Iran: Information on whether the Iranian authorities have been known to harass or target the families of Mojahedin members
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN14124 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Information on whether the Iranian authorities have been known to harass or target the families of Mojahedin members, 1 May 1993, IRN14124, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab1440.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on this particular subject is currently unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa.
There are major abuses of human rights in Iran, and there was no evidence of significant improvement in 1992 (Country Reports 1992 1993, 999). The Mojahedin was the largest leftist group in Iran, and, in the early days of the Khomeini revolution, the regime considered it the most dangerous opponent (Delury 1987, 521). The group did not fare well with the Shah's regime either, and the Shah referred to its members as "Islamic Marxists" (Ibid.). According to the same source, the activities of the Mojahedin were significantly restricted. As a result, the group has gone underground and remained only as a nuisance to the regime. By 1986, the group was no longer considered a threat to the regime (Ibid.).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices states that the regime has harassed those groups it considers anti-revolutionary, like the Freedom Movement, which the government declared illegal in 1991 (Country Reports 1992 1993, 1002). The Freedom Movement had its telephones tapped and its mail opened, and its members were subjected to intimidation (Ibid.). The same source reports that officially sanctioned harassment of religious minorities is also commonplace. The attached Amnesty International report includes the statement by a woman whose husband was suspected to be a political activist. She describes the actions of the Revolutionary Guards towards so-called enemies of the revolution (Amnesty International 1987, 10). Amnesty International has also documented cases of relatives apparently seized and held hostage when suspected political activists could not be found (Ibid., 15).
For background information on the Mojahedin in Iran, please refer to the Responses to Information Requests IRN1670, IRN1937, IRN2378, IRN3626, IRN4810 and IRN13416. These documents are available on the REFINFO database at the regional documentation centres.
Additional and/or corroborative information could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.
References
Amnesty International. 1987. Iran: Violations of Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Publications.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1992. 1993. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Delury, George E. ed. 1987. World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File Publications.
Attachments
Amnesty International. 1987. Iran: Violations of Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Publications.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1992. 1993. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Delury, George E. ed. 1987. World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File Publications.
