Iran Document: The Repression, Abuse, and Execution of Iranian Kurds

The five Iranians executed in May 2010Soon it will be two years since the executions of four Kurdish activists shocked the international community. One of those executed was the teacher Farzad Kamangar, whose plight had been the focus of an international campaign. Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, and Shirin Alamhouli were also hung, as was political prisoner Mehdi Eslamian.

This month the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) details the repression of the Kurdish-Iranian community and the targeting of Kurdish-Iranian activists in a 70-page report, “On the Margins: Arrest, Imprisonment and Execution of Kurdish Activists in Iran Today". The document reveals reveals a disturbing and shocking pattern of repression and violence by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its Kurdish community.

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Iran Flashback: Farzad Kamangar's Last Letter "Is It Possible to Teach and Be Silent?"

Farzad Kamangar with his studentsIs it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet?

Is it possible to be in the year of no justice and fairness and fail to teach the H for Hope and E for Equality, even if such teachings land you in Evin prison or result in your death?

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Iran Flashback: The Execution of Shirin Alamhouli --- "Even the Dead Haunt the Regime" (Ghazi)

Shirin did not want to go. She expected to be at least told where she was being taken to. Why were they not allowing her to even put on her prison scarf? Why were they taking her without the usual required trench coat and scarf?

The next day, her ward mates spoke about the last words they heard her say: “I am in your hands so why are you not letting me at least say goodbye to my family? Let me say my final farewell to my friends. Why all this when there is no way for me to escape. For God’s sake let me hear my mother’s voice for the last time....”

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