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Iran's Kurdish Media Crackdown
7.4.2007
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April
7, 2007
Iranian authorities have banned the Iranian-Kurdish
weekly newspaper Payam-e Kurdistan. Published in
Kurdish and Persian, Payam-e Kurdistan was printed
in Mahabad and distributed in Iran's West
Azerbaijan, Ilam, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah
provinces.
Human rights monitors say Iran has stepped up its
repression of Iranian-Kurdish journalists.
Authorities continue to detain Kia Jahani, a
long-time contributor to the Kurdish-language
television station, Kurdistan TV. He was arrested on
February 24th. Two other Iranian Kurdish
journalists, Adnan Hassanpour and Kaveh Javanmard,
have been imprisoned for several months.
The press freedom monitoring group Reporters Without
Borders issued a statement saying the plight of
journalists in the Kurdish area of Iran is getting
worse. "With increasing frequency," said Reporters
Without Borders, "they are being arrested
arbitrarily and held incommunicado without the
authorities feeling it necessary to inform or
provide them with a lawyer."
In its latest human rights report, the U.S. State
Department says that Iran severely restricts freedom
of the press. Iran's penal code states that "anyone
who undertakes any form of propaganda against the
state" can be imprisoned, which basically means the
government can put anyone in jail they want. The law
also forbids the dissemination of information that
offends government officials and religious
authorities.
The United Nations General Assembly has expressed
concern over the violent repression of Kurds and
other ethnic minorities in Iran by the government.
During 2006, over two-hundred-fifty Kurds were
arrested and three were reportedly killed in clashes
with Iranian police.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says
Iran should "release those arrested and imprisoned
for insisting on their universal rights":
"The regime's repression affects religious
minorities, students, women, labor unions,
journalists, and academics. We are working with the
international community, through the United Nations,
foreign governments, and international
nongovernmental organizations to focus attention on
the Iranian regime's continued abuse of its own
citizens and press for improvements in its dismal
human rights record."
"The U.S.," said State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack, "calls on the Iranian regime to cease the
systematic oppression of its citizens" and "respect
the rights of all Iranian people."
voanews com
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Īranź or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatź
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey.
It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
KDPI
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in Kurdish
(Hīzbī Dźmokiratī Kurdistanī Źran) is a Kurdish
opposition group in Iranian Kurdistan which seeks
the attainment of Kurdish national rights within a
democratic federal republic of Iran. The current
General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian
Kurdistan is Mustafa Hijri
More about KDPI- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
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