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Iran: Activists condemn Kurdish Workers'
lashing sentences
28.2.2008
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February 28, 2008
Iranian Kurdistan, -- Labor rights activists
and prominent human rights figures have condemned
the lashing sentences that have been handed down in
recent weeks to 11 workers in the Iranian province
of Kurdistan.
So far, four workers and labor activists -- Sedigh
Amjadi, Latifollah Kalakani, and Fars Gavalian and
Sedigh Hosseini -- have been lashed by authorities
for disrupting public order and participating in an
unauthorized gathering.
The three are among 11 other activists who were
arrested by security forces during last year's May
Day celebrations in Sanandaj.
The detainees were each sentenced to 10 lashes and
91 days in prison for their demonstration on May 1,
2007. Two of the workers were sentenced to 2 1/2
years in prison,www.ekurd.net
a verdict that was later
reviewed by Kurdistan Province's appeals court and
changed to 10 lashes, and a fine of 200,000 tumans
(about $200).
Khaled Savari, the head of the National Union of
Dismissed and Unemployed Workers, has also been
sentenced to 10 lashes. "What crime have we
committed? Have we broken any doors or windows? Have
we set a car on fire? The only thing we did was to
complain about our wages and other workers' issues
in front of the employment office," Savari tells
Radio Farda. "That's all we did."
Worker Tayyeb Molaie was also sentenced to 10
lashes. He also denounced the sentence as unfair,
and added that the sentences come amid growing state
and economic pressure on workers and their families.
He asks whether "a worker who has reached the point
of helplessness -- in which he cannot support
himself or his family, and asks for some kind of
improvement on Labor Day -- be punished with
lashes?"
In the past two years, state pressure on workers has
increased and a number of them have been detained,
imprisoned, and intimidated. But the lashing
sentences are unprecedented.
Shirin Ebadi, the head of the Tehran-based Center
for Defenders of Human Rights and a Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, tells Radio Farda that the sentences
are very alarming.
"A long time ago, the world reached the conclusion
that the purpose of punishment is to correct a
criminal's behavior and not to take revenge on the
individual by enforcing physical punishment on him,"www.ekurd.net
Ebadi says. "Therefore,
all physical punishments such as lashings, stonings,
and hand amputations are strictly forbidden
according to the International Convention Against
Torture."
Meanwhile, the National Union of Dismissed and
Unemployed Workers, who organized the May Day
celebrations in Sanandaj, has denounced the
sentences as inhumane and sent a formal complaint to
the International Labor Organization.
The sentences have also been criticized by two
parliament deputies, Soheila Jolodarzadeh and
Mohammad Ali Moghnian, who have called for a special
committee to be created to investigate the matter.
Ebrahim Madadi, the deputy head of the Tehran bus
drivers' union, was quoted by the "Dastranj" website
as saying that the sentences against the workers are
an attempt by officials to enforce order and
obedience in society. Madadi, who was himself
released from prison a few months ago, said that the
enforcement of these verdicts has caused surprise
and concern.
Detained worker Molaie says that the enforcement of
the lashing sentences is a clear contradiction
between the government's slogans and its actions. He
says he has repeatedly heard the government proclaim
"equality and brotherhood" and claim that there is
no oppression in Iran. But he says these lashing
sentences against workers are "sad proof" that the
Iranian government's actions contradict its slogans.
Several Iranian websites, including dastranj.ir, a
website dedicated to workers' issues, have reported
that the carrying out of the verdicts has angered a
lot of people in Kurdistan.
"Workers at the Shahoo factory have firmly announced
they will all gather in front of the Sanandaj
courthouse to declare that if [I] receive lashes,
they would want to punished the same way," convicted
activist Savari tells Radio Farda.
It is not clear when Savari will receive his
punishment.
rferl org
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
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
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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