Enforced disappearance as a tool of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase crimes – List of victims after the Woman, Life, Freedom movement
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has prepared this historical and statistical report to mark August 30, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance.
Definition of enforced disappearance
Enforced disappearance refers to the abduction or detention of individuals by state agents, or with their consent, followed by a refusal to disclose their fate or whereabouts. In some cases, non-state armed groups are also responsible.
Under international law, enforced disappearance is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Victims are denied legal protection and exposed to torture, sexual violence, extrajudicial execution, and other severe abuses. Families are left in prolonged uncertainty, often for years. Even in rare cases of release, survivors endure lasting psychological and physical consequences.
Enforced disappearance takes different forms: secret detention, refusal to disclose places of imprisonment, withholding the bodies of executed prisoners, and concealing burial sites.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s practice of enforced disappearance
Since its establishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically used enforced disappearance against political opponents and groups deemed irreconcilable with its system.
Enforced disappearance in Kurdistan
Following the 1979 Revolution and Khomeini’s fatwa of August 18–19, 1979, calling for jihad against Kurdistan, thousands of Kurds were killed by the army, the IRGC, and security agencies. Evidence of mass graves in Sanandaj (Sine), Qorveh, Ilam, and Urmia points to systematic enforced disappearances.
Since the 1979 Revolution, Kurdish political prisoners have been subjected to systematic enforced disappearance. Many were executed by firing squad in improvised field courts, often without trial. From arrest through to burial, the entire process frequently amounted to enforced disappearance.
Historical evidence indicates that members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and Komala were buried in mass graves in Qorveh, in the surrounding desert area where members of the Baha’i community had also been interred. In July 2016, Iranian authorities used bulldozers to destroy and level this site, which contained at least 20 bodies of Kurdish fighters (Peshmarga), in an apparent attempt to erase traces of the crime.
The policy of enforced disappearance continues. Kurdish political prisoners are frequently abducted without due process, held incommunicado, and subjected to secret detention. Families are routinely denied information about their fate or whereabouts. In many cases, executions are carried out in secret, with authorities refusing to return bodies or disclose burial sites—placing victims squarely within the definition of enforced disappearance.
While Kurdistan has borne the heaviest burden—reflecting the region’s history of large-scale civil and political resistance—the practice is not limited to Kurds. Iranian authorities have also targeted other ethnic and national minorities, including Arabs, Balochs, and Turkmen, employing enforced disappearance as a systematic tool of political repression.
Systematic enforced disappearance of Baha’is following the 1979 revolution
On August 21, 1980, security forces raided a building on Naft Street in Tehran and arrested 11 elected leaders of the Baha’i community. Since then, no verified information has emerged regarding their fate or whereabouts. The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have consistently failed to acknowledge their detention or accept responsibility for their enforced disappearance.
This was part of a wider campaign of persecution—confiscation of property, closure of religious sites, mass arrests, executions, and the dissolution of Baha’i administrative structures in 1983. One year later, in January 1982, eight members of the second Baha’i leadership council were executed.
Enforced disappearances of leftist and Mojahedin political prisoners in the summer of 1988
Between July and September 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran committed one of the largest and most systematic crimes against political prisoners in its history, targeting primarily members of leftist organizations and the Mojahedin. Thousands of political dissidents—many of whom had already been tried and sentenced—were executed extrajudicially and subjected to enforced disappearance. Their bodies were buried in secret, in unmarked mass graves. To this day, the burial sites remain hidden from families, while authorities continue to systematically destroy and desecrate them. The most prominent of these sites, Khavaran cemetery, is still being demolished by government forces.
Despite extensive evidence and well-documented records of the direct involvement of Iranian officials in these mass killings, no past or present authority has ever been held accountable for what constitutes ongoing crimes against humanity. On the contrary, several individuals who played central roles in the atrocities have since been appointed to senior positions within the state, including Minister of Justice, Head of the Judiciary, and even President.
Enforced disappearances of dissidents beyond national/ethnic, religious, or political affiliation
Beyond its systematic persecution of national/ethnic and religious minorities, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently employed enforced disappearance as a tool against political opponents of all backgrounds. Over the decades, dissidents have been abducted, detained in undisclosed locations, and killed in secret as part of state-organized campaigns of repression, including the chain murders of intellectuals. These crimes have been deliberately concealed, leaving families without truth or justice.
In the rare cases where, under domestic or international pressure, authorities have allowed burial ceremonies or returned bodies to families, key elements of the abduction and killing process still fall within the internationally recognized definition of enforced disappearance.
Hengaw: Systematic enforced disappearances by the Islamic Republic of Iran constitute crimes against humanity
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, relying on documented evidence and reports from international institutions including the United Nations, stresses that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s systematic policy of enforced disappearance constitutes a clear crime against humanity.
Under Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, enforced disappearance is defined as the arrest or abduction of an individual by state authorities, or by persons acting with the authorization or support of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the detention or disclose the fate or whereabouts of the victim. When such practices are carried out on a widespread and systematic scale against a civilian population, they qualify as crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
In Iran, thousands of political prisoners—particularly during the mass killings of the 1980s, and most notably in 1988—were executed extrajudicially and subjected to enforced disappearance. The burial sites of many victims remain concealed, while known mass graves have been systematically destroyed by the authorities. Families and survivors have been denied the right to truth and justice, and for more than four decades have also been subjected to threats, harassment, and persecution.
According to international law and official UN reports, this pattern is not the result of isolated violations but reflects a deliberate state policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate political opponents and suppress civil and political society. Hengaw Organization for Human Rights therefore explicitly qualifies enforced disappearances in Iran as systematic crimes and, in line with United Nations definitions, as crimes against humanity. The organization underscores the urgent need for international accountability and for guarantees of truth and justice for victims and survivors.
Since its founding, Hengaw has itself faced continuous security threats, including the risk of arbitrary arrest, and enforced disappearance. Based on available evidence, Hengaw holds the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for the enforced disappearance of its member Hossein Bagheri, known as Zhakan Baran, and has repeatedly called on the international community to take urgent and effective action in this case.
The following list includes the names of individuals who, after the start of the Woman, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement, were arrested or executed by the Islamic Republic, and whose fate, burial sites, and judicial proceedings remain unknown.
Victims of enforced disappearance after the Woman, Life, Freedom movement
Arbitrary detentions
1. Osman Mame, a Kurdish man from Bukan, was arrested by security forces during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Nearly three years later, no information has been disclosed regarding his fate. Repeated efforts by his family to obtain answers have produced no results.
2. Anwar Ramazanpour, a Kurdish man from Mahabad, was arrested near his home by security forces on June 14, 2024. More than 15 months later, his fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
Enforced disappearance outside Iran
1. Hossein Bagheri, known by his pen name Zhakan Baran, a Kurdish poet from Malekshahi in Ilam Province and a member of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, has been subjected to enforced disappearance for more than 18 months. Because of his prominent role during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, he was repeatedly threatened by Iranian security forces and even named on state television, where he was publicly threatened with arrest and death. Bagheri, who was residing in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, disappeared in the spring of 2023 while traveling to Turkey. Since then, no verified information has been made available regarding his fate. Hengaw has repeatedly attributed responsibility for his disappearance to smugglers affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Executed political prisoners whose bodies were withheld (constituting enforced disappearance)
1. Nasim Namazi, a political prisoner and woman from Urmia, executed on December 28, 2023, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
2. Aram Henare, a Kurdish man from Urmia, executed on December 27, 2023, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
3. Aram Omri Bardiani, a Kurdish man from Urmia, executed on December 27, 2023, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
4. Rahman Parhazo, a Kurdish man from Urmia, executed on December 27, 2023, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
5. Pejman Fatehi, a Kurdish political prisoner from Kamyaran, executed on January 29, 2024, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and “espionage for Israel.”
6. Mohsen Mazloum, a Kurdish political prisoner from Mahabad, executed on January 29, 2024, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and “espionage for Israel.”
7. Vafa Azarbar, a Kurdish political prisoner from Bukan, executed on January 29, 2024, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and “espionage for Israel.”
8. Mohammad Faramarzi, a Kurdish political prisoner from Dehgolan (Dewlan), executed on January 29, 2024, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of membership in the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and “espionage for Israel.”
9. Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlou, a Kurdish political prisoner from Chaldoran, executed in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “collaboration and membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”
10. Mohsen Langarneshin, a Gilak prisoner from Nowshahr, executed on April 30, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
11. Pedram Madani, a Persian man from Tehran, executed on May 28, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
12. Esmail Fekri, a Persian man from Tehran, executed on June 16, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
13. Majid Masibi, a Persian man from Isfahan, executed on June 22, 2025, in Isfahan Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
14. Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, a Persian man from Tehran, executed on June 23, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
15. Edris Ali, a Kurdish political prisoner from Sardasht, executed on June 24, 2025, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
16. Azad Shojai, a Kurdish political prisoner from Sardasht, executed on June 24, 2025, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
17. Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, a Kurdish political prisoner from Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, executed on June 24, 2025, in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
18. Mehdi Asgharzadeh, a religious prisoner from Javanrud, executed on August 6, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “membership in ISIS.”
19. Roozbeh Vadi, a Persian political prisoner from Tehran, executed on August 6, 2025, in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, on charges of “espionage for Israel.”
