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Iran: Kurdish Teacher Tortured, Sentenced
to Death
28.2.2008
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February 28, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Iranian judiciary
should revoke the death sentence of Kurdish teacher
Farzad Kamangar, Human Rights Watch said today.
Kamangar was active in a number of civil society
organizations.
The authorities should also investigate Kamangar’s
allegations that he was tortured in detention, and
they should hold accountable any officials involved
in such abuse.
“Farzad Kamangar’s case highlights how human rights
abuses have become routine in Iran,” said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“Kamangar was tortured, subjected to unfair trial
and now faces execution.” |
Farzad Kamangar, Kurdish teacher tortured and
sentenced to death |
On February 25, Branch 30 of Iran’s Revolutionary
Court sentenced Kamangar to death on charges of
“endangering national security.” The prosecution
claimed that Kamangar is a member of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK).
According to Kamangar’s lawyer, this trial violated
the Iranian legal requirements that such cases must
be tried publicly and in the presence of a jury. He
also told Human Rights Watch that court officials
ridiculed his requests that they follow mandated
legal procedures.
Authorities arrested Kamangar in Tehran in July 2006
and held him in various detention centers in
Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Tehran. Kamangar claims
that during a period of detention in Unit 209 of
Evin Prison in August 2006,www.ekurd.net
officials tortured him
to such an extent that they had to transfer him to
the prison clinic to receive medical attention.
Kamangar also alleges torture and ill-treatment
while in detention in the cities of Sanandaj in
Kurdistan province and Kermanshah.
Kamangar’s lawyer told Human Rights Watch that the
first time he met his client, Kamangar’s hands and
legs were shaking as a result of mistreatment during
detention and interrogation. Kamangar himself
outlined the details of how he was tortured in a
letter written from prison. Human Rights Watch has
obtained a copy of this letter.
Prior to his arrest, Kamangar worked for 12 years as
a teacher in the city of Kamyaran, where he was on
the governing board of both a local environmentalist
group as well as the local branch of the teachers’
association. Kamangar wrote for the monthly journal
Royan,www.ekurd.net
a publication of the
Department of Education of Kamyaran. He was also a
writer with a local human rights organization that
documents human rights abuses in Kurdistan and other
provinces.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all
circumstances because of its cruel and inhumane
nature.
“This case gives the Iranian authorities an
opportunity to show how they can investigate and
remedy a situation where there is strong evidence of
an unfair trial and of torture,” Stork said.
Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
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
(Hîzbî Dęmokiratî Kurdistanî Ęran) 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
PJAK
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 PEJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PEJAK 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
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