Basij

For the anti-Taliban Afghan student organization see Basij (Afghan student organization).

The Basij (literally "Mobilization") — also Bassij or Baseej, or Persian: بسيج; also Baseej-e Mostaz'afin, (literally "Mobilization of the oppressed);" and officially Nirouye Moqavemate Basij ("Mobilisation Resistance Force") Persian: نیروی مقاومت بسیج — is a volunteer-based Iranian paramilitary force founded by the order of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on November 1979. The Basij are subordinate to, and receive their orders from, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Originally consisting of those males "either too crippled or old for regular military service," the Basij 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. Currently Basij serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as law enforcement, emergency management, the providing of social service, organizing of public religious ceremonies, and more controversially morals policing and the suppression of dissident gatherings. They have a local organization in almost every city in Iran.

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 about 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. After the war, the Basij was reorganized and gradually developed into one of the Islamic regime's "primary guarantors of domestic security."

Organization

The Basij has a quasi-decentralised network with branches in almost every Iranian mosque. 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).

The current commander of the Basij is Hasan Taeb. The first deputy commander General Mirahmadi was formally 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.

According to Radio Free Europe, the "backbone" of the Basij comprises 2,500 Al-Zahra battalions (all women) and Ashura battalions (male), numbering 300–350 personnel each. The IRGC aims to arm 30 percent of these battalions with semi-heavy and heavy weapons. However, all members of the battalions are trained to use light arms and rifles. In addition, since 2007 the Basij have established "30,000 new combat cells, each of them 15-20 members strong, named Karbala and Zolfaqar". The cells "cooperate closely" or in emergency situations are "controlled by" the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Also known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC).

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, 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.

In 1988 college Basiji organizations were established on college campuses to fight "Westoxification" and potential student agitation against the government.

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.

Some believe the change in focus of the Basij from its original mission of fighting to defend Iran in the Iran-Iraq War to its current internal security concerns has led to a loss in its prestige and morale. According to an unnamed "seasoned analyst" quoted by csmonitor.com, "You define yourself by your enemies, and those were the superpowers back then. ... But now they are fighting young people who put gel in their hair. That's the enemy. So it's demeaning, and not at all elevating for their self-image."

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 20 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. Basij commanders have given figures of 11 million and 13.6 million.

However independent estimates put the force variously at 3 million, one million, and as little as 400,000. A 2005 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., estimates 90,000 full-time, uniformed, active-duty Basij members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of one million men that can be mobilized if need be.

Member profile and benefits

Basij membership is thought to comprise mainly 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 within government controlled institutions.

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 be.

Human rights controversies

• The Basij have been criticised as belonging to the paramilitary forces using child soldiers because of their underage recruitment practices and for having relied extensively on "human wave" attacks during the Iran-Iraq War, particularly around Basra. Many were used as cannon fodder and for mine-clearing. [1]
• 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 1999 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.
• 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".
• 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."
• 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.
• On 15 June 2009, reports linked the Basij militia to shootings of civilians in Azadi Square, Tehran, during the 2009 Iranian election protests. News agencies reported 7 dead and over 50 wounded.
• On 20 June 2009, unconfirmed reports indicated that the Basij allegedly killed Neda, a 16-year old girl who was walking down the Karegar Avenue along with her father, in protest against the 2009 Iranian election. Her death was captured on video by at least two bystanders. The graphic videos were broadcasted on the internet, and quickly becoming a rallying cry for the pro-reform demonstration.

See also

• Ansar-e-Hezbollah
• Gestapo
• Government-organized demonstrations
• Human rights in Iran
• Religious police

External links

• Iran Military pictures and video
• Video Archive of Basij
• Basij Students Organization official website (from Internet Archive)
• Heavy Weapons for Baseej Volunteer Militia from Rooz Online (from Internet Archive)