August 4, 2007
BRUSSELS, --- The European Union on Friday
called on Iran to halt the executions of two Kurdish
journalists convicted for harbouring links to armed
groups.
The EU's Portuguese presidency in a statement also
voiced concern at collective public executions that
have been taking place in Iran recently.
"The EU calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to
halt the executions of Adnan Hassanpour and of
Abdolwahed Boutimar and to ensure that the two
accused be given a fair trial" in accordance with
the international human rights convention, the
statement read.
The EU also condemned Iran's "increasing recourse to
the death penalty" and "the growing repression
against all groups which exercise their right to
freely express their opinions, in particular in
Kurdish and Arab minority regions". |
Kurdish journalists
Adnan Hassanpur (L) and Hiwa Botimar sentenced to death
by the Iranian Islamic regime |
Iran's judiciary confirmed on Tuesday for the first
time that Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva"
Botimar were sentenced to death on July 16 by a
revolutionary court in northeastern Kurdistan
province as "enemies of God."
Iran hanged in public seven people convicted of rape
and kidnapping in its holy second city of Mashhad on
Wednesday, the latest execution of criminals
arrested in a crackdown on thugs.
Iran has stepped up hangings of such convicts deemed
to be a public menace.
Kurds form a minority believed to be around several
million people in Iran. Most of whom live in the
northwestern provinces of West Azarbaijan and
Kurdistan on the border with Turkey and Iraqi
Kurdistan region.
The border area is hugely sensitive, with Iranian
security forces in recent years fighting banned
Kurdish separatist parties, in particular Pejak, a
group linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK).
PEJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) , took up
arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdistan
province northwestern of Iran. Half the members of
PEJAK are Kurdish women.
AFP
Iranian Kurdistan
**
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
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a Free Life in 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
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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