Basij

The Basij (also Bassij or Baseej, or Baseej-e Mostaz'afin, or "The Mobilized Oppressed"Fact|date=December 2007", or _fa. بسيج), is a volunteer based Iranian paramilitary force founded by order of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on November 1979. There is a local Basij organization in just about every city in Iran. [Molavi, Afshin, "The Soul of Iran", W.W. Norton, (2005), p.88] They serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as law enforcement, emergency management, social service providing, public religious ceremony organizing, and more controversially morals policing and dissident gathering suppressing. [Molavi, Afshin, "The Soul of Iran", W.W. Norton, (2005), p.88, 316-318] They are perhaps most famous for providing the volunteers that made up the human wave attacks against the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War, particularly around Basra. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/basij.htm Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij Mobilisation Resistance Force] GlobalSecurity.org] The Basij are subordinate to, and obey the orders of, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The official name of the body means Basij Resistance Force ( _fa. نیروی مقاومت بسیج, transliteration: "Nirouye Moqavemate Basij").

Origins

Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a decree founding the Basij as "a large people's militia", in November 1979. He is reported to have stated that "a country with 20 million youths must have 20 million riflemen or a military with 20 million soldiers; such a country will never be destroyed." At least originally the Basij was open to those below the age of 18 and above the age of 45, and all women. The militia were an important factor during the Iran–Iraq War (1980-1988). In that war, huge numbers of teen-age Basijis were sacrificed on the minefields, believing that they were holy martyrs and chanting songs abot the Battle of Karbala, in which the Imam Hussein, the greatest Shi'ite martyr, was tortured and killed. By the spring of 1983 the Basij had trained 2.4 million Iranians in the use of arms and sent 450,000 to the front. [Hiro, Dilip, "Iran under the Ataytollahs", Routledge and Kegan, 1985, p.237]

Organisation

The Basij has a quasi-decentralised network with branches in almost every Iranian mosque. [http://web.archive.org/web/20040813025712/http://www.id.gov.jo/human/activities2000/middleeast_report.html The Use of Children as Soldiers in the Middle East and North Africa Region] , Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, August 2001 - Internet Archive] Subgroupings of the Basij include the University Basij, Student Basij, and the former tribal levies incorporated into the Basij (aka Tribal Basij). In the Student Basij, Middle-school-aged members are called Seekers (Puyandegan), and high-school members are called the Vanguard (Pishgaman). [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2005/iran-050930-rferl01.htm Iran: Paramilitary Force Prepares For Urban Unrest, September 2005 ] GlobalSecurity.org]

The commander of the Basij is Mohammad Hejazi. The first deputy commander General Mirahmadi was forally installed on 4 September 2005. The Tehran commander is Seyyed Mohammad Haj Aqamir. The deputy Basij commander for Tehran, General Ahmad Zolqadr, was formally installed on 5 September 2005; the new Basij commander in Tabriz, Brigadier General Mohammad Yusef Shakeri, on 29 September 2005.

Duties

After the end of the Iran–Iraq War in 1988, the number of Basij check points dramatically decreased, but the Basij are still active in monitoring the activities of citizens. They enforce hijab, arresting women for violating the dress code, arrest youths for attending mixed gender parties or being in public with unrelated members of the opposite sex, [Molavi, "The Soul of Iran" (2005), p.89] seize 'indecent' material and satellite dish antennae. Along with the Iranian riot police and the Ansar-e-Hezbollah, the Basij have been active in recent years in suppressing student demonstrations in Iran. The Basij are sometimes differentiated from the Ansar in being more "disciplined" and not beating, or at least not being as quick to beat demonstrators. [Molavi, "The Soul of Iran" (2005), p.318]

In 1988 college Basiji organizations were established on college campuses to fight "Westoxification" and potential student agitation against the government. [Molavi, "The Soul of Iran" (2005), p.89]

Basij also acts as an emergency management service, and is actively mobilized in case of earthquakes and other natural or human-made disasters. According to the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy and GlobalSecurity.org Basij forces also enforce Iran's Islamic codes together with other law enforcement organisations, though this also has experienced a considerable decline.

In November 23 2000 civil defense exercises in Iran, armed Basijis took up positions in the streets and along strategic locations.

Basij forces often undertake general security checks in urban areas setting up street inspection posts to intercept drug smuggling and potential insurgency.Fact|date=April 2007

Revival

GlobalSecurity.org reports that the Basij appear "to be undergoing something of a revival under the administration of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad."

In late September 2005, the Basij staged a series of urban defense exercises across the country. Its first deputy commander announced the creation of 2,000 "Ashura battalions" within the Basij that will have "riot-control responsibilities." Some speculate the recent "revival" of the Basij could be connected "with preparations for possible civil unrest."

The Iranian Government has exercised a manifold of different plans to keep the Basij alive. Among these plans is the emphasis on ideas such as Development Basij (Basij-e-Sazandegi).Fars News Agency reported. "Among the most important tasks of the Basij are boosting everlasting security, strengthening development infrastructures, equipping resistance bases, [and] increasing employment," Hejazi added. He described the prohibition of vice and the promotion of virtue in society as the "divine policy" of the Basij."

Personnel number

According to GlobalSecurity.org, "the precise size of the Basij is an open question." While Iranian officials "frequently cite a figure of 35 million", this appears to be based on what Ayatollah Khomeini's November 1979 decree indicating what should be the size of a people's militia.

According to IRNA, there are currently 12.5 million members of Basij, of which 5 million are women. [ [http://www1.irna.com/en/news/view/line-24/0711267985120232.htm Supreme Leader inspects Basij units] ] Basij commander General Mohammad Hejazi has said there to be 11 million members across the country.

However western estimates put the force variously at 8 million, [by Hojjatoleslam Rahmani in a 1985 Iranian News Agency report, quoted in [http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/basij.htm Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij Mobilisation Resistance Force] ] 7 million, [ [http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070816_cordesman_report.pdf Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Al Quds Force, and Other Intelligence and Paramilitary Forces] p. 10, by Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies] ] and as little as 1 million. A 2005 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., estimates 3 million full-time, uniformed, active-duty Basij members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of 8 million men that can be mobilized if need be.

Member profile and benefits

Basij membership is thought to be comprised mainly of boys, old men, and those who recently finished their military service.

The typical member will be male (there are some female members as well) over the age of 12. Members of the Basij usually get a several months slashed off their compulsory military service, which lasts 21 months for every eligible man in Iran. During the Iran–Iraq War, it was easier for the Basijis to obtain university entry as government universities had quotas reserved for persons actively involved in the war efforts. Members of Basij usually enjoy the support of their communities and are often recruited more easily than non-members for various positions, especially security related positions.

As the Basij is a volunteer paramilitary organisation, most Basiji are not permitted to carry a firearm except for special requirements. This means that only about 25% of Basij carry firearms, usually an AK-47. However there is no rule saying that they cannot use any other weaponry which has brought major controversy.

Also controversial is the fact that because the Basij is volunteer-based, its members cannot be sued for misbehavior as police or other public officials can. One can sue the chief of police but there is little chance of succeeding in a similar suit against an over-zealous 18-year-old member of Basij, no matter what he does.

Human rights controversies

*According to the UNHCR "tens of thousands of Basijis had been ordered to prowl about every factory, office and school to ensure that everyone adhered to the Islamic code. [...] After the summer 1992 riots Basij units were revived, rearmed and sent out into the streets to help enforce Islamic law. The Basijis are reportedly under the control of local mosques. It was further said that the Basijis set up checkpoints around the cities and stopped cars to sniff their occupant's breath for alcohol and check for women wearing make-up or travelling with a man not their close relative or husband. It was reported that the Law of Judicial Support for the Basijis, published in the Official Gazette No. 13946 of 8.10.1371 (December 1992), provided no redress against arbitrary detention by the Basijis." Iran's permanent representative to the U.N. denied these charges. [ [http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/3b10d2ce0deea2348025673700654bed?Opendocument Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran] , UNHCR, (E/CN.4/1994/50)]

*Amnesty International claims that "investigations by Parliament and the National Security Council indicated that actions by Revolutionary Guard officials and Basij (Mobilization) forces, among others, precipitated the unrest and injuries following the July 1999 students demonstrations". [ [http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webmepcountries/IRAN?OpenDocument Report 2001, Islamic Republic of Iran] , Amnesty International]

*Human Rights Watch has reported that the Basij belong to the "Parallel institutions" ("nahad-e movazi"), "the quasi-official organs of repression that have become increasingly open in crushing student protests, detaining activists, writers, and journalists in secret prisons, and threatening pro-democracy speakers and audiences at public events." Under the control of the Office of the Supreme Leader these groups set up arbitrary checkpoints around Tehran, uniformed police often refraining from directly confronting these plainclothes agents. "Illegal prisons, which are outside of the oversight of the National Prisons Office, are sites where political prisoners are abused, intimidated, and tortured with impunity." [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/iran9803.htm Human Rights Watch, Overview of human rights issues in Iran] , December 31 2004]

*On 13 November 2006, Tohid Ghaffarzadeh, a student at Sabzevar University was reportedly killed by a Basij member at the University while Ghaffarzadeh was talking to his girlfriend. The killer reportedly approached Ghaffarzadeh and stabbed him with a knife explaining that what he did was according to his religious beliefs. [ [http://halfvalue.com/wiki.jsp?topic=Basij#_note-3 1/2 value.com Basij] ] [ [http://www.advarnews.us/university/3248.aspx Advarnews.com] (Persian)]

ee also

* Human rights in Iran
* Ansar-e-Hezbollah
* Government-organized demonstrations
* religious police

Notes

External links

* [http://www.iranmilitaryforum.com/ Iran Military pictures and video]
* [http://irannegah.com/video_browse.aspx?keyword=basij Video Archive of Basij]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040803084837/http://bso.ir/BSO/Index.htm Basij Students Organization official website] (from Internet Archive)
* [http://cbn.com/cbnnews/65040.aspx The Bassij, Israel's Enemy from Iran]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060423040814/http://roozonline.com/11english/012011.shtml "Heavy Weapons for Baseej Volunteer Militia"] from "Rooz Online" (from Internet Archive)