List of Perpetrators

Perpetrators listed bellow, have committed crimes against humanity in the 1981-1988 periods against its own citizens in violation of applicable international laws. They bear absolute responsibility for the gross violations of human rights against their citizens under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights; and, Customary International law holds them fully accountable for their systematic and widespread commission of crimes against humanity in Iran in the 1981-1988 period.

national laws. They bears absolute responsibility for the gross violations of human rights against its citizens under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights; and, Customary International law holds them fully accountable for their systematic and widespread commission of crimes against humanity in Iran in the 1980-1988 period.

They will be prosecuted and hold accountable in countries that have jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, if they are seen in one of these countries.

Members of Supreme Judicial Council between 1981 and 1988.

1-         Head of the Judiciary Committee (Supreme Court), Abdul-Karim Mousavi-Ardebili.

2-         Attorney General, Mohammad Mehdi Abbani Amleshi, deceased.

3-         Three clerical judges appointed by the Supreme Court judges: Mohammad Moamen, Abdollah Javadi Ameli, and Morteza Moqtadaii.

Ali Qoddousi, Rabbani Amlashi, and Javadi Ameli were the first three clerics appointed as judges in the Supreme Judicial Council by the supreme court judges.  Mohammad Moamen and Morteza Moqtadaii were taking the seat of Qoddoussi, who was killed in 1981.  Rabbani Amleshi first was appointed as Attorney General and then become a member of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Moamen and Javadi Ameli were replaced by Abolfazl Mir Mohammadi and Mohammad Mousavi Bojnourdi in 1982.

On January 9, 1982 (Day 19, 1361) Yousef Sanei resigned from his position as a member of Guardian Council and became Attorney General, a position that formerly had been held by Javadi Rabbani Amleshi.  On July 7, 1985 (Tir 16, 1364), he was replaced by Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha. Sanei and Mousavi Khoeiniha found their way into the Supreme Judicial Council through their experience as Attorney General.  Morteza Moqtadaii was the spokesman of the Supreme Judicial Council.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court, Central Islamic Revolutionary Court (in Tehran)

1-         Ali Qoddoussi was the General Revolutionary Prosecutor who was appointed to this position when Hadavi resigned in the summer of 1979.  After he was killed in July 1981, Seyyed Hussein Mousavi Tabrizi took his position. After Mousavi Tabrizi was removed from his position in 1985, the position of Revolutionary Prosecutor was abolished and in its place, a prosecutor was appointed to each province’s Revolutionary Court, so each provincial capital has its own Revolutionary Prosecutor.

2-         Seyyed Assadollah Lajevardi was the head of the Tehran Revolutionary Court between 1980 and 1984. He was replaced by Ali Razini in 1984.  In the spring of 1986, that position was given to Morteza Eshraghi, who remained there until July 1989, when Seyyed Ebrahim Raissi, who has been the advisor to Razini and Eshraghi, was appointed to this position.

3-         Mohammad Mehdi Gilani was the Revolutionary Court’s chief sharia judge between 1981 and 1984.  His deputy, Hussein Ali Nayyeri, was appointed to hold that position between 1984 and 1989. Nayyeri is presently the Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mohammad Mehdi Gilani, Hussein Ali Nayyeri, Ali Mobasheri, Abolqassem Ramandi, Gholamhussein Rahbarpoor, Gholamhussein Mohseni Aqehi, Ali Razini, and Ali Younessi were all famous judges of the Revolutionary Court.  Mobasheri is now the President of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts in Tehran.

The Army’s Revolutionary Court/Armed Forces’ Judiciary Organization.

Mohammad Mehdi Rayshahri was a member of the Army’s Revolutionary Court between 1979 and 1983, where he served as Chief Justice. Ali Younessi, with the pseudonym Edrissi, was his deputy.  During this period, Lotfollah Atabaki was the prosecutor.

The Armed Forces’ Judiciary Organization was established in early 1986.  This organization was formed when the Army’s Judiciary Organization, the Army’s Revolutionary Court, and the Revolutionary Guard’s General Revolutionary Courts merged.  Ali Razini was appointed as the organization’s head.

The structure of the government’s judiciary after the amendment to the constitution, 1989-1999:

After ratification of the amendment to the constitution by the Assembly of Experts in 1989 and the abolition of the Supreme Judicial Council, a Judiciary branch of government was established.  Abdul Karim Mousavi Ardebili, the head of Supreme Judicial Council and Iran’s Supreme Court, resigned. Mohammad Yazdi, who had lost the Parliamentary election in 1988 and was a member of the Guardian Council, was appointed by Khamenehi as head of the Judiciary.

The judiciary system’s structural hierarchy was as follows:

1-         Mohammad Yazdi, head of the Judiciary

2-         Mohammad Mohammadi Rayshahri, Attorney General.  After he resigned from his position, Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi (deceased) took his place.  Prior to this position Mousavi had been head of the administrative justice tribunal.

3-         Seyyed Ebrahim Raissi, the Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran for political groups.  Later on, he was appointed as the head of the General Inspectorate, after serving as Assistant Prosecutor and Prosecutor of the Karaj Court. Finally in the latest changes which took place in the Judiciary, he became its deputy head.

The Heads of Evin prison:

Following the murder of Mohammad Kochoui in June 29, 1981, Abolfazl Haj Heidari, (pseudonym: Hassani), one of the top figures in Moatalefe Party, took over that post as head of the Revolutionary Tribunal prisons (a position previously held by Kouchoui).  One year later, in 1982, he was replaced by Haji Mohammad Johari Fard (pseudonym: Mahdavi.)  Shortly before the removal of Lajevardi, Mohammad Amani, his deputy, was appointed as the head of Evin Prison.

Foroutan became the head of Evin prison between 1984 and 1985.  He claimed to be a student studying abroad.  Akbar Kabiri Arani (pseudonym: Fakour), who was previously the interrogator in the Seventh Branch, took that position between 1985 and 1986.  In 1987, Meysam was appointed as head of Evin Prison but due to his managerial inability he was replaced by Seyyed Hussein Mortazavi, who had been the head of the Gohardasht prison prior to this new appointment.  Mortazavi stayed in this post until 1988, the peak of the mass executions of the prisoners, and then left Evin.  In the fall of 1988, Foroutan once again became the head of Evin and Gohardasht prisons.  However his term did not last long and he was soon replaced by Mousa Vaezi (pseudonym: Zamani), an officer from the Ministry of Intelligence.  When Lajevardi became the head of all the prisons, “Pishva”, the former supervisor of interrogations in Branch 1, was appointed by him as head of Evin prison.  During all these years, Hussein Husseinzadeh, brother-in-law of Kouchouii, held the position of administrative manager of Evin prison.  His pseudonym was Mr. Non-guilty (Agh Bigonah) in the prisons during the Shah’s reign.

Morteza Salehi (pseudonym: Sobhi) was the head of Gohardasht prison between 1982 and 1984, and Mohammadi was his deputy; he had previously been an assistant working in a pastry shop.  After Lajevardi’s removal in 1983, Saadat took his place and then in 1985 Mortasavi took it.  He left Gohardasht prison in 1987 after he was appointed to head Evin prison, and for a while this office was under Davoud Laahgari and Naserian.  After the period of mass executions, Foroutan was the head of both Gohardasht, and Evin prisons for a short time.  From 1984 on, Davoud Lashgari held the position on and off as well as being in charge of security in that prison.

Ghezelhesar was run by its governor, Haj Davoud Rahmani.  His deputy was Haj Ahmad. Ghezelhesar’s First Unit was under Mohammad Khamoushi, who was working directly under Haj Davoud Rahmani.  After Haj Davoud Rahmani’s removal from Ghezelhesar (when he was relocated to the “Freedom Section” of Evin in 1984), Meysam became its head and stayed in that post until its dismantling in 1986.  Ansari was his deputy and chief of Unit One at the same time.

From 1981 to 1984, all the prisons were managed under the Prisons’ Supervisory Council. The chief supervisor was Abolghassem Sarhadizadeh.  During this time, the political prisoners were under the jurisdiction of the Office of Revolutionary Prosecutor, and the Prisons’ Supervisory Council did not have much authority over them.  In 1984, Majid Ansari, as representative of Supreme Judicial Council, visited the prisons and, through reorganizing the Prisons’ Supervisory Council and turning it into the Prisons’ Organization, and by taking some security measures and advising provisional arrangements for the prison and prisoners, he was appointed as the head of the new Prisons Organization in 1985.  He stayed in that position until the third parliament, when he resigned from to register as a representative candidate.  Esmail Shustari, a representative who had lost his seat in the parliament, replaced him a few months later.  After the parliamentary election, Mohammad Yazdi was appointed as a head of the judiciary in 1989, during Rafsanjani’s presidency, and Shustari was appointed as Minister of Justice by him and Asadollah Lajevardi became the head of the Prisons Organization. Lajevardi was assassinated by members of the MKO in 1998.

The officials of the Ministry of Intelligence and high ranking security officers

Rayshahri, Minister of Intelligence, 1984-1989

Prior to this position, he was the Chief Justice of the Military Court and Sharia judge in Branch 1 of the Military Court.  Rayshahri is presently the representative of the Supreme Leader to the hajj in Mecca.

Fallahian, Tehran representative in the office of Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor since 1981, deputy in Tehran’s committee, and deputy to the Minister of Intelligence, and finally the Minister of Information between 1989 and 1997.

Asghar Hejazi, advisor to the Minister of Intelligence, the Office of Foreign Affairs between 1984 and 1989, when he was in charge of security intelligence in the office of the Valiye Faqih, Khamenei.

Gholamhussein Golpayegani, one of the operators in the Military Revolutionary Court, an advisor to the Ministry of Security Intelligence, and Khamenei’s Chief of Staff from 1989 to the present.

Ruhollah Husseinian, Sharia judge, representative of the Attorney General in the Ministry of Information during the eighties.

Hussein Shariatmadari, interrogator for the Ministry of Information, director of the cultural unit of Ghezel-Hessar prison between 1984 and 1987, he also participated in interrogations and torture sessions of political prisoners.  At present, he is editor in chief of Keyhan, a daily newspaper.

Ali Rabii, Interrogator, chief director of the ministry of information in West Azerbaijan, interrogator and torturer in Evin prison during the eighties.

Mohsen Armin, interrogator and torturer in Ward 209 in Evin prison during the eighties.

Said Hajjarian, officer in charge in the office of prime minister, information unit.

Mohsen Mirdamadi, in charge of information and security in Sepah Pasdaran.

Fereidon Verdinejad, in charge of information and security of Sepah Pasdaran during the 80s. He was directly involved in arrests and torturing of the political prisoners.

Khosrow Tehrani, in charge of security and information in the Office of Prime Minister.

Mohammad Mehr Aiin, interrogator, torturer in Branch 7, Evin prison.

Ahmad Ghadirian, Lajevardi’s executive deputy.

The military officials who were directly involved in suppression

Mohsen Rezai

Ali Shamkhani

Yahya Rahim Safavi

Mohsen Rafiq Doust

Morteza Rezai

Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr

Political figureheads

Seyyed Ali Khamenei

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Mir Hussein Mousavi

Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri

Ali Akbar Mohtashami

Ali Valayati

Behzad Navbavi

Mohammad Yazdi

Ahmad Jennati

Mahdi Karoubi

Abdollah Nouri

Members of “Death Commission” in 1988:

The board of execution in Gohardasht:

1-         Hossein Ali Nayyeri

2-         Morteza Eshraghi, Prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran and representative of the Ministry of Justice.  He is currently the head of a branch of the Iranian Supreme Court.

3-         Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, deputy minister of the Ministry of Intelligence. Pour-Mohammadi was later President Ahmadinejad’s Minister of the Interior and is presently the Supreme Leader’s National Security Advisor.

4-         Seyyed Ebrahim Raiisi as security advisor to the Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran, regarding the grouplets, and Morteza Eshraghi were always present in the board. Ebrahim Raiisi is now head of Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are all now holding key positions in Judiciary. Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi is now adviser to Judiciary.  

In addition:

5-         Esmail Shushtari, the head of the Prisons’ Organizations, later the Minister of Justice under President Rafsanjani.

6-         Mohammad Moghissei (pseudonym: Nasserian), governor of Gohardasht Prison and formerly the deputy governor of Ghezelhesar Prison (1981-85). Moghissei is presently a senior official in the Iranian judiciary.

7-         Taghi Adeli (pseudonym: Davoud Lashkari), head of security in Gohardasht (deputy head of the disciplinary section since 1986 and intermittently head of the prison), where he held an administrative position.

8-         Hamid Nouri, (pseudonym: Abbassi) assistant to the prosecutor in prison, always accompanying them on the board.

It had been said that Ali Mobasheri and Abolqassem Ramandi, Sharia judges in Evin prison, participated in some these courts.

Nasserian, Davoud Lashgari, and Hamid Abbassi were mostly appeared as complainants or witnesses.  Their function was to pursue the Board of Execution to issue an execution order against the prisoner in question.  Those who have the right to vote in this board and directly express their opinion were those who were appointed to this board by Khomaini’s order.  They were Nayyeri, Eshraghi and the Ministry of Intelligence’s representative.

In Karaj’s court, Mehdi Naderifard (deceased), and Fateh, as the prosecutor, and also in charge of inteligence and security, joined the board of execution and would help Nayyeri, the Sharia judge, and the rest of the time they just worked to make more trouble.

In Evin prison, Seyyed Hussein Mortazavi, Mojtaba Halvaei, Hussein Husseinzadeh, Hadad and Seyyed Majid Ziai would take the place of Nasserian and Lashkari, but Nasserian, knowing many of the prisoners in Evin prison would participate in some of the court sessions in Evin too.

In Gohardasht prison, Nasserian as a supervisor and assistant to the prosecutor and Lashkari as in charge of security and provisional affairs of prison would attend courts and supervise the transportation of prisoners in and out of prison.

In Evin Mortazavi and Husseinzadeh appeared as head of the prison and the former as the governor. Mojtaba Halvaei Asghar, as chief of security and intelligence, would go after shuttling the prisoners from their unit in prison to the court.  Haddad and Seyyed Majid Ziai would also participate in the courts from their own standpoint of being the assistant to the prosecutor and those who had access to records and files of the prisoners.

Mousa Vaezi (pseudonym: Zamani), said to have been a university student from Tehran Polytech, would appear in court as an officer of Evin prison’s intelligence and was very active in courts.  He was in charge of most matters.

Majid Molla (pseudonym Qoddussi) would follow the execution of judgements.  He has an actual active role in the execution of the prisoners.

Additional information

Mullah Ghateelzadeh is currently an executive official in the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Seyyed Abbas Abtahi was worked in Evin’s Task Force and as Lajevardi’s bodyguard.

Brigadier General Ahmad Zolghader was the commander of the Pasdaran Corp ground forces and Basic Operations in 1981 and is now the deputy commander of the Mohammad Rasolullah Pasdaran Corp in Tehran.

Mohammad Ali Besharati rose to become an MP, the Deputy Foreign Minister and Minister of the Interior.