Mahmoud Sadqi Criticizes the Security Approach of the IRGC Intelligence Organization

Mahmoud Sadqi, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, in a letter to the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, criticized the "dominance of a security perspective on social and political issues" in his management, as well as incidents such as the "treatment" of Kaveh Madani, the resigned deputy of the Environmental Organization. He called for "reform of the approach and methods" of this organization. In the letter published on Saturday, April 1, he stated that "constantly" a number of people approach him and complain about the "indifference" of the IRGC Intelligence Organization agents to the standards of due process and the legal and religious rights of the accused at various stages of detention and interrogation. He emphasized that "in most cases" the follow-ups by representatives also yield no results. Mr. Sadqi characterized the "dominance of a security perspective on social and political issues" as one of the managerial features of Hossein Taeb, the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, which he claims has caused "serious damage to the position of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in public opinion." The IRGC Intelligence Organization and the Judicial Protection Organization are referred to as "parallel intelligence agencies." The IRGC Intelligence Unit has expanded its structure since 1997, following Mohammad Khatami's victory in the presidential elections, detaining many political and civil activists. The detention of several national-religious activists and members of the Freedom Movement in 1999 was one of the controversial actions of this organization. In 2009, this organization was transformed into the IRGC Intelligence Organization by a decree from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, during which it played a special role alongside the Ministry of Intelligence in suppressing protesters. The actions of this organization, parallel to the activities of the Ministry of Intelligence, have always faced criticism, and during Hassan Rouhani's government, there were disagreements between the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization regarding some detentions, including the detention of Abdolrasoul Daryanajafabadi, an expert on Iran's nuclear negotiation team, and the detention of several environmental activists under the pretext of "espionage." In this context, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, the head of the Environmental Faction in Parliament, stated that the Ministry of Intelligence does not consider the detained environmental activists as spies. The detention of environmental activists led to Kaveh Madani, the deputy of Iran's Environmental Organization, leaving the country, and in his resignation letter, he reported that upon entering Iran, without a judicial order, "all of his personal hardware and social media accounts" were "plundered" by the "concerned" elements of the Islamic Republic. In this regard, Mahmoud Sadqi wrote to the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization that the treatment of Kaveh Madani by the agents of this organization "from the moment of his arrival and during his few months of activity" in the country, ultimately forcing him to leave the country, "deprives the youth of hope for participation in serving the country." He described the organization's performance in this case as one of the instances of "complete discord and conflict" between this organization and the Ministry of Intelligence, which "has fueled the suspicion of fragmentation of authority in the country." Mr. Sadqi also criticized the "clear violation of the legal rights" of detainees and their deprivation of visitation and access to a lawyer, adding that "your security approach and methods have seriously harmed the sense of security in society." Kavous Seyed-Emami, one of the detained environmental activists, died on February 8, 2018, in Evin Prison, and judicial authorities announced that the cause of death of this university professor was "suicide." Islamic Republic officials have not answered the question of what conditions led Mr. Seyed-Emami to commit suicide before going to court and receiving a conviction. Meanwhile, Payam Darafshan, the lawyer for Kavous Seyed-Emami's family, reported that during his visit to the prosecutor's office on Wednesday, April 18, the initial forensic report indicated "the extent of bruises on various parts of the body" and "injection marks on the corpse," but the "exact cause" of Mr. Seyed-Emami's death has not been announced. In addition to Kavous Seyed-Emami, Hooman Jokar, the manager of the Asiatic cheetah conservation project, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Amir Hossein Khalighi, and Niloufar Bayani, environmental activists, and Sepideh Kashani, Hooman Jokar's wife and former advisor to the UN Environment Program, have also been detained and remain imprisoned. Previously, Mostafa Torkhamdani, the lawyer for the detained environmental activists, announced on April 17 via Twitter that his efforts to accept the representation of these environmental activists had failed, and he would withdraw from their representation. Mr. Torkhamdani reported that two months ago, by the order of the supervising prosecutor, he delivered the power of attorney related to the environmental activists to Ward 2-A, but this power of attorney has not yet been returned to him "with or without a signature."