Iran: 1) Recent information on the possible treatment of a returnee with a record of cooperation with the Mujahedin; 2) Information on the policy of the Iranian government with regard to the Mujahedin

1) According to an Iranian television broadcast, 59 former members of the Mujahedin were repatriated from Iraq under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (AP 4 Dec. 1991). The television broadcast claims that some of the returnees stated that "they had been imprisoned by the Mujahedin when they tried to flee Iraq" (Ibid.). The broadcast also adds that the returnees "fled because of an internal dispute and because of 'crimes' perpetrated by the Mujahedin" (Ibid.).

 An Iranian government-controlled newspaper, Kayhan Havai, reports the repatriation of 59 ex-members of the Mujahedin from Iraq (25 Dec. 1991, 3). At the end of a letter from "ex-members of the Mujahedin" on the abuse of human rights by the Mujahedin, addressed to Renaldo Galin Dopol (the UN Special Envoy to Iran investigating the abuse of human rights by the Iranian government), Kayhan Havai provides the following information: At the same time, 59 ex-members of the Organization of Mujahedin, who had recently reached the Islamic Republic of Iran by escaping from the "Ramady" camp in Iraq, joined their family members. These people were handed over to their families at the Tehran Esteglal Hotel. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the parents of some of these people, who had been requested to come to the Tehran Esteglal Hotel to pick up their children, were not initially prepared to accept them as their family members. Those journalists, who were present at time when these members, who had broken away from the Mujahedin, were being handed over to their parents, report that with the mediation and reconciliation of some of the authorities, the family reunification of all these 59 persons became possible (25 Dec. 1991, 3).

 However, a Mujahedin's statement, issued in Washington, D.C., called the report "false" (AP 4 Dec. 1991).

 According to a representative of Amnesty International in Toronto, who quoted an internal Amnesty International memorandum,

[i]t is not safe for anyone with a record of opposition to the [Iranian] government to return to Iran. Serious human rights violations continue to take place in Iran. Prisoners of conscience remain in prisons. Hundreds of people are executed often after unfair trials and no measures have been taken to save prisoners from torture (30 Mar. 1992).

 A representative of the UNHCR in Ottawa states that the UNHCR has not received any reports on the repatriation of Iranians with political records (30 Mar. 1992).

 Although not directly related to the subject, the following information may be noteworthy. On 12 February 1992, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, ratified the proposed text of the Head of Judiciary, Ayatollah Yazdi, on an amnesty and/or a reduction of sentences of those who have been convicted by revolutionary courts, public courts and military courts. Section H of the ratified text excludes certain convicted prisoners who are:

those who committed crimes against the public security and the sovereignty of the political system and those who committed counter-revolutionary group-related crimes unless they have expressed regret and that has been accepted by the courts which issued the verdicts, the attorney in charge of enforcing the verdicts and the warden of the local prison (Kayhan Havai 19 February 1991, 3).

 2) The information available to the IRBDC indicates that the Iranian government still considers the Mujahedin as a threat.

 According to Reuters, the Mujahedin announced on 22 March 1992 that they "had briefly seized two of Tehran's diplomats near [their] headquarters in Baghdad, [who] were plotting to attack" (22 Mar. 1992). The Mujahedin stated that "[Iranian] embassy cars followed Mujahedin members or checked on their bases on three separate occasions in the previous week the run-up to Saturday's Iranian New Year celebrations" (Ibid.). The report refers to an Iranian diplomat who was "shot and wounded by a Mujahedin member in Baghdad last December [while he] was [reportedly] spying on [the Mujahedin] in preparation for an attempt to assassinate their leader, Massoud Rajavi" (Ibid.).

 Following an alleged massacre of political prisoners in January 1992, a spokesman of the Mujahedin in Paris called on "international organisations to act urgently to save the lives of Mujahedin prisoners" (AFP 6 Jan. 1992). Accordingly, 15 political prisoners were executed in Ilam Prison (in western Iran) and an unknown number in Evin Prison (Tehran) (Ibid.).

 Quoting the Military Prosecutor's Office, the Iranian television reports the arrest of "[h]undreds of Iranian opposition figures" in December 1991 (AFP 2 Dec. 1992). The arrested individuals include "monarchists, members of SAVAK (the secret police under the late Shah), and guerrilla fighters belonging to the People's Mujahedin" (Ibid.).

 The seven attached excerpts of the articles on the Mujahedin, which were published during the period of November 1991 to March 1992 in an Iranian government-controlled newspaper, Kayhan Havai, may suggest that the Iranian government has a hostile attitude towards the Mujahedin.

 Additional information on the above subjects is currently unavailable to the IRBDC.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 6 January 1992. "Iranian Opposition Claims Executions of Prisoners." (NEXIS)

. 2 December 1991. "Iran Arrests." (NEXIS)

Amnesty International. Toronto. 30 March 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

The Associated Press (AP). 4 December 1991. "Iran Reports Return of 59 One-Time Mujahedeen Members." (NEXIS)

Kayhan Havai. [Tehran]. 4 March 1992. "In Cooperation with Israel and the USA: The Organization of Mujahedin Views Iran as the main Obstacle to the Establishment of Peace in the Region." (unofficial translation)

. 19 February 1992. "The Leader of the Revolution Agreed to an Amnesty and a Reduction of Sentences of Some Convicted Prisoners." (unofficial translation)

. 5 February 1992. "Providing Services for the Suppressors of the Islamic Movement in Algeria by the Rajavi Group." (unofficial translation)

. 8 January 1992. "Reacting to the UN General Secretary's Report on the [Aggressive Role of] Iraq, the Organization of Mujahedin and the Royalists Supported the Iraqi Position." (unofficial translation)

. 25 December 1991. "Regretful Mujahedin Reunited with Their Families." (unofficial translation)

. 18 December 1991. "The Open Support of the Voice of America for the Mujahedin." (unofficial translation)

. 11 December 1991. "The Expansion of the Mujahedin's Activities under the Protection of the Turkish Police." (unofficial translation)

. 4 December 1991. "The Continuous Attempts of the USA, the Mujahedin and the Royalists for Accusing Iran of Abuse of Human Rights, Failed." (unofficial translation)

. 27 November 1991. "The New Role of the Mujahedin Organization: Justification of Anti-Iranian, Anti-Islamic Activities of the West." (unofficial translation)

Reuters. 22 March 1992. "Iran Accused of Plotting Attack on Exiles in Iraq." (NEXIS)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ottawa. 30 March 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

Attachments

Agence France Presse (AFP). 6 January 1992. "Iranian Opposition Claims Executions of Prisoners." (NEXIS)

. 2 December 1991. "Iran Arrests." (NEXIS)

The Associated Press (AP). 4 December 1991. "Iran Reports Return of 59 One-Time Mujahedeen Members." (NEXIS)

Kayhan Havai [Tehran]. 4 March 1992. "In Cooperation with Israel and the USA: The Organization of Mujahedin Views Iran as the main Obstacle to the Establishment of Peace in the Region," p. 6. (unofficial translation)

. 19 February 1992. "The Leader of the Revolution Agreed to an Amnesty and a Reduction of Sentences of Some Convicted Prisoners," p. 3. (unofficial translation)

. 5 February 1992. "Providing Services fir the Suppressors of the Islamic Movement in Algeria by the Rajavi Group," p. 2. (unofficial translation)

. 8 January 1992. "Reacting to the UN General Secretary's Report on the [Aggressive Role of] Iraq, the Organization of Mujahedin and the Royalists Supported the Iraqi Position," p. 2. (unofficial translation)

. 25 December 1991. "Regretful Mujahedin Reunited with Their Families." (unofficial translation)

. 18 December 1991. "The Open Support of the Voice of America for the Mujahedin," p. 4. (unofficial translation)

. 11 December 1991. "The Expansion of the Mujahedin's Activities under the Protection of the Turkish Police," p. 3. (unofficial translation)

. 4 December 1991. "The Continuous Attempts of the USA, the Mujahedin and the Royalists for Accusing Iran of Abuse of Human Rights, Failed," p. 1. (unofficial translation)

. 27 November 1991. "The New Role of the Mujahedin Organization: Justification of Anti-Iranian, Anti-Islamic Activities of the West," p. 2. (unofficial translation)

Reuters. 22 March 1992. "Iran Accused of Plotting Attack on Exiles in Iraq." (NEXIS)