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Reporters Without Borders condemns the
arrest of Iranian Kurdish journalist Bahman Tutunchi 28.11.2008
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November 28, 2008
Reporters Without Borders condemns the
arrest of Bahman Tutunchi
(Totonchi), a former contributor to the weekly
Karfto, on 18 November in Sanandaj, the capital of
the northwestern province of Kurdistan (Iranian
Kurdistan). The organisation has also learned that a
journalist was stabbed and seriously wounded in a
neighbouring province after writing about gas
shortages in the region.
“Totonchi’s arrest brings the number of Kurdish
journalists currently detained in Iran to five,”
Reporters Without Borders said. “This can only be
described as persecution as they all used to work
for independent media that were already closed by
the authorities in charge of supervising the media.
We call for Tutunchi’s release especially as,www.ekurd.net
more than a week after
his arrest, no charges have been brought against
him.”
The press freedom organisation added: “Meanwhile,
the physical attack on a journalist who was covering
sensitive social issues serves as a danger alert to
the entire media just a few months before the start
of the presidential election campaign.”
Tutunchi was arrested at his Sanandaj home by
intelligence agents who carried out a search and
left with personal files and his satellite dish. It
is not known where he is now being held. Reporters
Without Borders has been told that the security
forces had been harassing him ever since his
newspaper was closed on 29 December 2007 on the
orders of the Commission for the Authorisation and
Surveillance of the Press,www.ekurd.net
an offshoot of the
Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Mohammad Khaleghi, a journalist based in Takab (in
the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan) who
writes for the ASR Iran news website, was seriously
injured when he was attacked on 24 November by two
men on a motorcycle who were armed with a knife and
a box cutter.
A few days before the attack, he had covered
protests by Takab residents about gas distribution
problems and had questioned the government’s
handling of the issue, prompting Takab’s governor to
demand his dismissal and accuse him of being
“morally incompetent.”
The Iranian government is one of the region’s worst
press freedom violators. The print media, news
websites and the broadcast media are all controlled
by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic guidance and
the intelligence services.
In a report released in July 2008, the human rights
organisation, Amnesty International
expressed concern
about the increased repression of Kurdish Iranians,
particularly human rights defenders.
The report cited examples of religious and cultural
discrimination against the estimated 12 million
Kurds who live in Iran.
“We urge the Iranian authorities to take concrete
measures to end any discrimination and associated
human rights violations that Kurds, indeed all
minorities in Iran, face,” Amnesty said in its
report.
“Kurds and all other members of minority communities
in Iran, men, women and children, are entitled to
enjoy their full range of human rights.”
The International Alliance
in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI) provides the
following list of
persecuted activists:
* Sousan Razani, 36 years old, a resident of the
city of Sandandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, sentenced to 9 months
imprisonment and 70 lashes, for participation in the
2008 May Day rally in Sanandaj; charged with "the
breach of public order—participation in an illegal
assembly in front of the Social Security building."
* Shiva Kheirabadi, 25 years old, a resident of the
city of Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, sentenced to
4 months imprisonment and 15 lashes, for
participation in the 2008 May Day rally in Sanandaj;
charged with the "breach of public
order"—participation in an illegal assembly in front
of the Social Security building.
* Seyed Qaleb Hosseini, 46 years old, a resident of
the city of Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, was
sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and 50 lashes,
for participation in the 2008 May Day rally in
Sanandaj; charged with the "breach of public
order"—participation in an illegal assembly in front
of the Social Security building.
* Abdullah Khani, 49 years old, a resident of the
city of Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, sentenced to
91 days prison and 40 lashes, for participation at
the 2008 May Day rally in Sanandaj; charged with the
"breach of public order"—participation in an illegal
assembly in front of the Social Security building.
* Seyed Khaled Hosseini, 49 years old, a resident of
the city of Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, sentenced
to three months and one additional day in jail and
30 lashes, sentences suspended for two years;
charged with the "breach of public
order"—participation in a rally outside Sanandaj
prison in support of Mahmoud Salehi on March 23,
2008.
* Afshin Shams, a labor activist, a member of
Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers'
Organizations, a member of Committee in Defense of
Mahmoud Salehi and also a member of Caricaturist
Society; incarcerated since July 04, 2008 without
trial.
* Farzad Kamangar is a 33 year old teacher, journalist and a human
rights activist from Kurdistan, Iran. Farzad Kamangar has been sentenced to death, found guilty
of "risking national security and being a member of
the Kurdistan Workers Party." Mr. Kamangar has been
subjected to brutal torture and lengthy
imprisonment.
* Mansour Osanloo, President of the board of
directors of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and
Suburbs Bus Company. Mr. Osanloo has been jailed
numerous times. The last time, he was abducted on
July 10, 2007 and later was transferred to the Evin
Prison and never released since. He has been
sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. There have been
numerous international campaigns for his freedom.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
rsf org | Agencies
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranê or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatê
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 12 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
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