The security and governance institutions of the Islamic Republic have agreed to dissolve the Imam Ali community.

The confirmation of the dissolution order of the Imam Ali Society, the largest independent civil society organization and the only Iranian NGO with general consultative status with the United Nations, by the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals demonstrates the government's serious determination to deal comprehensively and utilize all means of applying security and judicial pressure on civil society and non-governmental organizations in Iran. The process of the Imam Ali Community case clearly demonstrates the interference of security and government institutions in the judicial system, which led to the decision to dissolve the Imam Ali Community being confirmed by the Court of Appeal in an unprecedented and illegal process with clear influence from security institutions.

Hadi Ghaemi, Director of the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, referring to the Court of Appeal's decision to dissolve the Imam Ali Society, said: "Today's Iranian society is witnessing the severity and scope of the government's suppression and methods of eliminating civil activists, independent institutions, and NGOs in its most explicit form; from killing unarmed protesters in the streets to filing cases against those who care about the people's bread and suffering."

According to Hadi Ghaemi, "The creation of cases and the imposition of a security narrative against NGOs and the continuous stone-throwing in the activities of these organizations clearly indicate that resolving the deep and discriminatory crises in society is not a priority or issue for the government, and what is a priority is comprehensive and widespread repression, and the treatment of civil society institutions has also been defined in the same vein."

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran considers the approval of the resolution to dissolve the Imam Ali Society in the Court of Appeals to be the result of a completely illegal and non-transparent process and a pre-planned scenario within the security institutions of the Islamic Republic, which was implemented to destroy this non-governmental and civil organization. Approving the resolution to dissolve the Imam Ali Society at a time when a large part of Iranian society is under the most severe economic and livelihood pressures and when areas of growing discrimination are more visible than ever in Iran, means fueling the crisis and exposing countless and bitter forms of discrimination.

In March 2020, after a court hearing on the petition to dissolve the Imam Ali Society, an initial order was issued to dissolve Iran's largest non-governmental organization. At that time, the Ministry of Interior of the Hassan Rouhani administration had requested the dissolution of the "Imam Ali Society" in a petition. The order to dissolve the Imam Ali Society was issued a few months after the arrest and subsequent release of the founder and some managers of this civil organization on heavy bail.

After the initial ruling to dissolve the organization and the Imam Ali Association filed an appeal, the Imam Ali Association's directors finally announced in a statement on Sunday, June 2, 1401, that "Branch 28 of the Court of Appeals has confirmed the initial ruling to dissolve the Imam Ali Association." The Imam Ali Association's statement and the description of the court proceedings after the appeal were filed stated that "the relevant judge decided to refer the matter to a panel of experts and the association paid 15 million Tomans for the expert opinion. However, not only was this decision not implemented and there are no comments from the relevant experts in the case, but the court order contains non-expert opinions on some issues and contains unproven and unproven expert claims."

After the appeals court upheld the decision to dissolve the Imam Ali Society, Saeed Dehghan wrote on his Twitter page, referring to the text of the court's ruling: "The names of three government and security institutions are mentioned in the "legal court" ruling to dissolve the Imam Ali Society, which is unprecedented and significant; the direct and simultaneous intervention of the Supreme Leader's House, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the IRGC Intelligence Organization to make the ruling final. Previously, only revolutionary courts made revolutionary decisions!"

Saeed Dehghan's reference to the judicial authority's compliance with the views of three security and governance institutions in a "legal court" actually indicates the depth of influence and influence of security and governance institutions in the judiciary and the further destruction of the independence of the judicial system in Iran.

Earlier, on July 21, 2020, Sharmin Maimandinejad, Morteza Kaymanesh, and Katayoun Afrazeh, three senior members of the Imam Ali Society, were arrested following a complaint from the IRGC’s Sarollah Headquarters. At the time, the Imam Ali Society announced in a statement that the arrests were made following a complaint from the “Sarollah Headquarters of the IRGC,” and that Sharmin Maimandinejad, the head of the Imam Ali Society, was charged with “insulting the Leader of the Revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic” and that two others were charged with “acting against national security.” Morteza Kaymanesh and Katayoun Afrazeh were released on bail after a while; but Sharmin Maimandinejad, the founder of the Imam Ali Society, was detained for 129 days. At the time, the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the IRGC, wrote in a short report that a person named “Sh. In recent years, by forming a "charitable institution" and under the guise of "public interest activities such as fighting discrimination and poverty" as well as "human rights issues and social problems," the M.M. has attempted to "build a network to influence various levels of public opinion."

The Imam Ali Society is the largest independent and non-governmental civil society organization that has been active in Iran since 1999. This society is the only Iranian NGO that was introduced as one of the organizations active in reducing social problems at the international level in 2010 by registering consultative status with the United Nations and becoming a member of the Economic and Social Council. Since the organization's establishment, nearly ten thousand volunteer members have been active in this organization.

Hadi Ghaemi, Director of the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, pointed to the high social capital of the Imam Ali community in Iranian society and raised the question of why security and government institutions have united in dissolving this successful civil institution. He said: "The government, by filing cases, condemning, and ultimately dissolving popular institutions, ignores this important social capital and leaves a large part of the underprivileged and deprived segments of society with absolute despair, while it has no specific and effective solution to confront discrimination and social crises."

Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign