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 About
Age 69 Nationality Iran Religion Judaism Civil status Married Education — Occupation professional Rank/Position — Affiliation Private business
Case Date of execution May 9, 1979 Location Tehran, Iran Mode of execution shooting Charges Association with the Shah's idolatrous regime; Corruption on earth; Espionage; Fighting against the revolution/blocking the path of God; Religious offense; Treason; Unspecified anti-revolutionary offense; Working with or for a foreign power About this Case
The news of the execution of Mr. Habib Elqanian, along with 5 others, was reported in the Kayhan Daily on May 9, 1979. Mr. Elqanian is also one of the 438 victims listed in a March 13, 1980 Amnesty International report. The report lists defendants who were convicted by Revolutionary Tribunals in the period from their inception until 12 August 1979. The list of victims and charges is drawn from sources including translations of indictments, reports of trials carried out by local and foreign media and the bulletins of the official Pars News Agency reports..
Further information was sent to Omid via an electronic form by a person familiar with the case.
Trial
Based on the Kayhan daily's trial report, Mr. Elqanian was tried, along with 5 others, on May 8, 1979. There is no mention of a defense attorney or witnesses and the judges are not named. The trial ended at 10:30 pm
Charges
The charges against Mr. Elqanian, drawn from the indictment published by Kayhan and from the Amnesty International report are:
“1- Friendship with the enemies of God; hostility towards the friends of God.
2- Espionage for Israel, the Zionist usurper.
3- Collecting funds for the support and aid of Israel and its usurper army which bombs the defenseless Muslim people of Palestine every day.
4- Spending funds and benefits which have been derived from the exploitation of Iranians to construct belligerent usurper Israel, which is against Islam and God.
5- Corruption on earth in the form of destroying society's human resources.
6- Fighting against God, the Prophet, the Representative of the Representative of the Twelfth Imam, and against our disinherited people.
7- Obstructing the way of God and the way towards happiness for all the disinherited people in the world. Obstructing Islamic and human values.
8- Corruption on earth.
9- Contributing to the cruel daily massacre of [the] valiant people of Palestine.
Amnesty notes that the case against Mr. Elqanian: “is the only instance known to Amnesty International of a non-Muslim being charged with a Qur'an offence. Part Three of the indictment against him reads:
'Taking into consideration [the text of parts one and two of the indictment] and applying specified and unspecified verses of the Holy Qur'an...and other words transmitted by the Tradition of the saints it is requested that the defendant be sentenced to death and that his property and that of his family be confiscated”.
Evidence of guilt
Prosecutor’s statements
Part two of the indictment against Mr. Elqanian reads as follows :
“1- Confessions, some of a specific character and others circumstantial, as set out in the case file.
2- Evidence included in which are documents and other proof of actions undertaken by the defendant, showing that he sent money to Israel to strengthen its defense capability.
3- Organizing a meeting with leaders of the Zionist state such as Moshe Dayan and Abba Eban and other usurpers, all of whom are the cruelest enemies of God and the Palestinian people.
4- The purchase of property and high-rise buildings”.
Following Mr. Elqanian’s defense (see below) the Prosecutor’s representative defended the indictment, which, he stressed, was based on reports by unnamed SAVAK agents (known as Tuesday and Wednesday) and on the accused statements during the interrogation. The reports, he said, concerned the purchase of a piece of land near Tel Aviv and a meeting with Moshe Dayan and Abba Eban during which “financial assistance by Mr. Elqanian to the Jews was discussed”.
The above-mentioned SAVAK reports are also published by Kayhan. These short reports relate to the purchase of the property by the defendant in Israel in 1970 and a trip to Israel in 1973 as the head of Iran Jewish Association. Mr. Elqanian is reported to have promised to the Israeli authorities he met while in Israel to “try and encourage” the Iranian Jewish community to increase their financial assistance to Israel and immigrate to Israel. The reports contain no information or evidence regarding the activities of Mr. Elqanian upon his return to Iran, his financial assistance to Israel, and any exchange of information with the Israeli authorities.
The Defense
Kayhan reported the statements of Mr. Elqanian who spoke in his own defense. The latter rejected the validity of the allegations against him. He denied having provided financial assistance to Zionism, having spied for the government of Israel, or having been favorable to the massacre of Palestinians. Mr. Elqanian also declared taking pride in being an Iranian Jew and having shares in various Iranian factories.
The Prosecutor’s Office representative addressing the defendant noted that “the SAVAK reports (see above) are the proof and the evidence of your link to Israel and your financial assistance to Israeli Zionism. Israel’s position is clear for the whole world. Didn’t you know that your link to Israel is a violation of the rights of the country’s oppressed people? You confessed that by importing American products, you in fact opened the way for American economic interests and Israel to come here…”
Kayhan’s report of the trial does not mention a statement or a refutation of the Prosecution’s statements by the defendant.
The Judgment
The judgment was issued around midnight, after one and a half hour of deliberation following the trial. The Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Tehran sentenced Mr. Elqanian to death for "causing corruption" and "betraying his fellow countrymen by being in touch with Israel and Zionists." The Tribunal ordered the confiscation of the defendant’s property and that of his immediate family. The defendant was executed a few hours after being sentenced.
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Human rights violations in this caseThe legal context
Read about the courts, the judges, and the procedure. The courts
Special courts, known as the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunals, were set up after the February 1979 revolution. Their jurisdiction encompasses a wide array of offences ranging from association with or support of the former regime, promotion of foreign influence, and enmity with the revolution to possession, use or sales of narcotic drugs, murder, and profiteering. In the 1980s, a penal court, presided over by one judge, was created to handle some of the offenses punishable by death, such as theft or adultery. These tribunals’ decisions must be confirmed by a chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The judges
Prosecutors and judges are not necessarily jurists. By 1981, the judiciary was purged of judges trained in law schools. They were replaced by seminary graduates and students, as well as by political appointees (an estimated 2000 by 1989). Since by law judges are only required to have a high school diploma and must be faithful to the Islamic Republic’s tenets, new recruits often have little formal training in the law and are chosen because of their political affiliation.
The procedure
The procedures of these ecclesiastical tribunals fail to meet the minimum guarantees for fair trial as established by international human rights instruments and by sha’ria (the Islamic system of law). In addition to executions ordered by revolutionary tribunals, extra-judicial executions are carried out, targeting dissidents and opposition leaders. In some cases, both inside and outside of Iran, these executions have been traced back to Iranian officials. It is, however, not known if in these particular cases trials are held in absentia.
Sources (Among others): Amnesty International, Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, February 1980; Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, The Justice System of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1992; E/CN.4/1989/26 p.14; UNCHR, Resolution 1984/54 , Abolition of Torture - Iran - 1; 28 November 1984; Report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, 28 January 1987. Amnesty International, A SHOCKED WORLD WATCHES IN DISBELIEF, VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1987-1990. Memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali, religious judge and former head of revolutionary tribunals (2001), and Ayatollah Montazeri, dismissed successor to Ayatollah Khomeini (2001). UNCH, E/CN.4/1994/50, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran prepared by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, pursuant to Commission resolution 1993/62 of 10 March 1993 and Economic and Social Council decision 1993/273. E/CN.4/1994/50, 2 February 1994.
 read...
 close... Detentions, interrogations, and trials: 1979-1980
Read about the conditions in which individuals were detained, tried and sentenced. Pre-trial detentions
The charges upon which the accused were arraigned were often extremely broad. Defendants generally had no access to legal counsel nor to their file and the evidence against them prior to the trial.
Trials
Witnesses might be called, or the statement of persons with relevant information read into the court’s record. Accusation witnesses could come forward the day of the trial to give evidence against the accused, but in most cases, defense witnesses were not allowed in court. There was no automatic right of a defendant to cross-examine witnesses or to know the source of the evidence against him. The defendant had an opportunity to state his side of the matter and attempt to refute what was said against him, but the final decision was solely up to the discretion of the religious judge.
Appeal processes
The judgments of the Revolutionary Courts were not subject to appeal. The convicts were generally executed within a few hours of the judgment.
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close... Based on the available information, the following human rights have been violated in this case:
The right to liberty and security of the person. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 9.1. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation.
UDHR, Article 12, ICCPR, Article 17.1. The right not to be punished for any crime on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time it was committed.
UDHR, Article 11.2; ICCPR, Article 15, Article 6.2. The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to change and manifest one’s religion or belief.
UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 18.1, ICCPR, Article 18.2; Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Article 1 and Article 6.
In its general comment 22 (48) of 20 July 1993, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee observed that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one's religion or belief. Article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert. The right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.
UDHR, Article 19; ICCPR, Article 19.1 and ICCPR, Article 19.2. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 21. The right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of one’s interests.
UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 22.1. The right, as a member of a religious or ethnic minority, to enjoy one’s own culture or to profess and practice one’s own religion. UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 27.
The right to due process
The right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal in accordance with law.
ICCPR, Article 14.1 and Article 14.2. Pre-trial detention rights
The right to know promptly and in detail the nature and cause of the charges against one. UDHR, Article 9(2); ICCPR, Article 9.2 and Article 14.3.a The right to counsel of one’s own choosing or the right to legal aid. The right to communicate with one’s attorney in confidence
ICCPR, Article 14.3.b and Article 14.3.d; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, Article 1, Article 2, Article 5, Article 6, and Article 8. The right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defense case. ICCPR, Article 14.3.b.
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The right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess to guilt.
ICCPR, Article 14.3.g.>
The right not to be subjected to torture and to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
Trial rights
The right to a fair and public trial without undue delay.
ICCPR, Article 14.1, Article 14.3.c.
The right to defense through an attorney or legal aid. The right to examine, or have examined, the witnesses against one, and the right to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on one’s behalf under the same conditions as prosecution witnesses.
ICCPR, Article 14.3.d and Article 14.3.e. The right to have the decision rendered in public.
ICCPR, Article 14.1.
Judgment rights
Capital punishment
The inherent right to life, of which no one shall be arbitrarily deprived.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1; Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, Article 1.1, Article 1.2. The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
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