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The Kurdish National
Congress of North America condemns the arrest,
imprisonment, and sentencing of Shamzin Jihad, a
Kurdish journalist in Iran.
The Iranian government continues its prosecution of
Kurds who dare to express their ethnic identity.
Amnesty International reports, “Judicial authorities
curtailed freedoms of expression, opinion and
association, including of ethnic minorities; scores
of publications were closed, Internet sites were
filtered and journalists were imprisoned.” In the
same report, it is stated that most executions were
carried out against the Kurdish minority, often in
public.
Numerous reports of this kind demonstrate that the
Iranian congress continues to criminalize the most
basic human rights and that the Iranian judicial
system is completely lacking the desire and ability
to apply the most basic human laws.
Shamzin Jihad’s sentencing in the city of Mahabad is
an example of how the Iranian regime criminalizes
any and all expressions of Kurdish identity. The
government’s case is based on her declaration that
she is a Kurd and that she refers to her place of
birth as ‘Kurdistan’. In this age of free speech and
human rights, Ms. Jihad’s commitment to her true
identity should be celebrated and not punished. We
are prepared to support her through this ordeal and
to bring to the world’s attention the continued
injustices the Iranian regime is committing against
the Kurds.
The Kurdish National Congress calls on the Iranian
government to immediately release the Kurdish
journalist Shamzin Jihad, stop the unjust policies
against the Kurdish people in Kurdistan of Iran,
adhere to United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights respecting freedom of opinion and
expression, and to commit to principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, article 1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
recognizing that all peoples have the right of
self-determination.
For more information please call: 949-583-1417
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