Ghazanfarabadi, Mousa

Person/Entity:
Person
Sanctioned by U.S:
No
Sanctioned by EU:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by EU:
2023-01-23
Sanctioned by U.K.:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by U.K.:
2022-12-09
Sanctioned by Canada:
No
Sanctioned by Australia:
No
U.S Laws/EOs Sanctioned Under:
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EU Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
U.K. Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
Canadian Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
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Australian Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
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Description

Head of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which "[carries] out cultural and educational programs to institutionalize the state’s interpretations of morality and virtues"1 and is involved closely in President Raisi's harsher enforcement of hijab regulations.2 He announced in fall 2022 that the government is planning to use facial-recognition technology to enforce hijab wearing.3

"Seyyed Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani has been the head of the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil (also known as the Office or Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) since 25 August 2021. The Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil is a government institution which is responsible for determining and enforcing excessively strict behavioural models in society. In 2022, the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil was instrumental in setting new and stricter morality codes for women that are in clear violation of their human rights. Additionally, the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil plays a central role in setting up the monitoring and often brutal sanctioning of women and men who do not respect these codes. These strict codes are subsequently brutally enforced by the EU-listed Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF) (and specifically its Morality Police). As the head of the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil, Seyyed Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran."4

Sources: 

1. https://iranhumanrights.org/2021/10/raisi-government-to-launch-religious-vice-prevention-courses-paramilitary-community-patrols/

2. https://iranwire.com/en/women/106726-newly-published-document-details-full-scope-of-irans-new-hijab-policy/

3. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/05/iran-government-facial-recognition-technology-hijab-law-crackdown

4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.LI.2023.020.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2023%3A020I%3ATOC

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