Security and State Institutions of the Islamic Republic United to Dissolve Imam Ali Society

The confirmation of the dissolution ruling of Imam Ali Society, the largest independent civil institution and the only Iranian NGO with general consultative status at the United Nations, by the Tehran Province Court of Appeals indicates the serious determination of the state to comprehensively deal with and utilize all means of applying security and judicial pressure on civil society and people-based organizations in Iran. The course of the Imam Ali Society case clearly demonstrates the interference of security and state institutions in the judicial apparatus, which has resulted in the dissolution ruling of Imam Ali Society being confirmed in an unprecedented, unlawful process with overt influence from security institutions at the appeals court.

Hadi Ghiami, director of the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, referring to the appeals court’s confirmation of the dissolution verdict for Imam Ali Society, said: “Iranian society today is witnessing the intensity and scope of repression and methods of eliminating civil activists and independent people-based organizations by the state in its most explicit form; from killing unarmed protesters in the streets to opening cases against those who care about people’s livelihood and suffering.”
According to Hadi Ghiami, “opening cases and imposing security narratives against people-based organizations and continuous obstruction of their activities clearly demonstrates that resolving deep and discriminatory crises in society is in no way a priority or concern of the state, and what takes priority is comprehensive and widespread repression, with dealing with civil institutions defined within that same direction.”
The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran considers the appeals court’s confirmation of the dissolution verdict for Imam Ali Society as the result of an entirely unlawful and non-transparent process and a pre-designed scenario by security institutions of the Islamic Republic that has been implemented to destroy this people-based civil organization. The confirmation of the dissolution ruling for Imam Ali Society at a time when a large segment of Iranian society is under severe economic and livelihood pressures and the grounds for discrimination growth are more evident than ever in Iran means fueling crisis and revealing countless and bitter faces of discrimination.
In Esfand 1399 and after holding a court hearing on the petition for dissolving Imam Ali Society, an initial ruling for the dissolution of Iran’s largest people-based civil organization was issued. At that time, the Interior Ministry of Hassan Rouhani’s government had filed a petition seeking the dissolution of “Imam Ali Society.” The dissolution ruling for Imam Ali Society was issued several months after the arrest and subsequent release of the founder and some managers of this civil institution on heavy bail conditions.
After the issuance of the initial verdict on dissolution and the appeal filed by Imam Ali Society, finally on Sunday, June 2, 1401, the managers of Imam Ali Society announced in a statement that “Branch 28 of the Court of Appeals has confirmed the initial ruling for the dissolution of Imam Ali Society.” In the Imam Ali Society statement and in describing the court proceedings after submitting the appeal for reconsideration, it stated: “The relevant judge decided to refer the matter to an expert panel and the Society paid 15 million tomans to conduct the expert assessment. However, not only was this order not executed and there is no opinion from the relevant experts in the file, but the court decision contains non-expert opinions on some topics and includes unproven and unsubstantiated claims.”
Following the confirmation of the dissolution ruling for Imam Ali Society at the appeals court, Saied Dehghan wrote on his Twitter page, referring to the court ruling text: “The names of three state and security institutions appear in the ruling of the ‘civil court’ for the dissolution of Imam Ali Society, which is unprecedented and significant; direct and simultaneous intervention of the Office of the Supreme Leader, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Sepah Intelligence Organization to finalize the ruling. Previously, only revolutionary courts made revolutionary decisions!”
Saied Dehghan’s reference to the judicial authority following the opinion of three security and state institutions in a “civil court” actually demonstrates the depth of infiltration and influence of security and state institutions in the judiciary and the elimination of judicial independence in Iran.
Earlier, on July 1, 1399, Sharmeen Meymandinejad, Morteza Keymanesh, and Katayon Afraz, three senior members of Imam Ali Society, were arrested on complaint of the Quds Force (Sepah). At that time, Imam Ali Society announced in a statement that the arrest of these individuals was made on the complaint of the “Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps” and the charge against Sharmeen Meymandinejad, head of Imam Ali Society, was “insulting the leader of the revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic” and the charge against the other two was “action against national security.” Morteza Keymanesh and Katayon Afraz were released on bail after some time; however, Sharmeen Meymandinejad, founder of Imam Ali Society, was detained for 129 days. At that time, the Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, wrote briefly that an individual named “S. M” in recent years by establishing a “charitable institution” under the guise of “public benefit activities such as combating discrimination and poverty” and also “human rights issues and social problems” undertook “network building to infiltrate various levels of public opinion.”
Imam Ali Society is the largest independent and non-governmental civil institution that began its activities in Iran in 1999. This society is the only Iranian NGO that in 2010 was recognized as an active organization in reducing social problems at the international level after registering consultative status at the United Nations and membership in the Economic and Social Council. Since its inception, nearly ten thousand volunteer members have been active in this institution.
Hadi Ghiami, director of the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, referring to Imam Ali Society’s high social capital in Iranian society and raising the question of why security and state institutions have united in the dissolution of this successful civil institution, said: “By opening cases and conviction and ultimately dissolving civil institutions, the state ignores this important social capital and confronts a large section of the society’s underprivileged and deprived people with absolute despair, while having no specific and effective solutions to combat discrimination and social crises.”
 
Source: Campaign for Human Rights in Iran