Investigating the 1981 Massacre in Iran: On the Law-Constituting Force of Violence

The 1981 massacre of political dissidents could be considered the most extensive atrocity committed by the Iranian government after the 1979 Revolution. Yet, this massacre is one of the least investigated aspects of state-sponsored violence in contemporary Iran. In this article, we aim to shed light on the nature and scope of this forgotten massacre. The central thesis of this article is twofold. First, we claim that the 1981 massacre was a mass atrocity characterized by the extra-legal use of state violence. To substantiate this claim, we draw on first-hand archival material and empirical evidence that were collected during fieldwork. Secondly, we claim that the 1981 massacre played a major role in establishing the legal foundations of the theocracy that has remained in power for more than four decades. On a political level, this massacre took place within a crisis that was caused by post-revolutionary circumstances. During this crisis, the clerical rule seized power by suspending the pre-revolutionary legal order. On a legal level, the execution of political dissidents was carried out within a legal vacuum. The practices of Islamic Revolutionary Courts filled this legal vacuum and paved the way for the ratification of the first Islamic Penal Code (1982). The manifestation of state violence during the 1981 massacre embodies the fundamental characteristics of a political system that has built its foundations upon the disintegrated bodies and ruins of its political others.