Iran: List of names of people arrested and/or executed between 1980-1985
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN4198 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: List of names of people arrested and/or executed between 1980-1985, 1 February 1990, IRN4198, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac3674.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. |
According to human rights monitors such as Amnesty International, during the period 1980 to 1985, thousands of persons were killed or executed, and tens of thousands more were arrested in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The IRBDC does not have access to the names of all of the individuals involved. Please see the attached information from Ervand Abrahamian, Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989), pp. 224-227, which discusses a document produced by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. This document, "The eternal martyrs of freedom: the names and specific information on 12,028 martyrs of the new Iranian revolution", Mojahed 261, (6 September 1985, 185 pages) is not available to the IRBDC, but you may wish to try to locate a copy in your region, or to contact the Mojahedin Organization in Paris. The photocopied pages list 9,069 members of the Mojahedin who were "martyred" by the regime between June 1981 and 1985. Among them, 6,219 were allegedly executed by firing squad, 210 hanged, 303 tortured to death, 14 burned to death, 17 dragged to death and 21 assassinated. (An additional 1,277 died fighting and the method of death for 907 was not specified). The list also provides the occupational class from which the Mojahedin came. Although this specific information is not corroborated by other written sources, the author of Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin appears to find it credible, and other oral sources have commented, in the past, that the People's Mojahedin Organization generally provides fairly accurate information (although their rhetoric may be somewhat biased).
According to Ervand Abrahamian, in the 15 weeks following two separate bomb blasts (the first of which was set off at the end of June 1981 in the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (Khomeini supporters) killing a number of ministers and assistant ministers), over 2200 people were executed, among them, members of the Mojahedin, of the Fedayin, of the Kurdish Democratic Party, the National Democratic Front and other "left organizations". [ Ervand Abrahamian, Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989), p. 68.] The author asserts that thousands more were imprisoned at this time as well.
Please refer to the attached report by Amnesty International and the pages from Ervand Abrahamian's book for additional information.
- Ervand Abrahamian, Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1989;
- Amnesty International, Iran: Amnesty International Briefing, London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987 (AI Index: MDE 13/08/87).
