The crackdown over the past two weeks on clerical and political opposition activists in major Iranian cities marks a further deterioration of the human rights climate, and could prove to be the first steps in a widespread campaign to eliminate all opposition elements inside Iran.
On Wednesday, June 19, the 21-year old son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Shirazi, Seyed Mehdi Shirazi, was arrested while driving from Qom to Tehran by agents from the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS), Iran's intelligence agency, representatives of the family said. Since his arrest, the family in Qom has received no information as to his whereabouts.
Also on Wednesday the authorities arrested Ali al-Rumaisi, 40, in Qom. A colleague, Sheikh Hussein Dhakeri, was arrested on Thursday. Both were members of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi's staff.
On the morning of Friday, June 21, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi's representative in Tehran, Hojjat-ol eslam Sheikh Azizollah Hassaini, was arrested at his home by armed security agents. At the same time, armed security agents surrounded Grand Ayatollah Shirazi's Tehran home, leading to fears that further arrests may be imminent.
These latest moves are part of a consistent pattern of harassment against followers of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi and other dissident religious leaders by the authorities of the Islamic Republic. On November 11, 1995 the authorities rounded up followers of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi in Tehran and Qom, and arrested another son, Seyed Morteza Shirazi, on November 21 (Action Memorandum No 4, 12/7/96). Seyed Morteza Shirazi and 10 others arrested with him have been systematically beaten and tortured, according to family members who were allowed to visit three of those arrested in April 1996. The Foundation has received credible reports that Grand Ayatollah Shirazi was recently threatened by the authorities that unless he offered public support to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, his son would die in prison.
Another senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Yaqoubodin Rastaghari, 70, was arrested in February and taken to an undisclosed destination, according to credible eyewitness reports. Grand Ayatollah Rastaghari has been arrested on several previous occasions, and is the author of a 60 volume Encyclopedia of the Holy Koran. His whereabouts remain unknown. Family members fear for his life, since he already was in poor health at the time of his arrest.
The Foundation is also concerned by the continued house arrest of Grand Ayatollah Sadegh Rouhani, who has been detained without charges since 1985 despite repeated pleas by family members and international organizations to allow him to emigrate. Last week, a European Parliament delegation led by British EP member Brian Cassidy attempted to visit Grand Ayatollah Rouhani in Qom, but was denied permission by the authorities. His son, Javad Rouhani, was arrested on July 17, 1995 and was held incommunicado until September 1995, when he was sentenced to one year imprisonment for distributing illegal leaflets and having contacts with opposition groups, family members said. (Action Memorandum No 1, 9/21/96).
In a Feb. 28, 1996 reply to queries from human rights organizations and from UN Special Representative for Iran Maurice Copithorne, the Human Rights Department of Iran's Foreign Ministry listed the following charges against Seyed Morteza Shirazi:
• "establishing an illegal organization with the purpose of disturbing public order,"
• "collaborating in the illegal transfer of individuals to foreign countries,"
• "printing books without relevant authorization," "disseminating lies and rumors,"
• "defaming and insulting the leadership and other officials of the country,"
• "making contacts with wanted criminals resident in foreign countries,"
• "unauthorized collection and dispatch of information and reports to foreign countries."
In themselves, these charges constitute a violation of freedoms guaranteed by the International Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a binding international treaty to which Iran is a signatory.
In a statement released in Tehran on June 20, 1996, the Youth Organization of the Iran Nation's Party, a banned but tolerated opposition group, announced that two of its activists had been arrested in Kermanshah on June 10 on accusations of "reading opposition books" and transmitting them to others. The two, identified as Reza Bakhtiari and Parviz Youssef Shahi, were engaged in non-violent political activities, the INP said. During a search of their houses, the authorities seized hundreds of newspapers and magazines, as well as a photocopier and a typewriter.
The Foundation is concerned that these arrests are part of a larger crackdown on the religious and political opposition to the regime, who have systematically been denied the right to a fair and open trial and legal defense, and have frequently been held incommunicado for long periods and subjected to torture.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org). FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.