Torture in Rajaee Shahr Perison in Karaj

This is a report inside prison of a victim of torture .




Another victim

UN Urged to Take Action for Jafar Kazemi, Political Prisoner on Death Row

In a letter, Jafar Kazemi’s wife has urged the United Nation’s Secretary General and the UNHCR Commissioner to help save her husband who is at imminent risk of execution.

RAHANA – Jafar Kazemi was arrested on September 18, 2009 and sentenced to death. In a letter written to the United Nation’s secretary general and published by HRDAI, Kazemi’s wife describes the family’s ordeal since her husband’s arrest.

The following is the English translation of Roudabeh Akbari’s letter:

My name is Roudabeh Akbari. I am a housewife, married to the political prisoner Jafar Kazemi, and a mother of two children.

My husband was arrested on September 18, 2009 at 6:00am on Haft-Hoz Street in Tehran. We did not hear from him for two weeks. He was tortured for three days and then placed in solitary confinement for 74 days under harsh conditions.

My husband was accused of supporting and propagandizing for the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), as well as visiting our son in Camp Ashraf (MKO camp in Iraq).

In prison, after being tortured and spending three months in solitary confinement, he was pressured to make televised confessions. Faced with his resistance, they then tortured him again, and three of his teeth were broken as a result of severe beatings. Presently, my husband remains in a worrisome physical and emotional state.

At the end of the initial trial, during which judge Moghiseh sentenced him to death, my husband’s lawyer verbally objected to the ruling, which he argued was excessive and unlawful for the existing charge of anti-state propaganda. The judge remarked that he was under pressure at that time by higher authorities to rule in this fashion.

According to my husband’s lawyer, during the second trial, the court did not even look at the defense statement, which contained three pages of arguments regarding the anti-state propaganda charge, and in a two-line ruling, upheld the initial court’s ruling (death sentence). Judge Zargar was the judge who presided over the appeals hearing.

The interrogator has told my husband that “we need to sacrifice a few in order to save the regime and your name has been drawn as one of them.” My husband was asked again to make an interview about the Ashura events on December 27, 2009, but he refused to comply as was arrested three months before Ashura. The interrogators threatened that if he refused to make the confession, they would torture his wife and his children before his eyes.

In spite of threats by the interrogators that they would cut his wife in pieces before his eyes, he continued to resist making any confessions in the interview. The interrogators reacted by telling my husband that his execution was final and would be enforced. After 74 days of solitary confinement in ward 209, he was held in a place they call the suite, before being moved one week later to ward 350.

For three weeks, despite repeated attempts by me and my younger child, they refused to let us visit him.

Which law, country, or ethics states that visiting one’s child is a crime? If the Islamic Republic considers visiting your children a crime punishable by death, then my husband is guilty.

Given the critical situation of the political prisoners, and considering the total lack of will to review the inhumane and illegal court rulings against innocent prisoners, I demand the immediate stay of execution for those have been sentenced to death.

What I described above does not only apply to my husband and our family. All the families of political prisoners are in the same excruciating psychological situation. All the families of political prisoners want immediate action from the United Nations and the UNHCR commissioner.

Yours truly,

Roudabeh Akbari, wife of political prisoner Jafar Kazemi

May 2010

Shadi Sadr Handed Sentence by the Revolutionary Court

RAHANA – According to Shadi Sadr’s lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, her trial was held on May 8, 2010.

In an interview with ILNA, Mostafaei announced that the trial was held in her absence since she is currently abroad. Sadr was charged with assembly and conspiring to disturb national security, disturbing public order, and resisting authorities. Her lawyer stated that she was sentenced to five years in prison for acting against national security, one year of imprisonment, and 74 lashes.

Mostafaei added that the verdict was given to him by branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Sadr’s lawyer has twenty days to appeal the verdict. Since the sentence is heavy, he is “definite” that he will appeal it.

Shadi Sadr was tried for participating in a rally on March 4, 2007. A total of 33 women were detained at the rally. Many of the arrested women arrested were either acquitted or given light sentences. Sadr’s verdict has been the heaviest so far.

Amir Khosro Dalirsani Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

RAHANA – Amir Khosro Dalirsani, a national-religious (term used for supporters of the Iranian National Front), has been sentenced to four years in prison.

According to a RAHANA reporter, branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court found Dalirsani guilty of assembly and conspiracy to act against national security and sentenced him to four years in prison. The decision has been communicated to Dalirsani who is currently detained in ward 350 of Evin prison.

Dalirsani, who is a senior member of the Jonbesh Mosalmanan Mobarez and the Committee against Arbitrary Arrests, was arrested following the Ashura events in December 2009.

Mousavi’s Chief Bodyguard Arrested

According to reports from Tehran, Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s head bodyguard was arrested on Monday night and taken to an unknown location. The news was first reported on the Kaleme website.

Yazdafar has been accompanying and protecting Mousavi for the past seven years.

There is no information available on the reason for the arrest, however the [incident] occurs just days after comments made by Tehran’s Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on confronting leaders of the Green Movement.

Following the arrest, Mousavi has asked staff members working at his office not to appear at work until further notice. According to reports, Mousavi believes that at the very least, authorities are planning to place him under house arrest.

Source: Iran Green Voice

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Hamed Omidi transferred to solitary confinement after prison protest against recent executions

Hamed Omidi, a student activist detained in ward 209 of Evin prison, has protested against last week’s execution of his Kurdish prison mates. Omidi’s disobedience of orders given by prison officials led to a physical altercation.

According to reports inside the prison received over the phone, security guards beat Omidi with batons and dragged him on the floor to a cell in solitary confinement. As of yet, he has not been transferred back to ward 209.

It is worth mentioning that Hamed Omidi, a student at Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, was arrested in relation to protests at Tehran University that condemned the execution of Ehsan Fattahian. Officials have refused to release Omidi from prison, even if a bail bonds is secured.

Statement by Members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters on Recent Letter of Aversion

A statement by members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters

When a dignified and noble palace, after years of proud resistance against upheavals, is destroyed by its inhabitants, what can we do but to sigh out of grief and pity? When the will of evil prevails over the pure and divine self-sacrifice of the heralds of liberty, what is left but regret? And when the wind of lies blows in the sky, how can we take refuge in the message of the disillusioned emissary?

We will emphasize as we have before that“the outlandish and preposterous claim that CHRR is linked to foreign governments or political groups has been repeated for a long time from various government tribunes- be it Tehran’s Prosecutor, the state and military news agencies, the Ministry of Intelligence interrogators, or the internet pirates who are floating in the swamp of their own lies.

Of course, no credible and trustworthy evidence is offered to back up this obvious lie. The Ministry of Intelligence, through its so-called experts, has launched a petty game to cover up the extent and depth of the systematic and organized human rights violations [in Iran]. Repeating these unfounded claims is, in fact, advertisement for and promotion of groups that have no [favourable] place in the Iranian public opinion.”**

We will state again that we confirm “there is no doubt that the Ministry of Intelligence, which spends large amounts of money out of the Iranian people’s pocket, is certainly aware of the independence of CHRR from all political parties and movements. That is why the absurd scheme of tying CHRR to the MKO (Mujahedin Khalq Organization), as it has been suggested by Ministry of Intelligence experts, cannot be considered anything but an attempt to pave the way for physical elimination of a reputable group of people whose activities are based on human rights since its conception.

For CHRR and all human rights activists, defending the human rights of every individual, regardless of their political orientation, religion, and ethnic background, is the most important principle. We candidly declare that in addition to the activities in the field of human rights including women, children, workers, religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities rights, we will be defending the rights of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscious.”**

We have said and we repeat once again that “The Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) is one of the organizations that has requested, with an emphasis on belief and commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the implementation of the Declaration in all aspects of the Iranian people’s lives. As it has been repeatedly stressed, the Committee is independent and does not belong to any political party or branch. The Committee has no political mandate.

The Committee’s activities, which started in 2005, involve presenting reports and providing information on all humans whose rights have been infringed or violated. These people involve women, children, prisoners, workers, etc. CHRR has also tried to prevent the systematic and perpetual violation of human rights by spreading public awareness, seeking assistance from domestic and international institutions to draw the government’s attention to the violation of basic rights for citizens.”**

The intention behind reiterating the above statement is a letter that has been written by a number of CHRR members, including some who were recently released from prison. The purpose is not to blame and badger our dear colleagues, but to remind our readers to disregard [the previously released controversial statements by CHRR that were written with the force of regime interrogators) and judge fairly the situations our friends [referring to the imprisoned members of CHRR] have had to endure.

On May 13, 2010, a statement titled, “Human rights are human rights” was published on the CHRR website. The statement that was full of spelling and grammatical mistakes and had other signs that it was written in a rush (these mistakes are visible to an aware reader) is in clear contrast to the Committee’s conduct in recent years. On May 15, 2010, after the publication of the “letter of aversion,” some websites who picked up the letter and posted it added in the last paragraph that some exiled members of CHRR are accused of “unfairness,” “violation of individual rights,” and “lack of respect for group and organizational efforts.” Thus it has been insinuated that those members of CHRR who have not signed the statement are the subject of outlandish claims made by Intelligence interrogators and state-military media regarding ties with the MKO.

The flagrant and absurd lies published by interrogators and their media has been repeatedly denied by CHRR. However, since we have insisted on our independence and our apolitical activities, we have been trying to report human rights violations from a purely human rights stance to avoid falling in the whirlwind of taking a political stance for or against any political group.

We have always believed that writing “letters of aversion from a certain political group” is not a human rights activity, but rather a political act. We have tried to keep CHRR clear of such effluence. Moreover, it is evident that stepping into this field by those members who are not in jail will only increase the pressure Intelligence interrogators exert not only on the members who are outside of prison but also for those who are detained and may go forward and give false confessions.”

It is not our intention to shed light on the internal issues of CHRR, but to point out a reality that will help the public uncover the truth. After the proposal to write a letter of aversion was put forward by some of the recently released members of CHRR, and not all of them, naturally many of the members opposed the publication of such a statement for the above-mentioned reasons. However, regretfully, and despite the will of the majority of the Committee, another statement which was still contrary to the conduct of CHRR was published on the website on May 7, 2010. The text was temporarily removed since internal negotiations [in prison] were not yet conclusive.

In the wake of these events, some members of CHRR, including a few who have left Iran after perceptible and active threats against their safety, have resigned from their activities in CHRR as they are against the publication of such letters of aversion and consider these letters in clear contrast to the purpose of CHRR. The resignations came after the publication of the May 13th letter titled, “Human Rights Are Human Rights.”

There is no doubt that the majority of the politically-conscious people are aware of the poison that the garden of CHRR has been exposed to. This awareness makes us hopeful that our readers understand the current circumstance. Certainly, the haste of writers and publishers of this non-human rights statement is completely understandable and does not require hair-splitting analyses. Even the year the organization was founded was typed incorrectly in the statement.

The most unfortunate part is the unethical conduct of the writers of the letter in their accusations against those members who opposed the publication of this letter.

Authors of the letter believe that taking sides will only harm human rights activities and will result in the satisfaction of those who violate human rights. Thus, we consider this painful discussion closed. We will strongly avoid engaging in it any further in hopes that the flag of pure and honest human rights reporting shall forever be up and flying.

We wish that our imprisoned friends Shiva Nazar Ahari and Koohyar Goodarzi will be released very soon. There is no doubt that the breeze of freedom shall blow, sooner or later, on this wounded land.

Farzad Kamangar’s Family Under House Arrest

Farzad Kamangar’s Family under House Arrest

HRA News Agency- It was reported on May 13, 2010 that intelligence and security forces, by using intimidation and threats, have put the Kamangar family under house arrest after they returned home to Kamyaran from Tehran.

The Kamangar family returned home after the judiciary system’s refusal to release the bodies of the five executed prisoners.

Security forces have cut off the phone to Kamangar’s house and threatened that any phone communication by the family will result in their arrest.

Yesterday, security forces attempted to arrest all members of the Kamangar family upon their arrival to Evin prison. People intervened to prevent the arrests.

To the Phoenixes of My Country- A letter by Farzad Kamangar

Photo: Farzad Kamangar and his students

To the Phoenixes of My Country (1)

By FARZAD KAMANGAR

Hello my precious, today is Women’s Day, the day that I always long for.

Today, instead of your kind hands, I ornament my thoughts, more chaotic than your tresses, with a narcissus flower.

It has been two years since my hands have seen the colour of violet and the feel of jasmine. It has been two years that my eyes are restless for a few tears of joy. You know better than me that I count the hours all year long, waiting for this day to come.

But today, I wonder which present suits you better, the song “Kiss Me One Last Time” (2) or “Pacha Garden”, (3) or perhaps a candle to light up our memories…

But my dearest, you can’t hear me sing and I can’t light a candle, because the lord of these walls has bound the candles in chains. I am not a poet to sing like the “old lover who breathes love into the wind to tickle your skin” or to write you a poem with a melody suitable for your agony. I am not a poet to rhyme according to the innocence of your eyes.

You can’t read in our native language. If you could, I would take you to the moon feast every night like “the screams of Hemin. (4) ” I shall write to you with Forough’s dialect so you don’t tell me, “Nobody cares about flowers anymore” or, “I’m depressed.” I will write until I too have faith in the fifth season.

My precious, I was born in a country with women who– like all of the women of the world– are not half of the rest, but each is half of the heavens. I cried my first tears in this country along with the women who taught defiance and resistance to the fire amongst the dancing flames.

The first childish smile blossomed upon my lips when the old oaks envied the mystery of the persistence and strength of the women of my land. I set my first steps upon the same path, that before me, the buttercups had shined the firm steps of women during the most difficult and most rebellious mountaintops of life and history with the morning dew.

The same women who whisper today songs of love and resistance into the ears of the walls. In my land, the lullabies of the children are the same as those that the people were murmuring for the Astartes and Ishtars, humanity’s first deities.

How can your day (Women’s Day) not be my Norooz (Persian New Year) celebration? Just like you, many others are waiting for their dearest ones to return, no matter when; during the first winter snow when a handful of wheat allows loneliness to be shared with sparrows, or by the time the house is swept to prepare for the swallows, or by the time God is the host at the Iftar table. **

On such a day, wait for me and wear a dress the colour and elegance of the sky- that has the elegance of Osman’s Syachmaneh(5) and a stem of Barzaran(6). Also wear a necklace of cloves, because cloves remind me of the scent of women, the scent of my country, the scent of immortality, and in one word, the scent of you.

Until then, I leave you in the hands of the creator of dew and rain. (7)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
1) The title of teh letter refers to the high number of women who set themselves on fie in my city. It is an insufferable pain that has been my mind since childhood.

2) Kiss Me One Last Time: a classical resistance song by Mohammad Naraqi. It is rumoured that the song was written by a partisan the night before he was executed addressing his daughter.

3) “Baghche pasha” or Pasha Garden is a masterpiece by Goran, the Kurdish poet. The poem has been eternalized by the velvet voice of Omar Dezhayi. The poem tells the story of a girl who asks her lover for a yellow and red flower. The lover has no choice but to enter the King’s garden to find the flowers. He comes back with the red flower which has been turned red from the young man’s blood of the young man who was shot while trying to find the flower.

4) It refers to a beautiful poem by mastreo Qobad Jalalizadeh, the imaginative poet of Soleymanieh (the city in Iraqi Kurdistan)

5) Syachmaneh: It is a beautiful genre of Kurdish songs which usually describes nature or the lover. Osman Hoormai is the absolute master of these songs.

6) Barzaran: It is a fragrant and rare flower indigenous to the moutnains of Shahoo (in Iranian Kurdistan where Farzad Kamangar was born, and taught for many years)

7) The letter is addressed to an imaginary lover

* Refers to Forough Farokhzad, the renowned and popular Iranian poetess of the 1950’s and 1960’s (1934-1967). The content and the style of her poems continue to draw fans to today.

**An iftar table is the table set in the evenings after a day of fasting for Ramadan (the holy month when muslims fast everyday from dawn to dusk)

Translation: Goli Dasht | Editing by: Siavosh J. | Persian2English.com

Kamangar’s crime was standing for human rights: Bus Workers Syndicate

Tehran and Municipality Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate issued an statement on the execution of Farzad Kamangar.

Intimidation and Execution are Reprehensible

We are mourning a teacher whose gears were those of chalk and pen; a teacher of many children who put their heads hungry on the pillows at nights. His crime was standing for human rights. A crime that, for the last one hundred years, has sent many into their graves and put many families in sorrow. In the last four years, many national and international organizations had condemned the imprisonment of Farzad Kamangar and more importantly had called for impartial and legal examination of his case. Representatives from international organizations had repeatedly requested to send delegations in order to visit him in prison; the requests which were never accepted.

Sadly his family did not have the right and the chance to see him in his last moments. These executions are happening at a time when our people have always and every where denounced violence in any of its manifestations.

Iranian and world labor movements have lost a teacher who did not stop learning and to teaching even in prison. We convey our condolences to the Kamangar family and his class counterparts all over the world for loosing Farzad.

As we have reiterated several times in the past, we call for the elimination of death penalty and consider the sentences by the illegal courts as void and invalid. We all for the release of all civic movement prisoners including Messes, Madadi and Osaloo.

Wishing for the spread of peace and justice throughout the world

Tehran and Municipality Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate
May 2010

HRANA Reports on General Strike in Kurdistan

HRA News Agency- Following the call from Kurdish organizations, civil institutions, political activists, and various parties to hold a general strike throughout Kurdish-populated areas, a general strike was widely held, even though the Kurdish territories were heavily militarized by regime forces.
According to HRANA reporters, the strike was at its highest level in the city of Sanandaj which was completely shut down. A significant percentage of shops as well as peddlers did not open for business in objection to the May 9th executions.

Shopkeepers on Ferdowsi, 6th-Bahman, Gozar, and Namaki streets closed their doors in a coordinated fashion.

A clash was reported between citizens and security forces in the village of Nosood. Bullets were fired into the air to disperse the people.
Reports from Marivan, Bukan, Divandareh, Mahabad, Oshnooyeh, and several other cities indicate that there have been large numbers of participants on strike.

It has also been reported that large numbers of people from various cities visited the residences of the executed prisoners in the Sanandaj and Kamyaran to show their sympathy and support.

Translation: Persian2English.com

Farzad Kamangar Letter: “Burnt Generation”

Burnt Generation

By FARZAD KAMANGAR

Oh storm, put away your rusty axe
a daffodil wants to blossom.
A child wants to go to sleep.
Oh guns! Go silent and dumb

Dear Ms…

Hello,

You said that you liked my letter titled, “Dad gave water”* and that it really resonated with you. To be honest, I wrote that letter from the bottom of my heart for my students and for my own childhood. I put my dreams and wishes down on paper. My childhood of our generation had a deep impact in all aspects of our lives.

I do not remember any poems from my childhood. They never taught us any poems. I only realized in the third decade of my life that I was supposed to receive a round ball as a reward from my father and extend my legs before my mom could [sing to me the Persian folk song] Atal Matal…

It was our teachers who should have taught us to write poems for the sun and the sky. We should have grown taller with the trees. We should have flowed along with the rivers. We should have flown across the sky with the butterflies.

We should have, we should have…

However, instead, our music was a military march. Our poems were of guns and rifle pits and we wouldn’t look at the sky out of fear of fighter helicopters. It was in the third decade of my life that I realized that I don’t know any children’s stories. I did not know that children are supposed to sit and listen before bed to their grandparents’ stories of the brave rabbit and the ugly duckling. I did not know that children should live and grow with their dreams. The end of our stories counted the number of those who died in the mountains or from hours of fighting.

Believe me, they did not let us be children. Perhaps that is why at the age of thirty-something, I still like to play childhood games. Perhaps that is why I enjoy playing along with children. And I still wish to have the opportunity to play.

They stole pleasure, joy, and happiness from our generation. That is why I don’t remember anything from my childhood. Now, you tell me, if they take away protests, screams, and love from your poem, what will remain of it? If they take away spring from nature and the moon and stars from the night, what will become of them?

And tell me, if they take away childhood from a person, what is left of him?

Dear…in the time of our adolescence, instead of reading science-fiction stories, we were after reading the constitution of some political party or the methods of armed conflicts. Our courses discussed the history of religion.

Dear…my childhood started with the smell of lead, bullets, and gun shots. There is nothing left of our beautiful village, despite all the natural springs, but ruins surrounded by mountains.

My memories of the village goes back to the following event (I do not remember anything before that):

One day, we witnessed how the armed youth flooded our village from all roads. This was the first time I saw a gun. The first sight of a bullet gave me a strange sense of fear. There was no opportunity to count the natural springs around the village, something I always wished to do. There was no time to tie the swing to the walnut tree in our yard. There was no time to collect the mulberries from behind our school. There was no time to pick the wild flowers.

Our activity involved seeing the injured and the dead who were brought to our village. We heard the sobs of mothers who heard the news of their children’s deaths. They would come from other villages and towns. Sobs, screams, blood, the smell of gunpowder, the chants of “Long live” and “Death to” filled the space of our village. It saturated our childhood.

One day, they placed a young injured man named Ebrahim under a mulberry tree. Nobody was around him. I approached him with fear. He asked me for water. Without knowing that water was harmful for his condition, I brought him some. Suddenly, one of his comrades yelled at me. I dropped the bowl of water and began to cry. I turned my face to Ebrahim, he had a smile on his face. I didn’t understand the meaning of his smile that day, but since that day, the image of it returns, even in my dreams. It never leaves me.

Perhaps Ebrahim remembered his own childhood when he looked at me. Since then, I have envied the children of our land and a lump sits in my throat. I smile at them to picture my own childhood and their future.

Dear…the day when they left our village, another group came with different guns and uniforms. Nobody stopped to think about the schools. Everybody was thinking of a stronger rifle pit. We were left with no choice but to leave the village and come to town. However, it was there that you could hear the sirens of ambulances carrying the killed youth that the sound of the siren of ambulances holding the killed youth were heardsiren from the ambulance carrying the killed youth ringed the sirens of the ambulances carrying the bodies of the killed youth killed bodies there too, it was the sirens of the ambulances and the bodies of the killed youth that were brought to the town for display. These images did not leave our childhood and adolescence aone.

Every evening after school, from the hilltops outside town, I would watch the burnt wheat farms that burned under the fire from guns and cannons. I used to sit down and watch the burnt acorn forests. There was no time left for us to be children.

I became a teacher later on so that I did not have to leave children and the world of childhood. I returned to the villages in the Shahoo Mountains to visit the wounded Shahoo from close and befriend her. The acorn trees had grown again. The mountain was calm, but was still bearing the memories and the marks of the deep wound it once endured.

Life was going on. I was going to class with passion and enthusiasm. However, the people`s poverty and unemployment and the students’ torn shoes and worn-out clothes bothered me. I would die a thousand times every day when I looked at their pained faces. Although, I did not want to bear witness to the death of the children`s dreams.

I had become a teacher, knowing that being a teacher in this land meant sharing the pain and suffering of others. Pain and suffering in this forgotten part of the world would bestow upon a teacher awareness and a new personality. I had to remain a teacher out of respect for childhood, for my childish dreams- a teacher who liked to stay a child- even at this age and even in prison.

[I am] a child with grey hair, a child who is crazy about the children of his land. I hear from inside the prison and from the wall cracks the whistle of the bullets in my land. Like the children of my land, I wake up suddenly from the sound of explosions, and when they feel fearful, my own childhood horrors take over me. This time the smile of that wounded youth appears on my face, and I wish from the bottom of my heart that tonight none of the children wake up from the sound of a bullet. I wish that the bedtime story of none of them would smell like gunpowder.

My dear, in the name of loyalty, let your eyes take the place of mine and look into the inquisitive eyes of your students and behold the dim spark of hope. Sit down and give the smile I had loaned from you to the children of our land as a gift.

Teacher on death row, Farzad Kamangar

Evin prison,

May 2010

Emotional Interview with the Lawyer of Executed Prisoners: “I Am Speechless”

In an interview with Aso Saleh from Nowrooz TV on May 11, 2010, Khalil Bahramian , the lawyer of executed political prisoners Farzad Kmangar and Shirin Alam Hooli, explained the pain that he and the families are going through in their efforts to retrieve the bodies of the executed political prisoners from security forces to hold funerals.

Khalil Bahrami said that on the morning of May 11, 2010, he was in the Revolutionary Court to retrieve the executed bodies. He stated that after help from the judge, the case of retrieving the bodies was finally referred to the national security committee. Bahramian explained that he has informed the court his willingness to accept full responsibility for the funeral and has guaranteed that there would be no problems.

Bahramian stated that he is still in shock and cannot believe the disaster. He said that he is hoping to get the bodies back by May 12, 2010 so Farzad Kamangar’s will, which states that he is to be buried in his hometown, be fulfilled. He added that at the moment, all five bodies are still in Kahrizak and the judge’s secretary has not granted permission for the release of the bodies.

Aso Saleh asked Bahramian whether this is the normal process for retrieving bodies and whether it is in accordance to the law that the National Security Committee needs to have a meeting before releasing the executed bodies for funeral purposes. Bahramian answered that it is not possible to question the law at the moment. Bahramian explained that this ordeal has come to be because of Ayatollah Larijani, since the case should have been referred to the Supreme Court, according to section 18 of law.

Bahramian added that when he was in Tehran on May 10, 2010, the court discovered that their request to send the case to the Supreme Court was ignored. He then explained that Saeed Mortazavi never sent any of the reports since a year and a half ago to Mr. Shahroudi.

Bahramian stated that he is speechless and cannot answer to the families why the young political prisoners have been executed.

Aso Saleh asked Bahramian if he had any plans to follow up on the case, since the executions were against the law and the case was not finalized at the time the prisoners were executed. Bahramian replied that there is no point since they have all been already executed.

Bahramian explained that Shirin Alam Hooli had told him that she planned to continue her studies at university. Bahramian then began to cry. Through his tears, Bahramian said that Shirin Alan Hooli was an ordinary young woman who was not able to speak Persian (she spoke Kurdish), but the security officers still filled out the confession papers (in Persian), claiming it was Shirin Alam Hooli’s confession. Bahramian explained that section 168 of the law states that these cases must be presented in a public court with the presence of a jury.

Bahramian asked, “How is it possible that they could execute five innocent people based on one person’s orders?” He added, “I am asking this judge who has ordered the execution, even if they where guilty (which they were not), is it still reasonable to execute them? Would you do the same to your son or daughter? Farzad was one of the most honourable citizens and I can’t believe this is how his life ended.”

Translation: Banoo Sabz | Persian2English.com

Shirin Alam Hooli was scheduled to be released

LATEST NEWS ON THE EXECUTION OF SHIRIN ALAM HOOLI

According to reports from inside Iran, Shirin Alam Hooli was close to release before she was executed.

The following is a letter received on the news:

Dear friends, I have received this news from my sources in Iran and a source inside the Revolutionary Guards.

The details of this news have been transmitted to international news agencies and you can distribute:

Shirin Alam Hooli who was executed along with four others on May 9, 2010, unlike what many believe, was scheduled to be released or have her sentence reduced.

Two years ago she went through the most severe torture at the Revolutionary Guards detention center. She was also raped many times. Later at Tehran’s Prosecutor’s Office, her mother was told to ask her daughter to keep her silence on what has happened to her. Although Shirin promised not to talk upon her release, she released a few letters from prison written in Kurdish that were signed with the word “Serkeftin,” which means victory in Kurdish. The letters made the authorities change their minds on her release.

In a session with the representative of the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office (Mortazavi at that time), Shirin Alam Hooli claimed that she was repeatedly raped and asked for prosecution of the interrogators.

Following that session, she was taken to the gallows, against the normal judicial process. According to a witness, when Shirin realized what was about to take place, she pleaded to talk to her mother for the last time, but the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office did not even let her write a will.

The same source adds: “Just like all other executions, the May 9th executions were filmed by a special representative from the Ministry of Intelligence. But these representatives did not allow the filming of scenes where Farzad Kamangar was chanting slogans of “Death to Khamenei” and “Long Live Freedom” while he put the noose around his own neck.

Kurdistan Strikes May 2010

The town of Bukan has joined the general strikes

Bukan- In response to the call for a general strike by the Kurdish people to protest the execution of five Kurdish political activists, citizens of Bukan went on a coordinated strike. All shops, bazaars, and public places have been shut down. Security forces are situated in various street corners.

Today the city of Bukan is on a general strike. In most places in Bukan, along with most of Kurdistan from Maku to Ilam, all stores are closed. People are not leaving their houses.

***

Bazaar in Sanandaj shut down

Despite all of the security measures in Kurdistan for today, reports indicate that the bazaar in Sanandaj is completely shut down and the students did not attend their classes. The streets of Sanandaj are full of special guards. The city seems to be shut down.

***

City of Divandareh: complete shutdown of Divandareh

At 10:30 a.m. on May 13, 2010, the bazaar in the city of Divandareh was shut down. The city looks deserted. Only security forces can be seen roaming the streets on foot in order to prevent any filming.

***

Bazaar shut down in Mahabad

City of Mahabad- In the province of Mahabad, military presence is high. The city’s bazaar has been closed and the people are on strike. The slogans ‘Death to the Regime’ and ‘Death to the Dictator’ have been written in various places (walls, etc) around the city.

***

The students in Mahabad and Bukan have refused to go to school.

Kurdistan Strikes May 2010

According to the Committee for Protests and Strikes in Kurdish Cities, a general strike has taken over all Kurdish cities.

City of Sanandaj- Citizen of Sanandaj: My child woke up early today and told me he won’t go to school today. He said, “You had promised to close down the school, don’t break your promise.” I caressed his head and replied, “My dear, I won’t go to work either today, but I have to go out and see what is happening in the city.” I went to the street corner a block away and noticed that Haji’s grocery store which is usually open before the neighbours wake up was closed. I quickly went to the center of the city. I noticed that there was no sign of people and the stores were all closed. Those who had gathered in front of pharmacies were looking at each other bewildered. Maybe they felt bad for coming out today. To sum it up: the city is shut down. Azadi Square is completely closed. Ferdowsi street and the little bazaars are all closed. 6th-Bahman street and Sharifabad are closed. Many streets are closed. Not even one person has opened his shop in the industrial and blacksmith townships. Market squares are all closed. The old Asef bazaar and all surrounding shops are closed.

Only government offices are open and security forces roam back and forth in their vehicles. They stand in groups next to banks and government offices. I send my greetings to the city of Sanandaj for the strike.

General Strike in Kurdistan PART 1

City of Kamyaran (hometown of Farzad Kamangar)- Except for government offices where security forces have come to work, the entire city is shut down. Security forces roam the streets. People are moving toward Farzad Kamangar’s home in increasing numbers.

General Strike in Kurdistan PART 2

City of Marivan- Marivan is shut down, except for schools and government offices run by security forces. All shops are closed.

According to reports received from cities of Baaneh, Bukan, Saghez, Divandareh, and Mahabad, most shops and bazaars are closed and the city atmosphere resembles a general strike.

According to reports in some cities, security forces are forcing shop owners to open some stores, but the people have resisted. In Kamyaran and Sanandaj, security forces have been stationed on main street corners.

In most Kurdish towns, security forces are implementing martial law and attempting to begin conflicts.

General Strike in Kurdistan PART 3

Translation: Tour Irani | Persian2English.com

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Report from Bukan on Strikes, Phone Lines Disconnected

Bukan, Kurdistan

A citizen from Kurdistan: The coordinated attempt by the people of Bukan has put regime forces on alert. In order to prevent the news of Bukan strikes from spreading, the government has disconnected all phone lines. All squares in the city and all main areas like the Governor’s Office, Kurdistan Boulevard, Shahrbani intersection, Molavi intersection, Eskanadari Square, Ostadhaghighi intersection, and East and West Molavi streets are occupied by security forces. All schools are closed.

Amnesty International Urges Action for Imminent Execution of Jafar Kazemi

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Amnesty International has issued an urgent statement about the imminent execution of Jafar Kazemi in the next few days:

“The danger of imminent execution in Iran”

An Iranian, Jafar Kazemi, is in imminent danger of execution for participating in anti-government demonstrations. He has also been accused of collaborating with the MKO (Mujahedeen Khalgh Organization).

Jafar Kazemi was arrested on September 18, 2009 during a demonstration and was transferred to Evin prison. He has been accused of participating in a demonstration where 100,000 others participated and he has not been accused of any violent actions.

He has been sentenced to death for being ‘an enemy of God’ and propaganda against the regime. He was arrested along with at least one other person, Mohammad Ali Aghaii who has been accused of similar charges but Amnesty International has no information whether he has been sentenced to death as well.

According to reports, Jafar Kazemi has been interrogated for months and has been under pressure appear in fake v. confessions but he has refused.

In April 2010 he was informed that his order of execution has been re-confirmed by a court of appeals. His lawyer who has had limited access to his client has asked the Judiciary office to review this case. Unless this request is accepted, then the execution could happen at any moment.

In 1980s and 1990s Jafar Kazemi was arrested for being a member of MKO and for spending time at Ashraf Camp in Iraq. One of his sons is in Iraq.

Others who are in danger of execution for protesting after the election:

Amir Reza Arefi, Mohammad Amin Valian, Motahareh (Simin) Bahrami and her husband Mohsen Daneshpour Moghadam and their son Ahmad Daneshpour, two friends: Hadi Ghaemi and Reyhaneh Ghanbari.

Source: Amnesty International

Several Teachers Arrested on National Teachers’ Day

Security forces arrested a number of teachers on the occasion of National Teachers’ Day on May 2, 2010.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) - The teachers were paying tribute to Dr. Abol-Hassan Khan-Ali by visiting his grave when security forces arrested a number of teachers present at the site. Dr. Khan-Ali was a teacher who was killed on May 1, 1961 for protesting teachers’ right.

HRANA has confirmed the arrest of Mohammad Taghi Fallahi, Iraj Javadi, Forghani, Mohammadi, Raeiszadeh, Ms. Barpar, Zeinalzadeh, Souri, Shivarani, Iman Zadeh, and Montajabi.

According to HRANA eight other teachers were also arrested last week in the lead up to Teachers’ Day in Iran.

Translation by: The Green Voice of Freedom | Persian2English.com

Second Trial Held for Student Mohammad Yousef Rashidi

RAHANA - The second trial for Amirkabir University student Mohammad Yousef Rashidi was held yesterday at branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court with presiding judge Pir-Abassi.

According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), during the hearing, Rashidi was charged with “propaganda against the government through ties with enemy groups (I.e. the MKO)” and “participation in illegal gatherings.” Rashidi denied the charges and repeated the statements he has made throughout the investigation and interrogation process.

Maryam Darayi and Amir Salar Davoodi, Rashidi’s two attorneys, defended the charge linked to the Mujahedin Khalgh Organization (MKO) and pointed out the lack of evidence to support the charge.

As to the charge related to participation in illegal gatherings, the lawyers, based on their client’s statements during his investigation, argued that since Qods Day and the November 4th rallies were both legal events held annually, their client did not act illegally by participating, and therefore his participation does not constitute as sufficient grounds for the charge.

Judge Pir-Abassi referred to the presence of the accused in a March 2009 rally at Amirkabir University in protest to the burial of the Iran-Iraq war victims on the university grounds. Pir-Abbasi stated that the defendant continues with his past activities, thus it does not seem Rashidi has been punished enough.

In his own defense, Rashidi said, “[My] presence in student gatherings is a matter that should be addressed by the university. I have already been suspended from the university for four semesters and detained for 108 days as a result of my presence in the gatherings and my student activities.”

The court session only lasted 30 minutes. It ended after the defense arguments. The maximum punishment under penal law for “propaganda activities against the Islamic regime” is one year in prison.

Mohammad Yousef Rashidi was arrested at his parents’ home in Noshahr (a port city in the province of Mazandaran in northern Iran) on November 27, 2009 under a warrant issued by the city’s Revolutionary Prosecutor. The student activist was first moved to the Ministry of Intelligence main detention centre in Sari, Mazandaran, before his transfer to Tehran’s Evin prison.

On March 15, 2010, Rashidi was released on $50,000 bail.

Source: RAHANA | Persian2English.com