Seyed Mahmoud Alavi

Full Name (English)

Seyed Mahmoud Alavi

Full Name (Farsi)

سید محمود علوی

Date of Birth

1954

Place of Birth

Lamerd, Fars Province

Gender

Male

Education

Seminary Education

Clerical Background

Yes

Status

Alive

Last Updated

6 Sep 2021

Positions and Violations

Representative of the Central Headquarters of the Islamic Revolution Council, Fars Province (1979 - 1980)
Member of Parliament, Lamerd (May 1980 - May 2000)
Deputy of Supervision and Inspection of the the Ideological-Political Organisation of the Ministry of Defence (1989 - 1991)
Head of the Ideological-Political Organisation of the Army (2000 - 2009)
Member of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership, Tehran (2000 - 2009)
Intelligence Minister (Jul 2013 - Aug 2021)
- Human Rights Violation: Suppression of labour rights activists ( 4 Jan 2019) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  Shush
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to freedom from torture, Right to freedom of assembly, Right to work
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he was responsible for arresting and torturing labor activists including Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian, and suppressing peaceful protests by Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers.
  
  Sources
  
  "Ismail Bakhshi: I was tortured to death", Radio Zamaneh, February 2017 https://www.radiozamaneh.com/427221
  
  - Back up link
  
  Sepideh Gholian: I was forced to confess under pressure and torture, Deutsche Welle, 1398
  
  https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/iran/a-49981391
  
  ٖ- Back up link
- Human Rights Violation: Persecuting and suppressing Bahai minority ( Sep-Oct 2018) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  Isfahan, Shiraz, Karaj
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to freedom of religion and belief, Right to non-discrimination
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he has been responsible for the pressurising and mass detention of Baha'i citizens for their religious beliefs including 17 Bahai citizens who were arrested in three cities of Isfahan, Shiraz and Karaj between September and October 2018.
  
  Sources
  
  "Detention of 17 Baha'i Citizens in Three Iranian Cities in Less than a Month", Iran Human Rights Campaign, October 24, 2016 https://persian.iranhumanrights.org/1397/07/7-bahai-arrests-in-three-cities-of-iran/
  
  - Back up link
- Human Rights Violation: Persecution and arresting civil activists ( 2018) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  (National)
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to freedom from torture, Right to freedom of expression
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he was responsible for detaining civil society activists and persecuting and harassing their families to prevent them from talking to the press.
  
  Sources
  
  Iran: Activists’ Families Facing Harassment, Human Rights Watch, 9 Aug 2018 https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/09/iran-activists-families-facing-harassment
  
  - Back up link
  "Increasing Harassment of Activists and their Family Members by the Judiciary and the Ministry of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani Government", Iran Human Rights Campaign, September 4, 2016 https://persian.iranhumanrights.org/1397/06/husband-of-imprisoned-human-rights-lawyer-arrested-for-speaking-out-must-be-released-immediately/ ٖ- Back up link
- Human Rights Violation: Suppression of protesters ( Dec 2017- Jan 2018) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  (National)
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to freedom from torture, Right to freedom of assembly, Right to life
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he was responsible for the detention, torture, and killing of protesters during the 2017-2018 protests and the suspicious deaths of protesters in the custody of Ministry of Intelligence agents.
  
  The nationwide protests of 2017-2018, known as the protests of December 2017, were widespread demonstrations in protest of inflation and corruption, which began on 28 Dec 2017 in Mashhad and several cities in Khorasan province and quickly spread throughout Iran, including harsher anti-government slogans. .The crackdown on protesters led to the deaths of at least 25 protesters and several detainees.
  
  Sources
  
  “Parvaneh Salhshouri, Member of Parliament, on the role of the Ministry of Intelligence in detaining students”, Jame'e No, 2018 https://justice4iran.org/persian/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/JAMENO.pdf
  
  "Human rights organizations concerned about" torture "and suspicious deaths of protesters in Iranian prisons, Deutsche Welle, December 1, 2017
  
  https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B4%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%85%D8%B1%DA%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B4%DA%A9%D9%88%DA%A9-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/a-42096215
  
  - Back up link
  
  Iranian Officials Confirm 25 Dead in Protests, VOA News, 14 Jan 2018 https://www.voanews.com/world-news/middle-east-dont-use/iranian-officials-confirm-25-dead-protests
  
  - Back up link
- Human Rights Violation: Torture and murder of a prisoner and obtaining forced confessions ( 13 Jan 2018) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  Sanandaj
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to freedom from torture, Right to freedom of expression, Right to life
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he was responsible for the death of Saro Ghahremani, arrested during the protests in January 2018, and arresting and obtaining a forced television confession from Mohammad Ghahremani, Saro Ghahremani's father.
  
  Sources
  
  “Orwellian State: The Islamic Republic of Iran’s State Media as a Weapon of Mass Suppression”, FIDH & JFI, 25 June 2020
  
  https://justice4iran.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ORWELLIAN-STATE-ISLAMIC-REPUBLIC-OF-IRAN%E2%80%99S-STATE-MEDIA-AS-A-WEAPON-OF-MASS-SUPPRESSION-English-1.pdf
  
  Intelligence Ministry Forces Father of Slain Protester to Repeat Authorities’ Version of Events on State TV, Centre for Human Rights in Iran, 16 Jan 2018 https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/01/intelligence-ministry-forces-father-of-slain-protester-to-repeat-authorities-version-of-events-on-state-tv/
  
  - Back up link
  
  Video of forced confessions of Saro Ghahremani's father, IRIB News, 2017
  
  https://justice4iran.org/persian/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/50-HRV.mp4
- Human Rights Violation: Suppression of protesters ( November 2019) read more
  
  Institution
  
  Ministry of Intelligence
  
  Location
  
  (National)
  
  Rights Violated
  
  Right to adequate housing, Right to freedom from torture, Right to freedom of assembly, Right to life
  
  Description
  
  As Minister of Intelligence, he was responsible for killing and detaining protesters during the November 2019 protests and threatening and pressuring their families to refrain from providing information to the press and holding memorial services.
  
  Sources
  
  Shoot to Kill:Preliminary Findings of Justice For Iran’s Investigation into the November 2019 Protests, February 2020, p 13
  
  https://justice4iran.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SHOOT-TO-KILL-Preliminary-Findings-of-Justice-for-Irans-Investigation-into-the-November-2019-Protests.pdf
  
  “Iran: Details released of 304 deaths during protests six months after security forces’ killing spree”, Amnesty International, 20 May 2020 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/iran-details-released-of-304-deaths-during-protests-six-months-after-security-forces-killing-spree
  
  - Back up link
  
  "Iranian Protests" Arrests continue in Kazerun and some other cities ", Radio Zamaneh, December 21, 2019 https://justice4iran.org/persian/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Alavi-1.pdf
  
  "November Protests: Ministry of Intelligence Announces Detention of Eight Citizens on Suspicion of Liaison with the US Intelligence Agency", HRANA, December 27, 2019 https://justice4iran.org/persian/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Alavi2.pdf
  
  "Pressure of the Ministry of Intelligence on murdered protester, Pouya Bakhtiari's parents to limit the memorial ceremony for their child", December 22, 2019 https://justice4iran.org/persian/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Alavi-3.pdf
Supreme Leader\'s Representative , Lamerd (Unknown)

These violations may only be part of the human rights violations that this person has been involved in. The investigation into this person's human rights record is ongoing.

Legal Developments

On 18 November 2020, the US Treasury Department added Alavi to its list of human rights sanctions for his "central role in the Iranian regime's human rights abuses against Iranian citizens, including during the November 2019 protests." According to this decision, Alavi's assets in the United States or in the control of American companies and banks have been frozen and he has been banned from entering the United States.

Report a human rights violation committed by this individual