February 18, 2022
Eight expatriate Iranian human rights groups have protested to Canada for allowing a former Tehran police chief noted for repressing protesters to enter Canada.
The police officer, Morteza Talaei, 65, who is a retired Pasdar brigadier general, was videotaped recently exercising on a treadmill at a gym in Richmond Hill, a suburb of Toronto where large numbers of Iranian-Canadians live.
Talaei is best-known for suppressing the 1999 student protests against the regime, the largest uprising up to that time against the Islamic Republic.
The text accompanying the video on social media said Talaei had emigrated to Canada. However, Talaei released his own video denying he had emigrated, stating he was back in Tehran and saying it was no one’s business where he travels.
Eight human rights organizations sent an open letter February 4 to the Canadian federal government objecting to Talaei’s admission to Canada.
The eight groups are: the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran; the Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran; Human Rights Activists in Iran; Impact Iran; Iran Human Rights; Kurdistan Human Rights Association Geneva; Siamak Pourzand Foundation; and Together Against the Death Penalty.
The letter said:
“Allowing Morteza Talaei to freely enter Canada sends a dangerous message; a message that is an affront to Iranians who have themselves sought refuge in Canada.
“Since cutting diplomatic ties with Iran in 2013, many Iranians continue to face challenges in obtaining visas to Canada, which is seemingly not the case for the former IRGC commander….
“Human rights organizations have documented seem- ingly endless violations stemming from Talaei’s relentless intolerance and brutality. As a former Tehran police chief, Talaei commanded a force notorious for mass arrests, beatings, and torture. Talaei himself is known to have orchestrated widespread suppression of peaceful protesters including student protesters. “He was police chief at the time Iranian Canadian citi-zen Zahra Kazemi was tortured, ultimately culminating in her death….
“Talaei is also the founder of what some call Tehran’s ‘hejab police,’ a force committed to combating what he called ‘manifestations of indecency’ referring to women he deemed indecently covered. In addition, as a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, an entity widely sanctioned for serious human rights abuses, his brutality runs deep.”
Talei retired from the Pas-daran in 2006 and then served as a member of the Tehran City Council from 2007 to 2017.