Qazi and Karim Mohammadzadeh, were killed or were victims of assassination attempts. An Iranian agent known and monitored by Säpo (the Swedish security services) was collecting information on targeted individuals and may have carried out the assassination of Mohammadzadeh, one of the victims. This agent used the private car of an Iranian embassy diplomat in Stockholm. The latter was detained along with four others for conspiring to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Sweden in September 1990. Three of the men had diplomatic immunity, but all five were flown out of Sweden and no one was prosecuted. One of these men was involved, two years later, in the assassination of Kurdish leaders in Berlin.
A consistent theme across these incidents is a lack of transparency and accountability. There have been recent improvements, such as Sweden’s recognition of the threat posed by foreign states as a human rights violation and criminalization of foreign surveillance targeting diaspora communities and the UK and US efforts to warn and protect targets. But in too many countries, the will to investigate is lacking, old and new cases remain unresolved, and the outcome of the investigations has not been shared with victims and the public.
ABC’s research and Witness C’s testimony, corroborated in part by police in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and France, exposes systemic failings in the international response to transnational repression. Though ABC cannot fully verify Abolqasem Mesbahi's claims, his credibility warrants the release of this documentary, which sheds light on Iran’s consistent strategy of silencing opponents abroad. Mesbahi – who was expelled from France in the mid-1980s for his “subversive activities” – negotiated from his base in Geneva with high level government officials. Germany prosecuted those arrested for the 1992 killing of Kurdish leaders in Berlin in a landmark case that implicated Iranian authorities at the highest levels. However, older cases (Fereidun Farokhzad and Ali Akbar Mohammadi) remain unresolved and the victims and the public continue to be denied the truth.
Abolqasem Mesbahi, Witness C
The Witness C documentary is a glimpse into the way states have for decades dealt with transnational repression, failing in their responsibility to protect targeted individuals and respect their right to the truth and justice. ABC’s latest research, the interactive map of extrajudicial executions and threats, aims at drawing attention to the scope of the problem and the need for a human rights-centered approach to address transnational terror, protect targeted individuals, and hold the Islamic Republic effectively accountable to prevent repetition.
The Islamic Republic continues to eliminate and intimidate critics abroad, emboldened by insufficient international deterrence. Impacted governments should denounce transnational repression within their borders, adopt protection measures, ensure the cooperation of their intelligence services with investigators, reactivate the investigations on older unresolved cases, and revise their foreign policies. The international community should recognize transnational repression as a threat to human rights and adopt cohesive and consistent human rights-oriented legal and policy responses. These should include systematic monitoring through a dedicated UN mechanism resourced and empowered to investigate, engage with national authorities, and report publicly. Without decisive action, the Islamic Republic will persist in its campaign of terror, encouraging other authoritarian regimes to follow suit.
Witness C’s testimony lays bare not only the violence of the Islamic Republic against its critics, but also the failures of host governments to protect individuals at risk and prevent crimes, or ensure collaboration between secret services and the police investigators to arrest and effectively prosecute perpetrators. In the case of 
In the case of 
a well known pro-democracy opposition leader, French authorities not only failed to prevent his assassination while under the protection of their security forces, which it claimed had not followed protocol, but took 36 hours before revealing the news of his death, and released the perpetrators after Swiss border police turned them over to the French and failed to acknowledge the involvement of the Iran in the murder. 
In other cases, including those of Kasra Vafadari and Manuchehr Farhangi, active members of the Zoroastrian communities in France and Spain, the assassinations in 2005 and 2008 were investigated as ordinary crimes, despite strong indications on the political nature of these cases, including the fact that several other active Zoroastrians who worked with them had also been assassinated in Tajikistan and France.
The documentary reveals the involvement of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions in the case of Rajavi and generally in support of terror operations, confirming the findings of ABC’s research. In Sweden for example, in April and early September 1990, two Kurdish refugees, 
madzadeh, one of the victims. This agent used the private car of an Iranian embassy diplomat in Stockholm. The latter was detained along with four others for conspiring to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Sweden in September 1990. Three of the men had diplomatic immunity, but all five were flown out of Sweden and no one was prosecuted. One of these men was involved, two years later, in the assassination of Kurdish leaders in Berlin.