Thirty six years ago, on February 15th,
1979, a Revolutionary Islamic Tribunal held its first session in
Tehran. The goal of this Extraordinary Tribunal, set up in the immediate
aftermath of the fall of the Iranian monarchy on February 11, 1979, and
headed by a Shi’a cleric, Sadeq Khalkhali, was not to dispense justice.
The new revolutionary regime, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, used
the ad hoc Tribunal to exact revenge, punish those deemed to oppose the
revolution and its moral values, and to spread fear among the
population. 36 years later, by doing away with due process of law and,
in particular, the right to defense, these Revolutionary Courts continue
to silence dissent and to spread fear.
The activity of Revolutionary Courts was not limited to the early days of the Islamic Republic. Over the years, they sentenced to death, arbitrarily and summarily, thousands of citizens of all walks of life. Whether officials of the previous regime, political or religious activists, armed oppositionists, members
of ethnic minorities, or people accused of sexual offenses or ordinary
crimes, individuals brought before the Revolutionary Courts were denied
proper means to defend themselves. Click here for more information from Abdorrahman Boroumand Human Rights Foundation in Washington DC or email newsletter-en@
- Also see this document, "State Violence Against Individuals Suspected or Convicted of Ordinary Crimes in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Summary Report for the United Nations Human Rights Council," A report of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, March 2013
