Ali Heydarian,Kurdish human rights activist activist Ali Heydarian was arrested in August 2006 with Farzad Kamangar and Farhad Vakili in Tehran. The three were charged of being members in the Kurdish Workers Party (پارتی کار کهرانی کوردستان Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, commonly known as PKK) and being a Mohareb, acting against national security. After 17 months in prison, the three were condemned to death as Mohareb, a religious charge meaning "warring against God" on 29 February 2008. Ali Heydarian received an additional ten years for forging his birth certificate. The religious charge Mohareb and other sham charges are often used to justify the imprisonment and execution of political prisoners, and is a serious human rights violation. Heydarian was held in Rajai-Shahr Prison near Karaj, where he was fatally wounded by prison guards in May 2008. He was denied medical treatment until the other prisoners not united in protest. Rajai-Shahr Prison is notorious for abuse and torture and political prisoners are often housed with violent criminals as an intimidation technique. Previously, Heydarian was held in prisons in Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Tehran, where torture is also heavily documented. On 11 January 2010, the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization listed Ali Heydarian among the 17 Kurdish political prisoners at imminent risk of execution in Evin Prison. Torture is explicitly outlawed by Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Additionally, the Islamic Republic is in violation of Articles 8, 9, and 10 of the UDHR, which provide protection against arbitrary arrest and detention, and a fair and public hearing.
Farzad Kamangar, a teacher and a human rights activist, has been sentenced to death along with two other activists, identified as Farhad Vakili and Ali Haydarian. On 6/5/1387 (July 27, 2008), all three were transferred from the general section of Evin and Rajai prisons to Section 209 of Evin prison. The appeal court upheld the capital punishment orders against all three activists. Their transfer to Section 209 was ordered in an effort to better manage widespread protests against their sentences, and as a means of exerting more pressure on the prisoners. According to reported news, Mr. Vakili is being kept in the general section of Evin, while Mr. Kamangar and Mr. Haydarian are being held in solitary confinement in Section 209. Section 209 of Evin is managed by the intelligence ministry. Mr. Vakili began his hunger strike the day he was transferred to protest unjust treatment by security agents. His health condition is bleak to the extent that he has already suffered a heart attack. Mr. Kamangar and Mr. Haydariani have also decided to take a vow of silence and protest rough treatment by prison security guards. They will continue their silence as long as this mistreatments persist. The two prisoners also announced that they will go on hunger strike as well if undue pressure is continued.
Farzad Kamangar's story, the Kurdish Teacher Tortured, Sentenced to Death Farzad Kamangar is borned in 1975. He was a teacher during 12 years in Kamiaran, a village of Eastern Kurdistan (Northwestern Iran). He is married and has children. He belonged to the Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan and to other activist associations. He wrote for the review Royan, the review of Education department of Kamiyaran and for newspapers of local Human Rights associations.
He has been arrested on August 19th 2006, by the secret services of Sine. During 4 months after his arrest, his family had no news and authorities denied to be responsible of his disappearance.
Farzad Kamangar had been in fact transfered in the 9th Prison of Evin in Tehran, a non-official center of detention of the VEVAK, the Iranian services.
Farzad Kamangar, Kurdish teacher tortured and sentenced to death
In a letter he secretly send out of his prison, he told how he was isolated and tortured, beaten at his first interrogatory just because he is Kurd. He should stayed also on a chair, bound during 24 hours,www.ekurd.net without food nor possibility to go to the lavatory. Then he was imprisoned in a small cell, without fresh air. He could not get in touch with his family or his lawyer. He faced also psychological pressures, for example threatening against his relatives. Once, he attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself in stairs, but failed. His health was so bad that he had to be cured in a prison hospital. His lawyer tells that when he saw Farzand in their first meeting, his body was shaken, his hands were seriously burnt by boiled water. Beside, he suffers of kidney infection, and tracks of blood in his urine. ?
Between 2006 and 2007, he was several times transfered in Kermanshah or Sine to be interrogated and severely tortured. In Kermanshah, his cell, where he was detained in February and March 2007 measured 1m x 1m x 0.6m. He was also sexually abused in Evin, a common practice to psychologically break prisoner's mind.
His mother and his brother were allowed to see him only seven months after his arrest. When they meet him, Iranian agents stayed all the tim with them and forbid they speak in Kurdish. Farzad Kamangar, at this time, did not know what were the charges against him.
Farzad made several hunger strikes, with other prisoners, to protest against their conditions of detention. The last month, he was in the prison of Gohardacht,www.ekurd.net when prisoners revolted. After a raid of safety services, he has been taken and led in a isolated place, with Farhad Vakili and Ali Heydaran.
On February 25th, the 130 Branch of the Revolutionary Court condemned Farzad Kamangar to the capital punishment, for “endangering national security”. He was charged also to belong to PJAK, though he pled non-guilty.
Human Rights Watch denounces the trial, the sentence and the tortures.
Teacher on Death Row Farzad Kamangar Writes New Letter: “Be Strong Comrades”
Farzad Kamangar, a school teacher on death row, has written a letter to other imprisoned teachers. The following letter was published by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
« Be Strong Comrades »
Once upon a time, there was a mother fish who laid 10,000 eggs. Only one little black fish survived. He lives in a stream with his mother.
One day the little fish said to his mother, “I want to go away from here.” The mother asked, “Where to?” The little fish replied, “I want to go see where the stream ends.”
[Translator’s note: Little Black Fish is the title of a short story fiction piece for children. The story was written in 1967 by the dissident teacher Samad Behrangi. The book was banned under the Shah’s regime. It tells the story and adventures of a little fish who defies the rules of his community to embark on a journey to discover the sea. On the way, he courageously fights enemies. The tale is considered to be a classic in Iranian resistance literature]
Hello cell mates. Hello fellow mates of pain!
I know you well: you are the teacher, the neighbour to the stars of *Khavaran, the classmates of dozens whose essays were attached to their legal cases [as evidence], the teacher of students whose [only] crime was their humane thoughts. I know you well: you are colleagues of Samad and Ali Khan. You remember me too, right?
[Translator's note: Khavaran is the cemetery in eastern Tehran where many political dissidents were executed during the 1980's and buried in mass unmarked graves]
It is me, the one chained in Evin prison.
It is me, the quiet student who sits behind the broken school benches and longs to see the sea while in a remote village in Kurdistan. It is me, who like you, told the tales of Samad to his students; but in the heart of the Shahoo Mountains [located in Kurdistan].
It is me who loves to take on the role of the little black fish.
It is me, your comrade on death row.
Now, the valleys and mountains are behind him and the river passes though a plain field. From the left and the right side, other rivers have joined in and the river now is filled with more water. The little fish enjoyed the abundance of water…the little fish wanted to go to the bottom of the river. He was able to swim as much as he wanted and not bump into anything.
Suddenly, he spotted a large group of fish. There were 10,000 of them, one of whom told the little black fish, “Welcome to the sea, comrade!”
My jailed colleagues! Is it possible to sit behind the same desk as Samad, look into the eyes of the children of this land, and still remain silent?
Is it possible to be a teacher and not show the path to the sea to the little fish of the country? What difference does it make if they come from Aras[a river in northwestern Iran, Azerbaijan], Karoon [a river in southwestern Iran, Khuzestan], Sirvan [a river in Kurdistan] or Sarbaz Rood [a river in the Sistan and Baluchestan region]? What difference does it make when the sea is a mutual destiny, to be united as one? The sun is our guide. Let our reward be prison, that is fine!
Is it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet?
Is it possible to be in the year of no justice and fairness and fail to teach the H for Hope and E for Equality, even if such teachings land you in Evin prison or result in your death?
I cannot imagine being a teacher in the land of Samad, Khan Ali, and Ezzati and not join the eternity of
*Aras. I cannot imagine witnessing the pain and poverty of the people of this land and fail to give our hearts to the river and the sea, to roar and to inundate.
[*Translator note: Aras is a river in northwest Iran, bordering Iran and Azerbaijan. Samad drowned in the river in the summer of 1968. Some have considered the circumstance of his death suspicious and blamed agents of the Shah’s regime for his death]
I know that one day, this harsh and uneven road will be paved for teachers and the suffering you endured will be a badge of honour so everyone can see that a teacher is a teacher, even if his or her path is blocked by the *selection process, prison, and execution. The little black fish and not the heron bestows honour on the teacher.
[Translator's note: Selection process or Gozinesh is a process through which teachers and other government-paid employees are vetted based on their ideological, political, and religious views]
The Little Fish calmly swam in the sea and thought: Facing death is not hard for me, nor is it regrettable.
Suddenly the heron swooped down and grabbed the little fish.
Grandma Fish finished her story and told her 12,000 children and grandchildren that it was time for bed. 11,999 little fish said good night and went to bed. The grandmother went to sleep as well. One little red fish was not able to sleep. That fish was deep in thought.
A teacher on death row, Evin prison
Farzad Kamangar
April 2010
Farzad Kamangar’s explanation on the title of his letter:
Eight years ago, the grandmother of one of my students, Yassin, in the village of Marab, played the tape of the story of the teacher Mamoosta Ghootabkhaneh. She told me then, “I know that your fate, like the teacher who is the writer and recorder of this poem, is execution; but be strong comrade. The grandmother said those words as she puffed on her cigarette and stared at the mountains.
I believe it is time Reuters, AFP and other news agencies, change the terms they use, and by doing so, stop legitimizing inhumane activities of this regime such as this vulgar execution! We should comment on Reuters and object to the fact that they use the term 'terrorist' in the headline, even though they try to balance it in the news body!
Please read the news and try to do these martyrs some good by writing to Reuters :
Iran hangs five members of Kurdish "terrorist" group TEHRAN Sun May 9, 2010 4:35am EDTTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran hanged five members of a Kurdish "anti-revolutionary" group for various charges, including "moharebe" or waging war against God, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday
Shirin Alam Hooli (28) was arrested in May 2008 and held 21 days at the revolutionary gurads detention centre and 5 months in the 209 section of Tehran’s Evin prison (a section where political and security tagged prisoners are held) and then transferred to the women section of the prison.
Shirin Alam-Hooli, Kurdish Political Prisoner on Death Row Writes About her Ordeal RHANA Prisoners’ Right Unit- Some time ago, the Kurdish political prisoner, Shirin Alam-Hooli was sentenced to death by the initial court. The court’s ruling said that her confession to having ties to Pezhak (Kurdish opposition group) was one of the reasons for her conviction as a Mohareb. In a letter written from Evin, Shirin talks about her detention and tortures she was subjected to in order to make false confessions. The following is the English translation of her letter:
What I Endured During Detention I was arrested in May 2008 by a group of military officers and plain clothes agents who took me to an IRGC base. Upon arrival to the base and before a single question was asked the beatings started. I stayed in that base for 25 days of which 22 days on hunger strike, being tortured mentally and physically all along. The interrogators were all male and I remained cuffed to a bed during the interrogation sessions. They would beat me all over my body, sometimes with an electric baton or a piece of cable and on other times by kicking and punching me. Those days I had difficulty understanding or speaking Persian. When they would see that their questioned were unanswered they would beat me up even harder until I would fall unconscious. When the call for prayer would come, they’d leave to pray but not before telling me that I should take advantage of their absence to make up my mind. Upon their return from prayer the same vicious circle would start over: Beatings, Fainting, Cold Water… When they realized that I was decided to go on with my hunger strike they tried to force feed me with tubes inserted in my stomach through my nose. I resisted and each time and pulled out the feeding tubes which resulted in bleeding and extreme pain. Even now, two years later I still suffer from the effects. One day, during the interrogation they kicked me so hard in the stomach that I started bleeding. Another day one of the interrogators, who was the only one I had seen because I was not blindfolded, came to see me. He started asking me the same irrelevant questions. When he saw his questions remained unanswered, he slapped me and put his gun on my head and said: Answer my questions. I know that you are a terrorist and a member of Pezhak. It does not make a difference whether you talk or not because we know and are happy that a Pezhak member is detained in our hands. During one of the visits the doctor made to see my condition, I was half conscious. The doctor told the interrogator to transfer me to the hospital. The interrogator asked: why should we take her to the hospital? Can’t she be treated here? The doctor answered: I don’t mean for treatment. Let me take her to the hospital and I’ll make her sing like a bird. The next day I was taken to the hospital blindfolded and in handcuffs. The doctor made me lay down on the bed and injected me with a drug. After the injection I felt I was not myself anymore. I started giving all the required and desired answers to their questions as they were filming the whole session. When I came back to my senses, I asked where I was and realized I was still lying on the hospital bed. They then took me back to my prison cell. This (My confessions under influence of the drug) did not satisfy my interrogators who were decided to inflict on me as much pain as they possibly could. They used to make me stand on my wounded feet until they would become swollen, they then would bring some ice to put on them. All through the nights I could hear sounds of crying, sobbing and screams. The sounds used to make me nervous but later I found out they were all recordings used to make me suffer. There were days when they’d make me sit for hours in the interrogation room with drops of cold water slowly falling on my head, until late night when I would be taken back to my cell. During one interrogation session as I was sitting on a chair blindfolded, the interrogator burned my hand with his cigarette. Another time he pressed his boots so hard on my feet that my nails became black and fell off later. They used to make me stand on my feet for long hours without asking any question. During those sessions the interrogator would just sit and solve crosswords. Brief, they did everything that was in their power to make me suffer. When I returned from the hospital, they decided to send me to ward 209 of Evin. I was in such bad physical condition, that upon arrival, ward 209 officials refused to admit me in and I had to wait behind the door for an entire day before finally being taken to Evin’s Clinic. I could not say the difference between day and night anymore. I don’t remember how many days I remained in the clinic before my wounds were healed. I was taken to ward 209 and the interrogations started over. Ward 209 interrogators had their own techniques they referred to as “Hot and Cold Policies”. First the Bad interrogator would enter the room to threaten and torture me, claiming that he did not respect any laws and would do anything he desired. This would go on for a while and then the Good interrogator would walk in to offer me a cigarette and tell his colleague to stop, only to start asking me the same questions himself, like a vicious circle. During my detention in ward 209, especially in the beginning when I was still under interrogation, I used to get frequent nose bleeds. The only treatment I’d receive was a tranquilizer injection which would make me sleep the whole day. I was never allowed to get out of my cell or go to the prison clinic.. Shirin Alam-Hooli Women’s ward, Evin Prison
A group of six prisoners were hanged in Qezel Hesar of Karaj, west of Tehran, on Saturday, May 8. They were identified by the state-run news agency IRNA as Arsalan Asadi, Mohammad Ali Fakhri, Abbas Geravand, Rahman Biabani, Parviz Taqi Zadeh and Saeed Mikaili. They were alleged to have been involved in drug trafficking.
The number executions announced by the media in Iran in the past 30 days reaches 35.
The rising number of executions, widespread arrest of young people under the pretext of ‘Social Security Plan’, increasing suppression of women for improper veiling and other suppressive measures on the brink of the anniversary of the uprising of Iranian people in June are aimed to intensify the atmosphere of intimidation and terror in the country to prevent spread of social upheavals.
Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili , Shirin Alam Hooli
and Mehdi Eslamian were hanged collectively in Evin prison early this morning.
The sentence was carried out whiles their attorney was not informed.
Since yesterday , moves had been made by Iranian regime which was unusual , such as transferring Shirin Alam Hooli a few days ago to unknown destination .
The regime obviously is increasing all efforts to spread much terror and set example to the public to prevent further protests which could be deadly for this regime.
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