The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center seeks to:
 

• Establish a comprehensive and objective historical record of the human rights situation in Iran since the 1979 revolution, and on the basis of this record, establish responsibility for patterns of human rights abuses;

• Make such record available in an archive that is accessible to the public for research and educational purposes;

• Promote accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iran; and

• Encourage an informed dialogue on the human rights situation in Iran among scholars and the general public in Iran and abroad.

The IHRDC believes that the development of an accountability movement and a culture of human rights in Iran are crucial to the long-term peace and security of the country and the Middle East region. As numerous examples have illustrated, the removal of an authoritarian regime does not necessarily lead to an improved human rights situation if institutions and civil society are weak, or if a culture of human rights and democratic governance has not been cultivated. By providing Iranians with comprehensive human rights reports, data about past and present human rights violations and information about international human rights standards, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the IHRDC programs will strengthen Iranians’ ability to demand accountability, reform public institutions, and promote transparency and respect for human rights. Encouraging a culture of human rights within Iranian society as a whole will allow political and legal reforms to have real and lasting weight.
 

•  Human Rights Investigation, Analysis and Reporting.

Central to the IHRDC's mission and mandate is in-depth investigation, legal analysis and reporting of human rights abuses in Iran, focusing on allegations of serious violations of human rights and international criminal law. 

The IHRDC believes that credible investigation, analysis, and reporting of human rights abuses, both past and current, in a detailed and comprehensive manner, will allow for an increased awareness of human rights issues inside Iran, demonstrate the systematic nature of the violations, and lead to more persistent demands for accountability within Iranian society.  The widespread and regular dissemination of IHRDC’s reports, educational materials, and archive of documents will increase the knowledge of human rights issues among the general population; there will be a spillover effect from the human rights community as information becomes more readily available.  In the longer term, the creation of such a historical record will be indispensable for any formal international or domestic accounting of criminal activity, as well as fostering national reconciliation and, ultimately, a meaningful and peaceful transformation of legal institutions.

Each IHRDC report focuses on a particular event or series of events for the purposes of establishing a pattern of human rights abuses in a thematic area, such as repression of freedom of expression or religious persecution.  Thus, rather than enumerating what might otherwise appear to be isolated or random events,  the reports will provide a factual narrative of an event or series of interrelated events to demonstrate evidence of systemic and widespread abuses. The reports will also provide an analysis of the ways in which Iranian law in the relevant area could provide protections consistent with international human rights law, or else entrenches the systemic abuse of power which undermines the rule of law.  Every report aims to be accessible, yet also provide rigorous legal analysis of the evidence and testimony to establish state responsibility and/or individual accountability.  Names of alleged perpetrators will appear in reports where it is responsible to include them, thus stigmatizing their actions both in Iran and in the international community.  Last, an appendix of key evidentiary documents is included. 

Each report is translated and made available in Farsi and English. The reports will be disseminated inside Iran, as well as elsewhere, in printed bound versions and will be available electronically. 

•  Archives and Searchable Database (Aadel Collection)

A key component of the mission of the IHRDC is the creation of an archive of collected documents relating to human rights abuses in Iran. The IHRDC anticipates collecting tens of thousands of documents. It serves as the central repository documenting the human rights situation in Iran since 1979.

The preservation of information documenting human rights abuses will allow lawyers, students, activists, and scholars inside Iran and around the world to conduct research, reporting, or information-gathering on human rights abuses from the IHRDC’s comprehensive collection. It will be particularly useful for human rights advocates inside of Iran to be able to access the most current and extensive information available on the human rights situation to conduct their work, as such information is frequently suppressed inside the country. In the future, such a document collection would be invaluable should an international or domestic truth commission or a war crimes tribunal be established to investigate the atrocities committed in Iran after 1979.