Loghman H. Ahmedi

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that:

In the aftermath of the student protest rally in front of the School of Law and Political Sciences in Tehran University on November 16, 2009, seven students were arrested by security agents outside the university, and their whereabouts and charges against them are unknown. Following their protest rally regarding the execution of Ehsan Fatahyan; Pakhshan Azizi, Amanj Heidari, Leila Mohammadi, Ahmad Ismaili, Sarveh Veisi are five of the Kurdish students who were arrested by the security forces and have not been released yet.

According to Amirkabir News Bulletin the arrested student names are as follows:

1 – Ahmad Ismaili, Audit student at the University of Economic Affairs

2 – Amanj Rahimi, Insurance Management student at the University of Economic Affairs

3 – Abdullah Arefi, student at the Allameh University

4 – Pakhshan Azizi, Social Assistance student at the University of Applied Science

5 – Leila Mohammadi, Physical Education student at the Al-Zahra University

6 – Sarveh Weisi, Physical Education student at the Al-Zahra University

7 – Hajhar Yousefi, Agriculture Engineering student at the University of Applied Science

Some sources have said that three female students from Tehran University with the names of Sarveh Weisi, Leila Mohammadi, and Pakhshan Azizi, who have been on hunger strike in prison for more than 8 days, have been under torture, harassment, intimidation, and threats of rape by the Ministry of Information agents.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard arrested Kawa Ghasemi Krmanshari, a leading member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, in his home on Wednesday.

It appears that Krmanshari was arrested in order to prevent him to continue to report about the human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan and Iran. The regime in Iran has arrested several leading human rights activists and journalists during the last couple of days, just before the anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Iran, which is on the 11th of February.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran describes Krmanshari as “one of the most important sources of objective human rights information and analysis in Iran, and one of the few still courageously working to document, in a scientific way, the deprivation of human rights there”.

Krmanshari, who is 25-years-old, holds a law degree and is a well-known human rights defender, his work is widely recognized for its quality and detail and his personal attention to political prisoners and their families.

Iran’s different security services have pressured the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan to halt its activities, several members of the organization have been arrested during the last couple of years, including the founder of the organization Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, who has been in custody since June 2007. Kaboudvand was sentenced to an 11-year prison term; he was convicted solely on the basis of his human rights activities.

The Friday Prayers leader in the city of Urmye, Hojjatoleslam Gholam-Reza Hassani, apparently believes “that the bodies of executed dissidents must be displayed in public to prevent further riots.”

“In order to prevent further unrest, the bodies of the executed [protesters] must be put on public display in the streets of Tehran,” Hassani said. “The tongues of those saying ‘Iranian Republic’ instead of ‘Islamic Republic’ must be pulled out, and the hearts of the families of martyrs and those devoted to the establishment will only feel relief when those insulting Ashura are executed.”

“Iran is no place for seditionists; they must leave because if they stay they will defile the scared Friday prayers. They are the same people who danced at Tehran’s Friday prayers; they have no place in Iran.”

“It is hard to bear the fact that the leaders of sedition are being kept safe while they are thinking about overthrowing the rule of the worthy (pious). Why is it that the people’s tax money must be spent on the safety of the leaders of the sedition?”

Translation by the Tehran Bureau

The Kurdish university student Jehangir Abdullahi was arrested on the 26th of January in Tehran. Several human rights organizations are worried about the lack of information about Abdullahis whereabouts.

Jehangir’s family have visited different government institutions to receive information about their son, but the regime refuses to inform the family about Jehangir’s location.

Jehangir is a political since major at the university of Tehran and an editor of the “Ashti” (Peace) journal. He is also the chairperson of the Kurdish Cultural Association at the university of Tehran.

Last Saturday three high ranking officers of Iran’s Security Service “Itlaat” and two officers at the Governorship in the city of Mariwan in Iranian Kurdistan was arrested on charges of supporting a Kurdish opposition party.

According to different sources, the arrested agents have already confessed to having contacts with the Kurdish opposition party. The arrest of the Itlaat agents was carried out before planed protests on the 11th of February, which marks the anniversary of the 1979 revolution.

The regime is conducting a widespread purge of officials and operatives of its different armed and political organizations in fear of losing control of the country.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard arrested the Kurdish university teacher Adnan Chigel in his home in the Kurdish city of Ilam. During the past couple of weeks the Revolutionary Guard has increased its presence in Ilam. Iran’s different armed forces are preventing people from the city to move around freely.

Unfortunately, one of the PDKI’s brave Peshmerga’s, by the name of Mehin Almasi, lost her life in a car accident outside the Kurdish city of Sine (Sanandaj) on the 25th of January.

Almasi who became a Peshmerga in 2009 had been working undercover in Iranian Kurdistan for the past couple of months. She was a brave Peshmerga that did not fear or hesitate to fulfill her duties to the Kurdish people and her fellow Peshmergas.

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan sends its deepest condolences to Mehin’s family, friends and fellow Peshmergas. She will truly be missed and we hope that her bravery can become a source of inspiration for other Kurdish women.

Family members of a 22-year-old imprisoned Kurdish women activist, by the name of Sirwa Weisi, meet with their dotter briefly on the 22nd of December. Weisi’s family stated that their dotter had been physically and psychologically tortured in the notorious Avin Prison. Weisi was arrested in November after that she participated in a protest to condemn the execution of Ehsan Fattahian.

Iran’s Intelligence Service “Itlaat” arrested the Kurdish teacher Kamil Fetahi sometime in the beginning of December. Fetahi has been a teacher for over 20 years.

On the 22nd of December several members of the Basij beat and arrested a Kurdish man by the name of Arman Sadpena in the city of Sine (Sanandaj).

On the 25th of December two members of the Revolutionary Guard was killed after that they clashed with a group of residents of the Kurdish city of Mehabad.

On the 26th of December Revolutionary Guard members killed a Kurdish man by the name of Sheroz Heideri in the village of Albira.

On the 27th of December more than 30 residents of the city of Salmas was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard.
During the last week of December 14 Kurdish university students were arresten in the Kurdish city of Krmanshan.

Kurdish friday prayer leader Ayob Ganji was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December, he was charged with attempting to destroy public order, after that he had criticised the regime.

In the first week of January a Kurdish political activist by the name of Fesih Yasmemeni was executed in the city of Khoy.

A female activist by the name of Zehra Jaferi was tortured to death on the 6th of January in the Kurdish city of Ormye.

Three Kurdish men, by the names of Arsalan Sadbekht, Hejar Hasenzade and Saman Atshk was sentence to one year each for “disturbing the public order” in the Kurdish city of Sardasht.

I haven’t been able to update my blog regularly during the last couple of weeks; below you can read a summary of different events that have occurred in Iranian Kurdistan during the past couple of weeks.

Three weeks ago a Kurdish man by the name of Jafar Khlifzadeh lost his leg after that he stepped on a landmine in the Alan district of Sardasht.

Also three weeks ago, a Revolutionary Guard soldier shot and injured a Kurdish man by the name of Saleh in the village of Kele outside the Kurdish city of Bane.

The Kurdish journalist and human rights activist Shoresh Golkar was arrested on 26th of December 2009. Golkar has previously spent two years in prison on charges of illegal political activities.

A Kurdish worker by the name of Osman Hamachawshin was killed by a group of Revolutionary Guard soldiers on the Iran-Iraq border.

Over 40 residents of the Kurdish city of Saghez was arrested in the last week of December. The names of some of the individuals arrested are Kamil Fatahi, Askandar Resoli, Kawa Ghefari.

Two weeks ago, members of the Basij in the city of Salmas killed a Kurdish worker by the name of Bejan.

Also two weeks ago, a Revolutionary Court in the Kurdish city of Piranshar sentenced a Kurdish man by the name of Kamal Qadriazer to 6 months in prison.

The Revolutionary Guard arrested five residents of the Kurdish city of Bane after that a large group of individuals had staged a silent protest.

A Kurdish soldier in the Iranian Army by the name of Kawa, originally from the Kurdish city of Saghez was killed in Hawraman 13 days ago.